I know there's a decent chunk of people that prefer the first Mario Galaxy, but I'm sorry Mario Galaxy 2 was so much more fun to me than the first game. To put it in perspective, I had to give Mario Galaxy a 4 star because of my frustrations, but this one is getting 4.5 stars from me. With the exception of a few frustrating sections (I hated those stupid bird gliding levels and they brought back the annoying ball rolling gimmick for a level or two), I really enjoyed my time with Galaxy 2 and I felt like it addressed a lot of my criticisms with the first game. The only thing I think was a bit disappointing was that the presentation overall is lacking, they give up a lot of that epic cinematic vibe the first game had and instead go for some kind of interactive storybook feel. Its not inherently worse, but it did feel like a downgrade to me. Still, though, I think that was worth sacrificing for an overall better experience. I think it also helped get me more invested from the beginning, whereas Galaxy 1's beginning felt slow and kinda boring to me.
I'll start with address the controls. Its only fair since I spent a whole section of my Galaxy 1 review talking about controls and gameplay feel. Most of my issues with the forced motion controls in Galaxy 1 are gone in Galaxy 2; though one frustrating gimmick returned and one annoying new one was introduced, the game's design focuses much more on regular platforming and not Wiimote motion gobbledygook. Also, is it just me or does Mario move much more smoothly in this game? Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there and there's no real difference between the two games in this regard, but that issue I mentioned in the previous review of how Mario is always moving at an angle is pretty much gone here. I assumed it was the fault of the nunchuck stick, but I guess that's just how the first game was built to control? I don't really know. Point is, I was so glad to see that the vast majority of this game's levels drop the forced motion stuff and instead focus on the fundamentals, all the while introducing cool new powerups and stage gimmicks to play around with.
The core gameplay is fun. Like I said before, it generally feels like a return to form, taking Galaxy 1's good ideas while pivoting into a more standard direction. I really love all the new powerups they added, especially the Yoshi ones. He gets the Dash Pepper (makes him run really fast but you can't make him stop), Blimp Fruit (makes him continually float upwards), and the Bulb Berries (illuminates nearby areas to reveal invisible platforms), and all three get some really fun uses in the level design. Mario gets some neat powerups too, though mostly you'll be using the returning ones since this game seems to really like the Fire Flower. As for the new powerups, the Rock Mushroom is fun to use but gimmicky and a bit hard to control, while the Cloud Flower is used in some creative ways in levels but is mostly just creating another platform for yourself (and letting you jump slightly higher). Everything they did with Yoshi was the highlight for me, basically. As for the structure of Galaxy 2, its definitely more linear and straightforward than Galaxy 1; rather than having about five different areas that encourage finishing levels in the order you want, Galaxy 2 takes a rigid world structure kinda like Mario 3, where you need to beat the levels in order to progress. This comes at the cost of being less open-ended than Galaxy 1 since you don't have as much freedom to skip galaxies, plus the game seems to be tighter on how many stars you can avoid to beat the game; if I wasn't grabbing most of the Hidden Stars and prankster comets (some of which for the latter are really tough and I can see people wanting to skip), I'd be struggling. I will say that I think the prankster comets and hidden stars are easier to get this time around and more fun overall, so maybe that helps with the game's increased linearity for some.
Overall, this game is a grand ol' time. I know Galaxy 1 fans don't like that this one downscaled on cutscenes and the like (some may even argue that the music is less memorable even if I don't agree), lamenting the loss of stuff like Rosalina's storybook, but I don't really mind personally. I give this game 4.5 stars, very close to a 5 but my nitpicks were just enough to bump it down a notch.
I'll start with address the controls. Its only fair since I spent a whole section of my Galaxy 1 review talking about controls and gameplay feel. Most of my issues with the forced motion controls in Galaxy 1 are gone in Galaxy 2; though one frustrating gimmick returned and one annoying new one was introduced, the game's design focuses much more on regular platforming and not Wiimote motion gobbledygook. Also, is it just me or does Mario move much more smoothly in this game? Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there and there's no real difference between the two games in this regard, but that issue I mentioned in the previous review of how Mario is always moving at an angle is pretty much gone here. I assumed it was the fault of the nunchuck stick, but I guess that's just how the first game was built to control? I don't really know. Point is, I was so glad to see that the vast majority of this game's levels drop the forced motion stuff and instead focus on the fundamentals, all the while introducing cool new powerups and stage gimmicks to play around with.
The core gameplay is fun. Like I said before, it generally feels like a return to form, taking Galaxy 1's good ideas while pivoting into a more standard direction. I really love all the new powerups they added, especially the Yoshi ones. He gets the Dash Pepper (makes him run really fast but you can't make him stop), Blimp Fruit (makes him continually float upwards), and the Bulb Berries (illuminates nearby areas to reveal invisible platforms), and all three get some really fun uses in the level design. Mario gets some neat powerups too, though mostly you'll be using the returning ones since this game seems to really like the Fire Flower. As for the new powerups, the Rock Mushroom is fun to use but gimmicky and a bit hard to control, while the Cloud Flower is used in some creative ways in levels but is mostly just creating another platform for yourself (and letting you jump slightly higher). Everything they did with Yoshi was the highlight for me, basically. As for the structure of Galaxy 2, its definitely more linear and straightforward than Galaxy 1; rather than having about five different areas that encourage finishing levels in the order you want, Galaxy 2 takes a rigid world structure kinda like Mario 3, where you need to beat the levels in order to progress. This comes at the cost of being less open-ended than Galaxy 1 since you don't have as much freedom to skip galaxies, plus the game seems to be tighter on how many stars you can avoid to beat the game; if I wasn't grabbing most of the Hidden Stars and prankster comets (some of which for the latter are really tough and I can see people wanting to skip), I'd be struggling. I will say that I think the prankster comets and hidden stars are easier to get this time around and more fun overall, so maybe that helps with the game's increased linearity for some.
Overall, this game is a grand ol' time. I know Galaxy 1 fans don't like that this one downscaled on cutscenes and the like (some may even argue that the music is less memorable even if I don't agree), lamenting the loss of stuff like Rosalina's storybook, but I don't really mind personally. I give this game 4.5 stars, very close to a 5 but my nitpicks were just enough to bump it down a notch.