04-10-2007, 05:24 PM
The day I think most of us have been jonezin' for has arrived, and I was sure to haul it downtown today to pick up my copy of SPM. Being completely ecstatic to finally have the first official Mario Wii title in my hands, I found myself reading the manual while driving. It may not be very nice of me to do so in regards to public safety, but I managed and the rest of the drivers out there dealt with it.
So before even getting home and popping the disc in I was already picking my jaw up off of the steering wheel when I paged through the manual and came to discover that Bowser is a playable character. It's something that completely caught me by surprise, maybe it was announced, but if it had been, it completely went over my head. So right there the game won some major points in my book.
Finally after waiting for a good hour until my sister finished her movie the moment of truth came to fruition. Was the game going to live up to all the hype? So far I have cleared the first chapter and my answer as of now is a big 10-4. There were so many cool elements meshed together in the very first chapter I started loosing myself in the game, and had to snap out of it before too much time was spent playing...I love games like this, but hate them at the same time (Only because I work 40-60 hours a week, and can't afford to miss deadlines).
Graphically the game is amazing. Being a 2D animator, I fell in love with the stylization of this game. The visual elements combined with the real-time action gameplay deliver an experience that is reminiscent of how I always wanted a Super Mario title to always look, in terms of the 2D titles. The animation is wonderful, as are the transitions, both when changing perspective and when entering warpzone pipes.
The introduction of Pixls to the game is a great feature as well. They unlock many abilities for Mario, and Tippi brings the immersion of pointing with the remote to reveal other hidden areas that are normally invisible in both 2D and 3D perspectives.
The music is a little better than I expected however, I would of enjoyed it more if there were more in-depth compositions of classic tracks, however being so early into the game, there is always room for surprises. After all there are special abilities such as Mario tokens, which is a handful of tiny 8-Bit Mario's circling you, mimicking every move and aiding you in your fight until they are killed off.
All in all, so far I have to come to an early conclusion that this game is great and is definitely worth the investment. Aside from a lot of on-screen caption reading, (which I don't mind), the game itself feels as though you are interacting with a broadcast cartoon.
When I beat the game, I will post a full scale review, but had to at least enlighten everyone interested with my initial thoughts.
So far this game gets an 'A' from me!
