Tag Archives: Super Mario Galaxy

Gamer's Life, General Commentary, Getting Back To It

Getting Back To It: Super Mario Galaxy

9 Comments

Image by Flickr user: Bludgeoner86 (cc)

Since I started following Simpleek’s example and started doing this challenge back in January, I’ve discovered a few things. First, the list of games I want to return to is much larger than I thought it was. Second, Fable II was never actually very good. I was more of a newbie to that genre back in 2008 than I had originally thought. Third and finally, it really is worth making time to go back rather than just continuing to move forward new releases. Gaming gems are always worth the time, no matter how old they are or how many time you’ve played them before. It was this month’s game: Super Mario Galaxy, that really drove that last point home. Continue reading Getting Back To It: Super Mario Galaxy →

Console

The Duck Discusses the Wii, 360, and PS3 Generation: Part 1-Wii Look at the Wii

4 Comments
Image by Flickr User: MrBeng
Image by Flickr User: MrBeng

You all remember how, when this blog first got started, I wrote a series about the pros and cons about the GameCube/XBox/PlayStation2 generation, don’t you?  Well, actually, you may not because that was a while ago.  But, believe me, I did.  And now that I have had a good amount of experience with the last generation of consoles (the Wii, XBox 360, and PlayStation 3, of course), I decided it was time to write a series of posts on what I find good and bad about these three awesome consoles.  To start, the console I’ve had the longest, the Wii.

Continue reading The Duck Discusses the Wii, 360, and PS3 Generation: Part 1-Wii Look at the Wii →

Top #'s

Community Post: The Duck’s Top 5 Mario Levels

Leave a comment
Screenshot by Flickr User: JEAN-Louco por Animes e Mangas
Screenshot by Flickr User: JEAN-Louco por Animes e Mangas

United We Game’s February community posts continue, with today being the day the Duck will present you all with my entry on the topic of levels in the “Mario” series.  Gamer or not, pretty much everyone’s heard of Mario, and there’s a reason this squat plumber is so popular even after people have been playing his games for over three decades.  Because the games have something in them for everyone.  They have good, old platforming goodness through a wide variety of environments, an innocent charm that people of all ages can enjoy, challenge (and boy, can they be challenging), not to mention princesses to save and big Koopa Kings to toss.  There are so many “Mario” levels out there, and yet they still manage to find ways to do something new with each one and make them stand out from the rest.  So I decided for my post that I would list my top five “Mario” levels, and to make it fair, I am going to list my top level from each of my five main “Mario” games in order from least favorite to top favorite.  The games I considered for this post span 1991-2010, “Super Mario World”, “Super Mario 64”, “Super Mario Sunshine”, and the two “Super Mario Galaxy” games. Continue reading Community Post: The Duck’s Top 5 Mario Levels →

Game Series, Retro

Community Post: Mario, The Innovator

Leave a comment
Image from Super Mario Wiki
Image from Super Mario Wiki

My childhood was dominated by Nintendo, it’s fearless red plumber and his crew. My first exposure to the world of video games came when I was very young with the Nintendo Entertainment System and of course, Super Mario Bros. It’s safe to say, I was hooked for life after pushing the jump button on the controller for the very first time. I’ve gone on countless adventures with Mario from his 8 bit days, all the way to modern times so there’s a lot of material to draw from when thinking about what aspects of a franchise you love. Have you ever stopped to think about why the Mario franchise continues to be a force after all these years?

As any person who is invested in games can tell you, the levels themselves are what make these platformer games great. I mean, think about it for a moment. Pretty much 100% of your time is spent running and jumping through them so if the levels are boring or poorly made, the game as a whole will suffer. That’s the key to understanding why Mario is consistently great. It’s the level design that shines through. Continue reading Community Post: Mario, The Innovator →

Console, Food For Thought, General Commentary, Posts By Active Authors, Top #'s

Community Post: Mario, the Great Peacemaker

Leave a comment
Screenshot by Flickr User: apastor85
Screenshot by Flickr User: apastor85
Ah Mario, who doesn’t love you? It’s the one franchise that most gamers and even non-gamers can agree on. Its bright and cartoony graphics, simple controls, lack of any real plot and imaginative and fun characters make most Mario games unintimidating and very accessible for more casual gamers. At the same time, the depth of the levels, wealth of secrets and difficult gameplay at higher levels make it similarly popular with well seasoned gamers. For those of us who have been into gaming for a while, Mario represents a simpler time in games and brings to mind many of our most treasured gaming experiences of our youth. It’s easy to see why Mario remains a much loved franchise and has stuck around much longer than most. And the quality of titles hasn’t really waned. The release of more Mario games is a constant that many of us Nintendo fans have come to rely on, like the sun setting every day. So out of all the Mario games ever made, it’s difficult to choose a few levels as my favourites (also because the specifics of many of the older games have faded from my memory over the years), but below are the 5 that have stuck in my mind after all this time. They may not be the best designed or the most influential, but they all hold a special place in my heart.  Continue reading Community Post: Mario, the Great Peacemaker →
Top #'s

Community Post: The World’s Most Talented Plumber

3 Comments
Image from Flickr User: JD Hancock
Image from Flickr User: JD Hancock

He’s probably the most iconic video games character of all time, having now appeared in over 200 games, and sold over 240 million copies in his time, Mario is a plumber that hasn’t done too bad for himself! This week the United We Game bloggers are going to each be discussing the levels behind the legend, what makes them so good, standout levels and how an Italian plumber, ran, jumped and dropped in their favourite games.

My experiences with Mario started at a young age, i was bought a Nintendo 64 for Christmas and fell in love with Super Mario 64 and MarioKart, in my mind still 2 of the finest games he has appeared in to date, but to be honest, since those days i’ve not played many more, when i started playing Playstation and Xbox i never really looked back, but this doesn’t mean i’ve not played any of the more recent titles, i think Super Mario Galaxy was a great game and on the DS Super Mario World is always a great play. Continue reading Community Post: The World’s Most Talented Plumber →

Commentary, News, News Byte, Reporting

News Byte: Eurogamer Names Its “Game of the Generation”

Leave a comment

NewsBytelogo

Eurogamer Names Its “Game of the Generation”

After counting down their picks for the best games of this generation, Eurogamer’s staff members made it to number one! Care to take a guess as to which one of thousands it might be? Take a listen to find out, and let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments!

Continue reading News Byte: Eurogamer Names Its “Game of the Generation” →