Super Mario Galaxy 2

[Trainman]

It happened to me in one of the later galaxies because I was bored and trying to beat a Luigi ghost, so I was trying some new, big jumps (with friggin cosmic clones everywhere which was detrimental to my little jump experiment, I might add).

The time she appeared was ironically the time I finally didn't die. I haven't gone back to the galaxy to check if she's still there, but I think she appears at whichever checkpoint you've died on too many times instead of always being at the beginning of the galaxy.

[Fawful Fan]

By the way, Trainman...did it work?

[Trainman]

Oh, the comet medal thing? Yeah, suddenly worked about 2 hours after I posted that I tried everything. I don't know what I did different.

[ShadowBrain]

Yeah, first game was better. I won't say anymore (at least not now), because I'm sure y'all don't want to hear it.

[Weegee]

On the contrary, please expound.

I agree that the original SMG was more enjoyable, by the way.

[Trainman]

Eh, the two games almost seem incomparable except for the game's engine and classic premise, really.

The first one was all about deep space, triumphant and soft music, some deeper story, and some ground-breaking takes at what Nintendo could really do with Mario and the Wii.

The second one perfects all flaws in the first one and adds some glimmer overall (notably lighting effects), but has an overall lighter, joyous tone to it. It's not all deep space even down to the box art for the game, and quite a few of the tunes are generally more upbeat and happy overall with less emphasis on making every song epic and everything (although the game is not without its generous share of awesome pieces).

Each game is their own experience. I like both equally.

[Weegee]

I prefer finding numerous Stars in larger, fleshed-out worlds over having them spaced out (hurr hurr) amongst smaller galaxies. Many of SMG2's worlds had amazing concepts, but were too short or linear to exhibit their potential. If Nintendo were a band and their games albums, Galaxy's track listing would have been comprised mainly of eight-minute epics, while Galaxy 2 would consist of catchy two-minute tracks.

[Turtlekid1]

Funnily enough, the soundtracks of the games themselves could be referred to as such, with Galaxy having more epic music, and Galaxy 2 having catchy tunes.  I would love to say I found a piece in Galaxy 2 that was on par with Gusty Garden or Buoy Base, but the only ones that I did find were those very tracks when they were both eventually reused.

[ShadowBrain]

I prefer finding numerous Stars in larger, fleshed-out worlds over having them spaced out (hurr hurr) amongst smaller galaxies. Many of SMG2's worlds had amazing concepts, but were too short or linear to exhibit their potential. If Nintendo were a band and their games albums, Galaxy's track listing would have been comprised mainly of eight-minute epics, while Galaxy 2 would consist of catchy two-minute tracks.

Funnily enough, the soundtracks of the games themselves could be referred to as such, with Galaxy having more epic music, and Galaxy 2 having catchy tunes.  I would love to say I found a piece in Galaxy 2 that was on par with Gusty Garden or Buoy Base, but the only ones that I did find were those very tracks when they were both eventually reused.

These are why. But you know what? Trainman's got a point. I guess if I just knew the game was going to have a slightly different flavor from the start, I wouldn't have been as let down. Still, whoever said the game was more difficult and had more open-ended areas was clearly on the propaganda end of things.

Also, I have a few questions:

1)How the hell does this game's plot fit with the last one? I know Miyamoto and co. deliberately refused to put a whole lot of effort into it, but the whole thing with the Star Festival happening again and the way Rosalina acts when she shows up left me confused. My first guess was that it's taking place in that alternate-universe "new galaxy" thing, or whatever popped into existence after that insanity at the end of the first game, but then I figured that was what led to Luigi playing the game over again (and meeting himself, no less--to SMG2's credit, Luigi is implemented much more smoothly).

2) What is the point of "Ghosts"? At first, I thought they'd be something you'd have to race, ala Mario Kart, but nothing could be further from the truth: The one in Cloudy Court does some sweet long jumps, shows you where a 1-Up is, and takes a nap; the one in Throwback shows you where the Comet Medal is, then takes a nap; the one in Clockwork Ruins backflips onto a torch, burns his butt, and levitates in the air indefinitely.

3) Why does the Flip-Out Galaxy, the second-to-last level of the game, show you how to shake the Wii Remote?

[Toad]

I've only had minimal contact with SMG2 (a friend brings it over sometimes) and I feel that yes, it has some nice ideas going for it, but it feels moreso remixed than a full game. I really liked the Dino Pirahna design in the first game, but not so much in the second game.

I also don't like how a lot of the battles seem to be just the same boss battles from the first game, redone. I play a new game for new experiences, not to feel the same experience again (that's why I replay a game, but anyway..)

I'm kinda glad that I haven't had the chance to get SMG2 yet: I could just start a new file in SMG1 for the same effects that I've been feeling so far (save for Yoshi, of course).

It should be noted that I've only made it up to World..3 I think (it's been a couple of weeks since I've played..)

[Trainman]

They just need to tweak battles.


All generic boss battles feel like the same tired formula: Big enemy, glaring weak spot. Hit boss 2 times, boss gets really ****ed, adds/repeats a move to generic moveset and gets slightly faster. Get hit by boss, boss freezes and chucks it up about how they've hurt you.

Nintendo's approach to "changing it up a great deal" is by adding an extra hit or two for a boss. Of course, it's always the use of the level itself that provides the challenge for the boss which, hey, that's awesome. However, the bosses themselves are never really memorable and they don't take any technique themselves, really, to defeat. If there was a combination between the level being the challenge AND the boss being the challenge, that'd be cool.

(Tarantox is a kiiiiiinda good example of going in the right direction)

[ShadowBrain]

Looking back, the first game's bosses were better, but I don't have any massive complaints about the ones in the second.

In other news, I'm having a difficult time mustering the enthusiasm to start collecting Green Stars. (spoiler if you haven't beaten the game with all Stars)

[Trainman]

Do it. There are a lot of fun ones, and you can break away from the straight-forward level design and come up with your own unique ways of getting them.

[johnny1up]

This game is fantastic! Everything was right in this game. The only reason I liked the first one better is because I had no idea what to expect. I sort of broke my addiction to the internet so I had no idea about a game until it was just about to come out, and I didn't realize that Super Mario Galaxy was the next big Mario game.

For this game, I knew about it month before it came out. And it didn't help that my stupid friend showed me all the power-ups before it came out. I hate spoilers, especially when the game was still weeks away from coming out.

But that's not important now, because whenever I go back to replay the game it's every bit as good as super Mario Galaxy.

[Trainman]

I sort of broke my addiction to the internet so I had no idea about a game until it was just about to come out, and I didn't realize that Super Mario Galaxy was the next big Mario game.

Hmm..