The past couple of days have been pretty jam-packed; I?m finally in my new home, thankfully, though it?s still going take me a while to completely settle in (always the case after a big move). I cannot wait, just so I can get back to business. I haven?t been able to do much of anything, especially these past couple of weeks, due to all the apartment hunting, and acquiring, and moving. Not only has this blog suffered, but I?ve barely been able to do much freelance. I don?t know how many times I?ve told Simon that I would have a GSW piece ready for later in the week, only to blow it off because of some nonsense that suddenly came up.
But anyway, I?ve rambled on for too long; time for the big news: Last night I got to play Super Mario Galaxy last night. And the verdict? It?s good. Actually, it?s f?n AMAZING.
It?s the one game that people for the past ten plus years now have literally been begging for, a true successor to Super Mario 64. And man, has Nintendo delivered? and it?s been about damn time as well. I know plenty of Wii owners out there have been feeling pretty antsy for a good while now, and I guess I can?t blame them; as awesome Sin & Punishment is, playing old games via the Virtual Console can only feed that hunger so much, and what everyone has been really wanting is a solid reason to legitimize their Wii purchase. Hey, we all bought into Nintendo?s promise of something totally new and totally fresh, and while Nintendo has thus far delivered on that, the bottom line is that the faithful still need that big AAA Nintendo title starring the characters they know and love. And Mario fans have had it worse; for many, Super Mario Sunshine was the reason to justify their GameCube purchase and that game was a mess; at least once every couple of months or so, I?ll fire it up and try to beat it, and it always ends in frustration. It?s still the only Mario game I have played and never beaten, and as a pretty diehard Mario fan (something I guess I really don?t make too public, since honestly, there hasn?t been too much to shout about for, again, over a decade) that?s saying a lot.
Super Mario Galaxy is pure heaven. I didn?t play it a whole lot, but enough to get a good taste and a decent feel (I also watched Dave played quite a bit, some of the more difficult parts). Every second for me was filled with that same feeling, that same Mario magic, as clich?d as it sounds, that?s been sorely missing. The sense of wonderment and exploration that was found in Mario 64, where everything was awe inspiring and put a grin on your face, is back. Not unlike in Sunshine, in which the setting was very pretty, don?t get me wrong, but kinda flat, and the action was extremely frustrating (which is why I consider Sunshine to Mario 64 as I do with the original Super Mario Bros 2, or Lost Levels as its know in America, to the original game? it was kinda like the game before it, but with more technique and much harder, to an almost sadistic degree).
As everyone knows or has guessed by the title, you?re in outer space, hoping from world to world, or galaxy to galaxy in this case. Controls are spot-on, despite myself having a certain degree of trouble (but the truth of the matter is, I?m still not used to the Wii-mote–hey I had to adjust to the N64 controller as well). You move Mario around with the control stick on the nunchuk, and use the C button to make him duck. The A button on the Wii-mote makes him jump, and he moves and leaps around just as he did in Mario 64/Sunshine. The big addition here is how you shake the Wii-mote to make him do a spin attack, as collecting and utilizing star pieces; hidden in the environment and held by enemies are small star pieces that you have to collect, either by coming across them, or simply pointing at them with the remote. The star pieces are also used against enemies; aim at them with the Wii-mote and shoot at them with the B button. The controls are actually quite simple and makes total sense; the best part is how a second player can join and collect star pieces, leaving player one to concentrate on simply navigating the terrain.
As for the environments? that?s where the game truly shines. Each of the galaxies have a theme, stuff that everyone?s well used to (there?s a forest planet, a water planet, a lava planet, etc.) but the thing is, some of them are actually tiny planets, where you run up and down and around at all directions. They each have their own gravity, so you never have to worry about falling off, though a major component is traveling from one mini planet to the next, and sometimes you can get sucked into a black hole. It looks cool. It feels cool. Unfortunately, not every galaxy is a huge ball you run around, or collection of some are just larger, flat environments, the kind everyone is well used to, which I know Dave found annoying, and I?m disappointed too, but the flat lands are still lots of fun. There are also some old school, 2D sections where you just run back and forth, up and down.
Another blast from the past is the introduction of suits. One will let Mario fly, another lets him shoot fireballs (a la SMB1), yet another encases him in a spring that makes him hop around like a slinky. You can even turn into a bee or a ghost, giving the game a SMB3 flare. There was even a level in which Mario is moving atop a giant ball — there?s so much to list — let’s say there?s just a ton of variety.
The structure is similar to M64 & Sunshine once again; there?s a hub world that you has portals to the galaxies; each galaxy has a set of objectives, with the prize being a star at the end, though this time around there?s quite a few additional variables.
How are the graphics? Jaw-dropping-beautiful. It’ll make you wonder why the hell any other Wii game out there doesn’t come as close to looking so good. And the sound? Again, completely brilliant. Nintendo knows how to make their fans happy, by recycling tunes from our childhood, and it works wonderfully yet again.
The game really feels amazing. There?s no other way to describe it. I guess what I like about it most is that it returns to the abstractness that the Mario games (and all video games to be honest) used to embody before things became so fancy and hi-fi, and thusly so concrete and literal. Thats another reason why Sunshine sucked; Mario is on a tropical island, because he?s on vacation. Okay? that?s neat and all, but I liked it better when he was constantly in some bizarro, random setting that I couldn?t figure out “Why?”, nor that I cared, and the enemies reflected this. In fact, aside from it feeling like Mario 64, it also feels a lot like the original NiGHTS, in how dreamlike the whole experience is.
I guess it?s age, or the fact that I?ve played a lot of games by this point, so it takes more and more to get me all excited and giddy, but Super Mario Galaxy made me feel just as I did oh so many years ago. So yeah, game of the year? Yup, at least for me.
I also saw We Are The Strange last night, but since I?m going to review it for GSW, I’ll save everything I have to say about it for then. Afterwards Dave, myself, and Damian watched Spider Man 3, and again, I liked it. I know a lot of people hated it, like it raped their dads or something, and while part three can’t compare to the first two and is far from perfect (in fact, some stuff that I had no problems with, even defended, specifically Sandman, I kinda did not like as much the second time around), it still has a ton going for it. In fact, of the three, I do believe it has the most satisfying fisticuffs. And that last fight scene just gets me all comic book fanboy giddy.
Dave also let me check out the Don?t Eat The Mushrooms mod for Knitt Stories, and it was pretty neat. I?m finally getting more heavily into PC gaming since I at least have one.
Otherwise, I?ve just been busying getting the apartment in shape. As nice and big as it was when I found it, it was also kinda filthy; one of the stipulations that I had to accept was to take the place as is, since my credit rating was so poor and the landlord was doing the realty agent a huge favor, since I?m a friend of the family to them (they also knocked off a few hundred dollars off the rent). I had to get the living room and bedroom repainted, which I was going to do myself the other weekend, along with Jason, until he checked it out and noted “Yeah? this is just way too much for us.” And he was totally correct. The paint job cost way more than I was originally told (it would seem the cheap Mexicans the super got for me weren’t all that cheap in the end), but they did an awesome job, and were well worth the price tag. But I also spent a ton on a whole bunch of other things — all totally necessary — such as stuff to cook with and the like. I did have dishes and pots and pans, but they were all ruined by my filthy Chinese Harlem roommates (you know, the ones with the teeth soup and the falcon talons stew). Jason took me out to mall up in the Bronx Saturday afternoon and treated me to my Christmas present early, which was a sleek cookware set. Speaking of, I?m afraid that I?m gonna have to be pretty stingy with holiday gifts this year for all my friends, but again, I?m totally tapped out. I also have this nice, wonderfully big apartment and no place it sit, since I?ve never had to get couches and the such. So anyone wanting to get me stuff for Xmas, forget about movies or games, and just get me gift certificates to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Either that or cold, hard cash. Though I wouldn?t mind that super Twin Peaks DVD set that just came out either? Oh, and previous to shopping, I played with Jason?s daughter Alana, who is super shy around me, but she warmed up to me when I made all her toys do “WACKY!!!” things.
Wish there was more to report? hell, I didn?t even get a chance to fuck around on the forums all weekend, since I have no internet at home yet. But I’ll be back in the swing of things in the not too distant future. I better? that pile of shit to do is not getting any smaller.
Oh, before heading out (since, again, because I have no internet at home, I?m writing this post after-hours at work, and I?d rather not be in Newark past 9pm), here?s something Joel did for me; a drawing of my fave B-level Marvel character, Darkhawk. And as expected, his take on it is super hawt?
I believe he’s doing Crimson Dynamo for me next. Either that or Marvel Girl with slime dumped on her.
Oh, also from earlier today; Farel might be living with me for a bit. More on that as it develops. Anyway, gotta run!
