Some things in life are certain, the Terminator will be back, Jaws 19 will be out in 2015, and that with every new Nintendo console there will be a new Super Mario game.
The story starts with Mario going to a comet festival and visiting the Princess in the Mushroom Kingdom which is a visually beautiful start for the game and lets you get to grips with the new controls for the game just as Bowser swoops down to grab the Princess and run off with her. Straight away you can see that this game stands out with dazzling imagery and graphics.
In space nobody can hear you scream – for joy, because once there, the game really takes off and sets itself apart from anything else out there at the moment. From the first planet you land on its mind-bending physics puts a totally different spin on the platform game genre. It’s a lot of fun trying to work out how to solve puzzles with the unpredictability of the gravity behind you. Just exploring what effect different actions will have, gives the whole game a fresh and unexplored element that you don’t get with many platform games these days that seem to re-tread old ground.
In fact the fresh gameplay and stylish visuals support the claims that this is the spiritual sequel to Super Mario 64, ignoring the underrated but still disappointing Super Mario Sunshine that came out on the Nintendo Gamecube. Each new world you set upon is gloriously designed and leaves you guessing where each launch pad will take you. It never feels like you're treading over old ground either with various stars dotted around each galaxy; you explore different areas of these huge worlds for each star mission you undertake. The worlds also change from the standard Mario level design – grass and ice worlds are back! – to the perplexingly strange – the visual feast that is Battlerock Galaxy.
It’s hard to fault the graphics, they're beautiful, which is surprising for the Wii, looked down on by many when put against the graphical capabilities of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The water reflections, lighting and particle effects are the best on the system by far, and paired up with the fantastic gameplay that leaves you just wanting to play for that little bit longer, it’s the best purchase you could make for the Wii right now.
With 120 stars to collects, only 60 to complete the game though, which is a fairly easy task – it took two days for us- but collecting the rest of the 120 ups the difficulty significantly, you’ll be playing through the game for a while before you reach the ultimate goal. One of the few complaints, though, is that the boss fights are laughable in difficulty, but it doesn’t detract from the sheer enjoyment you have from playing the game. All the environments have clearly had a lot of love, thought and care put into them to make the game as memorable as it is. Also the nostalgia elements for Nintendo fans runs throughout the game, with a cracking orchestrated soundtrack of classic Mario themes and the re-appearance of some of the Mushroom Kingdom's best-loved characters, it feels like you’re really at home with this game.
We strongly recommend that you purchase this latest instalment in the Mario franchise; it’s the best game on the system and one of Mario’s best adventures yet. The gameplay elements are familiar to anyone who has picked up a Mario adventure before and all the new power ups and loveable environments make this an amazing game from start to finish. The plucky plumber has done it again it seems and we can’t wait to see what he has in store for us next.
[story by David Scarborough]