Nintendo returns with Mario’s second cosmic adventure, improving what was already one of the best games ever made.

Let me get this little bit out of the way first,  after playing this game… This might be my third favorite game of all time. The First and Second place spot belong to Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past, and Half Life 2.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 takes place at some point after the first game (What ever the length of time there is between the star bits showers in the mushroom kingdom). Peach invites you to the castle for cake, again… where she is promptly kidnapped by a Gigantic Bowser on your arrival, well it’s basically the same story. It’s all really paper thin as always, but whoever plays this game for a carefully crafted story is simply being foolish and is trying to disappoint themselves. What little narrative there is takes place in an animated story book with almost no spoken dialog, its fairly bare bones contrasting Super Mario Galaxy 1′s explosive  and dramatic introduction.

Gameplay and variety are what Mario games have been and continue to be know for.  Most modern games are designed around fairly limited gameplay principles and designs rather then variety, then they work to polishes it to a mirror shine. Super Mario Galaxy 2 goes against this and is always throwing some kind of new twist or power up to the game while weaving the past power ups together to make every galaxy a new experience, no small feat considering there are 240 stars to get in the game.  This extreme variety extends to the graphics in the game, You will explore volcanoes , jungles, ice worlds, and my personal favorite, the return of the Giant Land from SMB 3. The game run on the same engine as the first Mario Galaxy, so it’s the best its going to get on the Wii,  frame rate is solid, character movement and animation are among the best in the industry and controls are still air tight. The variety of gameplay and graphics are unlike anything you see in games today.

Yoshi was a big part of the advertising and hype for Galaxy 2 and for something that could have easily been just a throw away novelty, he does not disappoint.  Yoshi has a number of abilities that become useful throughout the game. He can  jump with air delay can make platforming really easy while riding me, and you can reach your highest jump you have ever seen in a 3d Mario game by combining  his jump with a back flip dismount. He also is capable of eating special fruit that can turn Yoshi into a flash light,  dash super fast, or turn into a balloon. Speaking of power ups, the new ones for Mario are really great too, the best one is without a doubt the drill which is used for some really inspiring and creative levels that are unlike anything you have ever seen in a platformer.

In short, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the purest gaming experience I have ever played in my 20 years of gaming.  This game is not about some hollywoodesque plot, or the next great multiplayer game. At the end of it all, its all about you, Mario and using the finely crafted tools they give you to get the next star, no story, no filler… just pure gaming bliss.