When I got my Wii one of the features my wife fell in love with is the Virtual Console. This lets you buy and download games from old systems like NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Neo Geo, and a couple others. We first downloaded the original Mario Brothers and played that for a couple weeks before jumping head first into one of the greatest games ever developed, Super Mario 3. We spent many nights passing the classic controller back and forth as we crushed Bowser’s little minions. As our skills improved we had even more fun collecting as many lives as we could. All seemed great until the castle at World 7, which I think is impossible for 98% of society. The game was now frustrating and unenjoyable. We reset the game and played from the beginning a couple times, but ended up in World 7 again, frustrated and defeated.
I read all the glorious reviews for Super Mario Galaxy. “Perfect use of the Wii remote”; “Beautifully stunning”; “Amazing gameplay and replayability.” It was impossible to find a bad review. My wife was becoming slightly defiant toward any Wii purchases considering since we purchased the console I bought the Internet Channel ($10), Super Mario ($5), Super Mario 3 ($5), Zelda: Ocarina of Time ($8), Tiger Woods 07 ($17) and the classic controller ($20). However, I tapped into our love for SM3 and told her reviews are saying this is the greatest Mario since SM3. I HAD to get this game!
On a Friday night before Christmas we headed to Target for some last minute gifts. We had a weekend of Christmas movies and lame television ahead of us so it was the perfect time to test the Galaxy waters. I convinced her to buy the game and we drove home excited to see if the game lives up to the reviews. I skimmed the manual to get the basic controls and away I went! I picked up the controls quickly and found myself spinning the Wiimote and twitching my left thumb to conquer everything in front of me. I couldn’t believe how well the game used the combination of Wiimote and nunchuck! Excited by this new era of gameplay we created a file for my wife so she can start her own adventure. She wobbled around on the initial level and I assured her that she’ll pick it up after a little time. More wobbling and she was at the level where you have to chase the rabbits. She was already complaining about her lack of control. Again, I said she’ll pick it up with time. Five minutes later and the Wiimote was on the table and Jennifer put up the white flag of surrender.
Jennifer is a very coordinated game player. She can do things in Mario 3 that throw me for a loop (water is her only weakness). That being said, something about the dual controls in Galaxy turned her off to the point she didn’t enjoy playing the game. Is Galaxy only for the hardcore gamer? Did Nintendo miss the target “entire family” demographic with this release? The Mallory family experience may be isolated, but I think Nintendo may have overestimated their customer’s willingness to adapt. This game is not a “pick up and play” for everyone like SM3. That being said, I LOVE the game and find myself completely immersed in the game for hours. I’m currently at 47 stars and I can already see myself going back to the old planets to see if I can improve my star and coin counts.
That being said, if you’re looking for a game the entire family can play and think back to the days of Mario 1, 2, 3… I’m not confident Galaxy will be appreciated by all.
