Pros: Absolutely Amazing Soundtrack, Great Graphics, Very Fun Gameplay, Cool Use of Wii's Features
Cons: Very Disorienting Gameplay
The bottom line: Super Mario Galaxy is Your Father's Mario Completely Re-invented.
Mario has always been Nintendo's main man, but in the last decade the pudgey plumber has fallen on hard times. Sure, Super Mario Sunshine came out just a few years ago but it was somehow devoid of the classic Mario magic. All hope was seemingly lost. Then came along Super Mario Galaxy. It's not only a return to form, but it might be Nintendo's best platformer to date. Now that's saying something.

As the title suggests, Mario is now in outer space. Princess Peach has been kidnapped once again by Bowser, and it's up to Mario to scour the universe to save her. This scenario isn't anything special, but it serves it's purpose of throwing Mario into a brand new adventure just fine.

Super Mario 64 was the staple of three dimensional platformer games in it's heyday, and Galaxy continues this tradition with no small amount of flair. At heart this is your traditional Mario game - you run through a variety of worlds (including fire, ice, and water themed areas) while stomping on enemies heads and collecting power-ups. The formula works quite well so it's nice to see that Nintendo didn't mess with it too much this time.

The game takes another rather noticeable nod from Super Mario 64 - your goal in each level is to collect power stars, unlike classic mario games which were more of a go from point A to B affair. The main difference between this and the 64 iteration though is that Galaxy is much less based around exploration, and is significantly more linear just like your classic 2-D Mario titles. Because of this I would actually go so far as to say that Galaxy is a better transition to 3-D for the series than Super Mario 64 ever was.

Nintendo took a much different route with level design this time around. Rather than each level being a single area they are now divided into small Galaxies of tiny planets and other large objects orbiting around each other. Usually your objectives in each of these areas will have Mario travelling between the planetary bodies as he is blown out of their gravitic pull with the use of special blast off stars, and other times yet you can simply jump from one to the next if they are close by. There are some planetary bodies that are so large that they look flat while you are travelling around on them.

Gravity is an absolutely huge aspect of the game. Many of the small planetary bodies Mario will travel across are completely round, and you'll be able to run completely around them without falling off. Some other areas will be completely built around different, and clashing gravitic pulls and these often require some intense concentration and planning to make it through. Another important aspect of the game is that Mario won't always cling to the underside of a large surface - there will often be black holes waiting underneath to suck him in.

Power-ups are something that we really didn't have in Mario's last outing, and oh have we missed them. This is the first three dimensional Mario game to actually feature the fire flower, and though it lasts only for a short time it's actually really cool to have back. Along with this there's also the ice flower which allows Mario to freeze water as he walks on it, Mario can turn into a spring and bounce high, there's also a red star that gives Mario the ability to fly, and finally we've got the bee suit which, as you may have guessed, turns Mario into a bee that can fly and climb honeycombs. While not quite matching up to Super Mario Bros. 3 sheer variety, I'm very pleased with what Nintendo has given us.

Most of Mario's old moves make their triumphant return in Galaxy. Mario can swim through the water, triple jump, wall jump, and spin punch. Pretty much the only thing that's missing from Mario 64 is his dive and belly slide, but it's not something that's particularly missed. His signature move is still the classic jump and stomp on the enemy. The main problem with this is that Galaxy is extremely disorienting due to the elements of gravity, so it can be extremely difficult to accurately aim your jumps while Mario is on the underside of a planetary body.

Nintendo also has done an extremely good job of using the Wii controller's unique features in this game. Aiming the controller at the screen activates a star shaped pointer which you can move around. This is used for a variety of things - you can fire off star bits that Mario collects with various effects. Most of all this is used to stun enemies.

On top of that, some levels are specifically built around the motion controls - one features Mario running on top of a ball that you have to tilt around by moving the controller, while others will use the pointer by either making you push Mario in a bubble by blasting air at him, or pulling him around in space using special blue stars. These areas work really well in mixing up the gameplay and at the same time they show us quite a bit of the Wii remote's potential.

The gameplay, in complete honesty, offers one of the most perfectly realized Mario experiences I've ever seen. Not only does the game ooze the plumber's signature style around every turn (even moreso than Super Mario 64, I'd say), but it also throws a lot of new stuff at you. Putting Mario in space was an idea that could have gone horribly wrong, but thankfully, Nintendo came through for us even after the disaster that was Super Mario Sunshine.

Graphically this is easily the best looking game on the Nintendo Wii. Super Mario Galaxy is quite obviously a step up from anything we saw on the Gamecube, and it's nice to see that Nintendo took their main franchise more seriously this generation in regards to graphics. The game features some awesome texture work, very pleasant (and quite fitting) bloom lighting effects, and the most highly detailed character models we've seen yet in the series. Galaxy is also a pleasantly colorful adventure, and this plays well with the variously themed galaxies.

The music in Galaxy easily makes for the greatest Mario soundtrack yet. Normally that wouldn't be saying much because the series isn't one where music has played a big part in traditionally, but this time Nintendo decided to orchestrate the whole thing. That's right, orchestrated music in a Mario game. I never thought I'd live to see the day. There are some truly epic pieces of music in this game - the first time I heard the Egg Galaxy's theme I nearly got goosebumps, while the Space Junk Galaxy's song relaxed me and nearly put me to sleep. What's really cool is that Nintendo even orchestrated some classic Mario themes and threw them in the game.

Controls are alright, but as I mentioned earlier things can get pretty disorienting. You move Mario around with the nunchuck attachment's joystick, and camera control and ducking are designated to it's should buttons. The Wii remote is used for a variety of things, A makes Mario jump, pressing Z allows you to fire star bits at enemies using the on-screen pointer, and Mario performs his spin punch when you shake the remote. I'm not fond at all of simply shaking the remote to punch, but I guess it's acceptable given how the controller is set up. One thing worth noting is that the camera control is almost completely automatic this time around, but it works surprisingly well.

Final Recommendation
This is, in my opinion, the definitive Mario game, and the best reason to own a Wii as of right now. Super Mario Galaxy takes all that we loved from the older games and makes it new. This is an extremely fun game, and I would even go so far as to say that it's the best game of 2007, so far.