Super Mario Galaxy 2

System: Wii
Release Year: 2010
IGN Score: 10

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (SMG2) gets rid of everything that was bad about SMG1 (which was very little, honestly) and keeps everything that was great (with one annoying exception). The fantastic creative levels return along with gameplay that really isn't much different than the original Mario game from 25 years ago. Luigi and Yoshi both make early appearances in this game, though to be honest I am not a big fan of either. I guess this is exciting for some people. If you've never played this game I would highly recommend it if you get the chance. It is a unique game that really does so much right that it's a shame more games for the Wii aren't like this.

For the most part the gameplay in SMG2 is exactly the same as the play in SMG1. One of the best additions to this version is an improved camera system which is excellent. I never once had an issue where I would die repeatedly because of poor camera angles like I did in the first game. That was quite frustrating and I was really happy to see that they improved that part of the game. Though there were still points in the game where I would die 8-12 times in a row just trying to get past this one part of a stage. There is more to this story later, but the bottom line is that I don't have time to deal with that kind of stuff anymore like I did when I was a kid. Maybe I'm just old.

Gone from SMG2 is the incredibly weird and almost creepy storyline that was in SMG1. The story added nothing to the game and was down right weird. I was glad to see that they scrapped it. Also gone is the confusing space station where you had to travel to different portions to get to certain stages. This open-world roaming technique worked well in Mario 64's castle but was just confusing and annoying in SMG1. Instead, SMG2 uses a grid-map system seen in Super Mario World for the SNES and Super Mario 3 for the NES. I like this system much better as you spend less time wandering around a stupid space ship and more time playing the amazing stages.

All isn't perfect though. Nintendo was off to a great start by fixing the camera system and getting rid of the annoying portions of the first game. However the grid system kind of locks you into playing stages in a specific sequence. This would be fine except for the fact that at several points during the game, I could not advance to a new stage because I was 2 or 3 stars short. This meant I would have to go back and try to get some of the more obscure stars from previous stages. This wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that some of the stars are annoying at best to get. Like I was saying before, there would be some stars where I would die 10-15 times before I could get the star. And I can only play dumb mini games with a monkey so many times before it starts to get old. Seriously, I played this one mini game probably 30 times before finally winning. These tasks really distract from the game in my opinion. I just don't have the time or interest to try stuff over and over and over and over again. Because of this, I haven't actually finished the game yet. I've been playing it for several months and I'm probably 95% finished but right now I just can't bring myself to sit through the rest of the game to play it. I need to take a break. I am sure I will finish it sometime in the future.

The bottom line is this: SMG2 is a fantastic game that every Wii owner should have. I think it's a toss up as to which one is better between SMG2 and SMG1. They both feature some of the most fantastic and original levels I have ever seen in a game. And you know you can't go wrong with the gameplay in a Mario game. SMG2 is probably overall a better game, but the aforementioned problems really annoy me and I didn't run into this at all with SMG1. However, I actually think the level design is a bit better in SMG1. Again, both games are great. I think IGN gets a little too excited about the scores. I think these games should score more like a 9 instead of a 10.