This and Galaxy 2 are my favorite 3d Mario games. The level design is amazing and seeing a new galaxy for the first time was always a treat since they are so disconnected, so the next galaxy could be anything. That feature of being in space and travelling to completely different worlds was always fun and it was also a smart move be the developers since it allowed them to pretty much do whatever they wanted as long as it was good.
However, there are some points in the game where the camera movement, combined with the strange gravity at times, can make certain parts of the game frustrating to deal with since you'll get stuck on something and can't see what's going on. You could also just be walking and the camera will move, shifting your orientation, which causes Mario to walk off-course since you haven't adjusted your controls to account for the change in perspective. However, these strange and annoying parts of the game are quite uncommon and it's my only real issue with this game.
The music in this game ranges from amazing to downright beautiful and every single track fits the setting perfectly. Every single song is good enough to listen to separately from the game.
It also isn't very hard to 100% this game, either. You just need to essentially collect all of the stars twice and that's it. It only really becomes a chore if you try to do it all at once, so you'll be fine if you just try to space out your play sessions. Also, almost all of the levels are fun to play and there are only really 2 stars that I can think of off the top of my head that I didn't really enjoy trying to get.
The story is kind of generic, which is usually what you expect from a Mario game: beat Bowser and save Peach to beat the game blah blah blah. One thing I'll say real quick is that the opening of the game where the kingdom is attacked and the castle is taken absolutely blew me away the first time I saw it; again with the music of the scene, but also with the reality of what was happening. But there are two parts of the story that stand out to me and to a lot of other people. The first is the ending but I won't spoil it if you haven't played this masterpiece yet for some reason, but you know what I'm talking about if you've finished the game and it gets pretty emotional for a Mario game. The second standout isn't really part of the main story, but it is almost its own mini story: the storybook. Again, I don't want to spoil it, but each chapter adding more and more of the story just tugs at your heartstrings more and more. I played this game a lot during the golden age of the Wii but back then I wasn't able to understand what was happening and I just liked the game because Mario was in space. But playing this once I got old enough to think about what was happening in the end and in the storybook, I would start to tear up, which is strange because there isn't much that does that to me. If you go through and read the storybook all the way through without having seen it in a while or ever, I could almost guarantee that you would get teary-eyed, if not actually crying. The music also doesn't help if you are trying to get through it without getting emotional because the music makes both parts mentioned so much sadder than they would have been.
I will stop gushing now. I would actually be surprised to meet anyone who hasn't played at least part of this game.
However, there are some points in the game where the camera movement, combined with the strange gravity at times, can make certain parts of the game frustrating to deal with since you'll get stuck on something and can't see what's going on. You could also just be walking and the camera will move, shifting your orientation, which causes Mario to walk off-course since you haven't adjusted your controls to account for the change in perspective. However, these strange and annoying parts of the game are quite uncommon and it's my only real issue with this game.
The music in this game ranges from amazing to downright beautiful and every single track fits the setting perfectly. Every single song is good enough to listen to separately from the game.
It also isn't very hard to 100% this game, either. You just need to essentially collect all of the stars twice and that's it. It only really becomes a chore if you try to do it all at once, so you'll be fine if you just try to space out your play sessions. Also, almost all of the levels are fun to play and there are only really 2 stars that I can think of off the top of my head that I didn't really enjoy trying to get.
The story is kind of generic, which is usually what you expect from a Mario game: beat Bowser and save Peach to beat the game blah blah blah. One thing I'll say real quick is that the opening of the game where the kingdom is attacked and the castle is taken absolutely blew me away the first time I saw it; again with the music of the scene, but also with the reality of what was happening. But there are two parts of the story that stand out to me and to a lot of other people. The first is the ending but I won't spoil it if you haven't played this masterpiece yet for some reason, but you know what I'm talking about if you've finished the game and it gets pretty emotional for a Mario game. The second standout isn't really part of the main story, but it is almost its own mini story: the storybook. Again, I don't want to spoil it, but each chapter adding more and more of the story just tugs at your heartstrings more and more. I played this game a lot during the golden age of the Wii but back then I wasn't able to understand what was happening and I just liked the game because Mario was in space. But playing this once I got old enough to think about what was happening in the end and in the storybook, I would start to tear up, which is strange because there isn't much that does that to me. If you go through and read the storybook all the way through without having seen it in a while or ever, I could almost guarantee that you would get teary-eyed, if not actually crying. The music also doesn't help if you are trying to get through it without getting emotional because the music makes both parts mentioned so much sadder than they would have been.
I will stop gushing now. I would actually be surprised to meet anyone who hasn't played at least part of this game.