Mario. A fat stereotypical Italian plumber with a silly voice and a questionable mustache, and he’s the most recognizable video game character in history? Oh, dear dear… The critics love him, kids love him, middle-agers love him, the ladies love him and apparently even them Sony fanboys do so. Shocking, I know. It’s as if 3000 years of literature were represented by Harry Potter. As if Mario were more important than Miner Willy, Guybrush Threepwood or -gods forbid- Sonic the Hedgehog.

Well, apparently he is. It’s true. The masses say so. Don’t take me wrong, I don’t like this any more than anyone grown with bedroom coded games would, but Mario and Nintendo have all but defined video gaming. Well, to a degree that is, though happily less so in Europe.

Then again, I must admit I’ve enjoyed the odd Mario game myself. Super Mario Land on the Game Boy and a tiny slice of Super Mario World on the SNES are fondly remembered gaming moments, though nothing more. They were fun alright, well-presented, excellently balanced and properly surreal, but definitely on the simple side of things. These games just couldn’t compare to Civilization, Wing Commander, Lemmings or the average adventure of the era.


When the Wii and its Virtual Console introduced me to Super Mario 64, on the other hand, I was thoroughly impressed. It was deep, varied and roughly as good as every reviewer ever claimed it would be. Even the 3D Mario looked passable. Still, I never got around to actually finishing the game, though I did manage to hype myself up for Mario’s premiere Wii outting: Super Mario Galaxy. I grabbed the thing as soon as it hit the shelves, which must be the first time I actually commited such a horribly consumerist atrocity, and thankfully I haven’t regretted it yet.

Super Mario Galaxy, you see, is a great game indeed. Probably not the absolute masterpiece hundreds of reviewers claim it to be, but a great game nonetheless. Even for me and my grumpy old fashioned standards and despite its assortment of flaws. It might make me feel weird to admit so, but I can easily forgive its typically irritating story for the lush visuals, subtle innovation and those few hours of sheer video gaming joy. Actually, make that sheer ridiculously varied video gaming joy, as SMG has you platforming the one moment and racing on water the next only to end up solving arcadey puzzles or fighting bosses. Then there’s jumping from planet to planet, playing with gravity, doing something not unlike the thing Monkey Ball monkeys do, shooting stuff with the Wiimote or even flying around in a bee costume and that’s only the tip of the Galaxy iceberg. Trust me, you’ll never get bored. You might instead feel like asking for some slightly bigger levels.

Now, truth be said, enjoyable as it is, I haven’t finished the game yet, though I still tend to dip-in dip-out for short bursts of lovely fun. Oh, and that -still not very likeable- Mario bloke sure hasn’t overstayed his welcome. After all, Super Mario Galaxy is the most impressive game to help you show off your Wii, both in terms of graphics and pure hardcore gaming.

Posted on January 8th, 2008 by konstantinos