Item: Super Mario Galaxy - Wii
Author: Steven Williamson

Isn't life great...

The icing on the cake of Super Mario Galaxy is the delicious musical score (and the audio in general), which is exemplary and flows alongside the gameplay superbly, almost to the point, at times, that it feels as though you're playing the game in tandem with the shifts in musical tempo. There are plenty of familiar sounds to be heard, including numerous 'okee dokee's and 'woo-hoo's from Mario in between the orchestral beats and, if you'd like to sample a taste of it, I'd highly recommend that you listen to this dazzling orchestral piece from the game, which gives you a small taste of what to expect on your journey.

Alongside the new musical score and plenty of new sounds you'll also recognise some old scores from the likes of Super Mario Bros and Super Mario 64, plus you'll also hear the familiar noise that fans will recognise from game's of old, such as the ping when you hit question blocks or the warp pipe noise that's heard when Mario jumps into a green pipe into a secret area.

The only real letdown in Super Mario Galaxy is the co-op mode. One player controls Mario while the other points his Wii-mote at the screen collecting star bits and making Mario jump. The fact that there are two cursors on the screen totally confuses things and inadvertently my partner would end up being more of a hindrance than a help. In all fairness, Nintendo do say in the manual that the game is fundamentally intended for single player, but nevertheless co-op mode could have been better.

Putting that small issue aside, Super Mario Galaxy generates that feel good factor and - like when the sun shines on a rainy day - it just makes you smile. Part of this is to do with the combination of colourful visuals, delightful characters and stunning audio, but it's also the inventiveness of the gameplay and the situations in which you find yourself in that make the game so enjoyable.

Super Mario Galaxy is an extraordinary game. When friends have asked me what I think of it, I reply simply with the words 'It's brilliant'. 'Why?' they ask. Just where do I start'eh? There are so many fantastic things to say about Super Mario Galaxy that there just isn't enough time in the day to tell you about them. The best thing I can say to those of you who've had the patience to get this far in the review is that you just have to play it and experience it for yourselves. It's the best single player game on Wii by a mile and one of the most enjoyable games I've played in a long, long time.

Pros
Looks gorgeous
Takes the best ideas from previous Mario games and expands on them superbly
Brilliant use of the Wii-mote
Tons of variety
Brilliant level design
Fun, fun, fun
Fabulous soundtrack and audio

Cons
Not as accessible as previous Mario games - maybe
Co-op is rubbish

Nintendo at its best, Super Mario Galaxy is the must-own Wii game of 2007