Over the past 10 days or so, our friends over at Eurogamer have been charting the best games of the past generation - a feat that's easier said than done. Naturally, we kept an eye on proceedings, looking out for any Nintendo titles that might crop up. We watched blockbuster after blockbuster take the plaudits, from The Last of Us, to Fallout 3, to Red Dead Redemption.
As we approached the last couple of days, it looked like we were going to have another Golden Joysticks on our hands. What, no Nintendo games at all?! Blasphemy! It turns out that Eurogamer was simply saving the best 'til last; Super Mario Galaxy is its Game of the Generation.
First shown off at E3 2006, the planetoid-hopping platformer is truly one of the modern greats. With sumptuous visuals and an equally stellar orchestrated soundtrack, Super Mario Galaxy defined an era, and forever raised the bar for control and level design in future 3D platformers.
Mario's 3D Wii debut sold over 11 million copies worldwide, and was the subject of overwhelming critical acclaim. It arguably remains the Wii's standout title — we had it second behind Super Mario Galaxy 2 in our Wii list — and one of the greatest achievements in modern gaming. Well played, Eurogamer; we couldn't agree more.
You can read Eurogamer's thoughts here.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 60
A shame it isn't as popular as the NSMB games
I'd like to thank-a the academy.
Well, there is a reason why I sometimes call this game Super Mario Masterpiece instead of Super Mario Galaxy
In my opinion, Super Mario Galaxy is THE best game of all-time. Many people would agree and so does the top spot on GameRankings. The orchestrated music, the incredible graphics, and the innovative gameplay that revitalized the Mario series (and arguably gaming to a degree) tie this beautiful package together nicely.. Hell, the story was even somehow amazing. No Mario game (or video game for that matter) has made me shed a tear before this. I loved the storybook and how it wasn't necessary to the main story but was there for those who wanted a deeper understanding of the lore and the absolutely epic premise that went with the main story was inspiring. I hope Mario Galaxy can someday be agreed upon as the best game ever, because it truly deserves it and I will always defend that idea.
This is amazing! Absolutely well desserved, it's amazing that the same company who revolutionized 3D gaming with Super Mario 64 did it again years later with Super Mario Galaxy. The first time I played Galaxy I was like "DAMN IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHIGERU AND TEAM DID IT AGAIN!" Bravo!
I completely agree. It's one of the best made games I've ever played.
I could go on for hours about how much I now love Eurogamer for this, but suffice to say I couldn't agree more.
Hard to argue, I enjoyed that game quite a bit. Sadly super mario galaxy 2, while it didn't suck, was not as good.
Excellent choice, Eurogamer.
One of the best games ever. Nuff said.
Great game, 're-ignited' my love of gaming after some stale years before.....still need to re buy it after trading it in for galaxy 2!
No complaints here. One of the best games I've played.
It's hard to think of a better game in the last 10 years, well done Nintendo, well done Mario.
I played it once (And its sequel) and liked it but have had no interest to play it again. (As far as I am concerned the best game of all time I should at least want to play more than once.)
I enjoyed the PC version of Sonic Generations more. Mainly because you don't do everything first time. (At least if you try and get A+ on the levels you have to practice and improve.)
Totally ruins a game for me if it is never necessary to improve.
If the 2 Galaxy games were as a pair with the second one lots harder then I would probably still be playing the second one and I would think upon them more fondly.
Not going to lie, but I haven't played SMG.
Kirby's Adventure and Donkey Kong Country Returns did more for me.
(Kirby because the first time i got the Ultra Sword I got a feeling I had completely forgotten about.)
(Donkey Kong Country Returns because it is a series where they are all great it does everything I care about right and the last entry I think is the best. Nothing that annoys me with it at all.)
I enjoyed Galaxy 2 a little more, but I can see why they would rank the 1st one the best, what with the game being so groundbreaking.
I think I liked the 2nd better - it would be hard to argue the hub structure wasn't better, that ship was too expansive - and some other add-ons made the experience more enjoyable, but I'ld probably have to agree w/ Eurogamer as you couldn't have the improvements in 2 w/o 1.
PS3 had a bunch of great games but my favorites are all sequels form PS2.
The Newer riivolution mod for NSMBW actually made me certain that I do still like 2D Mario and all they need is good level design.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - You don't have to let the player win in fact it is loads better if you do all you can to stop them. (Better than any Mario Kart I have yet played).
Shenmue for was the last thing I cannot think of anything whatsoever that could have been better for what it is. (Its sequel didn't have quite the same level of care). Even more so as it is not the type of game I would normally bother with.
That game. It's THAT one game that I'll keep on playing. Even after death.
Super Mario Galaxy is one of my favorite games ever. Good choice Eurogamer, good choice.
Just having one easy world / the second half of both / 2 hard worlds would have massively increased my enjoyment of it.
(When I finish a game I like the feeling of contentment that I very rarely get these days which makes me think that was just enough, I really liked it and I have no desire for any more for at least 5 years say. I like just doing a bit at a time improving but having to spend quite a bit of time prior to getting anywhere learning to play the game).
"First shown off at E3 2005, the planetoid-hopping platformer is truly one of the modern greats."
That was actually in 2006.
While not my top-5 all time favourite, SMG is still an icredibly great game.
good decision. the game was just brilliant. love it
There are loads of games on Wii alone better than SMG, let alone all the other consoles (the DS!)
It's a good game but not without its faults, some of which SMG2 addressed.
Personally I had more fun reading all the low-scorers than actually playing the game
I actually like SMG2 slightly more, but usually i consider them to be the same game since 2 was originally just going to be an expansion. Both games, though, would easily be in my top 5 of all time.
Games come in all different genres so I think it's hard to have a 'game of the generation' not everyone likes 3D platformers.
Personally I love them and Mario Galaxy is one of the absolute best. Not the hardest game but I enjoyed every second of it, and the level design was so innovative.
@Mahe Please tell me what's wrong with it?
@LunaticPandora I'm not sure if you're joking or being a troll.
Outstanding game!
Such a fantastic game, in my opinion one of the finest ever made, and I'd certainly say that it's the best platformer ever made. When I first played it my mind was blown. It's just fantastic in ever possible way, could not have been more impressed by it.
Actually, I have a hankering to play it all of the sudden. Oh well, hopefully Super Mario 3D World will be good enough to satisfy my appetite for 3D Mario. If not, I might have to replay Galaxy again.
@SuperMinusWorld Excuse me? I'm not allowed to laugh at people who make stupid comments?
Congrats, Nintendo for making such a phenomenal title!
Well done.
Nonetheless, it's hard to imagine awards of this caliber going to games like The Last of Us. I know it's a good game- I watched my brother play through the whole thing- it's just not "game of the generation" material. Games of the generation would have to go to something like Portal, Zelda Skyward Sword, Xenoblade Chronicles, Mass Effect, Batman Arkham Asylum, Monster Hunter Tri, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Uncharted, Half-Life 2, Dark Souls, Darksiders, and a dozen more I've probably forgotten about. Idk, maybe it's just me, but these are the games that I will remember for decades to come. TLoU (while I didn't play it, I did observe an entire playthrough) will be little more than an afterthought.
Personally it's Super Mario Galaxy 2. Not just game of the generation but best game of all time. The only thing this gen that has come anywhere near it was Red Dead Redemption which was spectacular.
@JaxonH Darkisiders? Welcome to your own opinion, obviously, but that's the one game in your list that I think shouldn't be anywhere near a game of the generation list. As for Last Of Us it has undoubtedly the best atmosphere, story, pace, visuals, sound and voice acting of any game in years... the problem is Naughty Dog forgot to actually include any sort of gameplay whatsoever. A shame. It could have been monumental but it's just painfully average.
Definitely well deserved!
If they had started where they left off at the end of Galaxy (In terms of difficulty) with Galaxy 2 that would have been it. Galaxy was revolutionary not evolutionary like Donkey Kong Country Returns. But as it stands I enjoyed absolutely all the time I was playing Donkey Country Returns. Whereas there was 50% of Galaxy 2 I wish I didn't play. (The first part).
No interest in stuff that is buggy / Designed to make you buy the DLC to stop wasting your own time on uninteresting things / 30fps / Stupid Unskippable Tutorials / Full of Cutscenes that get more effort than the game (If Story is that important it has to be at least as good as the best novels or films and I haven't found a single recent example) I don't end up enjoying it at all.
@rastamadeus
I actually REALLY enjoyed the Darksiders games, particularly DS2 on Wii U. Perhaps not quite a game of the GENERATION (I was just rattling off games that came to mind quick), but certainly more eligible than TLoU, at least for me anyways. I think you're right, it was the weak gameplay. I've never been big on games that couldn't stand on their own 2 legs, and TLoU without story to back it up wouldn't even be as interesting as ZombiU.
Super LUIGI Galaxy!
Considering it's Eurogamer, this is a pleasant surprise!
I think SMG2 is a better gameplay experience in general,but the first one was just mind-blowing. Excellent choice.
I liked Super Mario Galaxy 2 slightly more but no question SMG 1 is a phenomenal experience and one of those games with Super Mario Bros. 1, 3, World and 64 that is absolutely timeless. We'll see if 3D World can live up to the Galaxy games.
Great games,i enjoyed number two more but i can understand how the first was mor impacftul to people,i still need to complete both of them im 1 star away on galaxy 2 lol
@unrandomsam do you think sonic generations is better than super mario galaxy?
I know a guy that refuses to play the game because he hates "waggle controls" and the Wii in general. lol
Laugh at me if you will, but Super Mario Galaxy marked the first time I would ever CLAP MY HANDS as the credits started scrolling.
@LunaticPandora It seemed to me like you were knocking the game.
These really are fantastic games. Since I lost all my Wii game data when I sent the Wii U off for repairs, now seems like a good time to play back through both of them. Only thing I don't really like is how the second one seems like it's in some kind of alternate reality, and by that I mean it acts like the first one never happened. I mean all the characters even re-introduce themselves as if the first one never took place. It's just kind of weird...
Oh mario/nintendo saved sonic and gave him new legs while kicking donkey in the platform world and 3d world looks amazing by the way i think when we were younger and was saying who would win in a fight mario or sonic we didnt expect this turnout, story is important to me to but think mario really explains itself.
Please watch the profanity — TBD
What, a Nintendo game won the best game of a generation?!?!?
This is blasphemy, the title should have gone to GTA or Halo, not this game! What were they thinking....
But no really, glad this game won. It was great and it deserves it! Congrats to the Big N!!!
Well deserved.
One of my favorite games. If only it were 2007 and I could experience this for the first time all over again. Simply a magical game~
This recognition is well deserved, Super Mario Galaxy is one of the best Wii games and a masterpiece compared to other consoles crapy games!!
When the game was originally showed at E3 2006 I just embrace this concept, to me Galaxy 1 is better than Galaxy 2!!
One of the best game in these couple past years.
SMG2 cant top this because when you played it, you likely already played SMG, so it wasnt that exciting as when you played the first game.
Well deserved. Mario Galaxy is truly one of the most creative games ever made.
no surprise
it's one of those games with pure Nintendo magic... with and amount of creativity, soul and attention to detail which other companies like Activision, Naughty Dog, Blizzard or whoever else will never even come close to, no matter how hard they try
Mario Galaxies HD please!
Oh and while you're at it, Metroid Prime Trilogy HD please!
And Eternal Darkness HD. It could raise the funding and interest needed for its more or less canned 'spiritual successor'.
The others don't really need extra interest, any real gamer simply needs those.
Deserved it! It's a great game!!
Honestly it's my clear choice for game of the generation as well.
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