Topic: Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2

Uuh that’s a long shot I’m afraid. The game was quite divisive. I did like it but it’s far from my favourite entry. And I vageuely remember it being very wordy.

@WaveBoy
They're not new games, obviously, and it's not a ground up remake like TTYD HD or Prime Remastered. So it definitely lives in that "Wii game at a higher resolution" space. On Switch 2 there are some things that are still 1080p like the cutscenes. And occasionally you'll see a model that is relatively low poly when viewed up close. But for the most part it's a very clean presentation. Something I would not have said about 3D All Stars. There's nothing much here that stands out as out of place, which is usually what ends up happening when you up-res games like this through emulation or something. This isn't revolutionary, but it's a solid release

As far as how I originally played these games. The Wii was an odd console in that regard for me, and I think most people of that era. Galaxy I played on a 22" CRT and I remember thinking it looked amazing. But within the next year I got a 32" 1080p LCD and one of my first negative experiences of that TV was booting up Galaxy and how awful it looked. This is a game that was built for a CRT, but outside of that era it wants the additional pixels. And this is the first time I'm playing Galaxy 2 without being distracted by that

@ShieldHero don’t you defend every crazy price Nintendo does. It’s in your wheelhouse. People complain but buy.

@skywake how much space did they save having those cut scenes at such terrible resolutions. It looks terrible and I would have preferred an option for higher res cut scenes at the cost of space.

@skywake
There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to decide for themselves whether the price is fair or not, and there's no right or wrong answer. But I strongly feel you are not contributing to any "problem" by making voluntary purchases with your own money for products and services you determine to be more worthwhile than the money you exchange for them.

I've never objected to anyone who feels a price is too high, or to anyone who feels a price is fair. My only objection is to those who attempt to characterize others as being "part of the problem" for buying products and services they want with their own money. In my view, that is the real problem. Feel free to approve or disapprove of a price. But pressuring and intimidating others to buy or not buy something is out of pocket. And I think it's gotten out of control when 90% of the posts I see where someone states they bought something is prefaced with "I may be part of the problem but...". Feels like people are almost apologizing for what they choose to do with their own money, and my natural knee jerk response is to say no... don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry for. It's your money, and if you want to buy something with it nobody has a right to lay blame at your feet.

Feels like everything gets perverted and pushed too far nowadays. It's one thing to say "Hey, I don't feel this price is fair so I'm going to pass", and "This price is immoral and anyone who buys it is part of the problem". The former I fully support- not necessarily the opinion but the expression of the opinion. The latter is sly micro-bullying of others in an attempt to control their spending, and the result is everyone feeling the need to justify themselves by saying "I may be part of the problem but..." before sharing the fact they opted to make a purchase. And I don't think people should ever feel the need to say something like that. You're not part of any problem. Everyone is free to buy or not buy. And neither is wrong.

@WaveBoy
I still wonder why it is Nintendo didn't opt to include a sensor on the right joycon (a thin strip above the R button, even if they had to raise the surface a bit) and include an IR sensor built into the Switch console on the top bezel so that IR tracking would be default out of the box. Pro Controller could have also easily included a sensor so all controllers would have accurate IR tracking in combination with gyro (system could have had you point at 4 corners of screen to calibrate so the sensor doesnt need to be perfectly centered- technology has come a long ways these past 20 years).

But alas, they didn't. For most games utilizing gyro it's fine. The combination of right analog and gyro is fantastic for aiming (btw, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion just patched in gyro aiming!). But for specific light gun based games or Wii games (like Mario Galaxy 1/2) the lack of IR is unfortunate. They're still playable but they could have reached perfection had IR been integrated out of the box. No idea why they didn't do that.

One strong opinion I'll continue to hold is that the graphics of these remasters hold up amazingly well.

These games came out over 15 years ago, but to any average person (especially the kiddos who were either too young or not around yet to play the originals at release), this might as well be a new, full-fledged major Mario game release, at least from a visual perspective.

Pretty much 95% of the 360/PS3 library (and the Wii library too to be fair) looks extremely dated nowadays and would legitimately require an extensive graphical rework to be sold to current audiences. Not so for the Galaxy games. They're gorgeous to look at, and this release is the most gorgeous they've ever been.

That's why I don't fully understand people calling this remaster a cheap cash grab, a lazy port, or that it was phoned in. Maybe it's my lack of imagination, but I have a hard time thinking what a ground-up remake could really improve when it comes to presentation while still keeping the feel of the original intact. Visually, they're pretty flawless to me.

Then I think back to Wind Waker HD and how countless fans say the GCN original is still the best way to experience the game because they did overhaul the graphics and fans weren't super happy. The graphics of the original still hold up to this day, and I personally feel the same about this remaster pack. I can only imagine similar complaints about the Galaxy games if they revamped the presentation.

I feel like the graphics of the original hold up well. And the 3D all-stars version was lovely. In that sense, I'm not sure how much the remaster is doing (although I admit I don't have a 4K tv so the difference is less for me). I would have preferred to just get a 3D all-stars type port for a little cheaper.

@WaveBoy
It was a fairly decent LCD for the time and I was using component cables. But yeah, Wii games always looked pretty average on a HDTV but especially Galaxy for some reason. Maybe it was the abundance of high contrast edges (Mario is often against a black background) and odd angles (you're often on odd angles) made it a particularly tough scenario for aliasing. Not sure. But it always looked kinda bad on an LCD

Definitely a welcome improvement to have it now rendering at a higher resolution. So much so that it's literally native 4K/60. Can't complain

Can anyone here help me,
is Galaxy 1 much better than the version on 3D All-stars?
£4 better?

I think the idea of a NSO Wiimote and sensor bar is a pipe dream. Would be interesting for sure, but I don't see it happening at all. Maybe I'll eat my words some day!

Given the lack of an IR sensor, the controls are implemented as well as they could be. For the most part, pointer controls in the Galaxy games aren't anywhere close to a primary input mechanic. The gyro works fine to collect star bits, and I had no trouble with the levels where you're directing Mario around in a bubble with the cursor. It's a little more annoying to use gyro with Yoshi in Galaxy 2 (and will never be as good as IR), but I got used to it pretty quickly.

I tried playing in portable mode earlier, and I am so glad they let you use gyro in portable because I REFUSE to use the touch screen haha. Portable gyro is even more annoying than docked gyro, but better than lifting your hand off the controls to touch the screen, and it worked great for the couple of levels I played in Galaxy 2.

@WaveBoy
I recommend Jsaux joycon 2 grips. They make Switch 2 handheld mode feel incredible.

Ironically, I prefer joycon 2 without any grips when using dual joycon separately. The increased size just feels perfect exactly as is. The protrusion on the side that snaps into the console gives them more width, and they're a bit longer already. Combined they feel fantastic. So I just leave my Jsaux grip joycon connected at all times and have a separate pair for the charge grip or using separately.

@WaveBoy
I couldn't care less about a Wiimote + Nunchuk controller because for one, it would only be utilized for NSO games, and for two, even if they were utilized outside NSO they lack a right analog stick, which would render them inferior to the modern analog + gyro (at least for Metroid Prime). For Galaxy 1 and 2, sure, it would work better. I suppose if they carefully curated a list of Wii games that aren't inferior without right analog camera controls (games like Sin & Punishment 2, Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, etc) it could work. But I'd much rather see games like Metroid Other M remastered using modern Joycon or Pro Controller with a hybrid right analog + gyro control scheme when motion is required (I hated swapping between horizontal and vertical positions for missiles).

Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. It's certainly possible, and I'd love to see it so that we could get the last remaining console Fire Emblem on NSW2. But I could also see Wii being held back for NSW3, along with 3DS. Because Wii U is pointless as NSO given nearly the entire library was ported to Switch.

I suspect we'll eventually see DS added to NSO+, and that'll be it for this generation (GameCube, Virtual Boy and Nintendo DS), with Wii and 3DS to follow next generation. It's also possible they work out TG16 for NSO, and potentially Sega Saturn. But aside from Blazing Lasers I really don't have much interest in those.

@WaveBoy
I game docked 50% of the time. Or at least 40%. I'm not strictly a handheld gamer. I'm just not strictly a console gamer, either.

Of course I'm not referring to handheld, in which case it wouldn't even be applicable. I'm specifically referring to docked play.

@WaveBoy @JaxonH galaxy games with a pro controller is perfect. It works great in handheld too. Star bits are not a massive part of the game and you will collect them on the way even if you don’t try. I say the gyro pointer works just as good as the sensor bar pointer for wii as it take less than a second to recalibrate the pointer with R and it’s at the location of your index finger.

I was going to start my own thread but I see basically my thoughts are already being discussed here.

I think it's kind of a shame and I'm kinda disappointed in Nintendo for not doing better with the controls for handheld mode, the way I play my Switch 99.9% of the time.

They should have, at the very least, added a button that would just "suck in" the star bits and then mapped any motion controls to the analog sticks.

The Yoshi controls are really cumbersome, and I did that first flying level last night and it did not feel good at all.

I mean damn Nintendo, this is Mario and two of his most cherished outings, which you charge $70 for, and put it out with the handheld controls not being the absolute BEST they can be? And I don't think it would have been a whole lot of work, on top of that.

I was really looking forward to this release and preordered a physical copy, and I am still having fun with it, but the control situation is definitely leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

Just beat the Galaxy 2 main game (meaning 70 stars), I'm surprised how little time that took: A bit more than 10 hours, according to the stats. Luckily there's 50 more and harder stars.

Other than the previously discussed nitpicks - color banding, less accurate cursor - as fantastic as I remembered the game.

I think the opening sales of 48,000 in Japan for the first week are quite low for this type of title but there are some negatives around the game not being properly implemented/optimised and the pricing being too high so maybe the numbers are commercially disappointing, not sure. Maybe it will do better in other regions. Maybe Nintendo have been a bit lazy with this title and a big greedy with pricing.

…am I the only one who prefers the Joy-con pointer to the Wii pointer?

Personally I am just happy to not have to shake. That gimmick was briefly fun but I was over it ages ago.

I think the actual Switch pointing is fine.