(high intensity orchestral music begins) (Flames crackling) - I deliberately left this one out to avoid this from happening. - Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey
y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey
y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey
y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey
y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Hey y'all. Scott here. - Hey y'all. Scott here and yeah. Welcome to "New Location McGee" as she likes to be called.
"Old Location McGee" and I had a bit of a falling out. (Flames crackling) - Well, at least we have so
much more room for activities. The ambiance of this place is crazy. This is the first time
I've ever experienced what charm smells like. And it
smells a whole lot like piss. Well, in terms of what to talk about first I guess I can look at
exactly how many games I promise to take a look at soon. Jesus Christ. All right, let's just give
this one out away. Nyeah. (exciting video game music begins) "Super Mario Galaxy 2" was originally developed as a remixed and expanded version of
the original "Mario Galaxy" with Nintendo EAD initiating development right after the release of the first game. They just kept coming up with more ideas. And I think we can all understand why. The entire concept of
"Super Mario Galaxy" had and still has so much potential. Galaxy one didn't not feel fully realized or complete, in any way. It just felt like the
games concept could easily warrant a sequel. Under the development names
of "Super Mario Galaxy More" and super "Mario Galaxy 1.5", the team realized they actually
wanted to sell the game so they gave it the title of "Super Mario Galaxy 2"
achieving full sequel status. This was actually because the new ideas they were cramming into this thing just started to overload the
expansion they were developing and it was enough to consider
it a full-blown sequel. At 2009 the penultimate big reveal of Nintendo's press conference was "Super Mario Galaxy 2"
sporting a tall logo, showcasing Yoshi being
brought into the mix, new galaxies to explore some new concepts And that was about it. It was truly more of "Mario Galaxy". About a year later in North America it was released on May 23rd,
2010, with a May 27th release for Japan in a June
11th release for Europe. This game just started
to roll in the praise. If you thought "Super Mario
Galaxy" was a critical success. You're a moron. Look at this! Jesus man, people
absolutely adored this game. Now with this in mind and "Mario Galaxy" being my
favorite game of all time you'd think I'd- Nope! I
bought at three years later. Yeah, I mean, give me a
break. I was 13 in 2010. I was more so worried about what flavor of
Capri sun was in my lunch. Plus I couldn't drive, I didn't have 50 bucks to spend on a new Wii game at whim, whatever. Come 2013 I find it at a used game store and I'm like, "Yeah!" I picked it up. I played it. I loved it. I stopped about a quarter
of the way through. I don't know, man. I think I just got
distracted with other things but recently I finally sat down and played through the whole game. Let's talk about it. Super "Mario Galaxy 2" picks up right where the last one left off. Gotcha! "Galaxy 2"'s story is told
via this story book method. It starts things off
with the Star Festival: A celebration that
happens every 100 years. Rewind to "Galaxy 1"
where it starts things off with the Star Festival. A celebration that
happens every 100 years. Yeah, Is weird. "Super Mario Galaxy 2" is kind of a retelling, re-imagining, whatever you want to call
it of the first "Galaxy". Let me just quickly recap the first one. Bowser kidnapped Peach. In this one... Bowser kidnaps Peach, but with a much more
lighthearted almost comedic tone. "Galaxy 1" was meant to be
taken away a bit more seriously than other Mario games. Especially after "Sunshine". Scenes were much more dramatic with intense lighting
and a booming orchestra. Peach getting kidnapped by
Bowser is an everyday occurrence, but "Galaxy 1" not only
had us exploring the cosmos to get her back but
introduced us to Rosalina who helped us out by
allowing the use of her ship, "the Comet Observatory". And she also had some actual backstory. Completely optional backstory,
but it was still there. Shakira Miyamoto wanted a "Galaxy 2" to have as little story
as possible. And it shows. They do manage this stuff
a good amount of cute plot in here, I guess, but the problem I have with
this isn't the light story it's completely disregarding
the first game even happened, or just flat out ignoring
a ton of elements of it. Yeah, at the end of the first game Rosalina resets the events of everything. But Mario still remembers what happens and "Galaxy 2" just acts
as more of a re-imagining of the same events from 1. I get it, they wanted the game to be more accessible to newcomers, but already naming it
"Super Mario Galaxy 2" is gonna deter some people. Might as well come up
with a more clever plot that both returning "Galaxy"
fans and newcomers can enjoy. I mean, I don't care about it that much but the plot and ambiance of "Galaxy 1" was some of the best in
the main Mario series, was far from intrusive and didn't bog the game down in any way. So to see it downplayed so much here in my opinion is a bit of a shame. Anyways, the opening
section starts off in 2-D and gradually turns 3-D, which I always thought was really smart. Both a showcase for the
progression of the Mario series and helping to ease
newcomers into the game. Once you meet up with the baby Luma it then gives you the
ability to spin attack. You see a Bowser the size of Mongolia wreaking havoc on the castle. He kidnaps Peach, go. After completing the first level you're thrown into a ship run by Lubba, Luma equivalent to that
wacky uncle we all have. Grab power stars to power the ship to get to Bowzer, easy peasy. And with that, the best way to describe "Super Mario Galaxy 2" would be it's as if "Super Mario
Galaxy" just kept on going. I gotta be honest, nothing screams evolution or
progression about this one. It's just more "Mario Galaxy" levels. Nothing drastic was changed or improved, just differences in how the
levels are presented to us. We'll we'll get to that in a sec. Should anybody complain about it? God, No! What really needed improved with Marty galaxy to begin with? I think any problems people
have with the game or just based on "Galaxy's", formula of
more linear level design. And even then, I think you
have to admit it's not bad. It's just probably not for you. There weren't many definitive
problems, the original game. So with a sequel, I almost
think it would have to be on an all-new more powerful platform to be more distinct from the original. With this being "Super Mario Galaxy 2" this of course means
that "Galaxy's" mechanics are all brought over. From what I can tell
everything is retained from the first game: you can jump, crouch,
long jump, wall jump, spin by shaking the Wii
remote, it's all back and still feels great. Gravity is still a key
aspect of the gameplay here as we can walk all
around various terrains. However it's definitely downplayed compared to the first game. Don't get me wrong, "Galaxy 2" still does a ton with gravity, but it felt like the first
game flaunted it a lot more. "2" is more so concerned with using it when it benefits the level design. One thing "Galaxy 2"
definitely does differently is the difficulty. This isn't the hardest
game out there by any means but it's definitely much more
difficult than the first game. I welcome the challenge. Well, galaxy win was never painfully easy to the point where it was boring, it only really got challenging
near the very very end of a 120 star play through. "Galaxy 2" definitely puts
up a more of a challenge and that makes it more interesting if you're playing both games back-to-back. If you're way past the lame
at a certain level though and die like way too many times in a row, the game offers "the Cosmic
Spirit" as a helping hand taking the form of a ghostly Rosalina. It'll complete the level for you. No thank you. Like I said, "Mari Galaxy 2" feels like more of "Mario Galaxy 1" but with some changes to its format. "Galaxy 1" was a much more
linear take on 3-D Mario games. Most missions were more so
getting from point A to point B compared to "Mario 64's" and "Sunshine's", which were much more open-ended. "Mario Galaxy 2" takes the
linearity from "Galaxy 1", takes a highlighter to it
and does unspeakable things. "Galaxy 1" didn't really have
a lot of exploratory levels. The main one I remember
that kind of felt like that would be "the Honey Hive Galaxy". And even then calling that
a super open-ended level is kind of hyperbole. "Galaxy 2" focuses a lot more on obstacle course like stages. There's not a ton of
exploration here at all. Galaxies in this game feel more like a series of platforming challenges. It doesn't feel out of place compared to the first game though. First off "Galaxy 1" had its fair share of obstacle course like designs and also we're in space. Anything can happen. A giant block of wood? It's
in space. It makes sense. I think the best way to
describe it would be, imagine if "Super Mario 3-D World" was way more interesting
in terms of its design. "Galaxy 2" is platform challenge
after platform challenge. Also this game is way,
way, way more fast paced than the first game. It feels like the game is
constantly shaking you, telling you to get on with it and it's like the level, get to the end. With more linear designs that means there's not as
many "Power Star" missions in each galaxy. There's only about three per stage but that means we get
loads more unique galaxies. So it feels like every other minute "Galaxy 2" throws a brand
new idea in your face. Of course, this is a 3-D Mario game so you have to get to
these levels somehow. The first game featured the hub world known as "the Comet
Observatory", which was cool but had very little in terms
of things to doing in it. You just enter different
rooms to access the levels. "Galaxy 2" uses this! "Starship Mario". Compared to the "Comet Observatory" this thing is the size of a nickel. However, there's far more to here. There's more characters to talk to and there's more things
to screw around with. I wish it was much bigger though. Everything feels really cramped. But all this is completely optional. The meat and potatoes here
is the front of the ship. Step on this pad and you're
taken to the world map, a way to get you straight to the action. Many have compared to the
world map in "Galaxy 2" to older 2-D Mario
games and to that I say, what 2-D Mario games weere you playing? This is fundamentally
just a straight line. You don't really get much of a choice as to which level you tackle next. Every now and then you
hit a fork in the road and get to choose, but
the majority of the time, the game tells you you have to beat a
certain level to progress. That's fine, but definitely
a bit different compared to the first game. The world map is way less interesting but it does make things a bit quicker to just hop into a level. However there's some really
odd bloat here for a game so hell-bent on getting
you into the action as quickly as possible. Like take, for example, on the world map you may encounter a hungry Luma. These, you have to feed a
certain amount of star bits you've collected to access
a new pathway to new levels. Clicking on them, calls
them to "Starship Mario". You then have to walk up to
them, talk to them, feed them, they transform, then you have to go back to the world map to access the levels. Why? Why not just do this whole thing When you click the Luma on the map screen? For a game that's so adamant about just shoving your face into new levels this always stuck out to
me as an odd design choice. Also a brand new collectible in the levels are the "comet metals". After you collect them the
"prankster comet" version of that level will become playable. Which is a remixed more
difficult version of that stage. Whether that be putting it
under a strict time limit, giving you only one sliver of
health, that kind of stuff. Here's the thing though,
while I like the idea of the "comet metals", they were never a challenge to obtain. I grabbed almost every single
one of them, my first time through the levels. So to me, they never really
held much value at all. Of course, for the metals that I didn't find my first time around, it was a bit of a chore to go through the levels I 100% completed. Otherwise all over again,
just to get the metal. it's just an extra step to
unlock the "prankster comets". In the first game that
kind of appeared randomly after grabbing most of the power stars in the corresponding level. All right. I just whined about a sequel to my favorite game of
all time long enough. Let's get into the main portion
of the game, the levels. Oh God this is good! "Chomp
Works Galaxy". Oh my God. It's like you're part of a
Rube Goldberg contraption, trying to get a change-up
from point A to B. "Cloudy Court Galaxy" might even be sexier than "Gusty Garden Galaxy"
from the first game. "Puzzle Plank", God, what a boppin' tune. Every single time you blink, this game throw something
new at you. It's insane. "Flipsville" is just
neat-o not going to lie. "Throwback Galaxy"? Only
"Super Mario Galaxy" can rehash so much and get away with it. Jesus, the absolute
size of this boss fight. This game is absolutely
fantastic. It's amazing. It has some of the best
level design out there. It does some things differently compared to the first game and they aren't bad changes by any means. They're just different. It helps differentiate
the two games more because while I don't think "Galaxy
2" had to be wildly different from the first game, let's be honest putting the two games side-to-side it might be pretty hard to
tell which one is which. And I welcome the changes to the format but I'm a "Galaxy 1" guy personally that's why the whining
just had to be there. I think both games are equally
good when you get down to it. So considering which one is better, it's more so down to personal preference. But let's talk more Galaxy 2". The most obvious new additions to this game are as follows: Yoshi. Yeah, Yoshi finally makes his
"Galaxy" debut in the sequel and it was definitely worth the wait. Hop on him and now your cursor turns into a Yoshi tongue passport allowing it to get to all kinds of places
that shouldn't be able to. Yoshi also has various
things he can eat up to gain certain powers turning into a giant balloon, illuminating hidden passageways, an zipping through an entire level. These are a blast and
really solidify Yoshi as being one of the best
additions to this game. But Yoshi, isn't the only
one getting new power-ups. Most of Mario's power-ups function the same as they did in the previous game, As in they all have that
glory is contact sensitivity. Most are only really
here to give you a break from the standard hop and bop action. All power-ups that were in
galaxy one reappear here except for the "ice
flower" and "red star". I mean those wouldn't be the power-ups I would remove personally, but whatever. The power-ups introduced in this game kind of make up for it. The "spin drill", "rock
mushroom" and "cloud flower". The "spin drill" and "rock mushroom" are kind of in the same camp. They're fun to use, but of course, are only really useful
in specific instances. The "spin drill" allows you to drill into the ground and
come out the other side. And the "rock mushroom" allows you to pummel through hordes of enemies
or breaks certain objects. Cool power-ups but they pale in comparison to the "cloud flower". You can walk on clouds and
create up to three of your own. So you can save yourself
from impending doom or get some serious height. Now, this is what I like
to see in a power-up, something that makes me say "I want that!" rather than "looks like I have to use that now." Now this is where I would talk about the game's graphics and sound,
but what's there to say? There's really not much it
does better than "Galaxy 1". "2" uses of blue sky,
more so than pure space for the background accompanying levels. The music is still orchestral bliss. There's not much to
say about it other than it continues with "Galaxy 1" did and the graphics and
sound are both phenomenal. After going through six worlds we're face-to-face with the final level, "Bowser's Galaxy Generator". And ho- God, this might be one of the greatest
final levels out there. It feels like a major test, a
culmination of tons of things the game has thrown at you to this point. It all ends with a battle against Bowser which is fundamentally very similar to other boss fights
with Bowser in the game. But then after you think
you've landed that one last hit for God sakes, Mario games
have to stop doing this whole, "Wow! You beat the final
boss. Just kidding." Oh my God, this is absolutely amazing. It's over! God, This final section of the
final boss fight was so cool but it ends right before
it's getting good. It just ends too quick, I
want him to last longer. And thus the game ends
with a cameo from Rosalina and we can play around behind
the credits. That's fun. Well, since I haven't fully
beaten this game until now I think it's only fair that I 100% it. (album rewinding) (Mario soaring through the air) - [Mario] Yeah!
(star twinkling) oh, yeah
(star twinkling) (Cheery victorious music) - [Scott] That was a
blood clot of a good time. Definitely much harder
than the first "Galaxy" but I totally feel fulfilled. I wonder what I get for
getting all the stars? (soft twinkling music begins) (twinkling stars falling) - No Yeah, After getting 120 stars in the game 120 more green stars appear
across every single level. They're nothing more than just "click on a green star" mission. "Find the green star and in the level." There's no hints as to where it is except for a vague sound clue. Just a giant game of hide and seek. You get one final super
hard level at the end of it all after nabbing
all the green stars. But guess what? No, thank you. I think after a 120 star played through this is kind of the
last thing I want to do. Before you say, "Well Galaxy 1 had you
100% the entire game as second time as the Legion
to get that final level" that final level was just putting a bunch of purple coins in the
opening section of the game. Who cares? I didn't really. Just like how I don't care
to get all the green stars, at least right now that is. Maybe in a year or so I'll go for it But right now the green
stars feel like filler. Extending the length of
a game that didn't need its length extended. So it's "Super Mario
Galaxy 2". It's phenomenal. However, I'll always prefer "Galaxy 1" and it's totally a nostalgia and an emotional attachment sort of deal. I totally get why many prefer "Galaxy 2" In a lot of cases, it
feels like "Galaxy 2" looks at everything, "Galaxy 1" did
and says, "Huh, that's cute!" And just ups the ante. More levels, more ideas, more galaxy. But to round up why I prefer "Galaxy 1" allow me to introduce my
brand new reoccurring segment. "Why I prefer a Galaxy 1 to 2." I am running out of
ideas for new segments. "Galaxy 1" did it all first so it's just a bit more special to me. The setup of the story
isn't as cool as "Galaxy 1". I prefer the format of "Galaxy 1" while "2's" ideas can be cooler, "1's" levels were just a
bit more memorable to me. "Galaxy 2" has way more filler and reuses way more ideas than "1". Now, am I wrong for
preferring "Galaxy 1" to "2"? Yeah, probably. Well, after wasting so
much time getting 120 stars in "Mario Galaxy 2" I've spent no time bringing
in the dough to pay some rent. But I caught these landlords hard. You see the water here is free. All I have to do is
bottle up some tap water sell the water bottles at a
water bottle, stand for profit And then I'm going to be living on paying my rent on time avenue. (cheery video game music) - So that's what a surplus is. (upbeat electronic video game music)
