Constructed of pure greatness, actual cake, fondant, Rice Krispy squares, fiber optic lighting, and pure love, the cake features several Super Mario Galaxy features and characters, including the under-glass pill-shaped puzzle area and Princess Peach's castle. And then just when you think it couldn't get any better, the damn thing moves. Hit the jump to see the cake in action.

The cake was designed and implemented by a man named Will, who suckered his daughter Hannah into the Super Mario Galaxy creation for her 4th birthday party. His trickery cost him 7 batches of Rice Krispy treats and 7 different cakes, but the results are simply amazing.

I had an extremely hard time deciding what to put on the cake. If you've played the game you might understand. There are so many levels its ridiculous. I had to have the castle and one round world. And for some reason I got bent on having the glass pill looking planet thing which I just thought would look cool on a cake. The silver disc was an add on at the end of my decision so I could add Luigi and some Galaxy like spinning. Seriously, I had the worst time cutting out worlds I wanted on here.

On behalf of everyone who has ever admired a video game-based cake, I hereby dub Will our new king.

Hannah's 4th Super Mario Galaxy Cake [Will and Liliana's Web Page]

Super Mario Galaxy Plush Doll: Bee Mario [Play-Asia, via Go Nintendo]

Mayles also is anxious about how Banjo loyalists might receive this overhauled installment, hoping that those surprised by the new flavor will give it a chance. All in all, Mayles says the Rare team is hoping the third installment will act as something of a franchise reboot:

We've kind of taken a step back from that and tried to make it a simpler, cleaner approach, obviously with this new mechanic in place. I guess we're all hoping for a clean start, that's what I think it'll do. It's kind of, 'There's your old Banjo games, let's put those in the past, you can remember how good those were, this is Banjo for the future'.

Mayles also suggests that comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy will be unavoidable:

And what do you think of Mario Galaxy?

Mayles: Very good.

That's it?

Mayles: I'm still playing it in my spare time. I thought it was an exceedingly polished, traditional platforming game, and frankly quite difficult to beat. If you were going to go along the similar lines, going for a very traditional, fixed-abilities, fixed-task kind of thing, I think it certainly would have been a massive challenge to try and go one up on that.

I think we're trying to approach it in a different direction. Obviously we will be compared to Galaxy, we can't get around that, but I'd like to think we offer something a bit different to Mario Galaxy and hopefully stand alongside it but for a different reason in terms of a different way of approaching things.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts Q&A [CVG]

It's biggest problem, the handicap it is largely unable to throw off, is that it is the latest in a long line of Mario games and must struggle to balance not only the varied play needs of the modern gaming audience against each another, it must do this against the backdrop of a franchise history unparalleled by any other game in existence. The weight of this history is too much to be overcome in some cases. Between these competing forces, it was always going to be difficult to innovate and amaze, and certainly this game could not hope to exceed the wonderment that Super Mario 64 could provide with its dynamic (and unrepeatable) transition from 2D to 3D.

It's a lengthy but interesting look at a popular title and worth (as almost all Only a Game essays are) spending some time with.

Super Mario Galaxy [Only a Game]

55 year-old Miyamoto, who's never been on a Time cover, comes out on top in his very first outing on the list with 1,949,634 votes, an achievement that foretells a future populated with towering statues in his likeness. Here's Time's stats on him:

PRO: As if creating Mario, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda weren't enough, the "father of modern video gaming" is still designing franchises for Nintendo and its best-selling Wii console. His latest, Super Mario Galaxy, redefines VG physics once again with its springy re-imagining of that old chestnut, gravity.

CON: Can he reverse gravity for all the obese, video game-playing kids out there? Miyamoto himself has said that the purpose of his Wii Fit game, with its balance board and full-body focus, isn't to make you fit, but "aware of your body." Aware enough to go outside before atherosclerosis sets in?

Your TIME 100 [TIME]

The bidding is already over $600 and there are over 4 days left in the auction. Given that there's charity involved, it might just be time to start planning your 2008 tax deductions.

Nintendo Wii ONE OF A KIND Super Mario Galaxy Mod [eBay via Gizmodo]

UPDATE: Apparently the item has been pulled. Sorry charity, no money for you because eBay is a douchebag.

UPDATE PART II: New link up!

Portal Brain Age 2 Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass BioShock Puzzle Quest Rock Band Super Mario Galaxy Wii Sports The Witcher WoW: Burning Crusade

And now that the industry has become so successful at creating high quality, more polished sequels, will any of these titles really be in play a decade from now?

The Future Of Videogames [Forbes via WiiWii]

Mr Miyamoto is known for taking lots of time to create the best player experience. His demands are numerous and exacting, but I actually really like that. He's effortless in explaining what he wants... We get along well together, and time files by when we're working. Before we know it, sometimes, it's 2am.

Those of you who have been following the site regularly probably know that my wife isn't a gamer. In fact she's slightly an anti-gamer, but she puts up with me. She doesn't, however, ever have any interest in playing games, or watching myself or my son play games, or even talking about games. So we don't, at least around her. And it's really not a big deal. I have plenty of other things going on in my life, so gaming doesn't have to be a part of every bit of it.

Over the weekend Tristan and I decided to play through more of Super Mario Galaxy. About 30 minutes into our session, my wife wandered down to fix herself a drink at the bar. Then she sort of wandered over to the couch where we were sitting to play. Then she sat down!

What the hell? I thought, but tried not to show my surprise. The last thing I wanted to do was have her walk off.

She watched for a little bit, and then started asking questions. What do you have to do? She asked. And Tristan explained. We were on one of the boss battles, one that we kept losing at. Tristan, who was playing shotgun, was helping out quite a bit by freezing the things being thrown at me.

After we beat the boss, Trish sat through a chapter of the story and then both of us went upstairs to start cooking dinner.

What was that? I asked as we sorted out the meal.

What?

You hate games?

Yeah, but that one was really cute.

If Miyamoto can make a game that my wife not only refers to as "cute", but is willing to watch then he's really found the key to mainstreaming gaming. The question is will that translate to more people playing his games? It's probably too early to tell for my wife, but it seems to be the case for quite a slew of gamers.

What is it about the Wii, do you think, that makes gaming less, I don't know, threatening, or perhaps boring? Is it the control scheme, the graphics, the subject matter. Does it time release opiates into the air?

Whether or not we'll see more Balance Board titles depends on the success of Wii Fit outside of Japan. If the game succeeds, expect peripheral-compatible titles to follow. To the casual observer, there's a huge opportunity to make a Wii Balance title for those who'd like to pick up an extra board. Given that such a model succeeded in the past, don't be surprised at the reprise.

Nintendo Considering Wii Balance Board Games [IGN via Maxconsole][photo: Nathan Smart]

MTV's Stephen Totilo decided to eschew the annual Game of the Year chestnut for a much more fun to pronounce and acronymize Game of the Game of the Year or GOTGOTY. Actually he didn't really eschew anything, seeing that he did his own GOTYs not too long ago, but this is still a fun idea. Totilo created a sort of MetaGOTY if you can imagine that (Personally, mine is a billy goat in a Robocop suit) by rounding up all of the GOTYs and tallying them to see which game was selected the most.

Included in the list are such gems as ours, Destructoid's, Joystiq's, The LA Times, The Rocky's and even Yahoo's. The final result? BioShock, it seems was selected the most as GOTY (nine times), while Super Mario Galaxy was selected six times and Call of Duty 4 an appropriate four times.

Forget 'Game Of The Year' — Introducing The 2007 'GOTGOTY' [MTV]

I mean, I have a Wii, I barely play it — not because I don't like it or appreciate it, I just, you know, it's not my cup of tea at the moment. Mario Galaxy, I thought was pretty cool.

I've got to be honest: I didn't think that it was as good as Ratchet. I didn't get the huge big deal over it; I thought it was a really good Mario game, but I wasn't like, "Oh my God, it's Mario 64!" I'm totally in the minority in that.

And for those interested, during the interview Jaffe also predicted that the PS3 will either tie the 360 or outsell it by a wide margin. Now you know.

Eat Sleep Play's Jaffe Talks State Of Console War [gamasutra] [image]

First a thing about the name: I didn't pick it. I think it's hilarious, but I'd never name an award after myself, it's obnoxious... and quite funny. Which is what I think the Rocky was going for. There are quite a few closet smart-asses over there. :)

So my annual pick for best video game ran in the Rocky Mountain News today and I picked Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as the overall winner. The game beat out The Orange Box, Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Here's why I decided to pick a war-time first-person shooter sequel over the splendor of a dystopian society, amazing character interaction of Uncharted and innovative design of Galaxy and Orange Box:

This solid first-person shooter for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 may not be as innovative as The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy. It may not deliver an awe-inspiring glimpse at an eschewed philosophy like BioShock or create the sort of sizzling character interaction found in Uncharted, but, hands down, it is the most thoroughly entertaining video game of the past year.

The single-player story is captivating, set in a present-day Middle East and parts of Russia and comes at the player in a mix of sweeping cinematic set pieces and smart pacing that can easily glue the audience to the game for the entire six- to eight-hour experience.

It's a game that has the sorts of moments usually found only in film, hiding these startling revelations in gamers' blind spots. People you come to care about die. You die, and not in the sort of plastic, ephemeral death found in video games. These deaths are permanent and, at times, evocative.

A deep, seemingly limitless online multiplayer experience also adds quite a bit of life to the title. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare may seem like more of the same, but this title is the realization of a rewarding franchise meeting its complete potential.

Hit the link to check out my winners for the rest of the categories, including a selection of "hot flashes" I managed to sneak into the awards. Feel free to bash me here for not choosing (your selection here) for best (your category here).

Ps. I didn't write the awards' intro, that's one of those smart-asses I was talking about.
Game Gold

The rest of the list features familiar faces, with Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III selling ludicrous amounts. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for Wii takes the tail end of the top ten, making the Sega-predicted 4 million copies sold seem that much more reasonable.

01. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360) - 1,470,000
02. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 1,400,000
03. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) - 1,250,000
04. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - 1,080,000
05. Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - 893,700
06. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 742,700
07. Brain Age 2: More Training In Minutes A Day (DS) - 659,500
08. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 655,200
09. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) - 624,600
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) - 613,000

The artsy folks over at MTV's Multiplayer (i.e. Stephen Totilo) stumbled upon the Super Mario Galaxy-esque work of Parisian photographer Alexandre Duret-Lutz. The photographer has been creating this Wee Planets pictures since 2006, but was apparently unaware of the video game until Totilo contacted him.

Not to be dissuaded, Totilo had some of his production folks whip up an showing, perhaps, what Super Mario Galaxy might have looked like on the PS3 or Xbox 360. Hit the jump to check it out.

Real Life 'Super Mario Galaxy' — A Possible Glimpse [Multiplayer]

Sometimes, it is the player, not the design that is at fault. Somewhere along the way, I have diverged from the traditional gamer path. Those simple pleasures of twitching in sequence to bizarre spacial/temporal puzzles are lost on me. Instead of finding them fun, I find them to be obnoxious time wasters.

He goes on to suggest that demos ought to be the thing that makes the world go 'round - or at least something that becomes more commonplace, since there are people that aren't going to be feeling that celebrated gem, even if everyone else does.

Super Mario Galaxy: A breakup note [Lost Garden]

Favorite line of the week: "The final bossfight is about as hard as the Stay Puffed mashmallow man's dick in the presence of his grandma."

Zero Punctuation: Super Mario Galaxy [theescapist]

You'd think with modern vehicles, especially the ones pre-loaded with built-in entertainment systems, it would be easy to play modern video games on the go. Unfortunately, I haven't been so lucky.

While planning our driving trip from Colorado to Georgia I just assumed it would be simple to plug a PS3, 360 or Wii into the van's ceiling-mounted DVD player. But when I tried the 360 and PS3 both just freaked out when I tried plugging them in to the heavy duty inverter I picked up for the van's back seat power outlet. The 360 nearly gave me a heart attack by flashing angry red rings at me and the PS3 just sat there, quietly refusing to power up at all. Dejected I plugged the Wii in and it popped to life immediately.

Once the power was sorted out, getting the Wii plugged into the drop-down screen was a breeze. Right next to that rear seat power plug is a set of component plugs, so I plugged the console in and then threaded the cords to let me set the Wii up in between the driver and front passenger seats.

No problem, until I tried using the Sensor Bar

Turns out that the drop down screen is just too close to the rear passenger seats to detect the remote, once you sit down and hold up your hand, the controller is just inches from the bar. After a little tinkering I discovered that the bar rests nicely between the arm rests of the front seat. To play you have to point about three feet below the television, but it works and you adjust surprisingly fast. I've got to say, it's pretty damn cool to play a new gaming system on the Interstate. I'll see i

I was able to play a bit of Super Mario Galaxy earlier today while my wife zoomed north through Georgia, but I've yet to let my son try it. The last thing we need is Trish getting a concussion from a flying-remote while dealing with Atlanta traffic. Instead I've made him stick to the classics, VC classics like Super Mario 64, Pokemon Snap and Donkey Kong.

So hit the jump for our Frankenreview, victory lap 2007 edition. We pulled reviewers' top rated games* from Game Rankings to relive some of our best moments from the year.

Note, on repeat games, we picked the higher ranking platform.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - Gamespy
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner. Super Mario Galaxy represents the Nintendo Wii's best release to date, and takes the tried-and-tested formula from Super Mario 64 and Sunshine to a new level of perfection. It's the single best reason for naysayers to finally take the hardware plunge

The Orange Box (Xbox 360) - Gaming Age
If one thing is certain, there is not one game out there that offers such a complete package at the regular retail price of a single game. You get 5 outstanding games that give you a little bit of everything, action, story, puzzles, multiplayer, and just flat out addictive content...you would be doing yourself, gamers, and the wonderful developers a great injustice by not buying The Orange Box. Not only is it possibly the best bargain in gaming history, but arguably the best FPS experience of all time...

Bioshock (Xbox 360) - Jolt
Even when vastly outnumbered and outgunned, BioShock puts mania before mere survival...yet, that fear of an impending death never fades. The feeling of being watched, of being used, of being nothing but a pawn, balances perfectly with the game's no-holds-barred approach to combat. It's this mixture of ambience, emotion and plain old fun that sets BioShock apart from the scores of FPSes hitting the shelves this year...it is one of the most progressive, gripping and downright fun games to hit the market in the last decade.

COD4 (Xbox 360) - Eurogamer
...all you really need to know is this a huge return to form for the Call of Duty series, and for war-based FPS titles in general. Even without the vastly impressive multiplayer elements, Modern Warfare would be worth buying for its outstanding single-player campaign. It succeeds not only for being consistently spectacular, but for the way it has been crafted into something that keeps you engaged right to the very end.

Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 1UP
Halo 3's campaign is better in every way imaginable. Subtly beautiful, rich and lush graphics, a heart-pounding orchestrated score, new weapons, vehicles, and enemies...and even better enemy and teammate A.I... Sure, no one aspect of the game is life-changing on its own, but perhaps the package as a whole is. After all, Halo 3 has enough content to keep you stuck to your controller for weeks, if not months or even years. Looks like we won't be finishing the fight anytime soon after all.

Good times. Did we really play that many FPSs this year...on the Xbox 360 no less? [image]

When the New York Times' Seth Schiesel delivered this year's video game awards in the paper, they arrived on the back of his hand. While some of the awards, like best newcomer for BioShock and Best Adaptation of an Adored Intellectual Property for The Lord of the Rings Online, are pretty straight forward and complimentary, most of them come with more than a little slap down.

Take for instance the Best Unambitious Representations of the State of the Art, awarded to Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy. While both receive an "award", Schiesel uses it as an excuse to point out their flaws. Halo 3 is called a polished gem, but one that merely relies on the "time-tested Halo formula rather than a daring attempt to provide a new sort of experience."

Super Mario Galaxy too gets a bit of a poke, with Schiesel calling it a "reinvention of classic play modes" and not something genuinely new.

Hit the jump for the full list of awards and the New York Times to read all of the "compliments."

BEST NEWCOMER: BIOSHOCK
MOST DIFFICULT DELIVERY: THE NEW E3
BEST ADAPTATION OF AN ADORED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE
BEST UNAMBITIOUS REPRESENTATIONS OF THE STATE OF THE ART: HALO 3 AND SUPER MARIO GALAXY
BEST SINGLE-HANDED RESCUE OF A MAJOR GAME SYSTEM: RATCHET & CLANK: TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION
GAME OF THE YEAR: MASS EFFECT

High Scores for the Games of 2007 [NYT]

Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy beat out competitors as the most engrossing release of 2007, beating out the bestselling Monster Hunter Freedom 2. Capcom shouldn't feel too bad, though, as Monster Hunter releases and announcements put the Osaka-based developer in first place for software "defied expectations." Good to see these multi-billion dollar corporations are appreciate by their fans.

Famitsu: Japan Sums Up 2007 in a Nutshell [1UP]

Anyone looking to fill in some holes in their gaming library would do well to give the list a once over. It certainly made me realize I needed to finally pick up Pac-Man Championship Edition.

NEXT-GEN'S BEST 30 GAMES OF 2007 [Next-Gen]

USA Today points to a couple of titles that fell under our radar, including DVD games and PC titles such as Guess How Much I Love You and JumpStart World Kindergarten. Of course, the editor must be commended for her choice of Rock Band, which is just about perfect for the kids. Sure, there will be some snarls of anarchy from the pre-teen crowd this Xmas, but it's, like, educational and stuff.

Best 2007 video games for kids [USA Today]

Mario has a creator, Miyamoto, and you have to consider Mr. Miyamoto's thoughts when you're making a Mario game. But we share thoughts back and forth first for quite a long time. And once I start to outline some really broad strokes about where we're going with the game, then I can get a little more feedback from Miyamoto. Then, getting a version together, I have to go to Miyamoto as soon as possible as we can get more feedback.

Over time, as all of these broad ideas get a little more narrowly defined, the feedback becomes a little more subtle, until finally it gets to the point where Miyamoto will give us feedback, and the only person who has any idea what it means is me. And everyone else who is CC'ed on these emails from Miyamoto have absolutely no idea what he is talking about. So I'll translate for everyone else, "I think he's trying to say this." Having that sort of information gap is sort of like a puzzle or a riddle. It's like playing Brain Age.

I'll admit that it's sometimes hard to see the graphical differences between Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii and Super Mario Sunshine for the Gamecube, even in the HD version of the above clip. Obviously, there are bits in Galaxy that outshine it's predecessor in the visuals department, but it's hard not to look controlling FLUDD in Sunshine and not see a boiling red rage where gameplay is supposed to be. I suppose I'm more surprised that the Wii iteration wasn't as much of a graphical leap as I'd thought it was. Good thing graphics nitpickery loses out to gameplay every time.

I'll grab a few spare minutes to get back into Super Mario Galaxy and finally fire up The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Where's my Nintendo DS charger, anyway? Oh, and what are you playing this weekend?

GamerRankings' Top Ten Ranked Games List [GameRankings]

So, what's up? What are you playing this weekend?

The review continues to point out flaws that other reviewers made nearly no mention of, writing that Super Mario Galaxy is "evidence of how bad the Wii is for third person action games", pointing to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as further evidence of that claim.

Additional complaints include poor use of the Wii's motion controls and "one of the worst two-player experiences ever seen in a videogame."

Personally, I tend to disagree with Mr. Fritz's opinion of Super Mario Galaxy, as our opinions on each one of these matters are at opposite ends of the spectrum. From my experience with the game, Nintendo nailed not only the perfect balance between Wii remote usage and traditional Mario-style platforming, but also added a two-player mode that suits the Wii audience quite well. I'm also quite glad that people are entitled to their opinions, so I'm not going to work myself into a froth over it.

But I hear some pitchforks being sharpened somewhere...

Super Mario Galaxy [Variety]

Still not having played the glory that is Super Mario Galaxy at all, let alone in two-player mode, I was pretty confused how the second player controlling just the star really worked out. And short of putting Luigi on the screen—which would be pretty incredible if the levels at all made it possible, which they don't—this dynamic seems like a solid compromise to let your little brother play at your side. Now to just convince my wife of the same thing...

How 'Super Mario Galaxy' Multiplayer Works (Video) [MTV]

GameSpy
Super Mario Galaxy's graphics are out of this world. We've not seen such a beautifully vibrant game on the Wii. The strong use of bold colors married with the better-than-expected texturing makes for a great-looking game. It runs, as expected, very well at 480p in a 16:9 apsect ratio, and while a small part of us aches for a 720/1080p version of the game, we'll take what we can get. There's nothing else on the system that looks this good...
NintendoWorldReport
...the pseudo-linearity, aided by the automatic camera, makes it possible for the game to go back to its 2-D platforming roots rather than the wide-open, but less interesting seek-and-find nature of prior games. Occasionally, a handful of Star Shards must be collected to progress, but there is nothing approaching the tediousness of the blue coin collecting in Super Mario Sunshine. Players will absolutely want to collect all of the Power Stars.
GameSpot
It helps that practically every stage in the game has a great deal of replayability purely on its own merits. These levels are just inherently fun to go back to again and again...comets will enter orbit in some of these galaxies, and thus change the way you play in some bizarre way. Whether it's speeding up all the enemies in an area, putting you on a timed run, or having you race against a doppelganger Mario, there's a nice variety of change-ups to experience.
CVG
Galaxy also plays around with gravity and physics like no Mario game before it. You'll flip gravity to navigate giant block mazes, use a planet's gravity to propel yourself to a new platform and shoot into the stars...no matter where you run or jump gravity will twist and pull you towards the planet, allowing you to run all the way around it and even jump to other planets by hopping into their gravitational pull... It's not as revolutionary as Mario 64, but it certainly re-defines what we expect from a 3D platformer.
Eurogamer
It's simply an explosion of inventiveness - a total rejection of the cookie-cutter. There's almost no way of knowing when you go into a level what it's going to look like, what you'll need to do, or how long it will take. One star will be a cheeky diversion, the next a five-stage epic of delight and adventure.Hmm...what can you say to all these near perfect reviews? Something cheesy. Like, Houston, your Mario Galaxy has landed on the Wii. No, actually that's horrible. But we'll leave it up as an example of what never to say when talking about the game.

For many, Super Mario is not just a game, but an important part of the culture of a generation.

I pre-ordered Super Mario Galaxy 2 weeks ago from Amazon.com. Today I received this in my inbox:

"We wanted to let you know that there is an unexpected delay with your video game order (Order# ###-#######-#######) you placed on October 25 2007 09:26 PDT. Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the product(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when they may be delivered:

"Super Mario Galaxy" [Video Game]
Estimated arrival date: 11/20/2007

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay."

I canceled my order so I can buy it tonight at a brick&mortar store tonight after work. No pre-order coin for me, I guess.

Another Chapter Begins

The princess gets kidnapped. She had to, really. Mario has always worked best when he's fighting to save a damsel in distress. This time around, however, the kidnapping is far more spectacular than ever before, involving Bowser, airships, and a flying saucer with a giant laser that cuts the Mushroom Castle away from the planet's surface and flies off into space with it in tow. It's up to one heroic Italian to save the day.

A series of events follows that finds Mario on the space platform of one Princess Rosalina, the Watcher of the Stars, who aids our hero in his quest to save Princess Peach. He travels from galaxy to galaxy, gathering the stars needed to power the platform's various areas, in turn unlocking more galaxies until no cluster of stars is left unturned.

A Fresh Coat

Part of the charm of the Super Mario series is the way each successive game integrates familiar settings, enemies, and themes in a new environment. I think one of the reasons I didn't like Sunshine as much was that it was so far removed from the traditional Mario world - something they had to do to incorporate the new gameplay elements. I guess that's what makes Super Mario Galaxy such a surprise for me. They've taken traditional Mario gameplay to a whole new level, yet they've still managed to incorporate enough of the old standards to make it feel more like I am coming home than traveling to strange, new worlds.

The graphics certainly help. The characters and enemies all look completely amazing, and the worlds themselves are crafted so they are like giant characters unto themselves. Far from the blocky 3D introduced in Super Mario 64, everything in Galaxy has soft, seamless curves. It's almost like you are playing an animated movie, which on the underpowered Wii is no mean feat. It could hold its own graphically to earlier PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles easily. No surprise, really. This is the game the Wii was created to play, and it shows in more than the graphics.

Wiimote Control

You know how you can tell a game is a good fit for the Wii? When you sit down to play it and never once think about how strange it is to be controlling it with a different controller in each hand. Take Zelda for instance. Even picking up the game and playing it now, a year after release, it still feels odd to me to control it with the Wiimote / nunchuck controller. Then look at a game like Zak and Wiki, where the controller makes perfect sense. Even having never laid a hand on the game before, never once playing Super Mario Galaxy did the oddness of the controls cross my mind. In fact, the only time I had any issue with control at all was during swimming levels, which just didn't translate well at all. Otherwise I was in perfect control even during the most precarious moments.

Controls are simple, for the most part. Move with the stick, A button jumps, Z button ground pounds, and shaking the Wiimote sends Mario spinning in order to attack enemies or add some extra air to his vertical leap. The Wiimote is used both to pick up the game's currency, star bits, which are amazingly plentiful, as well as to manipulate special objects in the world. There are blue stars that draw you towards them when you highlight them and hit a button, gum trees that can be pulled back to launch Mario through the air, and even spots where you use the Wiimote like a gun to shoot star bits at targets to reveal life-giving coins. Both in control and graphics, Super Mario Galaxy makes full use of everything the Wii has to offer.

Topsy-Turvy

The level design in SMG is nothing short of astounding. Other games in the past have toyed around with the tiny planet mechanic (Ratchet and Clank for instance), but none have done so well in tying the mechanic together to create worlds that turn you upside-down yet make complete sense at the same time. even when arriving on a completely new sort of construct, like a planetoid made of boxes whose sides disappear soon after you walk on them, it was easy to see what was expected of you. It all goes back to whole mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar point I made previously. If you know your Mario, Super Mario Galaxy just makes sense. Perhaps too much sense.

Mind you there are plenty of worlds that won't have you walking around planets. There are surfing challenges, Super Monkey Ball-inspired levels that have you balancing atop a glass sphere, and plenty of the traditional 3D Mario action you've known and loved since Super Mario 64.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

The main challenge in Super Mario Galaxy is found in the extra bits. Going through the game getting just the stars needed to go through the game is quite a simple task. The bosses pretty much come down to patterns and timing, and even the most imposing bosses, like a colossal robot bigger than the planet it is standing on, go down relatively simply. Once orbiting comets that act like level power-ups (super fast monsters, starting the level out with low health) come into play things can get a bit more difficult, but for the most part the game isn't too much of a challenge for your average Mario fan.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing though. A game lacking in challenge can still be enjoyable, and I've enjoyed every moment of SMG. I almost think making the game harder would have taken away from it somehow. You cannot appreciate how well crafted the title is if you're too busy spouting profanity at it every five minutes.

Clear Your Schedule

Super Mario Galaxy is tons of game for the money. There are 120 stars to find with only 60 necessary to complete the game, but you'll want to try and find all for a special treat, which in turn will drive you to do it all over again. There is even a two-player mode of sorts, where a friend can use the Wiimote to help you find star bits and manipulate the environment to keep Mario safe from harm - though it is much more fun to use the second Wiimote for evil rather than good.

The Best Of What's Around

Nintendo once again proves that realistic graphics and hi-tech consoles aren't what makes a fun video game experience. Super Mario Galaxy is a masterpiece that will be popping up on top games of all times lists for years to come. Wii owners? This is your reward for giving the goofy little system a chance. I'm sorry I ever doubted.

Super Mario Galaxy (WII)
It'sa Mario again... in space!

Assassin's Creed (X360, PS3)
Altair is da man in 1191.

Crysis (PC)
Fight aliens!

BlackSite: Area 51 (X360, PC)
Fight more aliens!

Need for Speed ProStreet (PC, X360, PS3, PS2, WII, DS)
Race around the world in your custom car.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (X360, PS2, WII, PS3, PSP, DS)
Wrestlemania. Wait, that's something else...

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (X360, PS3, PC)
Co-op killing.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PS2)
Dragon Ball Z. Still going.

SimCity Societies (PC)
Learn how buildings shape society.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (WII)
A zombie massacre on rails.

Soldier of Fortune: Payback (X360, PC)
The game based on the magazine based on killing and guns.

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (WII, PSP)
Invade WWII with your Wii Zapper.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (WII, DS)
Rayman's Raving Rabbids return.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (PSP)
My money is on Aliens because they look cooler.

The latest in the Wii Want to Play TV advertising campaign focuses on Super Mario Galaxy. While the commercial isn't terribly exciting, just the thought of playing SMG on a giant movie theater screen just fills my heart with glee. Actually, the thought of playing any good game on a theater screen would be great but the fact that it's Mario makes it all the better.