No other adage can aptly describe this game more perfectly than “It’s the journey and not the destination.” Well there’s “Every rose has its thorn,” and “You give love a bad name,” and finally “Bed of roses” but we’re not going into that right now.
Anyway, let’s get the bottomline out of the way first; this game is awesome, and every person who lives on Earth who has a Wii should get a copy. It’s awesome not because of the story and the the totally extraneous Rosalina subplot; but because of all the different levels / worlds you get to visit on your way to the final boss battle. Also, it’s awesome because it’s awesome.
It’s like the Wii was made for this game and vice versa. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s break it down:
Story / Plot
People shouldn’t even be concerned with the plot of any Mario game because they’re all the same. Bowser wants to take control of the island/ world / universe and he can’t do it without Princess Peach at his side. So it’s up to Mario to save Peach, and in so doing, saves the island/ world / universe.
Sucks I know, but you really can’t blame Nintendo for not straying too far from a formula which has sold millions. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Graphics / Animation
The first thing that will attract undecided gamers to this game is the graphics. Everything about it is just sweet. Just check out these screen grabs and see if you don’t agree with me.
The guy in the Youtube clip I embedded in this post talks about particles, lighting, and frame rates but of course I know nothing about them. All I know is everything looks great, and half the time I couldn’t believe that the Wii could produce such images considering its relatively low hardware specs.
Oh by the way, I’m not going to make a separate portion for the music just to talk about how awesome it is so I’m just going to talk about it here: The music is awesome.
Controls / Gameplay
How purdy the game looks can only get it so far. But this being a Nintendo game, it successfully integrated the flawless graphics with rock solid game play. The level designs are diverse enough to not be tiresome and repetitive and the controls are easy to learn and responsive at the same time.
I just have a couple of problems concerning the camera angles and a particular character trait of Mario’s.
As mentioned in the Youtube clip below, the camera doesn’t always cooperate with you to show the best possible angle. Unfortunately, most of the time, you can’t change the angle of the camera. Which is what I can’t understand since Prince of Persia allows you to pan the camera any which way you like.
Then there’s my other complaint which I choose to address to Mario personally:
Dear Mario,
Why do you have to run and jump around wildly whenever you accidentally slip on a pool of lava or are singed by the random fireball? Yes I know you’re hurt and you need to express it. But does being hurt excuse you from mindlessly running headfirst into another pool of lava / fireball / outer space / certain death?
I mean seriously, you’d be helping the both of us if you just let me control you even if your ass is burning. Ok? No? Well, you’re fat, and no matter how many times you save her, Princess Peach will never sleep with you.
So there.
Finally, I think this game has the highest replay value among all of the titles in our collection. You see you need to collect 60 stars to finish the game, but if you want to be able to play Luigi, you need to collect 120 stars. While I’m not aiming for the 120 stars, I am still playing this game just to try out all the other levels / worlds I skipped on the way to the final boss fight.
Conclusion
Get this game. Play this game. A lot. And if you’re not convinced yet, check out the Youtube clip below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD0iW0_zFCU]
You had me at ‘this game is awesome.’
However, the rest is dead on as well. Mario running around drives me crazy, especially when his repeated running into said lava costs me a man.
I’m down to 37 on my quest to 120, but I no longer play very often. Maybe an hour a week or so – but it never gets tired. Guitar Hero 3 is the new time-killer but this game is really good – as I suspected. Cheers!