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Super Mario Galaxy 1 or Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Galaxy 1 without a doubt. Galaxy 2 just seems completely devoid of the soul and originality that the first game had.
 
Goodlife said:
Galaxy 1.

It was perfect, the most perfect game, just captured everything good about videos games and rolled it into one big, happy, hug.

Reminds me of that scene from Ratatouille where the critic takes a bite of the meal and suddenly in his head he's back in his mother house as a boy with the feeling of comfort.

I'm not sure I'll ever feel that way again about a game.
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I agree with this 100%.
 
ec0ec0 said:
This is the only thing that matters. From a gameplay standpoint galaxy 1 loses. Therefore, galaxy 2 wins ;p
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Well, yes, but I wouldn't discount anyone who prefers Galaxy 1 - there are other factors at play that can influence why they would prefer it to 2.

I mean, I think a lot of people really enjoyed Galaxy's atmosphere. Myself included. While I hesitate to use words such as "magic" when it comes to video games, Galaxy 1 did inspire a feeling that resonated with me more than Galaxy 2.

I suppose you could compare it to the Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask situation, at least for me. I'm playing through the latter for the first time and the atmosphere it gives off is really doing wonders for my enjoyment. I've read a lot of posts here on GAF about how they prefer Majora's Mask due to the feeling that it gives off, and how the gameplay ties so well into that.

I guess this is a comparable situation for the Galaxy games. Like Zelda, it helps that the gameplay is wonderful in both games, but if you value other atmosphere and other things, I can totally get why one would enjoy Galaxy 1 more.
 
I always felt like people preferred Galaxy 2 because they were somehow ignoring that half of the game isn't even platforming. Now I feel like it's because they actually like all of the 2D sections, costume levels, gimmick levels, and so on, and I don't. Just like how GAF loves Wonderful 101 and completely excuses the disruptive minigames, but I don't like them.

:(
 
I blew through SMG unlike any game I can remember. I got SMG2 and while it's a great game, I found myself falling short of finishing it. I can't pinpoint a specific issue I had with it, I think I just ran out of steam with the overall gameplay. Probably need to return to it soon and see if I can finish it up.
 
I'm in the minority here, but the first one. Super Mario Galaxy my favorite Nintendo made game of all time (thank you, EAD Tokyo).

1ZTkAr9.jpg


Sheer brilliance.
 
ec0ec0 said:
Also, OP, have you seen matthewmatosis 3d mario reviews? you may like them:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthewmatosis/videos

I'm giving you a link to the channel because it's better to start with the mario 64 review before watching the galaxy ones.
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I am well aware of his reviews, yes. Have watched all of the 3D mario reviews. They seem spot-on for the most part.

Ihaa said:
I see, I had a very different impression. The
stone cycle galaxy
felt like a reused concept with nothing new added. We've seen it like 2 or 3 times at that point and it was just more of the same.
Boss Blitz and throwback
weren't all that fun for me either but Im the kind of person that prefers new content over remastered or remade content.
Roller coaster
was okay but it wasn't too interesting for me. Fun the first time through but I never was compelled to go back.
Mario squared
was also meh. I guess I just didn't really enjoy
world s
XD.

I also didn't like the way commets worked. I prefered not collecting comet coins and just feeding the luma in SMG1 since it felt like there were a bunch to do at a time. Although I have to admit there are more interesting comets in SMG2.

I guess for me the best way to describe it was that after I beat SMG1, I redid everything with luigi but after I beat SMG2, i wasn't compelled to collect the green stars and i never went back to the game.
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To be honest I don't blame you if you stopped the game at just before the Green Stars. All you're really missing out on is the final challenge(Which is quite masterful, but still). Finding the Green Stars is way better than replaying the game again with slight differences, but still not all that fun and gets repetitive real quick.

Azure J said:
It's the Metroid Prime 2 of the Mario series, better in every way than its predecessor but the first game is such a landmark, everyone develops stupidly strong allegiances to it.
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Err, I don't think the Metroid Prime comparison is apt. Mainly because MP2 has some gimmicks like having to switch between the two worlds. To say it's a better game than MP1... I dunno man. When compared to both of its sequels, MP1 feels like a better game, considering it's 3D Metroid in its purest essence. Doesn't have the extra storyline of MP3, or the gimmick(s) of MP2. It's just Metroid... in 3D. And that's fine.
 
Azure J said:
SMG2 takes the initial premise of Galaxy and throws a near endless amount of new and legitimately challenging ideas into the mix. For that alone it's better than Galaxy.

It's the Metroid Prime 2 of the Mario series, better in every way than its predecessor but the first game is such a landmark, everyone develops stupidly strong allegiances to it.
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Both platform and adventure games for the greatest part thrive on experiencing wholly novel things that are incongruous to our preconceptions. There is nothing stupid about favoring the first of its kind. I swear games are the only artistic medium ever where a large cohort of the fanbase thinks a derivative product with more of x is 'objectively better'.

There are way too many engineers in this hobby.
 
Agreed with some of the posters in this thread--2 was a better platformer and gameplay game (especially some of the SMW throwbacks!), but 1 had better presentation and story. 2 felt a little rushed in that respect, but by no means did that make it an inferior game. Most Mario games are very light/rushed in the story dept (like NSMB and 3D World), so it's just mostly in comparison to Galaxy 1, which had a surprisingly deep story for a Mario game.
 
For some reason when Galaxy came out, I bought it but never played it. I actually just resolved to correct that mistake and picked it up again a few hours ago. Once I beat it, I'll head straight into 2. I'm excited to experience these for what is effectively the first time, particularly since I've gotten really excited about space over the last few years.

...but that soundtrack comparison in the OP doesn't even come close. The music of Galaxy 2 is pretty good, but that first one annihilates it. Gusty Garden is one of the GOAT mario tunes, and that's saying something.
 
2 had better level design and showed signs that EAD Tokyo was already starting to move in a direction of simplified cardinal directions and 2-D Mario trappings in the 3-D games that would more fully be expressed in 3D Land and 3D World, but in the end, I think that Galaxy 1 was ultimately the better, more memorable overall package.
 
Galaxy 1 due to "wow" factor and more open design compared to Galaxy 2. Although Galaxy 2 had the Perfect Run and Yoshi...
 
Without being forced to choose one over the other, I'd be happy just saying they're possibly the two best platformers ever made, arguably two of the best games ever made.
 
SMG2 cut out the fat, got straight to the point, and for the most part delivered fuller and more creative levels... I understand why most would have a greater emotional connection with the first but SMG2 was definitely the better game by most objective measures
 
I just started Galaxy 2 for the first time a few days ago.

I'm kinda surprised how hard it's making me work to unlock enough stars to progress. Galaxy 1 was much easier to progress in, in fact I saw the end credits before I even stepped foot in the last world.

Anyway I think I do prefer Galaxy 2 very slightly, but both games are practically identical really.

Also fuck Spring Mario.
 
Galaxy 1 vote reporting for duty.

I feel like the highs are higher for Galaxy 1. It has many more unforgettable levels and moments. Also some forgettable stuff, but that stuff you don't remember anyway!

Galaxy 2 does feel like the better Mario game, if that makes sense. Feels like it holds to the conventions a little better.
 
I have always considered SMG2 to be a companion to SMG, as it's more like an expansion pack than a true sequel. Both games are incredible, but I would go with playing the original and then playing the sequel.
 
Galaxy is fantastic, but Galaxy 2 is fantastic AND has Yoshi and the more streamlined overworld really helps to just get going and actually play the game.
 
While I think Super Mario Galaxy 2 is better, I wouldn't reccomend anybody to play it unless they played Super Mario Galaxy.

I have the same issue with Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
 
Like many cases, Galaxy is the untouchable game in being the table setter in its innovation and Galaxy 2 doesn't have that "wow" factor but is a marginally better game.
 
2 is better because it basically masters the most amazing aspects of the original, though the original still holds a special place for being first, the story book and the hub world as well. It's basically comparing 2 nearly perfect games, so I can see why some prefer one over the other.
 
2. But I'll take 3DW over both.

Goodlife said:
Galaxy 1.

It was perfect, the most perfect game, just captured everything good about videos games and rolled it into one big, happy, hug.

Reminds me of that scene from Ratatouille where the critic takes a bite of the meal and suddenly in his head he's back in his mother house as a boy with the feeling of comfort.

I'm not sure I'll ever feel that way again about a game.

2 was a great game, probably in terms of gameplay a little better than 1, but lacked something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXPlzdTcA-I
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That's actually exactly how I feel when Mario 3D World's end credits play :)

In retrospect, Galaxy is 2epic4me with the way everything is presented. You also get some of that weird Wii generation feel.
 
2. It seemed like every single level brought some new game play mechanic to the table. It's what I would consider the most perfect 3D platformer ever in terms of pure game play. The only reason to chose 1 is because it came first and was more fresh, but looking at them side by side 2 just manages to do everything 1 does except better.
 
Something about Galaxy 1 just didn't click with me. Been wanting to try Galaxy 2 though because it just seems to expand on the creativity and variety greatly.
 
Galaxy 2 has better gameplay, but Galaxy 1 has better emotional investment because of a simple children's book you can unlock and read. Sometimes it's the little things.
 
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