Day one of the Mecca that is ‘E3′ was exactly what every one of us hoped. Flashing lights, smoke machines, booming sound, and booth babes aside, the star of the show was the games, and Nintendo’s exciting new controller. After waiting one hour (which was a small wait compared to today’s 3-4 hour wait) the 4cr troop, all 8 of us, made our way into the inner sanctum of Nintendo’s sprawling E3 booth where more then 2 dozen playable games and demos were waiting.

Super Mario Galaxy 4cr video

Octorok’s Impressions:
Super Mario Galaxy was the second Wii game I tried, and I can honestly say that I was blown away. For starters, the game is beautiful and the animation is fluid. The colors and crisp textures really pop on the screen and the overall impresion was extremely solid and rich. The demo starts as you burst out of a bubble and onto a large green world. Mario controls exactly like you’d expect him to. All his moves and trademark sounds are fully intact, and I am pleased to announce the return of Mario’s “Superjump” which has been missing since Mario64.

Using the Wiimote, you move a small star-cursor across the screen, using it to interact with Mario’s detailed enviornment, for example: There are some overhead bells that you can jingle with the Wiimote cursor. Doing so causes a string of musical notes to appear on the ground which Mario collects and receives a 1up!

I could go on and on and on (the booth rep literally had to pry the controller from my hand) about the awesome and exciting experience of playing Super Mario Galaxy, but I think the video will do all the talking… So without further ado:

Benny’s Impressions:
I thought that Mario Galaxy would be the perfect game to begin my Wii journey… and it turns out I was right… sort of. For one, the game looks and sounds absolutely amazing. I didn’t think Mario could look any better… but he does. Graphics are crisp, bright, and detailed… and animation is suitably wacky. The music was also good enough to mention. It was definitely different from typical Mario music, but still sounded appropriate within the context of the game.

The “planet” idea is going to give us some amazingly varied gameplay experiences. I was standing in line waiting to play the game for about 30 minutes, and everyone before me took a different path to a different end (including a giant robot boss, a crystal maze, and the lava octopus featured in the conference footage). It seems like the “Galaxy” premise is going to give Miyamoto & Co. freedom to explore all kinds of crazy gameplay ideas. The transitions between planets are also amazing. Oddly enough it wasn’t a stretch to see Mario soaring through the air from planet to planet… and these little transition sections (which are fully controllable) are some of the most exhilarating available on the show floor.

So Super Mario Galaxy is great… but personally I had a little issue with controls. It seems that the spin move is vital to success in SMG. Basically any contextual action you want to take in SMG uses the move. To preform it you need to jiggle the Wiimote’s cursor over Mario back and forth… and I had a little problem using the cursor accurately at first. Frustration set in a bit, but more because of my ineptitude than SMG problems.

Thankfully, by the end of the demo I was spinning accurately and the final boss I faced, which required mastery of the technique, was defeated with relative ease. It sucked to have the mechanic “click” at the last moment though… but I think that was more lack of experience than lack of control. The Wiimote also interacted with the environment wherever it was waved… for example, “ringing” bells on an arch released music notes that Mario could collect for a 1up and “shaking” bushes would release coins for Mario to collect. Despite my personal control issues, I’m itching to get my hands on SMG again. It was great to finally have another Mario game to play… it definitely felt like a Mario game, but at the same time different and innovative.

Super Mario Galaxy 4cr Video