If you haven’t been living in an empty cave since 1985 then you’ve probably seen at least one of the games in the Super Mario Brothers franchise. If you have a Nintendo Wii you then should give Super Mario Galaxy a try!

This addition to the series takes the Super Mario series to a new 3D level. Other games have had 3D graphics but Super Mario Galaxy is a truly 3D world. Players have a full range of movement, and can go in any direction at any time.

The game is broken up into sections, called galaxies and in each galaxy is multiple planets. Since access to planets is limited by the number of stars you have collected this gives you the option to have and entirely non-linear play experience in manageable chunks. Once you’ve collected 52 stars you unlock access to the main event. A fight to save Princess Peach, and the universe as well as crushing Bowser’s meglo-maniacal intentions.

Mario & Luigi have a chat

Mario & the Mail Toad

You can enjoy the game after you’ve beat it, because a treasure trove of new hidden galaxies and missions unlock, and when you get all 120 possible stars you earn the right to play again as Luigi and unlocks your own little Luigiverse.

Mario has some different ways to fly as well. He buzzes as a bee, wafts as a boo and does some good old fashion free flying with the help of a special hat. Other modifications to Mario include, spring Mario, fire Mario, Ice Mario and Rainbow (invincible) Mario all of which are available to you, if you can find the right mushroom.

The downside to this game play is that in order to get the maximum amount of star bits (this games goodies) you really need to have a second player on hand, otherwise you run the risk of missing a critical jump or running smack dab into a foe.

Mario dies after only 3 hits and you use coins to revive him, which is fine until you realize you can’t use the coins you collected while you were healthy. This isn’t a big issue though, as you won’t take a lot of damage and extra lives are abundant just be sure to check your mail.

The game doesn’t have upgrades or online play and the only version of multi-player is a second class citizen picking up goodies and using them to sniper baddies at a distance, but co-op’s aren’t really expected from this genre, and most likely would have made the detailed environment impossible without gathering the players together.

The game uses your wii remote and the nun chuck pretty vigorously, and that can take some getting used to.