Talk Back! 
Most Read stories this week
Most Emailed stories this week
RSS
'Mario Galaxy' shoots for the stars; 'Assassin's Creed' falls a bit short
Leave it to Mario to give the Wii its best game - maybe even one of the best games of the year on any system.
"Super Mario Galaxy" is a perfect fusion of the Wii's controls and the classic Mario feel.
The story starts off typically: Princess Peach wants to see Mario, only the dastardly Bowser comes along and kidnaps her. This time, however, he uses a UFO to pick up the entire castle. Mario, clinging to the edges, gets taken into space and given the boot.
When he awakens, Mario is in the presence of Princess Roselina, the guardian of the gate to the heavens, who wants Mario to recover the stars that Bowser stole to pull off his Peach heist. She grants him some star powers of his own to do it.
Personally, I think Mario would be better off with Roselina than Peach; at least she isn't constantly getting kidnapped.
Anyway, what follows is a game so full of originality and fantastic level design that players will be hard-pressed to find a platformer that does it better.
Each galaxy Mario visits is unique, and each planet within each galaxy is different than the one before it.
By planet, I mean semi-large spheres. Mario lands on them and can walk completely around them. Sometimes the camera angle changes to keep Mario upright on the screen, and sometimes it doesn't, which can take some getting used to.
These planets are why the level design shines. Each has a bit of a puzzle element. Sometimes you have to take a pipe into the inside of the planet, where Mario will be walking in a bowl shape. Some use buttons Mario must step on, or switches that change the gravitational pull. Some have alternating fields of gravity, leaving Mario to pop back and forth from the ceiling to the floor and back again.
Mario's controls are nearly flawless. The thumbstick on the nunchuk controls Mario's direction. The Wii remote's A button makes him jump. Pointing the remote at the screen brings up a cursor that is used to collect star bits that fall from the skies or from defeated enemies.
Defeating enemies is as simple as shaking the remote, which causes Mario to spin attack. Or, the B button on the remote can shoot star bits at wherever the player is aiming.
In addition to all this, Mario picks up costumes that give him different abilities. For example, there's a bee costume that lets him buzz around, or a costume that changes him into Boo the ghost so he can float through walls.
Even after the game is beaten, collecting every star is a reason to keep playing. Plus, many levels can be replayed with alterations, such as quicker enemies.
"Galaxy" also has a cooperative mode - sort of. If you're not a control freak for what's going on in the game (like me), a second person can control the remote and collect the star bits while the main player moves Mario around.
Simply put, "Super Mario Galaxy" looks, sounds and plays fantastic, and every Wii owner should have it.
"Assassin's Creed" is one of those games that will divide gamers.
Personally, I enjoyed it a lot. You play as Altair, an assassin roaming Palestine during the Crusades.
The world is possibly one of the prettiest I've seen in a game to date. The cities of Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem are painstakingly detailed and colored in the desert-yellow hue of the region.
Every move that Altair makes is fluid, even as he's climbing a wall, and the controls are responsive and easy to grasp.
It gets even better, as Altair isn't technically real. Rather, he's an ancestor of a man named Desmond, who is locked into a lab and forced by scientists to relive Altair's memories, which are locked inside his DNA. It's a twist, but not really because it's the first thing that happens in the game.
All of this is great, even fascinating. So why do I say "Assassin's Creed" will divide people? One word: repetition.
The basic game play never really changes. Altair goes to a city, then he gathers intelligence on his mark by eavesdropping, pick-pocketing, beating up somebody or running errands for informants. Along the way, he'll rescue citizens being harassed by guards and climb the highest points in the city to fill in his map. If he's spotted by guards, he runs, using the city as his defense as he climbs walls and hides in hay bales.
Fun, yes. I enjoyed all of these things. But the game has a rinse and repeat cycle. You do the exact same thing for every mark, with differences in storyline and location, of course.
Personally, a little repetition doesn't bother me if I like what it is I'm repeating. And I do. I enjoy making Altair race along the rooftops, swing from poles like a monkey or sneak up on guards and kill them with his hidden blade. It's all very well done.
However, I can see how not everybody would like it. "Assassin's Creed" definitely has room to improve in that aspect. Luckily, it will have that chance, as the game is planned as the first in a trilogy - as evidenced by a cliffhanger ending that left some players ripping their hair out in anger.
Everything about "Assassin's Creed's" presentation is so well done that the next installment can only get better. If the developers vary up the mission gameplay, I think even the detractors of this game will enjoy it.
As it is, "Assassin's Creed" is worth a rental, just to see if you're like me and will enjoy it despite its flaws or if you'd rather stay away from it. I, for one, can't wait for the next one.
Aimee Green can be reached at Aimee.Green@lee.net or (402) 473-7326. Also check her blog at www.herald-review.com/blogs/controlfreak/.
Game ratings
Super Mario Galaxy
Nintendo, for Wii
Rated: Everyone
Cost: $49.99
Score: 10/10
Assassin's Creed
Ubisoft, for Xbox 360 (also on PlayStation 3, PC)
Rated: Mature
Cost: $59.99
Score: 7.5/10
Scores based on an evaluation of gameplay (4 points), visuals (2), sound (2) and replayability/value (2).
Previous Page 
Subscribe 
Email Alerts 
Print this story 
Email this story
del.icio.us
digg
newsvine
facebook
Search By Issue
Search By Keyword
