Zero Punctuation: Super Mario Galaxy 2

[SAMAS]

He wants Nintendo to create some new characters - what's so hard to understand? Why not try something new with the story beyond "Princess kidnapped, must rescue"? The story of a platform game is pretty unimportant, but at least pretend that you're making an effort you know?

But that's the thing: Ultimately, the story in a core Mario game is just the excuse to make the stages. Why should they pretend otherwise?

Also, this is the first Mario game in a while which is so blatantly lazy. It's the exact same concept and game mechanics, with some new levels. 64 to Sunshine? Different.

Funny, that's not what people were saying when Sunshine came out...

Not saying the game isn't fun - as Yahtzee himself mentioned - but it is their laziest effort in quite some time....no change in mechanics or style. How about a new 3D platformer with new mechanics in a new art style? That's what Yahtzee wants, Nintendo to stop falling back on Mario to bail them out when criticism arises about them neglecting their core users.

Because that's not what they were trying to make. They made this game literally because they felt like they wanted to do more with the concept they had. That's why it's called Galaxy 2 and not Super Mario Universe or something like that.

I think the cake joke was pretty clever. Slapping part was funny. I can't believe people still crave for Mario. The last Mario I played was more than 10 years ago on Nintendo 64.

People still crave Mario because the games are fun. Despite Yahtzee's disagreement with Nintendo's game-making policy and his grudge against the Wii's very existence, even he had to admit that.

 

[Unhappy Crow]

Is it wrong for me to say that I enjoyed this game more than the first?
And I know I'm not the only one who enjoys hearing Yatzhee yelling out "SUPER MARIO GALAXY!"

 

[GuerrillaClock]

My opinion is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yahtzee is a big fan of stories in games anyway, although I would expect him to be a wee bit more professional than just brushing over that whole GAMEPLAY thing that people seem to bang on about.

 

[Nin9Worlds]

Loved the space oddity reference.

Cake you Mario!

 

[Kingofblades2278]

I'm beginning to find his nintendo game reviews to be highly ironic. He constantly rehashes his old rants about them rehashing their franchises. You could say that he puts a new spin on it every game, but so does Nintendo with their games, including in the transition from SMG1 to SMG2. He who fights monsters....

 

[LightspeedJack]

No way the Simpsons jumped the shark around season 9, some of the episodes in series 7 are downright genius.
OT: Yahtzee raises some compelling points but the big thing I hated about this game was Comet Coins. It's like someone taking a delicious cookie and smearing mustard on the top.

 

[WaffleGod]

This review was made of win.

Cake and slapping... BRILLIANT!

 

[DoctorObviously]

Great review as always After Split/Second, please, please review Resonance of Fate!

 

[VinLAURiA]

G2 easily beat the original as my favorite game of all time, but that's not to say that this review still wasn't hilarious. I cracked up at the *slap slap slap* part.

 

[Luke Cartner]

I do hope no-one actually does go out and glass someone.. Oh well..
Interesting and amusing as usual

 

[VMerken]

Mario games aren't exactly mental floss for the thinkbox, which is why currently I tend to steer away from the franchise after having taken in the concept on the NES (and then went on to play the vastly superior Giana Sisters on the c64 tee hee) and focus on games that lay a little more virtual meat on the table. Plenty of choice out there. Still, as a game, the concept is solid, just like Monopoly or Yahtzee hur hur; not exactly mental flosses either, but great games nonetheless. The series thus has a deserved place in human history.

Loved him in Donkey Kong, by the way. The little guy's finest hour, without doubt. Hmm, just how high did I go again...

 

[Grahav]

This review was a life advice.

Sky diving, asking for cake, picking an ice cream flavor that isn't cream or chocolate...

 

[Zanaxal]

mmmmm cake.

I was really confused at this review. Was it a review of cake or of something else.

Now then. I haven't played Mario since it was on a grey dvd case sized cartridge, happily enjoying my memories of mario 2 and 3 anything after that well, .. just isn't Mario and just a money grabbing from fanbase imo. Mario in 3d just looked so like something a 5 yold girl would enjoy and the difficulty was probably along the same line, im quite troubled that adults actually play these games, they probably need more cake.

If you must play these games i would never get a mario, i would go for crash bandicoot or whiplash etc. alot more innovative and fresh i would wager.

 

[JoJo]

Despite what ZP has said, I have this game and apart from a lack of story, it is a really good game, recommended for every and any Wii owner

 

[akkuma420]

Great episode BUT....
What is it with all this dumping on the Simpsons lately? Not just Yahtzee but I've seen elsewhere on the internet as well; Simpsons is stagnating. It hasn't been good since the fifth season? they had barely established the character voices by then! It is hard for me to actually watch the old seasons because the animation is so crap and the sound quality is so terrible compared to what it is now. It's miles ahead of the competition: Family Guy, American Dad, Cleveland Show. If you want to talk about degrading in quality, how about the last season of "That 70's Show"

I'm usually just a free bee watcher, never had any intention of making a profile...... until i saw your comment.
I couldn't agree with you more about "That 70's Show" but couldn't agree with you less about "The Simpsons"
The new seasons are just TERRIBLE..... for me personally they feel completely un-watchable.
Seasons 1-9 are pure gold, they had actual plot development, there where morals at the end of each episode, they had heart.
The new seasons are just trying to appeal to the Family Guy generation, which makes me sad, i grew up with the Simpsons and never thought i would see the day it became slap stick humor.
The couch gags are stupid, almost all the voice actors have left, the writing is just plan awful.
The Simpsons needed to hang it up 10 years ago, its just becoming an embarrassment now.
You say you can barely watch the old episodes because they look old and sound quality is poor? Your missing out on alot of great TV shows and movies then.

Sorry but I had to get that out of the way. That's some good advice at the end: Go out and do something you've never done before. That applies to everyone, not just Mario fans.

 

[ZephrC]

You know what? I'm fucking sick to death of people accusing Nintendo of milking their franchises. I'm sorry, but releasing a new game in a series once per fucking hardware cycle is not milking a franchise. And fuck you for saying it is.

That being said, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is milking the franchise a bit. You know what though? Frankly, I think they might just have decided fuck it. People are accusing them of this stupid bullshit anyway, they may as well actually do it and make some extra money in the process. All the idiots claiming that releasing a new Mario game ever 4 years when the hardware actually allows them to do new things is somehow unreasonable are gonna buy the stupid thing because they're all psychotically OCD, and lots of other people will genuinely enjoy it, so why the fuck not?

 

[LoganAsh]

Ha Ha Ha Ha... oh dear.

 

[tautologico]

However, I have to say something to people who take Yahtzee's reviews as the main deciding factor in your purchases: How stupid are you? Yes, Yahtzee's a critic/QA man/reviewer/whatever he wants to call himself in a review on a given week, and yes, the reviews are as informative about what the game will entail as they are funny. However, his taste in games and (I assume) yours may not be one in the same.

This is true for every review/reviewer. People should get to their own conclusions and use reviews or ZP videos or whatever to help get to their conclusions, not as substitute for thinking.

 

[JoJo]

mmmmm cake.

I was really confused at this review. Was it a review of cake or of something else.

Now then. I haven't played Mario since it was on a grey dvd case sized cartridge, happily enjoying my memories of mario 2 and 3 anything after that well, .. just isn't Mario and just a money grabbing from fanbase imo. Mario in 3d just looked so like something a 5 yold girl would enjoy and the difficulty was probably along the same line, im quite troubled that adults actually play these games, they probably need more cake.

If you must play these games i would never get a mario, i would go for crash bandicoot or whiplash etc. alot more innovative and fresh i would wager.

Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you should only play M/A/18 games, it can be fun to play a childish and cartoony game once in a while. Also both SMG1 and SMG2 start pretty easy but then get much harder, by the end many of the levels are truly evil.

As for all those claiming that the Mario series never changes, you're wrong. I've played SM64, Sunshine and both the Galaxies, and they're all very different (although the two Galaxies are somewhat similar), apart from the fact that they are all platformers. Also note that my fan-hood is not down to nostalgia, as I only started gaming in 2003!

 

[Ramzeltron]

Yeah, this was another great episode. But I tend to fall in line with the people who say "If it ain't broke don't fix it." so I quite enjoyed the game. Oh, and the slapping was hilarious.