Console:
Nintendo Wii
Developed by:
Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Published by:
Nintendo

Graphics: Great
Storyline: Good
Characters: Fair
Controls: Good
Music: Good
Overall Grade: Fair

Hands down, my favorite part of the game was the graphics. They were absolutely stunning. Whereas Twilight Princess was beautiful in a real way, SMG was beautiful in an animated way. The stars and planets were so colorful and pretty, I could stare at them all day. They were, in my opinion, absolutely flawless. I wish I could jump into the game and live there.

The storyline, was, unfortunately, not as good as the graphics. It was very basic and one-track. Basically, you have to rescue Peach again, but this time in SPACE! There weren't really any twists and turns, and nothing surprised you. There was a sub-story about Rosalina, but you weren't really involved in it. You just had to get to a certain point in the game to unlock chapters that she would read whenever you went into the library. It was too generic for my liking.

The characters were pretty generic too, but that's not really a bad thing in my opinion. There was Mario, Peach, and Bowser, of course. But Luigi and Toads were also involved. You couldn't play as Luigi, you had to rescue him whenver he got stuck in space. The toads were there for various reasons, like Mail Toad. Then there was my favorite character, Rosalina. She was just... cool. You didn't really find out much about her, but I loved her anyway. The Lumas were awesome as well, and they made me laugh. They were just so darn cute! The reason I gave characters a B+ instead of an A was because there was no Yoshi. In my opinion, Yoshi is so important to Mario games. He was a character I sorely missed. They didn't include him in SM64 either, so I wasn't expecting it, but it would have been a nice surprise.

No complaints about the controls. They were pretty basic too. Jump three times for a triple jump, run and make a sharp turn while pressing A for a U-jump (whatever it's called), etc. The only new move was that you could shake the control stick and spin. You used this to break objects and collect star bits. Mario can't punch or kick in this game for whatever reason, so that's your only attack besides the ground pound.

The music was good, but way too repetitive. There were a few basic songs, and they were repeated through the levels. I can't stand when music is used more than once, so I gave it a B.

I bought this game used, and I'm glad I did. It's not that I didn't enjoy the game, it was just too easy and too repetitive. I couldn't help comparing SMG to SM64, and that's where it falls flat. SM64, you had a little hint at the beginning of the level, then you had to figure out what to do on your own. Far from hard, but not easy either. SMG, you just walked on a 'path' and you found yourself at the end of the level. There was no running room, and no planets that were big and open. It was obvious where to go and what to do. Something else I really missed was the wing, invisible, and metal caps. These were replaced by different kinds of mushrooms, including a boo mushroom and an ice mushroom. I enjoyed experimenting with the mushrooms, but they don't compare with the caps of SM64. Towards the end of the game you can find a red star that will let you fly, but the flying just wasn't as good as the wing cap. So my two biggest complaints: 1. Too easy, and 2. It cut out my favorite things about SM64. If you're interested in this game, I wouldn't hesistate to buy it, I know of many people that think the game is fantastic. It just didn't hit the mark for me.