Author Topic: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Read 101258 times)

penguinwizard · « **Reply #210 on:** March 31, 2010, 10:46:05 AM »

But that brings up the idea that this is why you have continues so you don't lose a bunch of progress when you lose all your lives. For something like Super Mario Bros. it's understandable, which seems better suited at an arcade anyway. For Super Mario 64, you're just going around collecting Stars at your own pace, and you're probably saving after each Star such that losing all your lives means you don't really lose any progress. So come to think of it, Super Mario 64 (and Galaxy by extension) doesn't need a concept of lives if you're just going to keep on playing the same areas and keep that game in the console. ...Now I understand the thread of having the 1-Up die. The only place I can think of for 1-Ups being useful are in the longer levels where you'll die a bunch of times trying to get to the end. ...and those certain levels in Galaxy where you die a bunch of times, always picking up the 1-Up along the way so that you essentially play indefinitely until you make it.

Which course was Tall Tall Mountain again? I didn't notice an abundance of lives there as I was too busy falling off the mountain. For losing lives, the course I have bad memories of the most is probably Hazy Maze Cave.

Turtlekid1 · « **Reply #211 on:** March 31, 2010, 11:44:47 AM »

Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride seem to be the life-sappers for me; so much so that I tend to do those courses as soon as I have the stars to enter them, so I can get them over with. Still need to get that pesky 100-Coin star for Tick Tock Clock in my current playthrough...

jdaster64 · « **Reply #212 on:** March 31, 2010, 02:37:33 PM »

Quote from: Turtlekid1 on March 31, 2010, 11:44:47 AM

Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride seem to be the life-sappers for me; so much so that I tend to do those courses as soon as I have the stars to enter them, so I can get them over with. Still need to get that pesky 100-Coin star for Tick Tock Clock in my current playthrough...

True dat, I do get insane amounts of game-overs if unlucky and starting from course 14/15. Whereas there were only two or three star objectives, none from the same course, in Galaxy in which I couldn't earn enough lives to balance out those lost. The Bouldergeist DDC star and that one desert-ish pink-Luma galaxy come to mind, but I think that the latter was due to incredibly bad luck rather than actual difficulty.

El Gato · « **Reply #213 on:** March 31, 2010, 04:18:53 PM »

Well, a new video. Minor spoilers.

Video

Thanks for pointing out my stupidity, ShadowBrain XD I should've looked at the link before I posted that.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #214 on:** March 31, 2010, 04:31:42 PM »

Spoilers which, if I am interpreting that correctly, are present in the URL...

Weegee · « **Reply #215 on:** March 31, 2010, 04:50:47 PM »

Technically speaking, that planetoid shaped like Mario's head is a hub of sorts, but it doesn't suffice in my books.

Overall, this game is looking to be identical to SMG in almost every aspect. Awesome.

Glitchy · « **Reply #216 on:** April 02, 2010, 06:21:14 PM »

Despite controversy, the levels actually look good and inspired.

Quote from: Weegee on March 31, 2010, 04:50:47 PM

Technically speaking, that planetoid shaped like Mario's head is a hub of sorts, but it doesn't suffice in my books.

:/
Plus that would be the most uninspired hub...(Unintentionally contradicting what I said above, but still...)

Fawful Fan · « **Reply #217 on:** April 03, 2010, 07:33:53 PM »

I'm probably going to get stoned to death for saying this, but here goes...

I enjoyed Super Mario Galaxy, but clearly not as much as everybody else. I'm sorry, but after playing through some brilliantly non-linear platformers like Super Mario World and Banjo-Tooie, Galaxy just felt a bit underwhelming and I didn't see what was so innovative. Sure, you can walk upside-down on spheres for a cute visual effect, but essentially you're still confined to grabbing one star at a time, only this time on a set, unbreakable path. You just grab star number one. Good, now grab star number two. Okay, now grab star number three. Etc. and so forth. SMW and Tooie provided much more exploration, and I consider Tooie to be the SMW of 3D platformers. You’d explore world two, discover in world two secret pathways to worlds four and six, and then complete several interrelated tasks over the course of several different worlds to solve a single puzzle! In comparison, once I got a star in Galaxy, I had no real motivation or reason to revisit the old levels. I was hoping for the next game the developers would reevaluate Mario's 3D platformers and evolve it to point of Mario's 2D platformers, so I was initially a bit disappointed with the announcement of Galaxy 2 since it looked like just a new set of levels (note, I said looked like—I’m still going to buy the game and give it a chance).

Sometimes, wonder if I'm too hard on Galaxy. Looking at some of the best platformers on SNES, like Yoshi's Island and DKC2, I realize that they didn't have secret exits. So yeah, not every platformer needs secret branching pathways, and if Galaxy wants to be more like a one-way 2D sidescroller with a z-axis, then apples to oranges. Then again, Yoshi’s Island and DKC2 still had something, a bit of non-linearity that made me go back to old levels and find something new. In Yoshi’s Island, I constantly replayed levels to get perfect scores, and in DKC2 I went back to complete all the Bonus Levels and find the DK Coin. But I was just looking at Galaxy 2’s second trailer the other day, and noticed that shiny thing at around 0:17. Could that be…a Star Coin?! Maybe that’s all that Galaxy 2 needs, a few well-hidden Star Coins per star mission that could propel me to backtrack and provide that depth that the first Galaxy was missing.

End of rant. You can send your death threats now.

Weegee · « **Reply #218 on:** April 04, 2010, 04:38:58 PM »

Yeah, the element of backtracking was sorely missing from SMG. That's on respect in which Sunshine had 64 and Galaxy beat: It required the player to return to levels after unlocking certain elements (FLUDD nozzles, Yoshi, etc.) in order to flesh them out completely. Conversely, any given world in Galaxy can be 100%'ed from the get-go, leaving the player little reason to revisit it later.

Red Menace Forman · « **Reply #219 on:** April 05, 2010, 08:46:14 PM »

You know what Mario Galaxy 2 really needs?

1. Easter eggs

2. Larger cast.

Video games are like professional wrestling, you need the technical aspects, the atmosphere, and the showmanship to make a good program. Nintendo's got the gameplay (the match) and the spectacle (the atmosphere) down, they just need a good amount of bells and whistles (showmanship) to round out the experience.

Weegee · « **Reply #220 on:** April 05, 2010, 08:58:11 PM »

Quote from: Red Menace Forman on April 05, 2010, 08:46:14 PM

Mario Galaxy 2 really needed

What else does the future hold in store for us, o time-travelling mystic?

Red Menace Forman · « **Reply #221 on:** April 05, 2010, 09:10:36 PM »

That's comedy, real comedy.

Weegee · « **Reply #222 on:** April 05, 2010, 09:16:45 PM »

Thanks.

So, what exactly are you implying with "Easter eggs"? Hidden game references and unlockables are only worth so much.

Red Menace Forman · « **Reply #223 on:** April 05, 2010, 09:26:43 PM »

Yes

And what you say is True, but they're good to keep the player coming back.

Now that I think about it, some mini-games would be nice. Might as well add a blooper reel like they did with Mario's Power Tennis.

Edit: But the most important would be a larger, more memorable cast. Even if it's just a bunch of NPC's. Give 'em good dialogue and quirks and we'll be set to go.

Mr. Wiggles · « **Reply #224 on:** April 05, 2010, 10:08:36 PM »

I like this guy already.

Especially helps when he's named after a That 70s Show character.