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Super Mario Galaxy 2 |OT| with >NEW< hat!

Shiggy

Member
ghibli99 said:
Hey, it's just my opinion. That's why there are folks who find the SMG games too easy and others that find them impossible to play. We all have different experiences and interpret various aspects of these games differently; I guess my experience was simply more positive than yours.

What I will clarify is that stereoscopic 3D probably wouldn't have helped *me* for the green stars. I enjoyed almost every minute of it.

I'm not talking about the green stars in general, just about a few for which there is nothing to discuss. Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEXabJLXrx4&t=6m20s
You really do not see where you need to jump.
 
The depth perception was definitely a problem for me as well on a few Green Stars, especially if they were situated in free space and were sort of at the mercy of the camera to define their exact places. But really, 3D isn't necessary just a lot more dynamic and intelligent camera would have worked wonders.
 

FreeMufasa

Junior Member
Just like I thought, I wasn't taken in by the galaxy 2. I played the first back at launch but it just didn't click like I thought it would.

I love the music, graphics and trailers but actually playing it feels meh. I really dislike how easy it is. I'm at around the 50th star but I think it's safe to assume there's no dramatic increase in difficulty (also using SMG1 as a reference).

The game is technically perfect and I can definately see why it could be someones favourite game, but I guess the series just isn't for me. Easily the weakest of the 3D mario games IMO.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
FreeMufasa said:
Easily the weakest of the 3D mario games IMO.
Galaxy 2 definitely gets more difficult as you get further, and most would agree that it ends up harder than the original. That's what anecdotal evidence says, anyway. My brother got 120 stars in SMG but gave up doing the same in SMG2 due to difficulty.

Is it ever really that hard? Not in my opinion. But I am adept at platformers so it all comes naturally to me. Many folks think that SMG2 is too hard, which is a bit crazy but I guess that's the way it is. I think Nintendo nailed the game's difficulty, seeing as it's mostly satisfying to seasoned gamers but fully playable to a point with non-seasoned ones.

Easy or not, the SMG games are easily better than Sunshine, and I enjoyed Sunshine for the things it did right. But basically it comes down to this: the SMG games are extensive due to the number of defined challenges, where a game like Sunshine is extensive because of a ridiculous amount of filler. I mean, SMG2 for example tacks on the green stars after the initial 120, but even at the initial 120 stars that game felt more "complete" with its distribution of challenges than Sunshine did with its incessant need to eke out every sliver of already-mediocre (at times) level design by making players look for blue coins constantly, while also including 100 coin stars and such. Not to mention the whole deal of making blue coins mission-specific.

I haven't played 64 in a while, so I won't weigh in on that. I know a lot of people actually think that it has aged badly but whatever. For now I'm just going to say that the Galaxy games in my opinion are certainly contenders for the best in the 3D series (and probably the entire Mario series in general), and Sunshine's shortcomings alone guarantee that. To summarize, Galaxy's core design comes from unique challenges + a little bit of recycling, where the earlier games use design philosophies that revolve A LOT around recycling to their potential detriment. No knock against exploration-based level design though, I'm just saying that the Galaxy games' approaches allow for a favorable amount of variety, regardless of the level of challenge. Games like Sunshine are hard to complete for the wrong reasons.
 

ghibli99

Member
Shiggy said:
I'm not talking about the green stars in general, just about a few for which there is nothing to discuss. Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEXabJLXrx4&t=6m20s
You really do not see where you need to jump.
Odd... I thought that one was really obvious. I just made sure I was relatively centered on top of the stone wheels and jumped to grab it. I can think of at least a few other better examples where it wasn't so much depth perception, but rather the camera not turning the way I wanted in order to get a better read on it. Those were rare, though.
 

hatchx

Banned
Shiggy said:
I really don't think you understood what we were talking about ;)



I thought I did. Are you talking about how hard it is to judge where Green stars based on:

1. Not being in stereoscopic 3D
and
2. Un-ideal 3D camera controls for exploration.


I found it very hard to get some of the green stars in Galaxy 2 simply because the level design and camera controls don't lend themselves to that type of exploration.

If my understanding of 3D Land is correct, it gives you much less camera controls, and levels are even shorter and more linear. Even though stereoscopic 3D will help judge distance to stars/items, what does that really matter when everything has to be on a 2D plane of sorts (in the vein of Crash bandicoot's 2D-3D gameplay, and much of Galaxy's more linear levels).
 

Mzo

Member
Aside from a couple that were kind of fun to go for, the green stars on the whole felt like a terrible chore.

I got them all because I am the enemy of fun.
 

ghibli99

Member
Cyan said:
A much better example would be that house world where you have to jump over a fence and fall onto the star. Took me a ridiculous number of tries, purely because it was hard to work out exactly where it was in space.
Yep, this is a much better example. Took me a number of tries, and it basically felt like luck when I finally got it. Another BS one was the sand slide... unless you just happen to be in the right spot, you just go flying right past it and have to die to do that section over.
 

BowieZ

Banned
hatchx said:
I thought I did. Are you talking about how hard it is to judge where Green stars based on:

1. Not being in stereoscopic 3D
and
2. Un-ideal 3D camera controls for exploration.


I found it very hard to get some of the green stars in Galaxy 2 simply because the level design and camera controls don't lend themselves to that type of exploration.

If my understanding of 3D Land is correct, it gives you much less camera controls, and levels are even shorter and more linear. Even though stereoscopic 3D will help judge distance to stars/items, what does that really matter when everything has to be on a 2D plane of sorts (in the vein of Crash bandicoot's 2D-3D gameplay, and much of Galaxy's more linear levels).
You will be pleasantly surprised when you play the game, I feel.

According to all the media we've seen, SM3DL is rarely only on a 2D plane and is like SMG's full 3D levels 90% of the time, and even the "2.5D style" sections have no restricted planes of movement, they're just...

narrow 3D hallways.
 

Zing

Banned
galvatron said:
Really?
I just got the game back from my sister and most of the green stars are pretty boring. A few are fun like the one in the stage with all of the saws, and in Bowser's castle, but most of the ones I've gotten feel like no more than "where's waldo".

Maybe I just appreciated the stars being faster to get in SMG2 since I had already played through SMG1 100% twice and was thankful that the game was just a tad shorter on the bonus content.
 

Zwei

Member
Just bought both Galaxy games from Amazon thanks to the recent resurrection of this thread. Thanks once again, GAF. :/
 

ghibli99

Member
Zing said:
Maybe I just appreciated the stars being faster to get in SMG2 since I had already played through SMG1 100% twice and was thankful that the game was just a tad shorter on the bonus content.
Agreed. I'm glad it wasn't just the same game all over again w/ a different character. I think there was decent thought put into the placement of a lot of the stars. Hell, if DLC was something that existed on the Wii like it does other consoles, I could see additional star challenges adding more life to an already great value of a game.
 
I just got every single star in the game (Perfect Run wasn't nearly as hard as people say).

I got about 103 of the Green Stars today alone, and now all I hear is the noise the stars make when they are nearby. I am sitting here right now, and I keep hearing the noise but there is no green star in my dorm room dammit! Maybe it's outside my window.
 
Cyan said:
Goddamit, yes it was.

Good bump timing, I just started a new game on SMG2 a day or two ago. Still fun as hell.

I only died about three times, one of which was because I tried to get fancy with my jumping during that cloud part.
 

Anth0ny

Member
Perfect run isn't that hard, it's tedious.

The yoshi part, the part with the blue/green switches and the part with the cloud/wind is so fucking easy. Then it gets kinda hard. When I die, I wouldn't feel like playing the whole level over again... so it took me a while to finally beat it.
 

olimpia84

Member
This thread reminds me I need to go back and finish this bad boy. I have a bad habit of stopping games midway through them and not going back to finish them.
 
Cyan said:
Damn, you must have magic hands. Took me 50-60 tries over the course of a week and a half.

Nah, not magic hands (I can't even do that infinite flutter trick, no matter how hard I try). It's just have beaten every Mega Man in the Classic, X, and Zero series without getting hit once, which gave me really good enemy and enemy attack awareness, so the Daredevil runs in SMG2 were much easier as a result since the only thing you really need to worry about are enemies. If I didn't have such enemy awareness that resulted from Mega Man, I would have gotten massacred.
 

ghibli99

Member
Last star messes with you mentally... there are areas that are deliberately easy that eat up time, but they also can make you sloppy in areas where you can't afford to be. It's a great level that made me feel like a king once I finally beat it.
 
So my lady friend is having massive issues with the Perfect Run. Shes at the point with all the Hammer Bros on the little platforms in the sky and she just can't do it. Shes been working on this shit for a fucking week. Finally she came to me and asked to ask you guys. Im a pro at 2D Marios while she excels at 3D. You got any pointers for her? She said she refuses to look at YouTube vids because she thinks its cheating.
 
So my lady friend is having massive issues with the Perfect Run. Shes at the point with all the Hammer Bros on the little platforms in the sky and she just can't do it. Shes been working on this shit for a fucking week. Finally she came to me and asked to ask you guys. Im a pro at 2D Marios while she excels at 3D. You got any pointers for her? She said she refuses to look at YouTube vids because she thinks its cheating.

You can duck the throws with the waddle.
 
Ok she said shes gonna try waddling now...again. She said she tried it before but instinctually she starts freaking out and jumping as soon as the hammers start coming lol
 
Ok she said shes gonna try waddling now...again. She said she tried it before but instinctually she starts freaking out and jumping as soon as the hammers start coming lol

Lol yeah it definitely works, I sat there for what felt like 10 minutes ducking and trying to figure out a way through it.
 
So did you just waddle the whole time? And where theres a break in throws, thats when you jump? Im really sorry Ive never played it so Im the fucking middleman in all of this lol. Shes calling me every 20 minutes giving me updates =P

She said its gonna totally fuck up her week if she doesnt get through it. A true gamer.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
My strategy was to just slow things down. Once I got to the part, I just stood still and observed the situation. Keeping a level head, from there it was basically about a matter of skill plus a matter of patience, taking out each of the bros one by one (rather than just trying to rush through projectiles).
 

effzee

Member
I never got to play the game when it came and just got around to finishing it now...

now I know from Mario Galaxy 1 that you need 120 stars to see the actual ending of the game. In this game I just beat Bowser with 105 stars, the credits rolled, and an extra "special" galaxy opened up. Is this how you get 120 stars? Do you fight Bowser again?
 

Berordn

Member
I never got to play the game when it came and just got around to finishing it now...

now I know from Mario Galaxy 1 that you need 120 stars to see the actual ending of the game. In this game I just beat Bowser with 105 stars, the credits rolled, and an extra "special" galaxy opened up. Is this how you get 120 stars? Do you fight Bowser again?

Yes and yes. After you get all 120 regular and comet stars, you unlock more.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
So how many stars in total? And is there a diff ending or boss battle at the end if you collect all the stars?

After the initial 120 stars,
there are an additional 120 "green stars" to collect that are hidden throughout the existing levels. Once you get all 120 of those, then another secret (and very difficult) level opens up with two stars of it's own.
 
After the initial 120 stars,
there are an additional 120 "green stars" to collect that are hidden throughout the existing levels. Once you get all 120 of those, then another secret (and very difficult) level opens up with two stars of it's own.
This made the game for me. It was really obvious
the green stars were only made for people who kicked ass at the game and may have glided through most of it.
 

effzee

Member
After the initial 120 stars,
there are an additional 120 "green stars" to collect that are hidden throughout the existing levels. Once you get all 120 of those, then another secret (and very difficult) level opens up with two stars of it's own.

Holy shit that sounds awesome. I remember I got all 120 stars in Galaxy 1 and then Luigi became playable but I stopped at that point.
Were there similar stars and extra levels in that game also?

And the
green stars...are they hidden within existing levels or do they show up as new stars in pre existing levels. Sort of like prankster comet stars? Or do you have to go into the levels and look in every corner and under every rock to find a hidden star?
 

Hellish

Member
Fuck this thread is reminding me that I have to go in and clear out the rest of the stars only in like the 90s, I want to but no time. :/
 

effzee

Member
Fuck this thread is reminding me that I have to go in and clear out the rest of the stars only in like the 90s, I want to but no time. :/

I am very OCD about things like that. I could have beaten the game with less stars but I wanted to collect them all! The instant a prankster comet would appear I would go back and get the star and only when I would finish that I would advance.

Its the same reason that I still haven't played Skyward Sword even though I bough it. Need to finish all of the game!
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Holy shit that sounds awesome. I remember I got all 120 stars in Galaxy 1 and then Luigi became playable but I stopped at that point.
Were there similar stars and extra levels in that game also?

And the
green stars...are they hidden within existing levels or do they show up as new stars in pre existing levels. Sort of like prankster comet stars? Or do you have to go into the levels and look in every corner and under every rock to find a hidden star?

Your second spoiler tag is broken.

Not like prankster ones, they are just hidden throughout the levels and you have to look around for them. 3 per level. I don't think they show up as blanks on the completion screen, they just get listed as you collect them.

The key to finding them is sound usually, though many are visible. They'll make a noise and that will clue you in that it's close.

It adds a lot of extra content though. Pretty sure those stars added another 10-15 hours of gameplay for me.
 
I enjoyed the
Green Star Challenge
way more than the first part of the game. I loved just heading into a level and listening closely, spotting them and then trying to grab them. Only thing bad was the sometimes dodgy depth perception when they were situated in open space. So I hope they do something like this for the new big Mario.
 
I am very OCD about things like that. I could have beaten the game with less stars but I wanted to collect them all! The instant a prankster comet would appear I would go back and get the star and only when I would finish that I would advance.

Its the same reason that I still haven't played Skyward Sword even though I bough it. Need to finish all of the game!

Come to think of the Mario games are some of the only games I played through to 100% completion this generation.

So many unfinished games...
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Well, but they are Prankster Comets. The stars don't show up unless you click the comet on the selection screen.

Right, I remember now. For some reason I didn't remember the stars showing up in the selection screen or on the galaxy list. Haven't played the game since I finished it though, and that was like a month after it came out :lol
 
The
120 green stars
after you beat the game with 120 stars are awesome. It doesn't double the length of the game or feel like an entirely fresh experience, but it extends the game's lifespan by a fair margin without feeling tacked on, and is a lot better than the reward for collecting all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy 1. As far as post-endgame content goes, it's among the best I've ever seen. And the fact that
a new level is unlocked when you get them all
makes it even better.

I might go back to Super Mario Galaxy 2 soon; I beat the game 100% within 3 days of it being released (I had those days off), and I haven't played it again since. Every so often I get the itch to play it again, and I think it's now been long enough.
 

ghibli99

Member
The
120 green stars
after you beat the game with 120 stars are awesome. It doesn't double the length of the game or feel like an entirely fresh experience, but it extends the game's lifespan by a fair margin without feeling tacked on, and is a lot better than the reward for collecting all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy 1. As far as post-endgame content goes, it's among the best I've ever seen. And the fact that
a new level is unlocked when you get them all
makes it even better.

I might go back to Super Mario Galaxy 2 soon; I beat the game 100% within 3 days of it being released (I had those days off), and I haven't played it again since. Every so often I get the itch to play it again, and I think it's now been long enough.
Agreed. And I think - even though I'm only a few stages in - the post-game content in Super Mario 3D Land takes SMG2's ideas and expands on them even further. I'm having a blast, even though I'm dying a lot. :)
 
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