@Simbabbad
Indeed, early morning reading...for the loss.

I'm just joking with the troll remark, but you do pop into every thread to express your (negative) opinions about this game. I'm just defending my favourite game of the past 16 years. I do think there is room for improvisation in Galaxy 2, and I don't see how it's any different than Mario Galaxy. I'd also say DKCR is much more rigid in its linearity than SMG2. I'll concede that 3D platformers are less replayable than 2D ones, they always have been for me, whether they're linear or not.

@anon_mastermind

I summoned him here, though. It's like Candyman, except you really just have to say his name once.

And I gotta say, it is entirely possible that there are ways to improvise in the game that I'm not seeing, I mean it's not as if I had watched tons of youtube videos of other people going through it. Maybe if I did I'd constantly go "You can do THAT!?", but playing it myself I certainly did feel like the levels were meant to be played one way: the right way, and the only way. Except maybe you can long jump here and there instead of stepping on that cloud. But most of the time, trying to break away from what the designers intended meant watching Mario get sucked into a black hole.

And I do like enjoy the mechanical task of executing a precise series of moves in platformers. I loved this game, gave it a 10 in the database and I wouldn't change that. But I don't ever see myself thinking "I feel like getting that one star again". Because I've already gotten it, and I know exactly how to go about getting it.


I'd need to replay the first Galaxy to know if it's any different in that regard, my memories of that game are getting fuzzy.

We should have a Super Mario Galaxy 2 time trial tournament. That'll get our creative/improvisational juices flowing.

Pandareus said:

And I do like enjoy the mechanical task of executing a precise series of moves in platformers. I loved this game, gave it a 10 in the database and I wouldn't change that. But I don't ever see myself thinking "I feel like getting that one star again". Because I've already gotten it, and I know exactly how to go about getting it.

I can relate, in that it'll probably be a few years before I replay Galaxy or Galaxy 2. Actually, whenever we have some time I will "guide" my girlfriend through Galaxy 2 as the orange star.
I think it's the 3D nature of the game that makes it less replayable. I've always replayed 2D Marios endlessly, and while Galaxy 2 is right up there with the best of them in terms of quality, it's just not calling me to play it again. I think this has to do with the pace/flow of the game than lack of improvisation.

@Simbabbad

Neither Sunshine nor 64 were as satisfying mechanically, though. When I think of why I enjoyed Sunshine, I remember the dizzying heights of Noki Noki Bay and the fun of running and jumping around the town.

But then I remember the frustration of trying to wall jump in the recessed walls of that same Noki Noki Bay, and how often I felt I died or failed due to poor controls and not through my own fault.

A big part of that was due to the camera, though. I remember it being a big problem when wall-jumping: you could be holding the stick directly left and right, but the camera was rarely perpendicular to you, and that would actually result in you jumping off the wall at an angle.

Sunshine... now that's a Mario game I alternatively regret selling and then pat myself on the back for making the separation, depending on what memories surface...

I disagree that there's no improvisation to be had in SMG2. Whenever I unlocked a Luigi ghost, there was never a time where I played the level in the exact same manner or pacing as the ghost. Yes the objective of the level is usually clear (but that applies to NSMBW as well), but I would have to deliberately go out of my way to use the same exact route as the ghost of the respective level.

If there is any doubt, select any level where you have unlocked the ghost, play the level as you would normally, and see just how wildly different your playing style is from the ghost's.

@casper884 Absolutely, with wall jumping, long jumps and specifically the Cloud Suit, there are tons of different ways to play around.

@casper884Yeah, honestly, I have no idea what you guys mean in that there's no way to alter your play style in SMG2. There's just as much as there was in SMG's linear stages (which is nearly all of them outside of Freezeflame and Honeyhive/Gold Leaf). You can actually get through the Yoshi Star Galaxy's first star without using Yoshi at all (except for that one launch star "plant")--it's quite a fun challenge. You can scale numerous walls using the backflip + wall-jump + spin (just like in Galaxy 1) instead of going around and running up the structure normally. You can skip large portions of some of the Bowser Jr. levels if you know where to long-jump. The quickest way through those cylindrical-shaped planets (ex. Space Storm) is never obvious. And the Cloud Suit? That thing's BUILT for improvisation!

Watch some Luigi time trials. I'm as open to others' opinions as the next guy, but some of these statements are just factually wrong. The worlds are not as "open" as in SM64...but the same applies to SMG1 outside of just a couple levels. There are alternate routes in plenty of places, notably in, like, every 2-D section.

@TriforceBun

Oh, and let's not forget the Yoshi's infinite flutter glitch; the epitome of improvisation in SMG2:



Took me a while to nail the timing, but the possibilities are endless!

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't seem to recall any un-timed purple coin comets in SMG2.

In the first SMG, there were a number of purple coin comets where you had to collect those 100 coins. But there was no time limit, and the coins were spread out all over the place such that you were forced to explore to find them all.

SMG2 had a number of purple coin levels that were timed (or limited in some other fashion, like the tree slide), where the location of all the coins was fairly obvious and it was all about executing the proper platforming tricks to get them within the time limit. There was an element of exploration on a few of the silver star and green star levels, but as you were only looking for a few objects, that also tended to be more of an exercise in making difficult jumps.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that some of those purple coin levels in SMG could be really tedious. Especially without the checkpoints, when you've got 90-some coins and you miss a difficult jump and have to start all over again. However, without them, I think you're missing a good deal of the exploration side of the original SMG.

Personally, one of my hopes for SMG2 was that it would be less linear, not more linear. That, for example, instead of a single hub, maybe we'd have a several hubs. Maybe when Super Mario Universe comes out...

However, one thing I think SMG2 did improve on in a big way was the P2 capabilities. I've been helping my son as he plays through the game, and the very few additional tricks that the P2 is given makes it a significantly better experience. There are still a number of areas where the P2 simply doesn't have anything to do (boss battles), but overall, it's a big improvement.

@casper884 That's a pretty cool trick! I've got to try that out.

@roykoopa64

It's a little hard at first. You have to time it perfectly. But once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake.

@chrisguy

Well the argument here is more about the different ways you can play a LINEAR game, than the game being linear itself. As an example, NSMBW is linear, but can be played very differently. Just look at the Super Play videos. (Btw, I was finally able to do that Super Play infinite 1-UP trick in world 1-2. Took me ages, but I got it!)

Alright, you guys convinced me to hold off selling the game. I'll at least check out the Luigi ghosts... later. I feel like I've pretty much closed the book on the game by getting all the green stars. It was kind of a relief to know that I could move on to another game in my backlog.

But you guys ruined that for me.

"Thanks".

@Simbabbad I don't know that I really agree with this, at least in respect to the first Super Mario Galaxy. There wasn't really much room for playing outside the box there either, there was almost always a strict path through things. I get what you mean about the linearity though, the 2D Mario games managed to have a 90% linear experience but still have secret paths here and there, and both 64 and Sunshine were a lot more open-ended.

Either way I never really replay much of anything nowadays so it's not a huge issue to me, although I'd say the green stars were "kind of" like replaying the game.

212 stars. 30 more to go!!

My wife's going out of town early next week. I foresee some late night/early morning sessions to finish this thing up.

I got to 240 last night. Had 11 lives to go for 241 and couldn't get past the hammer brothers. Instead of completely forgoing sleep, I decided to give it a rest and come back later for the last two stars.

@chrisguy

Expect to come back even later for that last star. Yeouch!

After taking some time off to 100% Zack and Wiki and remember why I decided not to 100% Wario Land Shake It, I came back to SMG2 last Friday. Got star 241 last night. Then sent Mario to his death a good 50 or so times trying to get star 242. I'll be back at it tonight.

Just picked the game up again and got stars 109-112. Great game.

Man, I can't believe that I read that some people would want to sell a Mario game! Thats, thats...unheard of!!

Seriously though, I don't give a shit is there is multiple ways to play a Mario game or not, all of them are fun. And SMG 1&2 are my favorite Mario games of all time. After that comes Mario64, SMB3 and well, it doesn't matter.

Selling a Mario game, people need to be slapped to wake them up....I'm just sortof joking, no need for anyone to get all serious on me. But selling a Mario game...awww man, I should have never came into this thread...well, maybe I did a long time ago and don't remember.

@Pandareus

You rate the SMG2 a 10, because it is a 10, just like SMG is a 10. Both of those games are PERFECTION!!!

Anyone who disagrees just need to STFU now...just hit the back button and move onto another thread...sersioulsy, you know who you are...leave...we don't want to hear it. Go. See ya. Bye.....uhhhh...don't even think about commenting...there, you will feel better that you left the thread and didn't make a fool out of yourself.....see, now you can go to sleep knowing you made the right decision.