Mario is a name synonymous with the gaming industry for well near two decades now. From the original black and white LCD Nintendo versions, to Sega’s TV video games, Mario Brothers as a game has had more developments, modifications and versions than possibly any other game in the world. Mario is a plumber and often accompanies by his nephew Luigi in an adventure through different universes with powering mushrooms, unique enemies and bouncing power stars to ultimately rescue Princess Peach.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 follows a similar gameplay as the previous version, but the story is new. Mario rides the dinosaur Yoshi who can use his tongue to grab objects like fruits and power enhancing mushrooms as well as grapple on to levers and swing around corners. As a player, the star pointer is a red dot on Yoshi while it’s a blue arrow when playing with just Mario. There are various other new additions, but we can leave these surprises to the gameplay; this treat is too precious to give away all. New power-ups, fruits that help you do anything from bloat like a balloon to speed boosts, to collecting Starbits; in fact much of the game play remains like the first edition. However, there are new smaller planets to discover in the galaxy and you could be playing this game for months. What is specially a fan favorite is when Yoshi uses his long tongue to swallow enemies and spit them out.

The story for Super Mario Galaxy 2 is simple and thus more gameplay than cut scenes. Princess Peach invites Mario for some cake at the Star Festival in the Mushroom Kingdom. When the Star bits begin to rain, Mario sets out on his adventure and meets Luma who gifts him a spinning ability. He also encounters Browser, his old nemesis who’s become gargantuan now; who kidnaps Princess Peach. Mario follows Browser into outer space on a Starship made by Luma and piloted by other Lumas and befriends Yoshi. Well, the adventure sets out as they try rescue the princess.

The most amazing factor about the Mario Franchise is that whenever developers come up with a new version with modifications to the old arcade game; in spite of the story being well rehearsed time and again, the sales never fail. It’s something about the childish fun in the arcade gameplay and the bubbling sound effects that make Mario one of the world’s most loves games. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, the gameplay may be far from the original up down and sideways maneuvering of the character that the games began with, but the storylines and basics remain the same. Unpredictably, though, people rush in for the next new Mario as soon as available.

Published by Nintendo and released in February 2010 in Japan, and in May in the US, Mario is possibly the pillar products for Nintendo. Super Mario Galaxy 2 sold 1.2 million copies worldwide in just 3 months with an astonishing debut sale of 143,000 on the first day in Japan. The publishers promise 90% of new features in the game, but that promise comes with the whooping 9.8/10 ratings this game has received. No contemporary game, no matter how intense in action or graphics has matched this Mario game in competition yet.

Tags: gameplay, Luigi, nintendo, super mario, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii