➤ Pirouettes among the galaxies 🎮

The trend is clear: with each new addition to its package, Nintendo has a unique ability to attract criticism and nefarious comments from users who want more and more, always better than what is proposed. After recently announcing the first, upcoming wave of Wii software released on Wii U in digital format, accustomed as we are to insipid trench wars based on remasters and remakes, it is legitimate that the first question to arise is: will they be technical remasters or simple ones. port? Let's settle any doubts: the second, but it was physiological. The Wii retail catalog has been on sale for years under the Nintendo Selects label, at a list price of € 24.90:

Kyoto is therefore doing nothing but allowing Wii U users to access their old-gen universe via eShop at a price of € 5 lower, which is also on offer in the first week of marketing. And Super Mario Galaxy 2, the first comer whose goodness we had the pleasure of tasting again, has no native enhancements. No texture updates, no special GamePad support, no anti-aliasing algorithms applied; this initiative has no other objective than to reproduce the original code, as mom did it and - an absolutely fundamental feature - at a price that does not excessively cannibalize the physical offer and avoid stepping on the toes of retail by offering exclusive digital improvements. Iwata absolutely does not feel the need for triple A titles of absolute quality, up to 55 months old, to be reworked and sold on the upside to justify pseudo-technical updating only because they are in low definition. Affordable price, just 1.3GB of download, expansion of the backward compatibility chapter, total absence of other human resources employed. Let's look each other in the eye: can we really blame him? Today's gamers are spoiled, it's true, but Super Mario Galaxy 2 doesn't need anything else to convince them, believe us.

After 5 years, let's talk about Super Mario Galaxy 2 ... once again, in the best way!

Bike by wiimote

In tandem with the digital distribution of the library comes a more specific general management, which finally allows you to treat everything as native Wii U applications, avoiding that cumbersome process of emulation of the Wii operating system. Fast and immediate, in perfect line of thought with the Quick Start Menu implemented last year. But beyond the technicalities, what does it feel like to take back a 2010 product? Beautiful sensations, and not a few, especially if we are talking about a sequel "Bigger, Better" of one of the major titles of the last generation, Super Mario Galay precisely. The sequel, announced in E3 2009, took the graphic engine of the first chapter in its entirety, expanding its playful offer in terms of ideas and quantities, delivering to the masses an absolutely stellar and convincing creation, capable of making the name of the director Koizumi at the top of the internal boards of the company.

We do not exaggerate in saying that the level design and construction of the verticality of Super Mario Galaxy 2 are still absolutely reference and very current, able to look from above - but from very high - any platform production extraneous to Kyoto released in the last five years. The additions of Yoshi and new power-ups are caresses for longtime fans, which combined with a linear map advancement and the incremental enrichment of the planet used as a spaceship to move between worlds create a stimulating package capable of bear the weight of the years. Pointing out now overt faults to the Wii's not-so-exciting hardware, the philosophy of the Galaxy series has always made a certain limitation to the horizontal extension its only structural defect, a detail that largely distinguishes it from the three-dimensional successor Super Mario 3D. World. So get ready to jump from one planet to another, of variable dimensions, in which the introduction of gravity of the first chapter continues to guarantee an approach to the platform genre at times entrancing, fresh and very enjoyable thanks to the 60 frames per second, still today. still a mirage for almost all console software foreign to the Nintendo world.

From the stars ... to the stars

Canvas more than known: Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario sets off in pursuit and off with the waltz. 242 stars between standards, greens and secrets guarantee a long, varied adventure and perhaps a true expression of the galactic vision of Miyamoto & Co .; shame about a difficulty factor that only in the end gives emotions and obstacles to completion, but let's never forget the family oriented period in which the original software was released.

The controls entrusted to the Nunchuck do not betray: often underestimated, the analog of the accessory is a real guarantee of precision, absolutely in line with quality standards not yet overwritten by subsequent developments of the joypads. It is the use of the Wiimote that no longer manages to give the satisfaction of the past: deputy to aiming at the screen to collect the Star Bits, in 2015 it is not easy to convince a player to constantly marry a philosophy of clear motion control derivation. You pass the flick of the wrist to do pirouettes, but the often almost shooter handling is unfortunately a legacy of the past that is difficult to digest by today's standards. This factor, however, must not distract attention from a stainless playful perfection: the title plays very well, the careful study of gravity is synonymous with guarantee and does not betray, just as the inertia of the jumps - a real flagship - still has a lot to teach. Of course, we're playing a work that runs at 852x480 progressive pixels, so don't fantasize about resolution - it's all the same as it once was. Remember again that what you are buying is not remaster content but a simple digital proposition of the retail copy: if you play it on HDTV, be prepared for ladders and aliasing phenomena that, however smoothed out by the Wii U's CPU upscaling ability, still transport you back in time. The textures are much better: the ability of the new flagship to "fill" the low definition textures of Wii gives extreme dignity to a graphic engine that in 2007 first and then in 2010 amazed by the beauty and sweetness of polygonal modeling and animations; thumbs up, therefore, for an artistic painting that pleases the eye despite the luster that separates us from the exit. Given the exceptional work of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, a final mention on the soundtrack is mandatory: amazing at the time, the strength of Kondo's compositions is not a step away.

Comment

Digital Delivery Nintendo eShop Price 19.90 € Resources4Gaming.com

9.6

Readers (33)

9.1

Your vote

After 5 years, the second attempt by EAD Tokyo is perhaps even more convincing: superfine level design, depth, so much to do and a load of ideas that never tire. The most suitable software could not have been chosen to introduce Wii U owners to the joys of old-gen digital distribution, and knowing that this is just the beginning we can well say that it will be a pleasure to get back to all that quality array. left aside by most only because guilty of shooting at 480p. Super Mario Galaxy 2 wins the passage of time from almost every point of view: the only drawback is the use of the Wiimote, no longer current, but it is a small thing overall. If you have played it, give it a thought, memory often deceives. If incredibly it was a shelf at the time, what are you waiting for?