Unlike most, I wasn't disappointed with Mario's GameCube outing Super Mario Sunshine. In fact, I thought it was an incredibly fun action platformer. As such, I had no idea what to expect from Super Mario Galaxy as my opinion of Mario's latest games hasn't quite been on par with most.
Motion Sickness Be Damned
One of the first things people think about checking out screenshots or videos of Super Mario Galaxy is how nauseating it would be to try and control Mario through the various gravity shifting, camera fighting galaxies. Luckily, the game is surprisingly easy to control and adjust to. Sure, the first few worlds you run around may take a bit to get used to as you'll find yourself training your brain on which way is up, but the slight learning curve is more than worth the rewarding gameplay nuances that are made possible.
Just Enough Waggle
Those afraid Nintendo might force too much Wii remote waggling into the latest Mario platformer need not fear as Super Mario Galaxy takes the "less is more" approach to motion controls. Your basic running and jumping are all performed with a combination of the nunchuk control stick and the buttons on both the nunchuck and remote. The only times you'll be using motion controls is to do Mario's spin attack or to perform a variety of context sensitive actions (such as spinning along a vine). You'll also use the pointing capabilites of the remote to collect star bits and to shoot those star bits at enemies and obstacles (though you can get by the entire game without shooting anything if you so choose). Surprisingly, the few motion controls added to the game actually add a significant amount of immersion as it feels much more satisfying performing a spin attack to hit baddies by shaking the remote as opposed to a simple button press. The controls really are near flawless here.
Depth and Variety
Probably the best thing about the last Mario adventure is the sheer amount of content laid out for you to explore. Completists will have quite a few galaxies to play through in an attempt to collect all 120 stars while more casual players will still get a fairly beefy bit of content to tackle themselves. The key is that while the game may take awhile to complete, it never gets old. Gameplay is frequently changing and keeping things fresh. With racing levels, puzzle levels, marble madness / monkey ball levels, and arguably the best of the best platforming levels, you'll constantly be finding new things to love about the game. Just when you think the game may start getting stale, you'll be presented with a new boss, or a new suit powerup, or even a new way to play with gravity. There really is so much to do and so many ways to "platform" that you may just find yourself giggling with joy when nobody else is around.
Near Perfect Platformer
Yes, the game is great. And it's most likely the best Wii game to have come out for the system. Unfortunately, for me at least, while the game was constantly fun, there was rarely (if ever) a "WOW" moment. I definitely recommend the game to all Wii owners, but the game just didn't deliver any of those absolutely memorable moments that you'll talk about for years to come.