First of all, I need to start off with a confession. I was not very hyped for Super Mario Galaxy. I know that is blasphemy and I’m about to do it again. I never finished Super Mario Sunshine. I got bored with it. I know you’re already in the comments section telling me where I should stick various objects, but bear with me for a moment. It’s not that I don’t think the 3D Mario games are great, I do. It’s just that for the most part, 3D platformers leave me dizzy, lost and confused. I usually give up around the 300th time I die on the same exact jumping puzzle. But still I decided to pick up a copy of Super Mario Galaxy. Best decision I ever made.

Super Mario Galaxy is one of the most ingenious, lovingly crafted, and beautiful games I have ever played. Other Wii developers will look at this game and feel a deep sense of shame. This is what the Wii can do when you take the time to make a game right. The graphics are light-years ahead of any other Wii title, and perhaps only Zack and Wiki can come near it in terms of sheer creativity.

The level design is fantastic. Rather than having massive flat worlds to get lost in, there are hundreds of tiny little planets, each with their own unique features and puzzles. More than anything, I kept coming back to see what type of planet would be next. They are small enough that I always know where I am and they are diverse enough that I never get bored.

As I said earlier the graphics are fantastic. Long ago Iwata told all of us that when we see the graphics on the Wii we will say “Wow”, but up until now most of us were just saying “meh” or worse. This game made me say “Wow”. From the backgrounds to the characters themselves, everything is crisp and vibrant, and silky smooth animations to boot. These are some of the best graphics I have ever seen on an SD display.

But as good as the graphics are, they are beaten out by the amazing orchestrated soundtrack. The soundtrack to galaxy is epic and powerful, like a Final Fantasy game, but at the same time it can also be light and friendly. The entire way through the music is pushing you to continue, to explore, to fall in love with this new world. More than a few times I have been ready to turn the game off to do something else. But then the music will kick in and I’ll tell myself “Ok, alright, maybe one more star”. I haven’t been so moved by game music in a long, long time.

Ok, now it’s time for a small negative. Sometimes I wish there was a bit less “waggle”. The Wiimote is great for almost all of this game. From being able to collect star pieces by simply pointing at them to hearing games sounds through the built in speaker. The Wiimote is comfortable and fun, but there are moments when the Wii features seem a tad tacked on. For example the “spin jump” is one of your best attacks, but to initiate it you have to actually shake the remote, and it doesn’t always work the way you want it to. And while I am shaking the controller it is hard to focus on other things moving. I found myself wishing I could do this action with a button press instead. That said I don’t think this game would be half as fun with a normal controller, as the pointer is used in a number of puzzles, as is the motion sensing in some of the bonus areas (which I won’t spoil here). I love Wimote control when it adds to the experience.

One thing that adds to the experience, at least for me is the 2-player mode. It’s not a full co-op mode; it’s more of a “player and player-helper” type of experience. One player controls Mario and the other “helps out” by collecting star pieces with the pointer and helping to boost jumps.

My future wife (who I seem to be mentioning more and more often) is a Mario fan, but she was really disappointed when she found out that Galaxy was 3D. She hated all the previous 3D Mario games because they gave her motion sickness. She didn’t even want to try this one, but I explained to her that this one is different. She reluctantly picked up the controller and we started to play. The 2-player mode really made the experience for her. If she got lost or didn’t know what to do next I could move the on screen pointer to show her where to go next (since I had already played through the level), this was much better than saying things like “ok go to the right for a little bit until you see the third pipe” instead I could just say “follow my pointer”. I could also stun some of the enemies before they got to her making it a bit easier to play. When she finished off the first Boss battle she said, “We did it!” rather than “I did it”, because we had really done it together ;) . I can now add this to the very small (but growing) list of games we can play together.

I find myself revisiting levels and just walking around, trying new things, looking at the details, and just exploring. With most games I am in a rush to complete the game, to see the story resolve or get as many points as possible. With SMG I am content to just wander around the game world, listen to the music and utterly lose myself. Beating this game is really a secondary goal at this point and I know that when I eventually do finish, I will just start over again. The experience itself is the greatest reward.

Right now I am not even halfway finished, so it would be unfair for me to give it a review score. I will say this: As long as the game continues at the same pace it started, it will turn out to be a simply amazing game. As I stand now, 32 stars into the game, it has already earned a place in my favorite games of all time. Unless No More Heroes totally blows me away, this will be my Game of the Year. It is out soon in countries other than Japan and I strongly recommend it. If there ever was a game that justifies the Wii’s existence, this is it.