What are you playing on your Wii U/Wii right now?

I'm playing some Mario Galaxy 2. Enjoying myself, still think it feels a little afterthoughty but it has some great levels. I'm surprised Balla is a fan as it is much more linear and 2D Mario-esque than the first.

Also, because it goes letterbox for cutscene my TV goes mad trying to adjust the picture.

I think both Galaxy games are 9/10s, so it's not like I'm not a fan of either, just not to the same extent of most! I liked Galaxy 2 more for a couple of reasons - a prime 'emotional' one is that we'd already had Galaxy 1, so I knew what to expect. I wasn't hoping it'd turn out to be an explore-a-thon until it launched and it wasn't, so I could appreciate the game on its own merits!

Also it has one of the best post-games in all gaming.

Oh, I thought you were mad in a Galaxy-2-is-the-best way, but I forgot you're just mad in a doesn't-understand-that-Galaxy-is-the-peak-achievment-of-the-human-race way.

Picking which one's "best" out of SMG1 and SMG2 is a fool's errand, because it assumes there can be objective ratings of art.  In my opinion 1 has better music, better bosses, better power-ups, and benefits from originality.  2 has tighter level design, more interesting purple comets, fewer irritating moments with the controls, and a much better postgame (that one is objective).  I prefer SMG2, and they're both worse than Odyssey.

I haven't finished this playthrough of 2, so I'll withold final judgement, but so far it's reinforcing my opinion that SMG is a perfect holistic package while 2 has some incredible highs but is ultimately too much of an afterthought, and with a few too many linear 2D parts, to be as much of an all-timer.

Balladeer wrote:

 2 has tighter level design,

Not always in a good way . . .
[quote] fewer irritating moments with the controls,[/quot]
Really?

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

 2 has tighter level design,

Not always in a good way . . .

What parts rubbed you up the wrong way here?  Is it just the overdoing of 2D?

Buskalilly wrote:

[quot] fewer irritating moments with the controls,[/quot]
Really?

Yep, really!  I'll agree that I've seen nobody else come out with this criticism...  I just remember getting so frustrated with the upside-down bits in places like Battlerock and Dreadnought, and the camera not always being particularly helpful either.  That's probably why I didn't mind the many 2D segments in SMG2 so much: to me, that seemed like the way to do changing gravity most fluidly without it going belly-up somewhere.

Too much 2d, and most levels are incredibly linear without even the maybe-there's-a-secret-here exploration of the older games.

As for the controls, I've noticed some confusing flipping upside down stuff in this one. It does an awkward thing where MArio keeps going the same way if I hold the stick even though the camera has changed

It's still a banger, but I really don't think it adds up to as satisfying a package as its predecessor.

Buskalilly wrote:

Too much 2d, and most levels are incredibly linear without even the maybe-there's-a-secret-here exploration of the older games.

I get that. It feels like they stuffed all the exploration-y aspects into the postgame.

Buskalilly wrote:

As for the controls, I've noticed some confusing flipping upside down stuff in this one. It does an awkward thing where MArio keeps going  the same way if I hold the stick even though the camera has changed

See, that was definitely a thing SMG1 also had. I remember it being a substantial gripe of mine back in the day. Oddly I don't remember having the same issue with 2 so much.

The main reason I prefer SMG2 to SMG1 is there's less Spring Mario.

I didn't even mind Spring Mario that much! Fire Mario was my nemesis - duff theme tune, duff power-up. Nowhere near as powerful-feeling as in 2D.

Ice Mario, though, was the bomb. I didn't think there was another power-up in either game that was as fun as Ice Mario.

This all reminds me I need to Super Mario Galaxy in the 3D Collection.

gjones wrote:

The main reason I prefer SMG2 to SMG1 is there's less Spring Mario.

God I still have PTSD from damn spring Mario

Spring Mario is fine!

Fair fair

As somebody who considers himself quite mediocre at games, I didn't get the fuss people had with Spring Mario. He was a good bouncy lad who wasn't hard to control so long as you were careful, and that's coming from Mr. Impatient.

Balladeer wrote:

He was a good bouncy lad who wasn't hard to control so long as you were careful

(That's how you say "Git Gud" in Balla)

Balladeer wrote:

As somebody who considers himself quite mediocre at games, I didn't get the fuss people had with Spring Mario.

I missed the game at the time so it's interesting to hear there was a fuss - thought it was just me

Balladeer wrote:

He was a good bouncy lad who wasn't hard to control so long as you were careful, and that's coming from Mr. Impatient.

I didn't get on with Spring Mario at all having found the Galaxy games pretty straightforward and brilliantly tight to control, and then was suddenly dying a lot trying to predict where this thing would end up on a 3D platform. It's more of a rhythm game section than platforming and just found that jarring. Not saying it's bad, but they were my least favourite levels.

Nah it's definitely not just you. If I remember correctly Castle also had/has a similar problem with Spring Mario (or maybe Scullion? Or both? Don't remember).

Perhaps part of the reason I didn't mind it was because unlike everybody else, I had other issues with the controls. Spring Mario was a cakewalk compared to trying to master the slightly funny way of running under an own-gravity landmass. My least favourite level (apart from that one star over Beach Bowl which takes ages to slowly fly over every purple coin) was Battlerock where you're doing that all the time.

I think I agree with Balla on this. I felt like Spring Mario was deliberately treacley but the feeling of momentum as you planned and built up to a big boing worked nicely, and I don't remember feeling particularly punished if I messed it up.

Plus I found the same thing with the own-gravity landmass levels.

I think I might do another playthrough and see if my feelings have changed. It's been a good decade since I've played it all and I did recently pick up a Wii Mini for absolutely no reason so there's a justification I guess

What else could you be playing on the Wii?

Holy crap, I forgot the Wii Mini was a thing. Well at least that's one less mini console to be released in the next few years and gum up your TV space...

Balladeer wrote:

EofGizmo wrote:

...I did recently pick up a Wii Mini...

Look it was very cheap, there was a gap on my entertainment center.... Yeah I dunno why either

I forgot about the Wii Mini

Anyway this is more accurate (I believe but looking at tweets someone said never played BotW on Wii U but was the Number 1 played game) than my 3DS times, as I've only ever had the one Wii U