System: Wii
Score: 9.5

Super Mario Galaxy is one of the best games that I’ve played in a very long time. I’ve never been a big Mario fan, but this game has made me change my mind. As the game’s title indicates, you play as Mario, and are on an intergalactic quest to save Princess Peach who was abducted by Bowser and his armada of flying pirate and alien ships.

Mario gets caught up in the beam in an attempt to rescue Peach, but once Bowser is in space he has one of his minions throw Mario out into space. Mario passes out for a while, but when he awakens, he finds himself on a strange spaceship where he meets a mysterious woman. The woman explains that she can help Mario rescue Peach, but that in order for her to do so, Mario must recover Power Stars so that the ship can regain power and transport him to different galaxies. Once he has collected enough Power Stars, he can be transported to one of Bowser’s bases so that he can retrieve a Grand Star. Once Mario has collected all of the Grand Stars from Bowser, the ship will be powerful enough to fly to the center of the Universe, which is where Peach is being held. More or less, what all of this means is that you run through different levels, collect the stars at the end of them, and whenever you have enough stars you can fight a boss battle. After you defeat the boss, you’ll be able to go to a new area.

The levels themselves are fairly short, but most are very entertaining, and all of them look amazing, especially for a Wii game. It’s no secret that the Wii has really bad graphics when compared to the PS3 or Xbox 360, but this game actually looks amazing and honestly blew my expectations away. The levels consist of multiple obstacles and puzzles which you have to figure out. Aside from puzzles, there is of course the platforming aspect, which means that as in all Mario games, you’ll be doing plenty of jumping from platform to platform. The one problem that I have with this game is that some of the levels are just too easy. While there are some frustrating levels (The Rocky Road galaxy for instance), quite a few of them are extremely easy. The special requirements for some stars throughout levels do make some of them more interesting though. For instance, you are required to run through an entire level and defeat the boss at the end in under four minutes, which is actually pretty fun and somewhat challenging, especially if you get flustered when you’re fighting the boss because you’re short on time.

I would highly recommend getting this game if you have a Wii. It is one of the most fun games that I’ve played in a long time, and by far one of the best games released this year. If you’re looking for a Christmas gift idea, this game is perfect for anyone of any age who has a Wii.