Now let’s get to the positive. You can’t help but love the little guy. He’s so full of cuteness with his "YA!" and his "WEEHOO!" He moves around like his butt is on fire and does tricks that would make any Olympic athlete jealous. He’s popular with the ladies (they seem to dig that moustache) and manages to save the day on a regular basis (see Repetitive Storyline rant). Naturally, he’s on the top of the guest list when Princess Peach beckons him to the Star Festival for a little festive fun (but manages to be the last guest to arrive, the slacker). She invites him to visit her high-class pad only before Bowser drops in with his alien buddies and scoops up the entire castle. Yeah, the Bowser is back, and this time he wants the entire universe. As the Super Mario Galaxy title hints, our hero plumber leaves the confines of the Mushroom Kingdom and wanders out into space. It’s a new frontier for Mario, boldly going where no Mario title has gone before.

Like Kirk and Picard, Mario needs a vessel to track down Princess Peach. Unfortunately, it’s docked on the Comet Observatory orbiting above a distant planet. This "space station," reminiscent of Phantasy Star Online without the bounty hunters, serves as the setting throughout most of the game, offering gateways to various "galaxies" via station domes including the Bedroom, Engine Room, Fountain, Garden, Kitchen, and Terrace. The Observatory also offers additional gateways to unlock by feeding Star Bits to various Hungry Lumas hanging out by each dome. The object - which seems to be the norm with console Mario titles as of late - is to collect as many stars as you can in to unlock the final showdown with Bowser and rescue the Princess. These stars are scattered throughout the galaxies; some are easy to collect, while others increasingly complicated as the game progresses.

What makes the journey unique over past Mario games is the Nintendo Wii’s control setup. The game utilizes the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the latter for basic movement and the former for special functions. This setup is actually ideal and while it may look awkward at first, the scheme is quite comfortable once you get used to the button assignments. Naturally, the remote takes advantage of the cool technology, incorporating forward flings for throwing, side to side shaking for spinning, left to right tilting for - you guessed it - tilting and leaning.

In addition to the new controls, Super Mario Galaxy also offers a small dose of multiplayer love if you bring along another remote (a second nunchuk isn’t needed). The second player (aka the Co-Star) can collect the multitudes of star bits otherwise left for the first player to collect on his/her own. These little star bits play an important role in Super Mario Galaxy, feeding various Hungry Lumas. Wherever the player moved the Star Pointer on the screen, Star Bits come out of nowhere as if pulled by a powerful magnet. These Star Bits also serve as ammo when the player takes aim and shoots (pressing the "B" button on the remote) at an enemy ala first-person style.

If that was not enough to keep the player busy, they can also help Mario with jumps, spins, and whatnot. Even if a second player option is available, it isn’t really necessary. The game is primarily focused on the single-player adventure, leaving no room for any kind of multiplayer mayhem between friends, which is unfortunate, as the Versus mode in Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo DS was a great addition, and would have worked well here as an additional feature for the second player.

Still, there are plenty of new goodies in Super Mario Galaxy to keep both players satisfied. Mario comes packaged with his usual arsenal of special moves such as the triple jump, wall jump, long jump, ground pound. Despite the swanky new control scheme, these moves remain unchanged since introduced in the Nintendo 64 days, requiring the standard button mashing. One of his coolest new moves is the Spin, performed by shaking the remote and a good way to break crates, crystal growths and knock out a few meanies. If you want Mario to throw an item, shake the remote. If Mario feels like skating, shake the remote to get him moving. Get ready to manoeuvre rolling balls Super Monkey Ball-style, manoeuvre Mario trapped in bubbles, steer manta rays, ride turtle shells and travel via Pull Stars using that cool remote.

In addition to new moves, Mario also has access to new power-ups. Of course, you can find the usual fanfare depending on what galaxy you currently reside, including the invincible Rainbow star, the Ice flower and the Fire flower. But this time around, Mario has access to goodies like the Bee Mushroom, a power-up that transforms him into a funny little bee. There is also the Boo Mushroom, converting Mario into a big-headed ghost. Lastly, we have the Spring Mushroom, a nifty little device that wraps around Mario like a possessed Slinky and sends him bouncing everywhere. The new power-ups are quite entertaining save for the Spring, something that seemed really cool at first until narrow pathways and speed became an issue, thus Mario found his way into the dark anal halls of death many times over. As a Bee, Mario can (slowly) fly anywhere for a limited time; fall into the water and the power-up cancels. There is certainly lots of gaming goodness going on here with the new moves and power-ups, but it does not quite top the game’s impressive visuals.