Mario Kart Wii showcases what makes Wii motion controls so fun. The versatility in available controllers to use alongside its responsiveness is what makes it memorable, and not just nostalgic.

The progression of the game encourages you to unlock more and more, revealing quirky modes and karts, to peel back the game’s true nature, which is bullshit. But, it’s the best kind of bullshit, the fun kind of bullshit.

While Mario Kart, mostly, is indeed skill based, learn the game and succeed, it’s also a testament to your patience. 1st place? No. So many times when you’re in first place in the middle of a race, you get fucked. It’s not just you, it’s the entire lineup, every CPU. Constant bullets, red and blue shells, lightning, ink, you name it. If something can screw you over when you’re succeeding in this game, it’ll happen. Fortunately, it seems like this dies down in the last third of the third lap, so it’s up to you to play catch-up if you’ve fallen behind.

Things like mirror mode and time trials make for a challenging pastime if the Grand Prix or multiplayer isn’t all you want to do. It’s a game that entices you to play more and more, unknowingly losing time discovering the ins and outs of its paths. The characters, the expansive courses, the karts, it’s… fun… and that’s what games should strive to be.

Mario Kart Wii, in its time, was the pinnacle of the franchise. Even today, it remains my personal go-to. 9/10.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 might be a slight step up from its predecessor, but it's a step up nonetheless.

My biggest gripe with the first Galaxy game was the fixed camera's inconsistency. It's there for support, yet fails to offer any genuine help more often than it gets in the way. In Galaxy 2, this camera feels more precise in its movement in following Mario, with far less hiccups than I experienced in the first one.

I also find myself vastly preferring the linear game and map design over the "Hub' of the first Galaxy. It makes for a much smoother progression of understanding where and how to advance the easiest, fastest way possible. Although, the lack of available normal level stars from worlds 1-6 can be irritating, as being forced to collect Comet Medals and doing special levels just to beat the base game can get annoying.

I think the music in this sequel is, overall, a tad better as well. Whether it's something as simple as the save file selection screen, or a more complex instrumental like Glamdozer. Production feels more condensed and deeper in this game's whole OST. Which shouldn't discredit the first game's majestic design, since it did come before Galaxy 2. (Obviously, Syrem).

It's kind of unfortunate that the base game doesn't really utilize Yoshi all that much, despite him being on the damn cover art of the game. It feels like I used him in maybe 6 or 7 levels, and he wasn't required for half of said levels. Maybe I made a mistake and he's available more often, but I couldn't seem to find him much.

While Mario Galaxy stands as the staple of 3D platformers by general consensus, I believe its sequel succeeds in improving on the most important areas of what makes a great platformer game. 9/10.

It had been far too long since I played Super Mario Galaxy, and I fear the in-between time hurt my original perception of this game.

Sometimes a game is so good, you play it once and never go back to it because there’s really no need. It’s the greatest game ever, everybody knows it, everybody says it. That’s how I remembered Galaxy, the untouchable holy grail of games. The best 3D Mario, a near-impossible task, and yet… my return proved me otherwise.

I will say that out of any and every Wii game, you’ve probably got the best looking and sounding one on your hands. An incredible visual appeal backed by booming strings, glaring synths, somber piano, it has it all. This colorful, expansive world Nintendo built in this game is beautiful. Damn near brings a tear to my eye thinking about how perfectly crafted it is.

However… I feel like anyone giving this game a mass amount of credit for its soundtrack and level design has not played Ape Escape 3, because I legitimately think there are ripped off ideas all over. The way the toy levels play out, the music in them, the doors and their opening animations, the style of beach levels, I can’t help but wonder if Nintendo also knows that Ape Escape 3 is arguably the best 3D platformer of all-time. They saw the space levels and said, “Yep, let’s make a whole game with that idea.” At least they used a phenomenal game to take inspiration from.

I also despise this fixed camera at times. Playing as a shadow for 1/4th of the entire game is not appealing to me, just let me move the camera on my own without any help. Sometimes I got knocked off of platforms because of weird enemy placement and poor camera work. Plus these enemies have some straight up bullshit animations that kick you all over the place on tight platforms and send you into a black hole. Not really sure what was going on with that throughout the game, because I don’t recall any other 3D Mario game being like that. Or the slow feeling movements of all of the water levels, and the confusing controls of pressing A or spinning to gain speed. Even Mario 64 felt smoother with its water controls.

What I do love is the fact you can leave a level or straight up just an entire galaxy to get a star elsewhere, because some of these levels are some real work to get through. During some of the second half of the game my enjoyment plummeted and I felt like I was just tasked with chore after chore of beating a bunch of levels I was no longer having fun in. Luckily it wasn’t the whole B side, but it was enough to make me sit back and evaluate if I’m just playing too much, or I actually don’t like what’s going on.

When I think of Mario Galaxy, I don’t think of largely problematic game design, but on my replay of it, certain areas of this game definitely could’ve been made better. Still, Mario Galaxy remains one of the best Wii platformers to this day. While I can’t say I love it as much as I used to, I’d go back to it without hesitation. It’s definitely flawed, and not the masterpiece everyone claims it to be, but even the worst 3D Mario game is in a league of its own. 8/10.