Thirteen1

While I have made no effort to hide the fact that, in the age-old ‘Sonic or Mario’ debate, my fanboyism falls squarely in the slipstream of the speedy blue one, it doesn’t mean I would ever miss out on any of the podgy Italian plumber’s titles.
In fact, in recent years the outings of Mario have stood head and shoulders above any of the Sonic releases. Personally, his most recent peak was Super Mario Galaxy. Now I’m sure that will cause much debate amongst both readers and other T1 team members, but I just prefer it over Super Mario World.

When I first played that game I was floored. The visually stunning worlds, the awesome gameplay and brilliant level design – everything about that game was spot on. Even something as simple as throwing yourself towards a small planetoid, hoping its gravity was strong enough to pull you the rest of the way, provided me hours of entertainment.

With the standard set that high, Super Mario Galaxy 2 has one hell of a big pair of red dungarees’ to fill.
The game starts with you heading over to meet Princess Peach to eat cake and watch the shooting stars fall in the Stardust festival . You know, the same festival that you were heading too in the first one….. the festival that only happens every 100 years….Yeah, story has never been the strongest element in Mario games.
So basically it’s the same plot as always. Bowser has decided that he’s going to rule the world/universe again and every dictator’s must have accessory is a damsel in distress. Ever one to stick with what he knows, he decides that Princess Peach is who he wants. That leaves Mario to chase him down, give him a good hiding & bring back the Princess.

Helping him in the chase this time is a group of Luma’s (Sentient stars), lead by a large purple Luma called Lubba. He has built a ship to fly around the galaxy, and since one of the younger luma’s has taken a shine to you, decides to lend you the ship to hunt down Bowser. It’s at this point that the ship turns into a giant Mario head, for no apparent reason….looks good though.
Anyway, its here that you’re introduced to the map for the game. This time they have decided to make a welcome return to the more linear style of world map. You progress from galaxy to galaxy in a more natural way than before, unlocking new ones by finishing others. Occasionally you will even come up against barriers that can only be passed by collecting a certain number of Power Stars in the other levels.

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