During E3 2006, Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo called this game "The first worthy successor of Super Mario 64" and he was right on the money with that one. This game takes everything done in previous 3D Mario titles and just makes it the best it can be. More levels, more characters, more story, more platforming, more exploration; everything in this game is dialed to an 11 which culminates in the ultimate Mario experience. The story in the game is the same Mario tale seen again and again but this time Nintendo added some flair to everything which makes the story feel incredibly dramatic. Rosalina brings some much needed lore to the world in small dialogue bits that flesh out the world without making you feel like you have to know everything and it is perfect. One thing that I harshly disagree on with most criticisms of this game is that it lacks the exploration of Mario 64. Most Mario 64 levels are not nearly as big, nor nearly as open as Galaxy and nothing highlights this more than the Purple Coin comets which replace the 100 Coin stars of Super Mario 64 and Sunshine. These stars allow you to explore everything these worlds have without hiding too many collectibles in tucked away areas that the player would never visit otherwise. Speaking of those stars, how are they in this game? Fantastic. Every challenge in this game is incredibly fun to play and nothing ever feels like you're going to the same place to grab basically the same star twice like in 64. The progression is set up perfectly so that you have plenty of time to fully understand the environment and challenges, making the beginning stars an absolute breeze (in a good way). Some challenges are a little more tedious than others but none so incredibly hard that it makes you want to throw your controller. Finally, we come to easily the grandest point in this game's favor, the soundtrack. If you have heard anything of Galaxy, automatically people will say "the soundtrack is the best in Mario history" and they are always right. Every song in this soundtrack is nothing less than a beautiful orchestrated piece that fits the tone of the game just right. Some repeat here and there but with how beautiful this game's soundtrack is, you would not mind hearing it another go around. If I had to criticize this game for anything, it would be the overreliance on motion controls and the camera going a little wonky every now and then but it's nothing too crazy distracting to where it can really bog the game down. All in all, Super Mario Galaxy is an absolute blast of a good time and even if you just want to play it through to the 60 star finish, I would give it a go, but if you really enjoy it, get all 120. This game was amazing to play and astronautical to complete.