When I think of Super Mario Bros., I think of the most amazing, player-friendly, and popular platformer franchise of all time. Even kids in school who knew classic Tetris as well as quantum mechanics would stand up and cheer if they heard Mario music playing over auditorium speakers. Being a big Mario fan ever since I picked up a Super Nintendo, -- I was too late for the Nintendo -- I was rather upset with myself for having missed out on the lauded Super Mario Galaxy. After Super Mario Galaxy 2 came out, I immediately headed to the local Fred Meyer to purchase a copy and engage in one of the most fun, original, mass-market-oriented platformers I've played in years.
Mario goes from world to world as he finds Power Stars in his quest to rescue Princess Peach and trounce Bowser, but gone are the typical platforming stages of Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine. Instead, a typical world is composed of several small planets with unique obstacles, enemies, setups, power-ups, minigames, and pitfalls that linearly guide Mario to the Power Star that he must obtain. Though there are several Power Stars to each world, the path that Mario takes will shift with each Star to offer up a new experience. With several dozen worlds available for Mario to conquer, Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues to offer fun, fresh platforming throughout the entirety of its campaign.
Even after finishing the campaign, Super Mario Galaxy 2 offers wonderful replayability in the form of Prankster Comets and Green Stars, which offer the player a chance to find slightly more difficult stars through a challenge, a hide-and-seek, or a combination of the two. Though I have finished this game many months before, picking up the controller again to catch all of the Green Stars is surprisingly invigorating and enjoyable. There isn't a hint of "filler" material at any point in this game, despite the massive volume of content it offers. I haven't played Super Mario Galaxy and therefore can't say how much new content is in its sequel, but I would most definitely recommend it to video gamers of all ages who haven't yet tried out this fantastic game. Nowhere is there a stain to mar the experience of Super Mario Galaxy 2, and as such, I'm going to rate it a 5/5.
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