Super Mario Galaxy 2

[BulletMagnet]

it is more difficult than NSMB DS

In that particular case, so is walking upright.

[AraraSPAMWitch]

I'm probably in the minority, but my favorite 3D Mario is Super Mario Sunshine. SM64 was fun too. SMG1 was OK, but I stopped halfway through out of boredom.

You're not the only one. Sunshine was an incredibly hype game. The level were so intricate and labyrinthine, I could jump around in that game all day. I thought Galaxy was the coolest thing ever for the first two hours, but the level design was pretty bland after a bit. Probably not buying the new one but I may borrow a friend's copy of the new one to see if it's worth anything, as I am a little curious.

[linko9]

Well, I'm 111 stars in, and so far only 2 stars have really challenged me. I've still never seen the Game Over screen. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this game, it's got the most clever level design of any 3D platformer, I just hope the difficulty ramps up in the second half of the game. Visually, it's incredible, and the music's great too. I really love the streamlined world map too.

[infamas]

I'm probably in the minority, but my favorite 3D Mario is Super Mario Sunshine. SM64 was fun too. SMG1 was OK, but I stopped halfway through out of boredom.

You're not the only one. Sunshine was an incredibly hype game. The level were so intricate and labyrinthine, I could jump around in that game all day. I thought Galaxy was the coolest thing ever for the first two hours, but the level design was pretty bland after a bit. Probably not buying the new one but I may borrow a friend's copy of the new one to see if it's worth anything, as I am a little curious.

Sunshine was really really amazing. My only gripe was the absolutely unreasonable things you had to do to obtain blue coins.

[louisg]

I'm really impressed by this so far. I don't know which game is better, but SMG2 definitely has a quicker pace, more action, and more variety. I'm on the third map (solar system?), and there's been exactly one collect-star-parts bit. This time, the designers put pressure on the player by making sure he's chased by enemies as he's trying to gather the bits. It's a shift in attitude away from the lackadaisical Mario 64 and back towards the pep of the classic games. The music sounds a lot more synthy though-- I miss the classy score of the original Galaxy, which had imo one of the very few good orchestral videogame soundtracks.

[linko9]

Well, finally got every star in the game. I will say, the difficulty does eventually ramp up... on the very last star. I'm ashamed to say it took me just over an hour to get it. Other than that there were only 3 or 4 stars that seemed difficult to get, and they never took more than 10 or 15 tries. I still had an absolute blast with the game, but I really wish we could get a great 3d platformer with a high level of difficulty.

[DJ Incompetent]

I will say, the difficulty does eventually ramp up... on the very last star. I'm ashamed to say it took me just over an hour to get it. Other than that there were only 3 or 4 stars that seemed difficult to get, and they never took more than 10 or 15 tries. I still had an absolute blast with the game, but I really wish we could get a great 3d platformer with a high level of difficulty.

Thank you! Money saved. Hey Nintendo, quit lying. Add difficulty settings. kthxbiee

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Someone tell me a 3D platformer that is a hard challenge. I'd like to play it.

[GaijinPunch]

I basically bought this b/c I knew it would be a no-brainer, easy game. That's the point. If I want a hard game there's about a million arcade games in Mame I have.

[Vexorg]

Someone tell me a 3D platformer that is a hard challenge. I'd like to play it.

Gunvalkyrie on Xbox, but it's difficult mostly due to excessively complicated controls.

[Drum]

Super Magnetic Neo!

Maximo.

Sunshine got pretty brutal in parts too.

I don't think it's reasonable to say anybody lied about NSMB Wii or Galaxy 2 being tougher - NSMB Wii is the hardest non-NES Mario game there is (from what I played), and all reports have it that Galaxy 2 is harder than the first. Whether they're hard or not is something else. By modern game standards, NSMB Wii was definitely harder than most games on their hard settings. If they're not hard enough for you, fine, but don't sulk about it - it's unbecoming. Nintendo will never put difficulty settings in Mario games, so forget about that.

[BrianC]

Someone tell me a 3D platformer that is a hard challenge. I'd like to play it.

or a Mario game aside from SMB2J/Lost Levels.

Nintendo will never put difficulty settings in Mario games, so forget about that.

They did put that Luigi mode thing in Galaxy and I heard there is something similar to it in Galaxy 2.

[ncp]

Someone tell me a 3D platformer that is a hard challenge. I'd like to play it.

or a Mario game aside from SMB2J/Lost Levels.

ROM hacks

[louisg]

nobody lied about NSMB Wii or Galaxy 2 being tougher - NSMB Wii is the hardest non-NES Mario game there is (from what I played), and all reports have it that Galaxy 2 is harder than the first. Whether they're hard or not is something else. By modern game standards, NSMB Wii was definitely harder than most games on their hard settings. If they're not hard enough for you, fine, but don't sulk about it - it's unbecoming. Nintendo will never put difficulty settings in Mario games, so forget about that.

Yeah, platformers aren't hard games in general. You remember them being hard because you were like 7 when you first played them. And after shmups, almost nothing is hard...

[Vexorg]

I'm 11 stars into SMG2 now (through world 1), and so far I'm not finding it extrodinarily difficult, but there are a couple of levels that have taken me a few tries to get through.

[linko9]

Yeah, platformers aren't hard games in general. You remember them being hard because you were like 7 when you first played them. And after shmups, almost nothing is hard...

Well, there are plenty of tough arcade platformers. I recently tried out New Zealand Story (WTF my spellcheck does not know the word Zealand), and got destroyed. A lot of stuff on the NES was also much harder than recent platformers. Kid Icarus comes to mind. As far as 3D Marios go, I'd say SMG1 is the easiest, followed very closely by SMG2. There's no doubt in my mind that 64 and Sunshine are harder than the SMG games, if only by a bit.

[GaijinPunch]

Well, there are plenty of tough arcade platformers. I recently tried out New Zealand Story (WTF my spellcheck does not know the word Zealand), and got destroyed.

You should consider those arcade games before platformers. There are some in that genre that blow the fuck out of the average shooting game. Youkai Douchuuki & Jigoku Meguri are two famous platformers that hand your ass to you. There's heaps more.

[robivy64]

Fantastic game. Had a great time beating it this week. Now to find all of the hidden stars...

[Ruldra]

You should consider those arcade games before platformers. There are some in that genre that blow the fuck out of the average shooting game. Youkai Douchuuki & Jigoku Meguri are two famous platformers that hand your ass to you. There's heaps more.

What else do you suggest? I didn't know about those two...really enjoyed Youkai Douchuuki.

[Drum]

I Wanna Be the Guy.

Spelunky presents a decent challenge too, but it's a lot less 'ha ha you died'. Amazing game anyway.

[linko9]

What else do you suggest? I didn't know about those two...really enjoyed Youkai Douchuuki.

I personally love the Jumper games (freeware)

http://mattmakesgames.com/games.php

Very challenging, but you always know exactly what you need to do from the start of each level, unlike crap like IWBTG. I also really like Flail (also in that link), it's a bit less challenging, but more fun.

[Skykid]

I will say, the difficulty does eventually ramp up... on the very last star. I'm ashamed to say it took me just over an hour to get it. Other than that there were only 3 or 4 stars that seemed difficult to get, and they never took more than 10 or 15 tries. I still had an absolute blast with the game, but I really wish we could get a great 3d platformer with a high level of difficulty.

Thank you! Money saved. Hey Nintendo, quit lying. Add difficulty settings. kthxbiee

It baffles me that anyone, with a Nintendo Wii no less, would ignore one of the best 3D plaforming games ever made because it's not hard as nails enough. Just buy it, play it, love it, sell it. It's a little bit of that old gaming magic that's few and far between these days.

[louisg]

I will say, the difficulty does eventually ramp up... on the very last star. I'm ashamed to say it took me just over an hour to get it. Other than that there were only 3 or 4 stars that seemed difficult to get, and they never took more than 10 or 15 tries. I still had an absolute blast with the game, but I really wish we could get a great 3d platformer with a high level of difficulty.

Thank you! Money saved. Hey Nintendo, quit lying. Add difficulty settings. kthxbiee

It baffles me that anyone, with a Nintendo Wii no less, would ignore one of the best 3D plaforming games ever made because it's not hard as nails enough. Just buy it, play it, love it, sell it. It's a little bit of that old gaming magic that's few and far between these days.

Especially since these games are as hard as you want to make them. Galaxy 1 had some pretty serious challenges you could do, and a friend of mine also made the argument that you haven't *really* beaten a Mario game until you do all the goals (and most are not collect 'em up garbage, most are actually difficult). That's like beating a shmup by continuing =)

[antron]

yeah, I could never get more than 117 stars on the fisrt one. I recall that pull-star one, and the complex disappearing platform one.

The new Donky Kong champ posts speed runs of the disappearing platforms level.

[guigui]

I never could love a 3D plateformer until now. Dont know why but I just couldn't. I'll let this game another chance though...

[louisg]

It really is pretty excellent, and I usually hate 3d platformers. I'm to the last world, and there's only been one level that I didn't like so far (and world 6 starts with a fantastic level). Even though I think the secrets in Galaxy 1 tended to be more satisfying (as the ones in SMG2 are almost all minigames and not new areas), the main levels in this one are a lot tighter.

Here's a question: before the Galaxy games, the 3d Marios had more of a free-roaming camera. Galaxy takes 3d platformers back to mid-90s territory (Crash Bandicoot, Pandemonium) by making the camera one of the following views most of the time: side view, top view, back view. Given that Mario 64 pioneered the free roaming 3rd person camera, do you think this is an admission that free roaming cameras just do not work well? That is, now that we're no longer amazed by full 3d worlds anymore...

[Drum]

Here's a question: before the Galaxy games, the 3d Marios had more of a free-roaming camera. Galaxy takes 3d platformers back to mid-90s territory (Crash Bandicoot, Pandemonium) by making the camera one of the following views most of the time: side view, top view, back view. Given that Mario 64 pioneered the free roaming 3rd person camera, do you think this is an admission that free roaming cameras just do not work well? That is, now that we're no longer amazed by full 3d worlds anymore...

I think it's more an understanding that 3d cameras are very, very hard to get right. To this day I've never seen a camera system in an active, open-world game as cinematic as Mario 64's. They didn't know what they were doing so they did everything 'wrong', which is what made it so impressive (even now). Several people on the team quit Nintendo (and the industry) because of burnout due to that and other issues, so I heard.