Definitely one of the earliest and best gaming experiences I had when I was younger.
Oftentimes, I think about the bullshit I played as a kid. It was a lot of Sonic Wii games, which in my opinion, were probably the worst Sonic games. There was a local store where you could rent game time to play an assortment of 360 games, and without fail, I picked up a copy of Sonic 2006 every single time to enjoy myself. Thanks to the loading screens, I never got far, but I thought it was a fun little game.
I think about the same thing with Mario Galaxy. Was it just a Sonic 2006 in my brain? Something mindless I played as a child when my kindergarten homework was done and my parents thought I had been a good enough boy for the day?
Every single time I think of this game, without fail, I try to unblind myself from nostalgia, but I can't. The game is a masterpiece, it's layered in such an amazing way that even games today can take notes from it. That's not even getting to how perfect everything this game is outside of motion controls.
The platforming is fun and tight, and experiencing this as my first fully 3D Mario game (I'm sure for most on this site it was Sunshine or 64), I was floored by the graphics and huge worlds to explore. Before this, I really thought of Mario as the classic SMB3 I played on my GameBoy Advance. Galaxy really opens a whole galaxy of frontiers for Mario to traverse outside of the Mushroom Kingdom, while still bridging the characters from the games and introducing spin-off characters like Captain Toad.
The huge worlds to explore and the stars to collect make this game a treasure. Hell, I think Mario Galaxy even has the greatest hub world in a game, ever. Slowly turning Rosalina's ship back on, dipping into crevasses for one-ups, finding some new area that unlocks three new stars for even more exploration, and reviewing Rosalina's origins through cute storybook pictures? Damn near perfect, and I don't think any game cuts close to what Mario Galaxy means to me.
The story is surprisingly deep for a Mario game, dealing with themes like rebirth, and giving everything you have to others to make the world a better place, like shit, I got emotional at this game when I was a kid. Now that I've seen the world through the eyes of a grown-up, I'd probably be inconsolable if I replayed this game anytime soon.
I'd rather not drone on about every bit of this game, but the score is masterful, and probably a top 5 video game soundtrack, ever. The motion controls are fun, if not a bit janky, but appealed to my child brain in just the right ways. There's really nothing more to say than by far, this is my favorite Mario game and none seem to get close. I sadly sold my Switch before the 3D remasters, so I may get to try 64 and Sunshine one day, but I'm perfectly content keeping my childhood memories of Galaxy as the best platformer of all time.
Oftentimes, I think about the bullshit I played as a kid. It was a lot of Sonic Wii games, which in my opinion, were probably the worst Sonic games. There was a local store where you could rent game time to play an assortment of 360 games, and without fail, I picked up a copy of Sonic 2006 every single time to enjoy myself. Thanks to the loading screens, I never got far, but I thought it was a fun little game.
I think about the same thing with Mario Galaxy. Was it just a Sonic 2006 in my brain? Something mindless I played as a child when my kindergarten homework was done and my parents thought I had been a good enough boy for the day?
Every single time I think of this game, without fail, I try to unblind myself from nostalgia, but I can't. The game is a masterpiece, it's layered in such an amazing way that even games today can take notes from it. That's not even getting to how perfect everything this game is outside of motion controls.
The platforming is fun and tight, and experiencing this as my first fully 3D Mario game (I'm sure for most on this site it was Sunshine or 64), I was floored by the graphics and huge worlds to explore. Before this, I really thought of Mario as the classic SMB3 I played on my GameBoy Advance. Galaxy really opens a whole galaxy of frontiers for Mario to traverse outside of the Mushroom Kingdom, while still bridging the characters from the games and introducing spin-off characters like Captain Toad.
The huge worlds to explore and the stars to collect make this game a treasure. Hell, I think Mario Galaxy even has the greatest hub world in a game, ever. Slowly turning Rosalina's ship back on, dipping into crevasses for one-ups, finding some new area that unlocks three new stars for even more exploration, and reviewing Rosalina's origins through cute storybook pictures? Damn near perfect, and I don't think any game cuts close to what Mario Galaxy means to me.
The story is surprisingly deep for a Mario game, dealing with themes like rebirth, and giving everything you have to others to make the world a better place, like shit, I got emotional at this game when I was a kid. Now that I've seen the world through the eyes of a grown-up, I'd probably be inconsolable if I replayed this game anytime soon.
I'd rather not drone on about every bit of this game, but the score is masterful, and probably a top 5 video game soundtrack, ever. The motion controls are fun, if not a bit janky, but appealed to my child brain in just the right ways. There's really nothing more to say than by far, this is my favorite Mario game and none seem to get close. I sadly sold my Switch before the 3D remasters, so I may get to try 64 and Sunshine one day, but I'm perfectly content keeping my childhood memories of Galaxy as the best platformer of all time.