Yeah, I agree that it's a better bonus than unlocking Luigi.
I've been going back to it, but I'm trying to pace myself so as to not get sick of it, maximum of half a world per night, if that. I just finished up world 2, and I am amazed at the fact that I had mostly forgotten how great some of these levels were. Cosmic Cove, for instance: it's a level that we would not have seen until the very end in the first Galaxy, but in the sequel, it's just one of the early levels, which are somehow almost all as unique as the most memorable SMG1 levels.
@Orbital74 Yeah I definitely would rather play the second game. I think it's better in every way, aside from its soundtrack. I've come close to just trading the original in, to be honest.
But at the same time...I don't know, now that it's been a while since it came out, I feel like it was kind of forgettable. Perhaps it's just because it didn't have that "wow" factor that the first game had. Maybe I just need to revisit it at some point? It just doesn't stick in my head as much as some other games have this generation. Maybe it's also due to the fact that the levels are short bursts of entertainment. They're kind of in one ear and out the other, in a way.
I remember having a lot of fun with it, but I just don't remember the actual game all that well, haha.
Yeah, the galaxies were more creative and memorable in SMG2. What is cool about the green stars is that you really get a feel for how open/expansive some of the galaxies are. You'll be asked to reach spots that you thought were completely inaccessible, but lo and behold, there is a way, and it usually involves some nice advanced platforming.
That's kind of how I feel about both Galaxy games. They're a ton of fun while playing them, but I don't really look back on them. I'll probably do a Luigi playthrough of SMG2 someday.
After putting SMG2 up for about 2 or 3 months, I got it out again last night and grabbed about 5 green stars. I'm only about a third of the way through the green star quests. I think I have 167 total. I'm finding it a bit tedious. I also found some of the purple coin comets in SMG tedious. So, I guess SMG2 is better because I don't have to do it twice.
I suppose I should be mixing it up between Mario and Luigi, using Luigi when I need speed and jumping distance and Mario when sure-footing is the priority. But I'm finding that I'm more comfortable simply using Mario the whole time.
It is still striking how they got about twice the number of galaxies in SMG2 than in the original and how almost every one was unique and interesting. I wish a few of them were less linear and that there was more room for free-form exploration. But that's only some of them. Others, like Cosmic Cove, as mentioned above, are incredibly open.
...And the two titles still have the best original score video game soundtracks of all time.
Okay, screw the "gotta pace myself, only half a world a day" resolution, I'm addicted to the game. Only 30 green stars left or so!
I'm actually surprised at how hooked I am. I really do have a newfound appreciation for the game, whereas a couple of weeks ago I could scarcely remember what made me rate the game a 10 in the database.
One thing, though: I had also forgotten just how much I hate, hate, hate the Shiverburn galaxy.
I may have to revisit it. I will say though, I have zero interest in getting the green stars. Am I alone in this? Maybe I'll give it a go, but it always just looked more like work than fun. That mode always felt too much of an "I didn't sign up for that" situation.
I thought the same, and the initial ones didn't impress me, but there is the occasional really clever one that makes it all worth it. As anon said, they sometimes make you go places you would never have thought possible to reach.
I kind of wish they hadn't stuck with the "120" thing and only had put the best, most clever ones in there, though. There are definitely a ton that are just filler.
241 stars! That was surprisingly quick, easy and painless, to be honest, with very few exceptions.
So now I collected the comet medal in the last course, and yet the comet isn't unlocked. Do I need to go kick Bowser's ass to unlock it or something stupid like that?
Pandareus, you have to do something slightly stupid to unlock the last comet medal: max out your star bits in the bank. To reach the elusive 9,999 limit, it might be a good idea to head to Melty Monster's bowling star and do that a few times (that's probably the quickest way to rack up star bits). Once you dump them all in the bank, the last star will open up for you.
Good freakin' luck on that one, too. Your SMG2 experience will not be painless for long.
I got to 190-something stars and got bored again. Some of the jumps required for the green stars are just... Well, I'm just not interested in figuring out how to do them right now.
I think it's back to DKCR for a while.
I'll definitely be back. Just no reason to burn myself out on it.
Also you can farm lives on the Supermassive Galaxy.
The first time I heard about that trick was during Mario Marathon 3. All the regular players were dead tired and couldn't play anymore, so the non-gamer musician that all the viewers loved had to take over. The Ustream chat walked him through the entire level up to that part.
And then this happened:
The two warriors were never introduced to the marathon viewers and they left soon afterward.
Done. Approximately 70 lives later, I have completed The Perfect Run, and I have the letter on my Wii message board to prove it.
Cower before Pandareus, Master of Galaxies.
Time to sell this sucker, though. I have to say, while I really enjoyed the game, I have no desire to replay it now. And I don't think I ever will. Like Simba said in that other thread, there isn't really any room to "play around" in this game, it is linear to a fault.
I replay linear games all the time, but I can understand why others wouldn't have a desire to. I usually forget a decent amount of a game after a few years, so a lot of the experience feels fresh to me. It'll probably be a couple years before I re-visit either Galaxy title, but when I do, it'll be good times.
