Super Mario Galaxy

Intro


Super Mario has been jumping around our screens for many decades now, first defeating angry gorillas in the arcade title Jumpman. Since then we have seen good old Mario stomping on Gumbas in the brilliant Super Mario Bros. series to playing golf and even staring in his own RPG. 3D Mario games have been around since 1996 and  Galaxy is Mario's third 3D main series game. As of 2011 Nintendo re-released this game as part of its selects range, this means you can now buy this wonderful Wii game for a cheaper price!

The Story

Mario is invited by Princess Peach to attend the Mushroom kingdoms the magnificent Star Festival, as you are heading towards the castle star bits are falling from the sky in wondrous different colors. Toadstools are dancing around enjoying the festival. As soon as Mario is near the castle, his arch enemy appears. Bowser with an army of airships and one pretty huge UFO does not only kidnap the princess (again) but also takes the full castle. Mario's attempt to save the Princess is flawed and he is flung across the galaxy with the goal to save the Princess yet again. This time however Mario must travel to numerous galaxy's to collect power stars to eventually face Bowser in an epic final battle! (until the next main Mario game).

The story is more or less the same as most Mario games except with space, planets and a few new characters thrown in. The only points in the game you get a true sense of storytelling is at the beginning and the end, with very little bits thrown in during the game. If you are expecting huge plot twists and a epic story I'm sorry to say you are not going to get one. This is not a bad thing however as main Series Mario games are all about fantastic platforming goodness. This story is just here to give you a starting point and a finishing point.

You will see cut-scenes used over and over again, but you will not get board of them as they are mildly entertaining and are only shown for a few seconds at a time.     

The Music

If I was to describe the music of Super Mario Galaxy in one word it would be epic. The music certainly does make up for the lack of story. This game defiantly has one of the best sound tracks on the system.

While you are at the games hub you can here a very dreamy and soft track, this song is very pleasing to the ears. This is very good as you will be hearing this song often as you go from one level to the next. The music is very varied through the entire course of the game. Before every level you will hear a epic adventure theme that puts you in the right mood to tackle a level. Also the tracks theme will match the theme of the levels. When you go through a ghost themed galaxy creepy and scary music adds to the haunted theme. Music matching the levels appear throughout the game from tropical music for beach levels to middle eastern music for the dessert levels.

This sound track adds to the game, you may end up humming some of these songs even when your not playing. You can tell Nintendo have spent a lot of time and effort producing galaxy's sound track, the music just adds to this humongous adventure.

  

The visuals

It is a well known fact that the Wii is not High Definition unlike Nintendo's rivals. This however has not stopped the development team from pushing the Wii's graphical limitation to a new level. The game is full of all sorts of colors and textures this makes the levels through the game different and you will enjoy seeing varied sights. Sometimes you may stop for a short time just to appreciate the out of world view.

The big thing that really impresses me is how the camera sticks to Mario, you will never lose him at all. I know this sound really simple and something that we all expect from all games. For a game like galaxy however; this is more complex as Mario jumps from planet to planet or is walking upside down, at one point you control Mario while he is in a sphere. It is amazing and Nintendo should be praised for this usually (but complex in galaxy's case) simple accomplishment.

Game-Play

The Mario series has always had to accommodate the games difficulty for the series hardcore gamer's who have played most Mario games and are need of a hard game. Also it has to accommodate for the younger and newer gamer's that are in need of an easy game. So does galaxy do this? Yes! It dose! The levels have a power star at the end, in total you can obtain 120 power stars. If you are in need of an easy game you game enter the final level with 60 power stars, this is easily done and may take anywhere between 6 - 10 hours. If you want to prove you are a true Mario gamer getting all the stars (some are quite hard to obtain) it can take 20+ hours. Collecting every power star will unlock a very cool and special Easter egg.

Power ups appear throughout the game and are a big part of the game-play. Old and famous power up like fire Mario make a spectacular return. Galaxy also introduces some new and some what controversial power ups. The biggest power up that caused a fan flamed uproar was spring Mario, yes it is as stupid (even for Mario) as it sounds.  Mario looks ridiculous and the controls are frustrating. Other new power ups include my favorite from this game, Boo Mario. It is really cool to float around seeping through objects, be careful though other Boo's may be attracted to you! The other is bee Mario, this power up allows you to fly for a short time, stick to honey patches and makes Mario unable to hit water without losing the power up. Most of these power ups really do affect the game-play in a good way, they really do show off the well designed levels.

Some sections of levels include 2D/3D sections these are amazingly put together and really fun to play. The game also contains a 2 player mode. This is disappointing as the second player is only able to obtain star bits with the remote.

The game takes place like the old Mario games in some forms, you do have worlds with levels (W1-2), but instead of different worlds you get rooms. These rooms are accessible through the games hub, The Observatory. 

The controls are amazing, unlike some Wii games the controls are well thought out. As ever you press A to jump and move the analogue stick on the numchuk to move around. New to the Main series 3D Mario games is the spin attack, shake the remote to spin. You also spin the Wii remote to enable launch stars. Good old controls make a return like the wall jump and triple jump. The controls are simple yet effective and suit both a hardcore and casual audience.

Verdict

Super Mario Galaxy is an amazing platformer, never have I played a game of this genre as smart and well put together. Nintendo has proved once again that Mario is king of 3D platforming.

9/10

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Intro

The Legend of Zelda series has been around now for 25 years and since its first release on the NES it has gained a fantastic following. This following grew bigger and bigger when in 1998 Ocarina of Time was released on the Nintendo 64. Since then the N64 classic has been re-released a few times, from been a bundle with limited editions of Wind Waker on the GameCube to the re-release on the Wii Virtual Console. So is this remake of a game that has been released over and over again worth the full retail price tag that the older versions do not have? Yes but you will have to read on to find out why.

The Story


Set in the land of Hyrule you play the game as a young boy called Link (or any other name for that matter) and you are the only child in this adult-less village of Kokiri  Forest that does not have a fairy. With a huge surprise (well not that huge) you are awarded with a fairy from the great Deku Tree and embark on an epic adventure that involves a really evil guy called Ganondorf, a wise princess called Zelda, an annoying fairy called Navi and a useful instrument called the Ocarina of Time.

The story at the beginning may sound some what simple and may be slightly plain but this is perfect for those who have never played Ocarina or a Zelda game before as you dig deeper into the game the story becomes gripping and thrilling. So what about those Zelda fans who have played the original numerous of times? Has anything new been added to this epic story? Well no the story has remained unchanged from the original. This is not a bad thing however as it will supply Zelda fanatics with a fix of good old Nintendo nostalgic goodness.

The game has plenty of cut scenes.  the cut scenes are full of color and character and really brings the story to life. One thing to point out is the hints of comedy that come from these scenes, like when the Gorons try and give Link a brotherly hug. These little placements of comedy bring out the Nintendo factor of the game. Not only do they offer comedy but they also offer a whole range of feelings and they are multiplied when viewed in stereoscopic 3D.

The Music


Music is a very big part of this game not only does it give the game more feeling and depth that also effects the very game-play and story of this 3DS classic.

The music changes with the vast amount of environments scattered around Hyrule. You get a great senses of adventure with the uplifting music that flows into your ears when you first step onto Hyrule field. Tension is added when you hear the in battle music, this just adds to the experience of fighting the amazing amount of enemies you will encounter through out the game.

The Ocarina of Time plays a huge part of the story, so not to spoil the story for those who have not played this game I will just say leave it as that. The Ocarina of time also effects that game-play. Using the magical instrument you can summon a number of things including storms and horses and enter places that otherwise would be impossible to enter. You can also use it to transport to areas all over Hyrule this is very handy as it avoids back tracking.

A very interesting fact about the music is that it was not just dragged from the N64 to the 3DS. Due to the consoles having different specs the music had to be redone for the 3DS. So the music may sound like the original but its not.

Visuals


The visuals are the biggest difference that you will see between the N64 and the 3DS versions. The N64 version was very square and the color textures were off. The 3DS version has totally been redone. Instead of a quirky looking Link with a weird nose and square body you get a very even link with a decent nose! The only part of the visuals I did not like to much is that certain areas still look slightly square but this could of been done to keep the nostalgic feel to the game.

The 3D on this game is very strong, if this is a good thing or not comes down to your personal feeling towards 3D. If Pilotwings was a tad too much for you then the 3D may not suit you. Myself I only played the game in 3D during cut-scenes as they are amazing in 3D!

Game-Play


So the big question, dose the game-play compare to the story, visuals and music? Of course! The difficulty is brilliant, exactly right for newcomers and fans alike. The game starts off quite easy (this is great for you newcomers) and the difficulty grows steadily through out the game. It does not get overwhelming difficult so you newcomers can experience all the game has to offer. For the die hard Zelda fans main game will more than likely be easy for you, but go and play the very hard master quest and you will probably break a sweat during the first dungeon! The only problem is that you have to complete the main game to get the master quest.

The game is mainly an adventure game with elements of action and puzzle. Once you beat the first dungeon you can explore Hyrule field and once you have your horse Epona the exploration part of the game becomes   a real delight.

The game-play is very focused on dungeons and temples that are full of action and puzzles. The game will make you think "how do i get to the next room" and often you have to complete a  puzzle to advance. The puzzles are very smart and fit into this game perfectly. You will face numerous amount of different enemies during the game, so to have a simple L-targeting system makes the combat delightful. Action and puzzle go hand in hand in this game, items and spells you may think are only usable in combat will actually help you solve a puzzle and this gives you a real sense of accomplishment.    

Like most Zelda games Ocarina does follow a strict path of; Travel to a destination, learn a new song, explore dungeon/temple, defeat boss then repeat. It does get repetitive but due to it been a remake the developers could not change this without ruining the true Ocarina experience.

Verdict


One of the best games in the world has been made even better, this is easily the best version of Ocarina and is the best 3DS game up to date. If you have a 3DS you must own this game!

10/10