Super Mario Galaxy

??? 2022
Wow what a game to play after playing and kind of hating Super Mario 64. Understandably this is two whole consoles afterwards and had Super Mario Sunshine in between. And wow they really improved upon all the problems and then introduced a whole bunch of new stuff.

First of all I remember this game being gorgeous on Wii, even with that system's paltry power, and here in 1080p on the Switch port it's incredible. Genuinely one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen. All the planets with the bright colors and swirling stars and the way you fly around the levels when you come in to get a view of their layout is incredible. Add to this they fixed almost all the camera issues that were frustrating in Super Mario 64, and the world is easy to view and move around in in all its glory.

The music is of course incredible as well.

What makes a big difference between Super Mario 64 and this one for me is the levels. Each one is a virtual playground and they're constantly introducing new fun mechanics. The whole gravity being tied to different stellar bodies as you jump from one planet to the next is fun in its own right but the way they add on to this with gravity flipping panels to make challenging platforming sections is incredible. I was amazed by the fact that I would hop from planet to planet and still be entertained with new things through the end of the game.

And while the game is challenging they introduced lots of checkpoints that make it so even if you fail a particularly difficult section you're not forced to redo the whole level without mistakes. This was one of my biggest gripes with 64 (along with the camera) and it meant that I had maybe one or two sections in the entire game that really frustrated me.

Ah god what a masterpiece. What a marvel of creativity and beauty. It's such a tight game. An absolute must play. Probably my favorite Mario game.