Mario has gone through a lot of changes in his life, most notably his transition to 3D in Super Mario 64, of which many consider to be one of the best Mario games of all time, pioneering 3D platformers. After that Nintendo tried improving on Mario adding new gameplay mechanisms.

The Gamecube Mario, Super Mario Sunshine introduced the idea of a water-powered jetpack. While the game looked superb, it didn't live up to the legend of it's predecessor. The game was too easy, the addition of the jetpack was an interesting concept but it took away the difficulty of the platformer by lending a hand when you missed a jump.

Now Nintendo's at it again with Super Mario Galaxy. Following the same elaborate storyline that the princess has been kidnapped (again - this reviewer can't quite figure out how careless she is) Mario's now been ejected into space for his latest quest to find and rescue the princess from the evil Bowser and Bowser Jr. Of course this time Nintendo have the Wii remote to play with.

The graphics for the game look superb, quite possibly the prettiest on the Wii to date. Okay, it's not on par with it's competition but that's not what Nintendo are trying to achieve here. The game manages to introduce a new look for Mario whilst not losing the style of the old ones. The game runs in 480 progressive scan and 16:9 modes, for which Nintendo has created a very polished and vibrant world for Mario to explore. Everything has a really satisfying glow that makes the world stand out in the darkness of the universe.

Most of the game takes place in outter space on a vast chain of miniature planets and other space matter. Mario must jump from planet to planet killing enemies, collecting items with his primary aim of collecting stars. As in previous games Mario must collect stars (or shines) before he can progress. Old enemies of Mario are back in the game, the good old bo-bomb, bullet bill, goombas and many more. The game will include boss fights, in the demo it was displayed a battle with Bowser Jr. For those who don't know, Bowser Jr was introduced in Mario Sunshine. In the demo the player was required to run around a big lava pit, circling Bowser Jr to avoid his breath then pounce on him

Of course Mario Galaxy takes full advantage of the Wii remote. Mario movement is controlled with the nunchuck unit's analog stick. The Wii-mote, meanwhile, manipulates an on-screen star reticule. This reticule aids Mario as he makes his way from planet to planet and from ship to ship. For instance, you might point the Wii-mote and in turn the reticule at some bells, at which point you can actually jingle them and trigger a secret. Later, you can point the reticule at items and suck them up, even as Mario himself soars by in outer space. You can additionally use the reticule to latch onto objects and pull Mario to them; and likewise to fling him away from them. There is clearly an enormous amount of puzzle potential in place and we're only scratching the surface of what the game has to offer.

The camera in Mario is controlled automatically and Nintendo seems to have done a good job of it. From what I have seen there have been no problems with it locking up or getting lost. In addition a lot of sites are giving credit to how well Nintendo has implemented it.

Mario Galaxy is definitely shaping up to be a key game for Wii gamers to get hold of. It's looking very good graphically, and the idea of been in outer space gives the series a whole new twist that will add a lot of puzzle opportunities for Nintendo. My only problem is that Nintendo may make the game too easy. Mario 64 had it's very challenging parts where-as in Mario Sunshine you were rarely in a situation where you could die from one wrong jump. My favourite part in that were the parts where you were stripped of your jet pack and thrown into a level full of moving obstacles. If Nintendo put some challenging bits in the game, this could shape out to be one of the best Marios yet.

Mario was initially penciled in to be released within 6 months of the consoles release. Recently however Nintendo have gone back on this and have stated that the game will now be released between March and December in 2007.