Released on 11/06/2010

• Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Review

  Out of this world!

  While the original Super Mario Galaxy was a massive and highly replayable game, that didn't stop fans from wanting more. Thankfully Nintendo has broken with tradition by delivering this follow-up, marking the first time the company has ever released a direct sequel to a 3D Mario game. But one question hangs over the title: Is it just more of the same?

  At times the red plumber's second interstellar outing feels much like its predecessor, carrying over many of the first game's mechanics. Playing as Mario you'll run and jump around 3D playgrounds and 2D platform environments, performing spin-attacks and jumping on enemies' heads as you again bid to rescue Princess Peach from her captor Bowser, but in Galaxy 2 no two experiences are quite the same. There are loads of surprises and new ideas running through the adventure, which is arguably even better than the original, itself widely considered to be one of the Wii's best games.

  New powers and old friends

  Galaxy 2 has a more streamlined approach to gameplay than its predecessor. Nintendo has reduced the amount of lengthy, story-based cut scenes and dispensed with the first game's large hub world from which you accessed levels, replacing it with a simpler top down map. This allows for a longer, less fussy game that gets straight to the business of collecting stars, which power your spaceship across the galaxies and toward your ultimate goal.

  There are loads of surprises and new ideas running through this adventure, which is arguably even better than the original.

  While our hero acquires a number of abilities that were present in the original game, turning him into the likes of Fire Mario and Bee Mario, plenty of new power-ups add variety and introduce incredibly inventive new ways to tackle levels. Cloud Mario sees you drop up to three fluffy platforms beneath your feet using flicks of the controller, enabling you to climb to higher locations, and Rock Mario propels you forward at speed, knocking down all that stands in you way. Meanwhile, Drill Mario can dig through planets, allowing you to quickly shoot from one side to the other, creating new pathways and surprising enemies.

  The game also sees the return of Yoshi, Mario's green dinosaur friend. Far more than just a trusty steed, Yoshi boasts a pointer-based gobble attack that lets you swallow and spit out foes, as well as a tongue that can be used to swing from one hook to the next and a floaty jump useful for traversing platforms. Yoshi also introduces some of the game's best power-ups, including spicy dash peppers which send you stampeding around vertical mazes at great speed, and blimp fruit which puff you up like a hot air balloon, requiring you to dodge enemies and spiky obstacles as you ascend to higher spots.

  More challenging

  Series veterans will be pleased to hear that Nintendo has upped the difficulty level in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Whether melting or sinking, or changing perspective or form as you journey along them, surfaces generally refuse to remain still, making the game increasingly challenging. Acquiring stars can occasionally be a frustrating process, particularly in the later worlds, but there are very few occasions where death feels like a result of bad design instead of player error, and you'll constantly want to have one more go at collecting those elusive items.

  The sheer imagination is arguably unrivalled.

  But you don't have pick up all of the stars to finish the game, and this is just one way that Galaxy 2 refuses to leave newcomers behind. Fail to beat bosses and a 'cosmic guide' will show you how to progress, although you'll be rewarded with a bronze star for completing the level rather than a gold one. Optional video tutorials that give you tips and a better grasp of Mario's capabilities are also available via TV screens dotted around the game.

  Space ace

  As an evolution of the 3D Mario formula rather than a revolution, Galaxy 2 might lack some of the impact carried by its excellent predecessor back in 2007, but by combining new powers and ideas with tried and tested ones, it manages to feel both familiar and refreshingly new.

  Effortlessly mixing 3D playgrounds with mazy 2D environments, the sheer imagination present in each of its gorgeous galaxies, addictive mini-games and varied boss fights is arguably unrivalled in the genre, providing tens of hours of addictive adventuring for age-old Mario fans and series newcomers alike.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Like the first game, only bigger and better.
  • It features Yoshi and some great new abilities.
  • Brimming with imagination, it's perhaps the best platform game ever.

  

  • Lacks some of the original's impact.
  • It's evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
  • Repeated failure can make some later challenges a little frustrating.

  Review by: Tom 'Star Catcher' Ivan
  Version Tested: Wii
  Review Published: 02.06.10

  Published: 02/06/2010

• Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Review

  Intergalactic, planetary

  Two major new Mario games in six months, and two massive 3D Mario adventures in one console's lifetime: we've never seen the like before. People who say Nintendo have abandoned their loyal fans with the Wii need their heads examined. With the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2, theWii's cup of platforming goodness runneth all over the shop, and even last year's lovely New Super Mario Bros. Wii can't prepare you for this soaring flight into the stars.

  Unusually for a Mario game, this is an absolutely straight sequel, and a very similar game to the 2007 original on the surface. It starts in more or less the same way - with Bowser kidnapping Peach and heading off to take over the universe - and it follows the same structure and style. Mario needs to collect power stars by completing challenges in themed Galaxies. These levels are strings of planetoids hanging in space that play games with gravity and mess with your head until you don't know which way is up, and don't care any more.
  

  Fly me to the moon

  Like the first game - but even more so - Super Mario Galaxy 2 constantly changes things up. You can run all around tiny spherical levels, leap off one and fall upwards onto another. The camera might suddenly switch to a 2D perspective as you race through an old-school Mario Bros. level turned on its head, or wrapped around a cylinder. Platforms disappear, reappear, scroll past, flip round or change properties in the blink of an eye or to the tick of a rhythmic beat.

  Even the more standard 3D levels - some of them reminiscent of the 1996 classic Super Mario 64 - are packed with surprises, and there are innumerable bonus levels, slides, mini-games and races that might have you guiding a bird or steering a giant ball with tilts of the Wii remote. With 120 stars to collect across six worlds, one massive secret, and a star hunt that re-uses all the existing levels to give you 240 stars to collect across the entire game, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is absolutely vast - although with a better map and more sensible structure, it's also easier and quicker to enjoy than the first Galaxy.
  

  Dinosaurs in space

  The all-important power-ups are better too, with the best from Galaxy (including the adorable bee suit) joined by mushrooms that let you create cloud platforms, drill through planets, or turn into an unstoppable rolling rock. Even they pale next to the inclusion of dinosaur steed Yoshi, back once again and better to ride than ever. He has his own crazy fruit power ups and a prehensile tongue you can guide with the remote pointer. Luigi's here too; you can complete some levels with his wild, exaggerated controls, after which his ghost will guide you to secrets.

  Two player co-op (the second player controls a Luma star-person with a pointer) and a Cosmic Guide autopilot to help you finish the harder levels (and they do get quite hard) complete a great set of features. The whole thing is wrapped up in spectacular presentation, with sparkling, colourful and super-fast visuals you can scarcely believe are coming out of your Wii, gloriously satisfying sound effects and fantastic music that's by turns epic, funky and hilarious. It's a Nintendo game, so it goes without saying that the controls are flawless and always fun to use, with just a little point and waggle - to interact with stuff, extend jumps and use power-ups - added to a standard set-up.
  

  Starship trouper

  But it's Super Mario Galaxy 2's levels that are its real stars. Nintendo has simply poured ideas into this game until it couldn't take any more, then somehow crammed more in anyway. Many ten-minute levels have more wit and invention in them than your average full-price game, and they almost never repeat themselves. The surprise and delight is constant, and they only intensify as you get closer to the end and the designers really let rip with their imaginations, pulling tricks you didn't think possible whilst making sure the game always stays totally fair and playable.

  Super Mario Galaxy 2 may not have sounded that exciting at first - it is just more of the same, after all - but there's more of it this time, and it's better, wilder, faster and madder than ever.

  It's second only to Super Mario 64 in the 3D Marios, it's got to be in the top five Super Mario games ever, and it's Nintendo's best work in years. Essential.

  

  Into orbit
  + Mind-bending platforming genius that's never the same twice.
  + Controls, graphics, sound and music are near perfect.
  + As big as space.

  Down to earth
  - A bit too similar to the first Super Mario Galaxy in places.
  - Doesn't have a story or a point to speak of.
  - Only the second best 3D Mario game ever made.
  

• EDGE gives Super Mario Galaxy 2 a perfect score

  Famously hard to please, EDGE Magazine doesn't give away many perfect 10s in its reviews section. But Nintendo's latest platformer, Super Mario Galaxy 2, must be a bit special: the latest issue of the mag has given it top marks.

  Mario games have a strong lineage of top scores with the magazine - both Mario 64 and the original Super Mario Galaxy both walked away with 10s - but EDGE seems particularly taken with Mario's latest deep space adventure, citing its endless ingenuity, and its generous level design, saying that the game "almost never recycles ideas".

  According to EDGE, Nintendo's latest has as much in common with the SNES's Super Mario World as it does with the first Galaxy, seeing a return for Yoshi and a new world map that ties the levels together.

  The review was published just as Nintendo announced that Luigi will be making an appearance as a playable character.

  Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a Wii exclusive, and will be touching down on June 11th. Start counting the days.

• Super Mario hits his 25th birthday

  Super Mario hits his 25th birthday

  It's-a-me, Mario! This month sees Nintendo's greatest mascot Mario celebrating his 25th birthday, apparently. That's right! The plucky little plumber is a quarter of a century old.

  While Mario got his start as Jumpman in the arcade game Donkey Kong, it wasn't until Super Mario Bros for the NES that things really got cooking. The side-scroller is one of the greatest platform games ever made, and kickstarted a career that has seen him selling over 240 million games.

  "Stimulated by advancements in technologies, we have always enjoyed creating the Super Mario Bros. games," said Mario's creator, the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto. "The series has always taken advantage of the latest technological advancements and is the fruit of creativity of many of my hard-working friends working closely as a team."

  Mario's been a bit of a shape-shifter over the years, trying his hand at a variety of sports, such as with the excellent Mario Golf and Mario Strikers series, but what's been truly amazing is to watch the way that Nintendo has managed to keep his platforming spirit alive in the shift from two dimensions to three. If you don't believe us, check out Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is currently available for the Wii.

  Happy 25th birthday, Mario. We can't wait for the next 25, either.
  

• Super Mario originally had a gun!

  Super Mario originally had a gun!

  If you like Nintendo games half as much as we do, you could be forgiven for thinking you knew everything there was to know about the genesis of the company's plucky plumber, Super Mario. Wrong. Did you know he originally came with a gun?

  Believe. The news comes from Japan's Famitsu magazine, which interviewed Mario's dad, Shigeru Miyamoto, to tie in with the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. It turns out that, for a large part of the game's creation, he was packing a pistol!

  "During much of development, the controls were A for shoot bullets, B to dash, and up on the control pad to jump," says Miyamoto. "The bullets wound up becoming fireballs later - we originally thought about having a shoot 'em up stage where Mario jumps on a cloud and shoots at enemies, but we dropped it because we wanted to focus on jumping action. The sky-based bonus stages are the remnants of that idea, you could say. In the end, we realised that being able to shoot all the fireballs you want while running gave Mario too much of an advantage, so instead we had it so you shoot only one fireball when you start running."

  Totally weird. If it's been a while since you played Super Mario Bros, incidentally, why not pick up the compilation pack when Super Mario All-Stars: 25th Anniversary Edition hits the Wii on 3rd December?
  

• Super Mario headed for the 3DS

  It's obvious, but it's still good to hear: Nintendo's already working on a Super Mario game for the 3DS. Phew!

  The news came from Mario's daddy, Shigeru Miyamoto, speaking on Iwata Asks - thanks, Eurogamer. The legendary designer announced, "In the interests of adopting new technology for the Super Mario Bros. tradition, I am now making a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Nintendo 3DS system."

  He didn't offer any further details, but he did expand on a comment of Mario co-creator Takashi Tezuka's, suggesting that Mario must always be family friendly. "I think Tezuka-san is exactly right about making something that families can enjoy together," he said, "but I also think it's important to always use the most advanced technology for Mario in order to create something no one has ever seen before. Of course, it's important to make sure people still say things like "Falling down the holes is the most fun!" but something new is necessary for other aspects of the games, and it's those new elements that make a Super Mario Bros. game what it is."

  With no news of a date, this is one we're probably going to have to wait for - but it will be worth it.

• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood heads BAFTA list

  It's more good news for Assassin's Creed fans after yesterday's revelation of a May announcement of the next game in the popular franchise. BAFTA has released its list of nominations for this year's videogame awards, and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has received the most nods of any game, featuring in a total of seven categories.

  
  It seems the members of the BAFTA panel were big fans of Ezio's latest adventure, as it scooped nominations for Action, Artistic Achievement, Gameplay, Multiplayer, Technical Innovation, Use of Audio, and the biggie: Best Game.

  
  In the latter category, Ubisoft's game faces some stiff competition from FIFA 11, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2 and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Call of Duty: Black Ops missed out in that category, but was nominated in six others. Mass Effect 2 also had six nods in total, with Sony's gritty thriller Heavy Rain picking up five, while Super Mario Galaxy 2 and indie darling LIMBO both got four. Surprisingly, Halo: Reach only featured in two categories: Multiplayer and Technical Innovation.

  
  Meanwhile, the mass-market success of Microsoft's Kinect ensured a strong showing in the the Family category, with nods for Dance Central, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports and Kinectimals. Flying the flag for more traditional control are LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and the terrific Toy Story 3.

  
  The winners will be announced at a ceremony on March 16, which will be streamed live on the BAFTA website.

• What has Mario got planned in 2012?

  2011 has been a fantastic year for gaming most recognisable face, Nintendo Mario, and 2012 looks set to be another. From platforming to kart racing, tennis, Olympic sports, role playing and party games, the portly yet agile plumber is clearly a highly versatile character who can do it all. Here, GAME takes a look back at a couple of the best Mario games from this year, in case you missed them, and looks ahead to some of 2012 undoubted highlights.

  3DS hasn exactly been lacking in quality games in its first year on the market, but the arrival of Super Mario Land 3D (3DS) in November and the launch of Mario Kart 7 earlier this month have really made the portable console a must own system. Mixing the best elements of older Mario games with new ideas and technology, the former is perhaps best described as a blend of the more straightforward, accessible 2D Super Mario Bros. games for Wii and DS and Wii more challenging 3D Super Mario Galaxy titles. Its magical worlds are essentially made up of left to right dashes through obstacle courses, which see players running, jumping, hovering and gliding to master the environments with the aim of reaching a flagpole at the end of each level. With simple, intuitive controls, it instantly accessible and there always a clear path to completing each stage, usually littered with coins to collect, question blocks to bump and enemies to stomp. But Mario can also wander around a little in the game 3D environments, and only explorers and the most skilled players will locate all of the secret areas, items and unlockables ingeniously hidden away in the expertly designed levels.

  Mario Kart 7 is another must-play title for newcomers and series veterans alike, mixing old and new to great effect too. It offers 16 new courses and 16 classic ones from older MK games for players to compete on, all based on environments and characters from Nintendo Mushroom Kingdom. The best showcase of the console's 3D screen yet, theye absolutely gorgeous to look at and just as well designed, featuring exciting new airborne and underwater sections to compliment the on-track action. With basic accelerate, brake, fire and jump buttons, the game easy enough that anyone can pick it up and play instantly, but itl take months of practice to master the multi-route tracks, learn all of the shortcuts and become an online karting king.

  Looking ahead to 2012, Mario will be joined by a host of Nintendo stablemates as well as characters from Square Enix popular Dragon Quest series in January release Boom Street (Wii). A Monopoly-style board game that challenges players to play the real estate and stock markets to win,here are 27 characters to choose from 13 from Mario games, 13 from Dragon Quest and your Mii and over 15 boards based on memorable areas from each series, with different shapes and layouts providing loads of replay value. Players race around the board trying to accumulate wealth and hit a target value while buying, selling and trading property to see who can be the first to cash out, and with both beginner and advanced settings, it could be the perfect game to get the family huddled round the telly on those cold winter nights.

  Mario Tennis (3DS) also looks set to be a smash hit next year. If previous games in the series are anything to go by, itl do its best to nail the balance between realism and zany, fast-paced tennis action starring all of your favourite Mushroom Kingdom characters, as well as a few surprise ones. Wee expecting a mixture of tactical tennis gameplay, special moves and plenty of mini-games that should make a great title for Mario and sports fans alike.

  Mario and friends, including Sega favourites like Sonic the Hedgehog, will keep things physical in Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympics on the Nintendo 3DS, which launches in February 2012. Players will go for gold in over 50 Olympic events that make full use of the handheld different control methods, serving up a wide variety of ways to play. Competing for the top of the podium alone or in head-to-head games with friends, players will frantically slide the Circle Pad round and round to row, tilt the system to keep their balance on the beam, and blow into the microphone to keep breathing at the right time while swimming.

  Also in 2012, players will see the moustachioed, genre-hopping plumber embark on an exciting new role playing adventure in Paper Mario also on the Nintendo 3DS. It will feature frantic, turn-based battles set in a colourful and varied 3D world that takes in weapons, locations and items from Mario past and present,. It will also require clever strategic use of a range of ability-giving stickers, which can be used to carry out attacks on enemies or to fill in missing parts of the levels.
  

  Published: 21/12/2011

• Popcorn and Joysticks - GAME goes to the movies!

  
  

  With Prince of Persia returning to consoles in the very same month the Hollywood version hits the big screen, what better excuse to look back at how others have fared when games and films overlap?

  

  Prince of Persia

  The Game: Nimble, athletic acts of derring-do played out against a colourful Arabian Nights backdrop since 1989. The graphics have changed, but gameplay still focuses on the simple pleasures of swishy swordplay and stunts that laugh in the face of physics.

  The Movie: Based on the 2003 game, The Sands of Time, this shamelessly entertaining romp captures the daredevil thrills of the game perfectly, while inserting appropriate amounts of character and story. The yummy Jake Gyllenhaal and the yummier Gemma Arterton supply the eye candy and witty banter, while Ben Kingsley camps it up as the villainous Vizier.

  Verdict: Since the original game was inspired by Errol Flynn's swashbuckling antics, Prince of Persia was always ripe for the movie treatment. Thankfully, they got it right.

  

  Street Fighter

  The Game: The fighting fan's franchise of choice for over twenty years, this venerable series continues to go from strength to strength with the superbly balanced refinement of Super Street Fighter IV, released last month. Crazy characters with sublime gameplay - it doesn?t get much better than this.

  The Movies: Oh dear. The 1994 movie version is terrible, but has at least taken on a certain cheesy charm over the years, if only for the bizarre pairing of Jean Claude Van Damme as Guile and Kylie Minogue as Cammy. The laughably bad 2009 movie slipped past cinemas and went straight to DVD, more dull than demented. For a truly faithful film experience, fans should stick to the Street Fighter II anime.

  Verdict: Bizarre characters smashing each other to a pulp should be perfect B-movie fodder, but the lack of plot combined with dense backstory keeps tripping Street Fighter up.

  

  Ghostbusters

  The Movie: A seminal combination of action, comedy and horror, the 1984 original is still one of the most enjoyable and quotable blockbusters around. The 1989 sequel repeats the formula to disappointing effect, but the cast manage to keep things lively even as the story droops into slimy sentimentality.

  The Game: There have been several Ghostbusters games over the years, but it wasn't until 2009 that we got something that truly recaptured the movie's unique tone. Having Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis on script duty helped, but getting the notoriously reluctant Bill Murray to return was a real coup. Strip away the fan-pleasing scenarios and dialogue and it's just another corridor shooter, but a shamelessly entertaining one all the same.

  Verdict: It took twenty five years, but the result was an affectionate game that expanded and honoured its source material rather than just exploiting it.

  

  Super Mario Bros

  The Games: Really? You need this explaining? The most successful videogame franchise in history. A catalogue of nigh perfect game design. A series that continues to inspire and innovate, whether its New Super Mario Bros on the DS or Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii. If you hate Mario, you have no soul. That?s science, people.

  The Movie: Urgh. Look away, children! Taking the bright, inviting worlds created by Miyamoto and drowning them in an oily mess of techno-grunge architecture and smug 1990s blockbusterisms, this is one of the worst films ever made. Bob Hoskins has the moustache and dungarees, but the film bears no resemblance to the games, either in quality or intent. Horrible.

  Verdict: Burn it with fire. The perfect videogame hero, Mario simply doesn't translate to live action. Never try this again, Hollywood.

  

  Resident Evil

  The Games: Bombastic sci-fi horror with a parade of tough cops and military types creeping around mansions and secret labs trying - and spectacularly failing - to contain the monster-making T-Virus. Since Resident Evil 4 the games have become more about action than atmosphere, much to the annoyance of some fans.

  The Movies: Well, they've got the sci fi and horror bits, and key characters from the games crop up occasionally, but this surprisingly hardy series exists more as an alternate off-shoot from the games than a literal translation. The lack of blood and guts is the number one complaint from fans used to brain-bursting headshots.

  Verdict: Both are as daft and camp as each other, but apart from sharing a title and some characters, there's not much connection between the two. Harmless dumb fun.

  

  Tomb Raider

  The Games: Posh girl Lara Croft travels the globe, locating ancient relics, battling supernatural forces and shooting endangered species while wearing the very latest in bottom-and-boob hugging outfits. Some would say her appeal has dimmed in recent years, as developers struggle to find new ways to do the same old thing, but she's still a force to be reckoned with.

  The Movies: All the pieces are there, but the fact that both the Angelina Jolie-starring efforts have been average (and that's being generous) suggests that you need more than an ass-kicking babe and exotic locations to make a good movie.

  Verdict: The movies are accurate enough in translating all the important elements of Lara to the big screen, but her exploits are inevitably more interesting when you're controlling every leap and scramble.

  Published: 18/05/2010

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