If you are familiar with any of the previous Mario installments such as Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and so forth, Super Mario Galaxy plays similarly to the other games. What Nintendo has done, however, is almost perfect the 3D platforming world in this game.

As per usual, Mario is on a quest to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of the infamous Bowser. Mario ends up teaming with Luma, an anthropomorphic star, and ends up on the Comet Observatory where he meets Princess Rosalina.

There he learns that Bowser is taking all the power stars from the come observatory. It’s up to you to get back these stars for Rosalina and rescue your damsel in distress. As Mario is traveling out in the galaxy, the rules of gravity are completely different.

The developers have completely utilized the 3D environment into the gameplay. When you land on a sphere, you can walk all over it, going sideways and upside down in the process. Or you can jump in one area and end up gravitating toward the ceiling or walls.

The change in gravity and physics might seem daunting at first; however the controls are so intuitive that you can pick up the controls right away. You can even play with a friend who can help you in the beginning levels by shooting star bits, helping Mario perform a super jump and freezing enemies in place.

Although the game controls much like Mario 64, there are several wii-centric additions. Mario’s primary attack is a basic spin move which you perform by shaking the Wii Remote. The Wii Remote also acts as a pointer. By pointing at the screen you collect star bits, which serve as a currency and as a weapon.

You can also feed hungry lumas star bits. The lumas will transform into a new galaxy, world, or sometimes a launch star. As you progress through the levels, not only do you have to feed the hungry lumas more star bits to get them to transform, the bosses, puzzles, and enemies get progressively harder.

Still, because the difficulty level gradually increases, you are never completely overwhelmed by the levels. The level designs, by the way, are superb. Some levels require you to take advantage of certain suits that give Mario various powers. For example, the bee suit allows you to fly for a short amount of time and land on flowers.

Although some of the puzzles with these suits can be frustrating, for the most part they add great dimension to the gameplay. One of the great things about the levels is that there is a lot of replay value. There are hidden stars that will give you special powers (such as flying), green stars that give you access to another world, and still others that just increase the power in the Comet Observatory.

Comets also pass over certain levels. Essentially, comets will enter orbit in some of these galaxies, and change the gameplay. Whether it’s speeding up all the enemies in an area, making you finish a difficult level with only 1 HP, or having you race against a doppelganger Mario, there’s a nice variety of change-ups in the game. And of course you receive a star for each comet level you successfully complete.

In terms of graphics, this game is the best-looking Wii game on the market. The colors are vibrant and the levels, despite having the same starting point, introduce more of the world to you. In essence you see more of the world as you play through each level, which keeps the worlds interesting.

The camera angles as well are stellar and follow you throughout the game. You can adjust it right or left in certain areas, and go to a first-person view if you just want to look around. There are very few places where the camera prevents you from seeing everything. Audio is also very crisp and clean, and for many of the levels you’ll hear the original Mario theme song.

To get the most out of this game, you need to collect all 120 stars and fight Bowser again. When you beat Bowser, you unlock a special character. I don’t want to give it away, but you play through again with this character and unlock the Grand Finale Galaxy where you collect 100 purple coins to get the final star. Collecting all the stars can be difficult, especially when you are racing against Cosmic Mario (he always seems a lot faster than regular Mario).