Sage: I remember specifically in some of the Yoshi levels you could eat one of those Turbo Apples and run straight up a ramp. It allows the developers a lot of room to build a bunch of different scenarios with a lot of different capabilities for Mario. It changes the rules a little bit for one level at a time. When you have the Boulder Suit, Mario can’t do his spin anymore because when you flick the remote you turn into a boulder and just go flying. When you pick up the Bee Suit, Mario no longer has those same jumping capabilities because he can now hover and fly. When you pick up these power ups, you lose some of your standard abilities. Scott: On that same note, how it works is also to change Mario’s move-set. It’s an instance of the game giving you an essential tool to complete the level before you actually finish it – it’s a necessary component.
If you don’t pick it up you’re going to die. There are some 2D-style levels in Mario Galaxy, but with the (inclusion of) power ups they basically become like a bad first-person shooter ( Resistance 2), you come up right before a boss encounter the game gives you a giant rocket launcher you’ve never seen before. It’s pretty much standard across all of those games. When you say the power ups are supplementary to the levels in the old 2D games, once you come down to basics all the levels are pretty much the same: they have a sense of verticality, you’re almost always progressing from left to right. Sage: Looking at that – let’s compare 2D to 3D Mario games ( Mario 64-era on).
#SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 YEAH I AM, ARE YOU HOW TO#
The game plays more like a puzzle-adventure game where you’re given the resources you need in the beginning of the game and you have to figure out how to use them to complete the level. You don’t really use them in “normal” levels and they’re only provided when the levels are built around them. Every other level with a power up you have to use it, whether it’s the Fire Flower to break a bunch of boxes in a certain time or the Boulder Power to knock through a bunch of barriers. Especially in Mario Galaxy, but also in Mario 64 and Sunshine, they’re bountiful and if you lose a power up it reappears because they’re essential in completing the level and getting the star – except for the one level Sage broke and didn’t do with the Spring. They were nice to have, but you could always beat a level without it. I mentioned in my review, and I don’t see it talked about enough, that power ups in these 3D Mario games are completely different from power ups in traditional 2D Mario games, where you have the Fire Flower or the Raccoon Tail and they’re basically a perk for being good at the game – for not getting hit. I’m glad you started with power ups, because that is something I want to talk about. Scott: I will say I didn’t have nearly as much trouble with that you did. Since the Wii’s remote isn’t exactly accurate and the game just doesn’t want to cooperate all the time, so I ditched that. I had to ditch the Spring power up and just did the crouch-back flip with a twirl at the end to get up and over the Chain Chomps, who roll down a narrow path and you’re supposed to time your jumps over them. Sage: It’s easily one of the most frustrating moments I’ve had playing a video game, which is saying something, since I’ve played some real stinkers. But, Sage will not ever forget that moment.
It is kind of a pain, since you have to time the press of the A button to get an extra big jump – it doesn’t always work super well but if you mess with it enough you kind of get the hang of it. For people who don’t know, the Spring power up from the first Galaxy does return, but only for the one single level. I didn’t find it that bad, I know that was your major knock against the game was the one Spring Mario level. Sage: First question from me: On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst thing since Hitler, how bad was the Spring Mario level?
Wherever the conversation takes us, that’s where we’ll go. We have a basic outline we’re going to follow, things we’re going to touch on that we thought were interesting or important concerning the game. We’re going to bounce back-and-forth and ask each other questions. Sage: It certainly paints a mental image. Scott: I figure it adds a little something. Sage: That carries well in an audio format, too. Scott: Button-up shirt, buttons undone, chest out, you know, that kind of thing. Scott: I just wanted to add that I’m currently dressed as a GQ model as well.