Someone once told me rehashes are terrible. Every Mario game after 3 was the same game with new levels.
Of course, he was an idiot. Each game had something new, and Mario 64 was by no means the the same game. And after all, whats so wrong with taking a great idea, and trying to improve it?
That's the story for Mario Galaxy 2. When I played the original Mario Galaxy, I didn't like it much.. It just wasn't very fun. Many of the levels felt pointlessly linear, and most of the powerups were lame - Bee Mario was ruined to me because of the sloppy feelng of the flying. And that was just about the only new power as it was. But the main isue was the levels... They were extremely easy, linear, and I'm the kind of guy that like to have secret to be found and freedom to explore. The major lack of either of these ruined the experience, especially when mixed with an essentially worthless and uninteresting HUB world, and the few and far apart 2d section being my favorite parts.. And there were so few of them. A lot of untapped potential for fun. The controls where games best part however. They were perfect - Tight, but not too tight to the point where they were stiff, and not too float either. All I'd wished for was a Mario game with the same, fluent controls, perfect for platforming in a 3d perspective, with a little more to do, and some better level design.
My prayers were answered, in the form of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Mario Galaxy 2 took the some, excellent controls, mixed them with better level design, new power ups, a much less annoying map system, and some far more impressive presentation.
Each level has the same basic feel as Mario Galaxy 1 - They seem pretty straightfoward by default, but I was quickly surprised when I found out how much extr content was packed into each level. Some levels just a an additional little area where they would put a comet coin, just for the sake of the sake of something to find, but almost every level had an entirely alternate path - usual one that took some some hunting to find, that would lead to an entirely different, secret star. Good Job Nintendo, there's no dissapointment from a gamer that likes to explore a little. Not just that, but there's even more - The game looks like it only has a hundred stars... Until you clear the final level, only to unlock an additional, entire extra world bursting with content... It gets even better, however. After getting all 120 stars, you get something new, the Green stars. Each level has one green star for every normal star, and they are always well hidden, but never too hard to find - they make a distinct, sparkly noise when you get close. Not just that, most of them require some real understanding of the game to get, including, but not limited to absolutely crazy walljumps, longjumps, triple jump AND aerial spinning, and somtimes, you even backflip off of Yoshi - There's always a solution to getting the green star, and it always takes a satisfactory amount of thought. Oh, and yeah, Yoshi is in the game.
This is probably my favorite part of the game, everybody in their right mind likes Yoshi. Ever since the cute little Dinosaurs debut Mario World, he's been made famous in both the Mario Series and his own franchise as Mario's faithful companion.. But in this game, he's a LOT more than just a companion. When riding yoshi, the entire game feels like it's own game mode. Mario jumped well, but the sheer number of things Yoshi can do that Maro can't is just amazing.. In addition to the eating enemies and the flutter jumps you've come to expect from Yoshi, he has his own entire set of gimmicks completely different from Mario. Getting bored of the same game? Well, that's okay because every time just Mario is getting stale, they threw in a Yoshi level, just in the nick of time. You'll see Yoshi at LEAST once every world, and every time is just as fun as the last.
Not just that, but not to far into the game, you encounter Mario's overshadows Brother, Luigi. Yeah, remember Luigi? That guy you unlocked in the original game on to replay to same game with different controls? Well, no more - Now, after meeting Luigi, you obtain the ability to switch between them on a few galaxies - But after a while, you gain the ability to swap between them at will. If you're feeling green, Mario's brother is just a few steps away!
The fairly small planet designed like Mario's mug is a neat place to goof around when you don't want to go play a mission. There are lots of little things to do, and you even have a Yoshi to play around with. There isn't much to do there in the context of the game, aside from switching between Mario and Luigi, or feeding a hungry Luma once in a while, but it's nice even being there.
Call it a rehash, call it whatever you want, but the fact remains that Mario Galaxy 2 is a lot more than just an expansion on the original.. I haven't even mentioned any of the new powerups... But don't worry, the old power ups are back for the second run as well, so those of you that like Bee Mario or Spring Mario will not be dissapointed. Far from it. The game has a lot of powerups, and it's just bursting at the seams with things to do with them. Plus, with controls as fine-tuned as Mario Galaxy's, what are you waiting for? There's a copy with your name on it right on the store shelf!
With just one good experience after another, and even the few and far between motion control segments being simple and easy to play, Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii gets a 9.8/10
TL;DR Version: I liked the game, but can't cover everything I liked.. What are your takes on this awesome game?