Galaxy

Looking at my game collection I probably have a hundred games I have yet to play. Most of them are good games that I want to play yet I just spent 60 hours replaying Twilight Princess. Now when Im done with that i popped in Super Mario Galaxy. I probably should get around to playing all of those unplayed games but I love going back to these early Wii games.

When Zleda and Mario both came out I was so caught up in the hype, I had been looking forward to these games forever and I couldnt help comparing them to the idea in my head of what they were supposed to be. They lived up to my fantasies fairly well but coming back to them a few years later I feel that I can better appreciate them for what they are.

In the case of Mario Im realizing its more like the old NES and SNES games then its 3d brethren. What I loved about Mario 64 and Sunshine (two of my favorite games ever) was having this well crafted, charming Nintendo world to explore every inch of. It was very much the Nintendo 64 approach to platforming.

Galaxy is more like the old 2d games. Its about constantly moving forward on a mostly liniar path constantly being showered by new experiences. Mario used to just run to the right, here he jumps from one small 3d area to the next, but it has the same feel to it.

I think thats what stopping me from loving Galaxy as much as its two most recent predecessors. Galaxy has a different approach to platforming and it does it very well. Super Mario Galaxy is a fantastic game, if I can just appreciate it for what it gives me I see that. Its not the same game as Mario 64 and it doesnt have to be.