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I was shocked to not see a thread already started for this game! I got it today when it came out and have played a few minutes into it. I like it, so cute! Anyone else started on it today? And what do you think of it?
(My opinion may be influenced by the fact that I love stars...so this game is super cute to me! :love:)
I picked up my copy yesterday. The hype prior to release was about to drive me nuts. I haven't had that much hype for a console game in a long time. So far it hasn't let me down either. It lives up to the hype and then some.
The Co-Star (1.5 player) mode is fantastic. My wife plays the second Wiimote and helps get all of my star bits and helps a lot with holding enemies and bay and is also helpful on bosses. I can't even imagine playing it only by myself now.
I think it's one of the best console games in quite a while, especially in the 3D platformer genre. It's gotten great reviews, but I'm sad to see how many people want to crap on it with the most nit-picky of comments like, "it isn't uber-super-photorealistic and doesn't look stupendous on my HD TV!!" It's a great game and plays very well and I think it looks just fine.
I've beaten the first galaxy, and I'm going to have to say that my initial impressions can be summed up in a single onomatopoeia:
SQUEEEEEEE!
I'm loving it. I've completed the first two major galaxies, obtained some hidden and comet stars, and some overworld stages. I'm really impressed; it's very fun.
I don't like how the prankster comets randomly appear though. It makes it awkward to master the galaxies. Does anyone know if you get a star for obtaining 100 coins in a level?
I bought it for my sister yesterday and only had the time to play until I got the first star myself. I'm going to reserve judgement until I get farther in since I obviously haven't played much. I found getting the first star rather underwhelming, and using the spin attack is just as unresponsive (compared to a button press) as I knew it would be, but I don't expect the first level to do much more than get you familiar with the game.
All that said though, it's 10x better than Mario Sunshine. I just wish they'd stop wasting my time by pretending there's a story I'll actually care about. That intro was waaaaayyyy too long. It's Mario for gods sake, just let me play the damn game already.
I'm glad to see that most people enjoy it. I'll ask for it for Christmas, maybe, along with Smash.
You should, cause Smash Bros isn't coming out until next year. February I think.
I read that it was February a month ago, but then a week or so ago I read December again. I don't even know what to think anymore. ;_;Quote:
Originally Posted by Azar
Straight from the Sakurai's mouth.
As for Galaxy, it is absolutely wonderful in every way.
You are all Mister Gay.
My only criticism of the game so far is very minor. At first, running around on the planets is a little awkward. The camera angles make it a little awkward at first, but I got used to it after playing for about half an hour.
I had the same issue, but I got used to it too! Also, I found it funny that they explain a skill you have after you already have had to use it. I still am having lots of fun with it though! :love:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ouch!
I don't know. I distinctly remember a thread about this game before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deborah
Certainly looks like a great game. On my list of games to get if I ever get a Wii. How does the gameplay compare to, say, Super Mario 64?
It takes everything Super Mario 64 did right and evolves it far beyond anything seen in 3D platforming during the intervening eleven years. Some people have been saying it is to that game what Super Mario Bros. 3 was to the original Super Mario Bros., which I would have to say seems accurate.
I have next week off work, and I'm 14 hours into Twilight Princess. Screw Thanksgiving, I have more important things to do with my vacation!
I've decided to torture myself by starting and completing Metroid Prime 3 before I buy any new games, since I just borrowed it from someone. It took me a long time to get into Mario, because I was a Genesis kid, but this looks so good it hurts. And being one of the few people who actually liked Sunshine, Galaxy is probably going to blow my mind.
I don't have it just yet, but apparently my Mother has bought it at some point in this week according to some inside sources, so I'll just wait until Christmas.
Going to be a Christmas gift for me, so I'll wait until then. Looks and sounds supremely awesome though.
That's strange. I find it very responsive. Are you sure you aren't just trying to use it in quick succession? You aren't supposed to be able to do it extremely quickly. Other than that I find the response great.Quote:
and using the spin attack is just as unresponsive (compared to a button press) as I knew it would be
No, I mean that it just isn't half as responsive as a button press would have been. Sometimes it's right on the money, others it takes about half a second before it realizes he should be doing the spin attack. It's not a huge delay, but it has meant the difference between me killing enemies or taking damage so far which can be annoying. I'm also disappointed to learn that you throw fireballs by shaking the controller as well. I have no problem with Nintendo implementing motion controls in the game, it just doesn't make sense to me to use it for an attack that's better left to a button press.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeargdribble
I got it today!
I am at the second dome.
I have a question though. Some galaxies do not have the sign for completion even though I did all available quests. Does that mean it has secret bonus stars that only appear when certain conditions are met or will new quests be unlocked later?
There are secret stars, but other stars will become available later which, it seems, are repeats of previous missions with challenges (such as speed runs).Quote:
Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan
Edit: I'm also on the second dome, but I'm making sure I've not missed any stars available. I've gotten 20 of them so far and I've only done three galaxies in the second dome (two of which only had one star).
I'm so jealous of all you Wii-owners out there! I wanna play this game too:mad2: !
You can only get a max of 105 stars before you beat the game. The last 15 will be unlocked to obtain after completion. So, before the game is complete you should do the three normal missions, one comet, and one hidden for all the major galaxies. There are also three green stars, and all the hungry luma stars. Oh, and don't forget the red star at the Gate. After you beat it, all the Purple comet stars will be unlocked for the levels.
I have 114 stars so far.
As of right now, I have 120 stars! Awesome.
(SPOILER)Now go through and get them all as Luigi and beat it! There's some rumor on some sites, like gamefaqs, of a 121st star or something after thatQuote:
Originally Posted by Ichimonji
I'm a tad bit disappointed at how easy bowser was
I have 120 stars now
THE JACKEL
Mario's 64th Bowser was the cruddiest of 'em all.Quote:
Originally Posted by ljkkjlcm9(SPOILER)Now go through and get them all as Luigi and beat it! There's some rumor on some sites, like gamefaqs, of a 121st star or something after thatQuote:
Originally Posted by Ichimonji
I'm a tad bit disappointed at how easy bowser was
I have 120 stars now
THE JACKAL
Yeah. I have 62 stars with him right now. I'm shooting for that hidden Galaxy!Quote:
Originally Posted by ljkkjlcm9
I beat the game, but now I'm going for Game Complete. When beating the game, I decided I'd unlock every stage, but not go inside them by only completing the earlier stages. :3
And don't ask me how I got it early. >_>...
I just obtained 121 stars with both Mario and Luigi. Wow. Best game ever.
Well, I haven't been able to play as much as I'd like (thank you very much school), but I am more than a third of the way into the game with Mario, and have watched my sister (who's played a lot more than I have) do a lot of the later levels, so I'd say I've played and seen enough to develop a good opinion of the game. I want to preface the things I'm about to say by saying that were I to give the game a rating, it'd be about an 85-90% score from me.
As much as the game is fun and well done overall, I can't say that it's the best game ever. Far from it in fact. There are more than a few things about it that hold it back, and keep it from topping Mario 64 as even the greatest 3D platformer in my eyes. I'll get the opinion stuff out of the way first though. I don't like the fact that they guide you by the hand through every level until you get the star. You can't get stars out of order in general, and the exploration in most levels (even the larger ones) is at best, minimal. That was one of my favourite parts of Mario 64; they generally left you with levels that had plenty of things to do and explore, and you could pretty much get the stars in any order you want. As much fun as a lot of these smaller levels can be, I think they pale in comparison to Mario 64 in this regard, and a lot of the fun is lost. I think it's mainly a failing of trying to take 2D gameplay concepts and stylings and work them in 3D. It works, and it's fun, but not as much so as Mario 64 which was pretty much designed around the fact that it's 3D.
My other biggest problem is the camera. I will give them credit in that it works 85-90% of the time, but the lack of camera control gets old fast. I've had more situations where I couldn't see what was coming than I can count. Sometimes this has even led to me being hit by an enemy, and even dying outright before I could react (the sling pod galaxy is the worst I've seen for this so far). The camera is great on the smaller planetoids, but in the larger worlds it becomes problematic, especially since they tend to give you only partial control at best most of the time, and never let me move the camera into the positions I want it in. And then when you get to any water level, the camera system breaks down entirely. People like to complain about Mario 64's camera, but at least you could change the angle yourself. If the follow camera of this game (which is largely the best I've seen in a 3D platformer) had been combined with the ability to control it, it would have been perfect. As it is, there are a few too many times where it makes gameplay more frustrating than it needs to be.
And my last gripe is really nitpicking, but I wish that if Nintendo is going to continue to pretend their games have a coherent story that they would actually bother to write a coherent story. If not, then let's drop the long, boring cinematics and get to the gameplay. Just stop beating around the bush, tell me the Princess has been kidnapped by Bowser again and let me play the damn game already.
There are other things that bothered me about the game, but none that really pertained to the gameplay that I can recall at the moment (except that I hate the randomness of comet stars but that's a little thing), and I don't want to rag on the game too much. I think it's a great game; certainly the best on the Wii, and I'm having a lot of fun playing it. Is it the best game ever though? Not in my opinion. As far as I'm concerned it still fails to top Mario 64 for the title of best 3D platformer even, especially considering that for all the promise the Wii had of new types of gameplay, we've essentially seen this all before. At the end of the day, despite how much fun it is, it's not without it's problems that hold it back a bit.
My wife was playing with me last night and noticed something interesting. When you're playing in Co-star Mode, the second remote makes sounds when you grab something or help Mario jump. Well, it had always sounded like just some random, cute noise. However, in her boredom (and our frustration looking for something) she noticed that the sound made is a chord that always coincides with the music correctly. We actually sat there for a while and just listened as she grabbed things and the chord progression followed the music exactly.
Also, in the file selection screen before you even start the game, something similar happens. The empty planets produce a duller note that changes with the music, and the actual Mii head save file produces a higher pitched 'lead' note. The 2nd time I loaded up the game and I noticed this, I spent a good 3 minutes just playing around with the music there.
In levels with water, note how the sound of the music changes when you are underwater.
One thing that goes unnoticed to the general masses is the sound design of the Mario games. From the music speeding up in SMB when time is running out to the addition of a drum beat every time you mount Yoshi in SMW, Nintendo (and Koji Kondo in particular) takes great care in matching the sound to the game. At this year's Game Developers' Conference, Kondo gave a presentation on interactive music in games. It really is worth a read. If you have some of the games they use as examples, check them out yourself.
