Yeah I love the more subtle approach to humor Matt takes. It's so much better than the obnoxious, in your face garbage so many other more serious UA-camrs try to pull
do you really need to trash Vaati? Its just humor, its not the main thing of the videos, there is nothing wrong with trying to be funny once in a while to break up the pace.
***** Mathew excels at gameplay mechanic analysis, George excels with journalistic research and presentation. Both are A+ quality, and are pretty much unmatched by any other games reviewers.
If any of you know Spanish, I recommend to you watching DayoScript. Excels at story analysis, editing, and script, the only bad thing is that it is in a foreign language. It's worth to look.
6:05 About the "visual feedback" on the ball's movement: there is actually immediate visual feedback, but a lot of players don't see it the first time playing. There's a thin gold ring surrounding the ball that shows the game's interpretation of the wiimote's orientation. Of course, since players don't see this, it's still a problem. But I found the levels much more enjoyable after seeing that ring.
Omg I never saw this, and even after your comment I searched for the ring like 10 seconds because I thought it is surrouding the ball on the ground, just to realize it is around the ball... Thank you for mentioning :)
The Storybook was optional because Koizumi, one of Nintendo's best writers, was trying to sneak Rosie's backstory past Miyamoto, who was vehemently against using anymore serious plot elements in Mario games. When he found out about the storybook, he was apparently furious; during interviews regarding Galaxy 2, Miyamoto proudly declared that he had "successfully convinced" Koizumi to see things his way, resulting in G2 having basically no plot.
I agree with Miyamoto on this. This is a nonsense world, were clockwork mechanisms are used as passageways and pocket dimensions appear out of nowhere displaying 8 bit Mario wallpapers. Right now it's just videogamy expressionism, but put any more plot in it and things would start go south really fast.
Elegant Cat Miyazaki works on movies that take place in worlds of nonsense and you don't see any issues with that. Everything has beauty to it so at least our emotions can connect. Mario could have done the same. But instead, we get a backhanded bait and switch experience that keeps fucking with your emotions. There's a reason why I say Sonic is better than Mario. Because Sonic gives solid, satisfying mechanics without sacrificing the emotional value.
Samir Malik Cartoon logic is still logic. It operates by stretching the rules of the real world or creating rule of its own and when the world or the story breaks them it's for the most part for a reason and doesn't go unnoticed by either the characters or the audience and a good director knows that. However, when a world is created around gameplay, it defies even cartoon logic. You can make it work if you know what you are doing...In GoW1 Kratos has his adventure inside a temple of impossible corridors and hallways, impractical beyond reason, but the story makes it clear that that place was not meant to be lived in and designed by a madman. In Mario this is normal. That would be like having an invader zim episode where humans menace the irken empire with atomic weaponry and it is played completely straight, like it's a serious situation. I mean, just look at Sonic the edgehog. Yeah. Not a good idea.
Elegant Cat But said logic, or lack thereof, still has to comply to an consideration of emotional connection. Mario Galaxy clearly was trying to connect, with dreamy environments and symphonic melodies that touch your heart and mechanics, like astral drifting, that really set the mood. Or at least they should because the game continuously gives emotional whiplash. You play Space Junk Galaxy and you tell me, how was the atmosphere when you started and when you ended? Did you feel calm when you started as you drifted through the ruins of space with sad yet dreamy music? Now what about when you ended? How did you feel? Did the change in atmosphere transition well once Captain Toad showed up? (That last part is a no. It felt like emotional whiplash) With Sonic the Hedgehog the tone usually remains consistent, both in story and *tone,* coming off as an episode of Dragon Ball Classic. (which is the inspiration for the franchise) Rooftop Run from Unleashed and Generations is proof of this as the level has a high energy tempo with blissful violins and pianos that perfectly matches the adventurous and freedom loving energy of the whole level and even the stunts you pull of on the rooftops of London, like running up Big Ben clocktower to launch yourself over it's tip while doing tricks and poses midair before ending that sequence by grinding down it's spiral serve to benefit the tone and mechanics, creating an atmosphere of style, coolness and flow. And it all links back to Sonic's own traits and personality, giving a sense of connection to the player not just with the level but with him as well. THIS is what video games can do *without* a story. Even if it can be argued that Mario games have better mechanics, he still has a lot to learn about modern gaming. And his former rival is example number 1 as he learned by the time 06 came along. He just couldn't properly do it until 2008 in Unleashed
I'm surprised you didn't mention the stage where you get the choice between the bee mushroom and the boo mushroom. This one gives you a choice early in the level and you then get to complete the level in a different way depending on your choice. I wish this would have been used more times in the game, but it's cool that it's there.
Very cool. Bee mario and boo mario have different weaknesses and therefore obstacles that can affect them. The bee is more challenging to use in the first section, but boo mario can't be used for the final moon section. It's a very smart and creative design that I seldom see outside of that specific level in this specific game.
Some stray observations: 1) I don't agree with the "hub" argument. As I see it, the hub in SMG serves not only as a "safe" place to familiarize yourself with the controls, but also a point of rest from all the curvey gravity stuff. 2) Constant tutorializing is frustrating, agreed. My guess is it was mandated because of Wii target demographic at the time, which was "everyone". 3) One major design flaw with SMG that went unmentioned is how unforgiving it was to the newcomers. The actual "tutorial" first involves catching three rabbits, not the most fun you can have with SMG even if it does teach you basic controls and layout of the game levels, then navigating a small planet with bottomless pits, meteors and goombas, then a few more filler planets with finally a planet where you have to navigate the interior and turn on all the switches while avoiding goombas and electrified platforms. And all that with 4 lives. Now a seasoned gamer will breeze through this without problems, but someone not yet got used to the controls will fail.. only to be brought back at the very beginning, cutscene and rabbit hunt included. What's even weirder, later in the game there are very few instances where you see such long, checkpointless stretches (and when they do happen, such as Daredevil run on that lava planet, at least they do not include a bunch of dialogue and cutscenes). 4) Resetting to 4 lives. Why? Again, this is something that punishes beginners... but only those that like to play in many short sittings instead of fwe long ones. You know all those lives you collected while searching in secret places or doing daredevil stunts? Gone. Poof! Still, even including all the things I've found lacking.. I still think this game is one of my all time favorites (coming close to even surpassing Mario 64).
2 things 1. Mathewmatosis you are an amazing youtuber with outstanding content that always feel fresh 2.Thank You TB for introducing me to this youtuber
Walther Stolzing I watched that hack Noah's Half Life video and it was literally an hour of review bullet points and a long winded plot synopsis. Give me one good reason I should watch any of his other shit.
Made my Saturday! It'd be awesome if, at some time in the future, you gave the same treatment to an RPG series. The Mario RPG games being the series that comes to mind, but I think a key point of the quality of these videos, is how much you enjoy the individual games, or the series. So continue being awesome and doing the videos that you WANT to do.
I'd love to hear his thoughts in reviews for the games Final Fantasy 4-15 (Once 15 comes out of course). I'd also like his opinion on Xenoblade and Chrono Trigger.
I think he might avoid doing another Mario title just to diversify what's on the channel :( I hope he does a big Mario spinoffs video as a special because I really love Mario RPG and the first three paper Mario games. I love the action commands I'm pretty Mario RPG was revolutionary in that.
Good job on this series, but there are a few parts I would like to point out: 1. Yes, Mario 64's Wing Cap feels like flying, but so does Galaxy's Flying Mario, just in a different sense. Think of Flying Mario more as an airplane with a constant speed, rather than a glider with gravity-dependent speed. Such a design for flying was chosen so that the constant changes in gravity on a round planet, such as the one that is used for Flying Mario's tutorial, would feel much more natural. It would be pretty challenging to control in the air using Mario 64's mechanics. I'm typing this as I watch.
2. The Wii Remote, in my opinion, was used rather properly. While it seems like the Manta Ray segments seemed like it would've been better off using the c-stick on the nunchuck, the rather simple level design around those segments made up for it. The challenge they went for was the controls and built the levels around that. Imagine you had to go through all of those Manta Ray segments with the c-stick. there'd be no challenge! Shaking to spin also was used rather effectively. Trying to spin in 3D World using the buttons felt really awkward. In Galaxy, you don't even have to press a button; just flick your wrist. And to make sure the spin jump felt good, they have the Wii remote a little rumble for every spin, and changed Mario's momentum behind every spin to give the action weight. A spin jump into a wall jump is given a distinct feeling. It would be a lot harder to wall jump if it was a button instead. That's all I can come up with.
Childhood game here. This is one of the most emotional Mario games I have played because of the scenery and story I really hope they make a Mario Galaxy 3
Really amazing review. I love me some Galaxy. I thought I should mention though, the original Wiimote doesn't use a gyroscope. It uses an accelerometer. It's the Wii Motion Plus that introduced the gyroscope.
You are very perceptive and have an eye for details and pecularities of game design. Your factual and rather neutral approach to commentating is also a breath of fresh air on this site where people are continuously holding a competition on who can be the loudest, most attention-grabbing prick. Please keep releasing these high quality videos, and consider making some for the modern Ninja Gaiden games if you have played and enjoyed them.
+ThatIncredibleJordan Well the score is implicit, It's a good game. I wish IGN and it's ilk hadn't ruined scores for games since the decimal system is a terrible way of scoring but a (good/bad, Good/neutral/bad or Excellent/good/neutral/bad/Worst) system would enhance I think many opinions since the review is more tailored at explaining why they granted that rating to a game.
Eesa Ali How are they arbitrary if they are done by the same person? Again as long as it's a well defined and separate 2-5 potential "scores" or "ratings" no one would have a problem. The decimal system if awful because it implies a 10/10 is perfect, while a 3/3 or 2/2 or 4/4 doesn't have quite that same meaning. They are also useful for sorting a site, if you want to see some crappy stuff for laughs, sort to get the crappy stuff, if you are just getting into the medium or want to discover your new favorites, sort it so you get the top rated stuff. Reviews are also best read after you've experienced the material for yourself so you can see if you agree, disagree, learn new stuff, or see if the author ignored something you noticed. The score is there to recommend the material and shape the tone of the review. When you give a friend a recommendation or he asks for one do you give him an essay or do you just tell him: "It's very good" "It's awful" that's the purpose scores should have. Plus again they also help keep the review from going on unrelated tangents.
Amazing video Matt but something's missing. I brought this up in the Sunshine review and I feel it's still prevalent here and your past few videos as well. Your delivery. One of the reasons I fell in love with your older reviews, primarily the MGS reviews and the Bioshock Infinite review, was the way you would so conclusively and definitively make your points. Your tone of voice and word choice had this fire to them that I loved and couldn't find anywhere else. It was down right authoritative, and I loved every second of it. No other game reviewer has made me say "shit, can't argue with that" so many times. The way you combined amazing points about game design and story along with this little spark of attitude made you the best game reviewer I've ever heard. Now? To be honest I get a little bored because you seem to be bored. Obviously I can't know whether that's true or not but as someone who's been watching your videos since your Ocarina of Time review I can definitely see a change and not one that I'm huge fan of. Sorry if this comes off as some kind of attack and I don't expect some response from you or anything, but you seem like a reasonable guy so I felt it was worth saying. Stay awesome man.
Glad to see the next chapter in your Mario series! Keep up the great work, I always love to see and encourage others to closely examine the things they hold dear, and this series in particular hits close to home. Looking forward to your next project!
Hey, Matt. When you're talking about the lighting in the game around 19:00, you talk about how they used 'specularity' and 'ambient lighting'. Unfortunately, the examples you show don't support what you're saying. The grass doesn't look glossy because of specularity, but because of the Fresnel shader applied to them (wherein edges are automatically highlighted). I don't believe there actually is any specularity on that grass at all. As for the section where you talk about ambient lighting (18:20), you are correct that there IS ambient lighting, but the reason for the "flat" look is that the level is mostly flat geometry (a large flat sea of sand) and lit primarily by directional lights. When lighting is dominated by ambient lighting, there will be NO strong shadows. At 18:23 you can clearly see strong shadows being cast on the block shapes that Mario jumps on.
I've never been a huge Mario fan and haven't played much of the series (besides Super Mario World), but I watch these reviews anyways just because you're so fucking good at critiquing games.
Its crazy that every time you show gameplay, you are doing something completely different than before. Man, I want to play this so bad. This looks much more fun than the Switch game in my opinion.
Very good review, as usual. Only thing I disagree with is the view that Galaxy was a downgrade in jumping mechanics from the previous 3D titles. I feel it trimmed some of the less used and similar to other moves in 64: namely the punch combo, jump kick, and dive. The combo and jump kick were combined into the spin, which has its own added double jump effect. The dive and the longjump did practically the same thing, only the longjump covered more distance and was more controllable. Sunshine is a different beast from both 64 and Galaxy and I can see why the Devs didn't have anything like FLUDD in Galaxy as it would have messed with the level design they were going for considerably.
I agree with you on removing fludd, the punch combo, and jump kick. I also love the spin but I do miss the dive for the sake of building speed or a replacement like the return of running in 3d world.
The dive really isn't all that similar to the long jump. The dive goes a shorter distance, isn't as fast, works as an attack or a grab, slows you down unless you jump out of it, and can be used at speed on the ground OR in the air. And there are many areas where complexity was sacrificed to make play just that little bit easier. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is probably my favorite 3D Mario game, but I don't see how the obvious simplification is deniable. Mario in general is slower, floatier, has less momentum to him, and there's a much greater degree of air control than in the previous games (hover nozzle aside), the spin move resets momentum and gives you a small second jump so you can save yourself from very poorly planned or overshot jumps rather than just acting as an attack and slightly extending air time like the jump kick did (which had limited use since it wasn't usable at speed), the walljump no longer has you leaving a wall at the same angle as you hit it but instead always has you jumping off walls perpendicularly, and so on. Most of the omissions aren't too big a deal, but the mechanics that carried over into Galaxy and have been made less complex are a bit of an issue for a lot of people.
Plus, I think one aspect that we should consider is Mario's speed in the game. It's purposely slower most likely due to how overall movement and control differ on planetoids versus a flat surface, and works better as a result.
Honestly the dive would've been far better for galaxy than the long jump, since the long jump on small planets sends you into the air and does very little forward movement since it throws you directly forward instead of along the curve of the planet, whereas the dive dives forward which would've sent you just as far as the long jump would on a flat surface, and would've been faster too with more control. And by your statement of trimming the "less used" moves, I dissagree, all those moves had a purpose, and while I agree the spin jump improves upon the punch combo, the overall lack of movement options is always a bad idea in a platformer as it lowers the replay value in multiple ways and can make some challenges unnecesarilly hard. While the spin acts as a double jump it, as Matt pointed out, stops your momentum in the air which can be detrimental to high skill play. the long jump and dive were not the same and are used for different reasons, the long jump is just to clear large gaps quickly but the dive was a way to increase your movement speed, which helps in replaying areas that are long and boring, and while the long jump is very lateral in movement, the dive is great if you need to go forward and downward quickly where a ground pound would otherwise have no forward movement. This is the biggest problem with Galaxy as the lack of movement made replaying feel exactly the same everytime since you could only walk around at the same slow speed and jump the same way at the same place everytime you played.
Aenglaan Yeah, the changes do suit the game well for the most part. Matthew nailed it in the review. Like he said, in this regard it just feels like a downgrade hot off the heels of 64 and Sunshine which even to this day have some of the most intuitive and nuanced controls and movement mechanics of any 3D platformer.
Sunshine may have had the best movement, it also had the blandest level design which didn't take advantage of that movement. Galaxy had a much more fun and exhilarating level design that utilized Mario's available move set to it's maximum.
PRAISE THE SUN HE HAS RETURNED. Also, are you ever thinking of doing a walkthrough of Dark Souls like you did Demon Souls? It would be amazing to hear you go into detail about everything.
This was yet another incredibly insightful and well-structured review, Matt, and I loved every minute of it! Your criticisms of the overabundance of tutorials and control simplification are fully warranted, but I have to agree with your final assessment in that it's a fantastic game overall. Definitely one of my favorite Mario platformers.
I have this channel playing on my tablet whilst I play Dark Souls 1. The voice, the content, it all calms me, which I need because I am having trouble getting past Ceaseless Discharge. The first boss I have really had any trouble with.
2:32 actually, in 64 dialogue boxes will pop up when you collect enough stars to unlock the next major segment ... so in a way sm64 did the same thing as galaxy. it was just much less obtrusive.
Matthew glossed over my least favourite part of Super Mario Galaxy: the insane amount of padding. **SPOILERS** Should you wish to truly 100% this game, you must get every star in the game as Mario, then replay the ENTIRE game again as Luigi, all the tutorials included. Nothing new happens through the game, you're just playing the ENTIRE game again with a more slippery, higher jumping Mario. You do all this so you can get a secret 121st star as Mario and Luigi and unlock pictures. It just wasn't interesting for me and it completely destroyed my interest in playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 through to the end, since I was so tired of seeing the same things over and over.
I did this was and was less than impressed. That being said the ice levels rock in the galaxy games but it also sucked not being able to race shadow Mario if I wanted too.
Signal LivingSton It's not just that that bothers me. In one of the few galaxies, you're put into a bee world. That's cute. Several worlds later, and there's ANOTHER bee galaxy. I find that incredibly lazy and repetitive.
not to mention having to beat the final bowser level and going through the lengthy cutscene and credits TWICE for mario to get luigi and then another 2 times to get the secret 121st star. Because unlike 64, and I think sunshine, some things don't unlock until you "beat" the game.
That's what you call "padding"? I assume 3D World also has an obscene amount of padding because it requires you to beat every level with every character in order to get a 100% that is only "100%" in name?
TroubleGone **SPOILERS** Yes, absolutely. Same thing with Land, which required you to beat every level in the game AND gold flag EVERY LEVEL (and extra level) in the game as both Mario and Luigi to unlock the final level.
I thought I'd never play a 3D Mario game which would replace my favorite of Super Mario 64...Then I played Mario Galaxy, and I thought I'd never play a 3D Mario game that would replace it as my favorite...Then I played Mario Galaxy 2...
Oh boy I waited a long time for this review ... and I fucking liked it. You are one of the few people who ACTUALLY knows about videogame design and discuss it very well.
I've thought a bit more about your comment on the comets and I think I am now starting to see what the developers were going for here. You were talking about freedom to do anything at your own pace, right? Well, many players will probably still have decided to play the missions in perfect order in Super Mario 64 because that's what they were used to from the very linearly progressing 2D games, missing the point of making the experience more varied for themselves by doing them out of order. It feels like the comets were Nintendo's way of saying, "You didn't embrace your freedom in the last games, so we're gonna force you to embrace your freedom in this one", which of course would be a very ironic and silly idea if I put it this way. Basically, what the comets do is force players not to play a level for a while and then come back to it later, which _can_ be a good thing. This is also why the comet missions can be more challenging and about equal levels of challenge to each other, players are not gonna be trying to complete these earlier than they're probably supposed to tackle them. It's a way of making the player go, "Aw, yes, I get to play this level again!", when the last time they played it might've been hours, days or even weeks ago. I'm not trying to defend the comets as an ideal game mechanic, I just think I understand the developers' thought processes here. They weren't a big detrement to my own personal experience with Super Mario Galaxy, so I don't think they're a deal breaker either way.
+timmifutz I reckon if they were more interesting in general, they'd probably be fine (even better if they were different for Luigi's run...you know, the whole universe-restarting-but-with-minor-changes shebang that Rosalina talked about?). The speed-runs barely change anything and don't add much challenge to boot, unless the player can't help but collect goodies at every turn throughout the mission. The sequel implemented it better with clocks and really short time limits. The fast foe comets didn't make their levels fast enough, in my opinion, and too many of the daredevil comets consist solely of bosses for my taste. The cosmic comets were good though, often changing decent sections of the level to allow for a decent race course, and were challenging when Cosmic Luigi was involved.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about the story at all in this review, that's something you normally go into quite some depth with. More so this story, as this game goes quite deep into the lore of Mario and the theory of Rosalina being not only from the future, but also Mario and Peach's daughter.
Jack Chu Yeah, It's fucking depressing how Game Theory turned into Lore Theory. I remember watching those Bioshock videos explaining how living in a submersed and flying society would be more of a bad one then a good one. The last true Game Theory I personally remember is the one about the space bullet physics.
Very good review. This is my second favourite Mario game after Galaxy 2, and you definitely covered what made it so damn good. I particularly liked how it had more levels and less Stars than its predecessors, which allowed for a lot more mechanical diversity, but I must agree that it isn't perfect in that regard, for many of the reasons you specified. It all just felt quite overwhelming to me on my first playthrough, and I never really got to grips with it until I played Galaxy 2 and then replayed the first. That said, I can’t agree with you on a few things, particularly the long jump. I personally find it a really fun way of getting around the place, especially when you get to grips with the controls. It’s an acceptable substitute for the dive to me, especially in the context of a low gravity platformer where the dive would be similarly floaty, so I just make do with what it is. When I saw you just running about the place in the video, I personally thought ‘come on, just long jump around the place, it’s fun as hell’. This ties in with the camera angle criticism as well, as a lot of the spherical levels are pretty much designed to be long jumped around, and with skilful long jumping it controls so damn well. While I see that you prefer just running about on a subjective level, I can’t agree that it’s objectively better than the long jump in the vast majority of instances. Hell, I realise there aren’t any objective truths in this type of criticism, but the way you review the game makes it out to be that way. (Also, I really can’t see how the controls would’ve worked quite as effectively on an analogue controller, since a lot of the levels were designed around the low gravity and the spin jump, and it all feels really natural to me. It controls far better than Sunshine, anyway.) Likewise, the coins. Yes, there were a lot of coins in each stage, but to raise the threshold for which coins restore health would just artificially increase the difficulty and unreasonably break from the tradition set in the last two 3D Mario games. This would make the game less accessible to new players as well, and considering that Nintendo generally make their games these days to be fun rather than challenging, this wouldn’t exactly be fun. Besides, they reduced Mario’s overall health just to compensate for this. In hindsight, they probably should’ve added an extra difficulty mode to compensate for this, but for what it is it’s balanced enough to me. Also, the Prankster Comets aren’t really an annoyance. If you complete them, they will never bother you again unless you select them, and the challenges are both fun and never all that difficult. The ability to pay to move the comets is purely intended for novice players who aren’t as accustomed to the game’s mechanics, which is perfectly acceptable to me. Nevertheless, they work around it quite well in Galaxy 2. Otherwise, most of my other disagreements are purely for aesthetic reasons. While I do agree that the powerups were rather limited, they were fun to use when they came up for the sheer variety of it all, especially when they weren’t used for a few levels (except for the flight star, which I completely forgot was in the game until my second playthrough). I never tire of seeing the Launch Star cutscenes either for the visual pleasure of seeing the world that Mario’s travelling through (and also - this just came to me - because it gives you a nice breather between sections that doesn’t last too long at all. You’re usually back into the action quite quickly. This is also quite a subjective point though.) I do agree that the purple coins came around too late. I see no reason why they were shunted off to post-game content this time around, particularly since the Red Coins were integrated into the last two games, other than that they really needed some post-game content and this was the easiest solution. They could’ve been regular Comets easily. They’re usually good levels for what it’s worth, but they should’ve been in there earlier, which they proved in Galaxy 2. Anyway, this was a damn good review. Can’t wait for Galaxy 2. Many thanks for making this.
I'm going to finish the video so I don't know if he touches more on this yet, but I REALLY disagree with the launch stars messing with pacing. I think they're nice moments to catch your breath and take in everything around you. Not every part of a game has to have an immediate challenge or even game play really. They give everything a sense of scale and often show what to expect for a large portion of a level.
@@wonderguardstalker For me it's only numb if it's the same level, and I'm not sure if that's the case for anybody but I typically don't play the same level twice unless it's a whole new replay
Great approach on the Mario series and on Galaxy on this case. Your reviews are one of the best. They verbalize very well things I have only felted during my gameplays, and make me understand better and being able to explain to my friends why I liked or disliked this or that game better than others. Of course I don't just copy paste your words or point of views, but they add a lot to my personal arguments and, most important of all, they even make me rediscover some games or have the games or some elements of them in a much higher esteem. Thanks for this more video. And despite people asking you for make you vids shorter, I would watch them even if you chose to visit some game level by level. I'm working in order to finish 100% of Mario Galaxy 2 so I'll be able to watch your next video by the time it cames out.
Hey, just wanted to thank you for putting out another great video. I have never been disappointed by the quality of what you release, and I would rather have great content than fast content. Again, thanks so much.
More, Please. I need these videos in my life. These are, in my opinion, some of the best videos on UA-cam. I know it's a lot to ask, but I personally think that Sonic's 3D adventures would be a very interesting topic, seeing as they are so different with each iteration.
I actually replayed Galaxy when I was waiting for your review; I had it in mind as more or less perfect. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but I think it's still a fantastic game after all. I don't know why you didn't mention it like in Super Mario 64, but there are just so many short cuts in galaxy as well. I wouldn't even be surprised if many of them are unintenional, but still, Galaxy is vastly better than 64 in that regard and the relief of finding one is so great for me, that they are one of the first things that come to my mind when I think of Galaxy. Still, your review is really great, I think it's even better than the one for Sunshine. That is actually everything I want to say about the video, but there's something else that I'd like to get out. Many people are complaining about you speaking very softly and slowly. They may be right, but I myself appreciate that you are doing that. English isn't my first language and it's a lot easier for me to understand you when you speak as you do now. Maybe that's even the reason why you do that and for me, it helps. Your scripts obviously aren't the simplest texts you can imagine and if you spoke faster, I would have problems getting all the information, especially on the first time watching. And that's exactly what it was like for me with some of your older videos.
Dear Matthewmatosis, Thank you for uploading these in UA-cam's 720p60. While it doesn't make a noticeable difference in video quality, UA-cam gives a big preference in loading time to videos that make it to 720p and above. Your computer game reviews are also among my favorite on the UA-cam video hosting service. Please keep up the good work. Sincerely, Heran Bago
Matthewmatosis, if you read this, know that your videos are very entertaining to watch. Dont listen to people in the comments that say you make to few videos/ are making them to slow. Just take your time, because we like them for their high quality and in-depth analysis of the games and not for their quantity. Thank you really much for sacrificing your free time to make entertaining videos for us.
In terms of awesomeness per video, this is easily one of the very best gaming channels on all of UA-cam. Anyway, I was just playing through Galaxy again these past couple days and I started noticing all the little things that were mentioned: flaws like the worthless coins, lack of a dive button ruining momentum, and the comets blocking off other stars, and the absolutely brilliant level design. Still my favourite Mario game out of the ones I've played.
another really great detailed review :) agree that Rosalina's backstory could be sold as it's own book, got a chill down my spine at the reveal about the tree on the hill, so unexpected in a Mario game
This is an amazing video that I’ve watched a ton, and i absolutely love your channel! This next part is just a personal thought of mine, no hate intended I think the entire point of this game is the fact that the movement is limited. Mario Galaxy in a lot of ways has the same vibe as Mario 3D land or similar games. The designers clearly wanted the player to have to really and truly interact with the levels themselves, instead of seeing what’s possible with the freedom of the move set in a more open and less linear level design. If you were to give Mario Galaxy these same tools from 64 and Sunshine, it would absolutely destroy the game. Levels would be too easy, the best parts of levels could easily be missed, and the pacing would be utterly destroyed. I think it’s become a pitfall of almost every reviewer to say that less freedom is “regression,” when in all honestly, it’s just different. This feels more like a bias towards previous games , rather than genuine criticism. If Galaxy had come out before 64 and Sunshine, I could easily see videos like this one talking about how Mario’s new movement mechanics are nice and all, but the level design is much less advanced and thought out, seeing how much of it you can just skip or choose not to interact with. In the grand scheme of things, the designers chose movement mechanics that perfectly complimented the level design of each of these games, instead of worrying about which one was more “advanced” for the sake of being that way
***** That's what I'm interested in most about the next video, what he will say about how much of the content is the same , all the others were pretty much built from the ground up.
CornishCreamtea07 He wasn't a fan of Twilight Princess being too similar to Ocarina so I'm sure there will be complaints about Mario. I like Galaxy 2 though, mostly because of Yoshi, but otherwise it's very similar to the original.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Luigi "second quest". What's your opinion about it? I personally liked the game so much that I loved to revisit everything again with somewhat different movement. The 121st star at the end was a nice way to finish off the game.
While I don't agree with all of your opinions (particularly on some Zelda games) your views are so well thought out and communicated that it's a great and enlightening experience to watch your reviews. Great job, man! Just subscribed.
I always sorta saw the thing about enemies giving you a coin if you jump on them and Star Bits if you spin them to be symbolic of the series. Jumping is the more traditional part of the series and, in turn, gives you the more traditional collectible, whereas the Spin Attack and Star Bits were both new additions to the series at the time, so it makes sense that one would result in the other.
People often complain about the camera controls in Sunshine (and yes they were not great) but I’ve always had a much harder time getting a good view in Galaxy due to how complicated the angles can get, and that the Wii remote doesn’t allow for camera control. To me, Odyssey was the first game where they really nailed it
Always worth the wait! This is one of my favorite games and I love how Mathewmatosis can define what makes it great, but also can see past that to see how it could have been even better. He always brings up interesting game design concepts that make perfect sense when he explains them even if I didn't realize they were there when I played the game.
I’ve watched all of Matthew’s Mario and Zelda vids like seven times each. I’m barely even exaggerating, just something about this channel clicks so fucking well
I'm so amazed by the visuals of this game- I look at games like Modern Warfare, Halo, Battlefield, all games that haven't aged well since 2007. Yet Super Mario Galaxy still manages to top visuals of games even made to this day.
I'm a big fan of your reviews, Matthew. Mario Galaxy is astounding, and you pointed out some great features I forgot we're in the game. Hoping to adopt your topic flow in some of my future reviews.
As usual fantastic analysis, it just occurred to me that the witcher series is absolutely perfectly suited to your review style. I hope you would consider this as I would kill for that :)
22:56 "...but just one extra button placed on the front might've made a huge difference." I _so_ agree with this. I really wish the "B button" was placed above/below the "A button", and the "B Button" be renamed the "Z Button" or "Trigger" or something. That way, there'd be an extra button to perform the dive and slide kick maneuver, or talk to NPCs without having to sacrifice the jump. Although, I suppose the "C button" could've been used for the dive and talking to NPCs, and the down button on the d-pad could've been used to center the camera behind Mario.
Really good video. Felt better planned and executed than the Sunshine video. Gold star indeed. One thing I have to mention is that you said the camera in Galaxy was, at least occasionally, better than that of Sunshine, since it does a good job with angles. But, I remember you praising the camera in Demon's Souls for being almost entirely free for the player to control, save for dashing. Like you said, Sunshine had poor camera during hovering, but, other than that it lets the player control it freely, similar to the Souls game. I suppose the ideal would be a camera that focuses on whatever it is the player needs to do or get to, so the player never has to even think about it. Galaxy does most of the time, due to its linear level design, though I prefer the free camera of Sunshine even if it can be frustrating to have to line it up for jumps constantly.
Great review. Definitely underrated this game at the time but the remasters are a lovely game. So nice to have control options too. People make way bigger issue out of resetting the cursor.
I love your reviews, you notice so much stuff that most people dont see and you always explain youself perfectly. If you haven't please do a series of reviews on metroid
"I'd say that deserves a gold star"
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"Anyway"
i clapped at that point
It made me chuckle!
Or how in 64 where he says it blows the door wide open. While showing mario opening a door.
Yeah I love the more subtle approach to humor Matt takes. It's so much better than the obnoxious, in your face garbage so many other more serious UA-camrs try to pull
do you really need to trash Vaati? Its just humor, its not the main thing of the videos, there is nothing wrong with trying to be funny once in a while to break up the pace.
23:44 - "Compared to the hovering ability of Sunshine, it feels considerably less fluid. *Insert laugh track*"
Hey! I didn’t know you watched this channel!
I didn't expect to see you here.
Matosis' humor is so subtle lol
Ba dum tsss
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You are the best video game reviewer on UA-cam, hands down.
***** *In the Galaxy...
***** Mathew excels at gameplay mechanic analysis, George excels with journalistic research and presentation. Both are A+ quality, and are pretty much unmatched by any other games reviewers.
LexHollow *cough* xboxahoy *cough*
***** In the planet! Get him out of there, start digging!
If any of you know Spanish, I recommend to you watching DayoScript. Excels at story analysis, editing, and script, the only bad thing is that it is in a foreign language. It's worth to look.
6:05 About the "visual feedback" on the ball's movement: there is actually immediate visual feedback, but a lot of players don't see it the first time playing. There's a thin gold ring surrounding the ball that shows the game's interpretation of the wiimote's orientation.
Of course, since players don't see this, it's still a problem. But I found the levels much more enjoyable after seeing that ring.
Omg I never saw this, and even after your comment I searched for the ring like 10 seconds because I thought it is surrouding the ball on the ground, just to realize it is around the ball... Thank you for mentioning :)
The Storybook was optional because Koizumi, one of Nintendo's best writers, was trying to sneak Rosie's backstory past Miyamoto, who was vehemently against using anymore serious plot elements in Mario games. When he found out about the storybook, he was apparently furious; during interviews regarding Galaxy 2, Miyamoto proudly declared that he had "successfully convinced" Koizumi to see things his way, resulting in G2 having basically no plot.
FOR FUCK SAKE MIYAMOTO!!!! YOU'RE THE REASON WHY THIS GAME IS FULL OF BAIT AND SWITCH TONES!!!!!!
I agree with Miyamoto on this. This is a nonsense world, were clockwork mechanisms are used as passageways and pocket dimensions appear out of nowhere displaying 8 bit Mario wallpapers. Right now it's just videogamy expressionism, but put any more plot in it and things would start go south really fast.
Elegant Cat Miyazaki works on movies that take place in worlds of nonsense and you don't see any issues with that. Everything has beauty to it so at least our emotions can connect.
Mario could have done the same. But instead, we get a backhanded bait and switch experience that keeps fucking with your emotions. There's a reason why I say Sonic is better than Mario. Because Sonic gives solid, satisfying mechanics without sacrificing the emotional value.
Samir Malik
Cartoon logic is still logic. It operates by stretching the rules of the real world or creating rule of its own and when the world or the story breaks them it's for the most part for a reason and doesn't go unnoticed by either the characters or the audience and a good director knows that. However, when a world is created around gameplay, it defies even cartoon logic. You can make it work if you know what you are doing...In GoW1 Kratos has his adventure inside a temple of impossible corridors and hallways, impractical beyond reason, but the story makes it clear that that place was not meant to be lived in and designed by a madman. In Mario this is normal. That would be like having an invader zim episode where humans menace the irken empire with atomic weaponry and it is played completely straight, like it's a serious situation.
I mean, just look at Sonic the edgehog. Yeah. Not a good idea.
Elegant Cat But said logic, or lack thereof, still has to comply to an consideration of emotional connection. Mario Galaxy clearly was trying to connect, with dreamy environments and symphonic melodies that touch your heart and mechanics, like astral drifting, that really set the mood. Or at least they should because the game continuously gives emotional whiplash. You play Space Junk Galaxy and you tell me, how was the atmosphere when you started and when you ended? Did you feel calm when you started as you drifted through the ruins of space with sad yet dreamy music? Now what about when you ended? How did you feel? Did the change in atmosphere transition well once Captain Toad showed up? (That last part is a no. It felt like emotional whiplash)
With Sonic the Hedgehog the tone usually remains consistent, both in story and *tone,* coming off as an episode of Dragon Ball Classic. (which is the inspiration for the franchise) Rooftop Run from Unleashed and Generations is proof of this as the level has a high energy tempo with blissful violins and pianos that perfectly matches the adventurous and freedom loving energy of the whole level and even the stunts you pull of on the rooftops of London, like running up Big Ben clocktower to launch yourself over it's tip while doing tricks and poses midair before ending that sequence by grinding down it's spiral serve to benefit the tone and mechanics, creating an atmosphere of style, coolness and flow. And it all links back to Sonic's own traits and personality, giving a sense of connection to the player not just with the level but with him as well.
THIS is what video games can do *without* a story. Even if it can be argued that Mario games have better mechanics, he still has a lot to learn about modern gaming. And his former rival is example number 1 as he learned by the time 06 came along. He just couldn't properly do it until 2008 in Unleashed
I'm surprised you didn't mention the stage where you get the choice between the bee mushroom and the boo mushroom. This one gives you a choice early in the level and you then get to complete the level in a different way depending on your choice. I wish this would have been used more times in the game, but it's cool that it's there.
Very cool. Bee mario and boo mario have different weaknesses and therefore obstacles that can affect them. The bee is more challenging to use in the first section, but boo mario can't be used for the final moon section. It's a very smart and creative design that I seldom see outside of that specific level in this specific game.
This game is a piece of art
KennyThe Clasher One of the best games ever made.
Luigi Star lol
Richard Gray Nintendo games are always like that. Very refined, simple, and they never get worse with age.
nice opinion
^^Virgin weeb Trumpet
Some stray observations:
1) I don't agree with the "hub" argument. As I see it, the hub in SMG serves not only as a "safe" place to familiarize yourself with the controls, but also a point of rest from all the curvey gravity stuff.
2) Constant tutorializing is frustrating, agreed. My guess is it was mandated because of Wii target demographic at the time, which was "everyone".
3) One major design flaw with SMG that went unmentioned is how unforgiving it was to the newcomers. The actual "tutorial" first involves catching three rabbits, not the most fun you can have with SMG even if it does teach you basic controls and layout of the game levels, then navigating a small planet with bottomless pits, meteors and goombas, then a few more filler planets with finally a planet where you have to navigate the interior and turn on all the switches while avoiding goombas and electrified platforms. And all that with 4 lives. Now a seasoned gamer will breeze through this without problems, but someone not yet got used to the controls will fail.. only to be brought back at the very beginning, cutscene and rabbit hunt included. What's even weirder, later in the game there are very few instances where you see such long, checkpointless stretches (and when they do happen, such as Daredevil run on that lava planet, at least they do not include a bunch of dialogue and cutscenes).
4) Resetting to 4 lives. Why? Again, this is something that punishes beginners... but only those that like to play in many short sittings instead of fwe long ones. You know all those lives you collected while searching in secret places or doing daredevil stunts? Gone. Poof!
Still, even including all the things I've found lacking.. I still think this game is one of my all time favorites (coming close to even surpassing Mario 64).
I hadn't thought about the difficulty and lack of check-points in the Gateway Galaxy. That's bizarre for a Super Mario game.
2 things
1. Mathewmatosis you are an amazing youtuber with outstanding content that always feel fresh
2.Thank You TB for introducing me to this youtuber
Also check out Noah Caldwell-Gervais, MrBtongue and Super Bunnyhop; their work is just as thoughtful.
Zesty - m8
Zesty -
Thanks for the heads up; checking it out right now; the channel looks really interesting.
Where did TB mention him?
Walther Stolzing
I watched that hack Noah's Half Life video and it was literally an hour of review bullet points and a long winded plot synopsis. Give me one good reason I should watch any of his other shit.
This review deserves.....A Gold Star.
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Anyway
Made my Saturday!
It'd be awesome if, at some time in the future, you gave the same treatment to an RPG series. The Mario RPG games being the series that comes to mind, but I think a key point of the quality of these videos, is how much you enjoy the individual games, or the series. So continue being awesome and doing the videos that you WANT to do.
I'd love to hear his thoughts in reviews for the games Final Fantasy 4-15 (Once 15 comes out of course). I'd also like his opinion on Xenoblade and Chrono Trigger.
I'd love a TTYD or Paper Mario 64 review.
alessandro348 Super Paper Mario at least had a story. Sticker Star had no story and little RPG elements.
I think he might avoid doing another Mario title just to diversify what's on the channel :( I hope he does a big Mario spinoffs video as a special because I really love Mario RPG and the first three paper Mario games. I love the action commands I'm pretty Mario RPG was revolutionary in that.
***** Why 4-15 and not the first three?
Good job on this series, but there are a few parts I would like to point out:
1. Yes, Mario 64's Wing Cap feels like flying, but so does Galaxy's Flying Mario, just in a different sense. Think of Flying Mario more as an airplane with a constant speed, rather than a glider with gravity-dependent speed. Such a design for flying was chosen so that the constant changes in gravity on a round planet, such as the one that is used for Flying Mario's tutorial, would feel much more natural. It would be pretty challenging to control in the air using Mario 64's mechanics.
I'm typing this as I watch.
2. The Wii Remote, in my opinion, was used rather properly. While it seems like the Manta Ray segments seemed like it would've been better off using the c-stick on the nunchuck, the rather simple level design around those segments made up for it. The challenge they went for was the controls and built the levels around that. Imagine you had to go through all of those Manta Ray segments with the c-stick. there'd be no challenge!
Shaking to spin also was used rather effectively. Trying to spin in 3D World using the buttons felt really awkward. In Galaxy, you don't even have to press a button; just flick your wrist. And to make sure the spin jump felt good, they have the Wii remote a little rumble for every spin, and changed Mario's momentum behind every spin to give the action weight. A spin jump into a wall jump is given a distinct feeling. It would be a lot harder to wall jump if it was a button instead.
That's all I can come up with.
Childhood game here. This is one of the most emotional Mario games I have played because of the scenery and story
I really hope they make a Mario Galaxy 3
@Griffin Stewart that is a great idea
3D collection is here, hope you get to enjoy it again
@jamie likes bread Awesome idea dude
Oh yeah
One thought on the Launch Stars, I don't really consider them cut-scenes, I consider them more evaluation of environment you will be exploring next.
Really amazing review. I love me some Galaxy.
I thought I should mention though, the original Wiimote doesn't use a gyroscope. It uses an accelerometer. It's the Wii Motion Plus that introduced the gyroscope.
You are very perceptive and have an eye for details and pecularities of game design. Your factual and rather neutral approach to commentating is also a breath of fresh air on this site where people are continuously holding a competition on who can be the loudest, most attention-grabbing prick. Please keep releasing these high quality videos, and consider making some for the modern Ninja Gaiden games if you have played and enjoyed them.
The problem with MatthewMatosis is that after each video, I always want more, and I've already watched each of his past videos... several times.
God I'm glad I only discovered him now
To be honest, I kind of having this problem with anything. Though I do think Matthew's content is worth.
Same.
Well that was probably the most comprehensive and well written game review video I've seen in a long time.
I like how you dont give number scores
Matthew Etter I don't have a mom, I have 2 dads
ThatIncredibleJordan I know
+ThatIncredibleJordan Well the score is implicit, It's a good game. I wish IGN and it's ilk hadn't ruined scores for games since the decimal system is a terrible way of scoring but a (good/bad, Good/neutral/bad or Excellent/good/neutral/bad/Worst) system would enhance I think many opinions since the review is more tailored at explaining why they granted that rating to a game.
+Mario Zelda Metroid
Because scores are arbitrary and don't matter.
Eesa Ali How are they arbitrary if they are done by the same person? Again as long as it's a well defined and separate 2-5 potential "scores" or "ratings" no one would have a problem. The decimal system if awful because it implies a 10/10 is perfect, while a 3/3 or 2/2 or 4/4 doesn't have quite that same meaning.
They are also useful for sorting a site, if you want to see some crappy stuff for laughs, sort to get the crappy stuff, if you are just getting into the medium or want to discover your new favorites, sort it so you get the top rated stuff.
Reviews are also best read after you've experienced the material for yourself so you can see if you agree, disagree, learn new stuff, or see if the author ignored something you noticed. The score is there to recommend the material and shape the tone of the review.
When you give a friend a recommendation or he asks for one do you give him an essay or do you just tell him: "It's very good" "It's awful" that's the purpose scores should have. Plus again they also help keep the review from going on unrelated tangents.
god, just hearing the music of the storybook section made me tear up a little...
God, I thought I was the only one
god you're soft.
Amazing video Matt but something's missing. I brought this up in the Sunshine review and I feel it's still prevalent here and your past few videos as well. Your delivery. One of the reasons I fell in love with your older reviews, primarily the MGS reviews and the Bioshock Infinite review, was the way you would so conclusively and definitively make your points. Your tone of voice and word choice had this fire to them that I loved and couldn't find anywhere else. It was down right authoritative, and I loved every second of it. No other game reviewer has made me say "shit, can't argue with that" so many times. The way you combined amazing points about game design and story along with this little spark of attitude made you the best game reviewer I've ever heard. Now? To be honest I get a little bored because you seem to be bored. Obviously I can't know whether that's true or not but as someone who's been watching your videos since your Ocarina of Time review I can definitely see a change and not one that I'm huge fan of. Sorry if this comes off as some kind of attack and I don't expect some response from you or anything, but you seem like a reasonable guy so I felt it was worth saying. Stay awesome man.
Glad to see the next chapter in your Mario series! Keep up the great work, I always love to see and encourage others to closely examine the things they hold dear, and this series in particular hits close to home. Looking forward to your next project!
Hey, Matt. When you're talking about the lighting in the game around 19:00, you talk about how they used 'specularity' and 'ambient lighting'. Unfortunately, the examples you show don't support what you're saying. The grass doesn't look glossy because of specularity, but because of the Fresnel shader applied to them (wherein edges are automatically highlighted). I don't believe there actually is any specularity on that grass at all. As for the section where you talk about ambient lighting (18:20), you are correct that there IS ambient lighting, but the reason for the "flat" look is that the level is mostly flat geometry (a large flat sea of sand) and lit primarily by directional lights. When lighting is dominated by ambient lighting, there will be NO strong shadows. At 18:23 you can clearly see strong shadows being cast on the block shapes that Mario jumps on.
With all mindless FNAF Not Scary videos and Screaming Montages on UA-cam makes it nice to have some thoughtful content for once.
I've never been a huge Mario fan and haven't played much of the series (besides Super Mario World), but I watch these reviews anyways just because you're so fucking good at critiquing games.
Its crazy that every time you show gameplay, you are doing something completely different than before. Man, I want to play this so bad. This looks much more fun than the Switch game in my opinion.
Justin Mcmullen It is. Hopefully they remake it.
I also much prefer Galaxy to Odyssey. If the rumors are correct, then it seems you're in luck as far as being able to play it.
Very good review, as usual. Only thing I disagree with is the view that Galaxy was a downgrade in jumping mechanics from the previous 3D titles. I feel it trimmed some of the less used and similar to other moves in 64: namely the punch combo, jump kick, and dive. The combo and jump kick were combined into the spin, which has its own added double jump effect. The dive and the longjump did practically the same thing, only the longjump covered more distance and was more controllable. Sunshine is a different beast from both 64 and Galaxy and I can see why the Devs didn't have anything like FLUDD in Galaxy as it would have messed with the level design they were going for considerably.
I agree with you on removing fludd, the punch combo, and jump kick. I also love the spin but I do miss the dive for the sake of building speed or a replacement like the return of running in 3d world.
The dive really isn't all that similar to the long jump. The dive goes a shorter distance, isn't as fast, works as an attack or a grab, slows you down unless you jump out of it, and can be used at speed on the ground OR in the air.
And there are many areas where complexity was sacrificed to make play just that little bit easier. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is probably my favorite 3D Mario game, but I don't see how the obvious simplification is deniable. Mario in general is slower, floatier, has less momentum to him, and there's a much greater degree of air control than in the previous games (hover nozzle aside), the spin move resets momentum and gives you a small second jump so you can save yourself from very poorly planned or overshot jumps rather than just acting as an attack and slightly extending air time like the jump kick did (which had limited use since it wasn't usable at speed), the walljump no longer has you leaving a wall at the same angle as you hit it but instead always has you jumping off walls perpendicularly, and so on.
Most of the omissions aren't too big a deal, but the mechanics that carried over into Galaxy and have been made less complex are a bit of an issue for a lot of people.
Plus, I think one aspect that we should consider is Mario's speed in the game. It's purposely slower most likely due to how overall movement and control differ on planetoids versus a flat surface, and works better as a result.
Honestly the dive would've been far better for galaxy than the long jump, since the long jump on small planets sends you into the air and does very little forward movement since it throws you directly forward instead of along the curve of the planet, whereas the dive dives forward which would've sent you just as far as the long jump would on a flat surface, and would've been faster too with more control.
And by your statement of trimming the "less used" moves, I dissagree, all those moves had a purpose, and while I agree the spin jump improves upon the punch combo, the overall lack of movement options is always a bad idea in a platformer as it lowers the replay value in multiple ways and can make some challenges unnecesarilly hard. While the spin acts as a double jump it, as Matt pointed out, stops your momentum in the air which can be detrimental to high skill play. the long jump and dive were not the same and are used for different reasons, the long jump is just to clear large gaps quickly but the dive was a way to increase your movement speed, which helps in replaying areas that are long and boring, and while the long jump is very lateral in movement, the dive is great if you need to go forward and downward quickly where a ground pound would otherwise have no forward movement. This is the biggest problem with Galaxy as the lack of movement made replaying feel exactly the same everytime since you could only walk around at the same slow speed and jump the same way at the same place everytime you played.
Aenglaan Yeah, the changes do suit the game well for the most part.
Matthew nailed it in the review. Like he said, in this regard it just feels like a downgrade hot off the heels of 64 and Sunshine which even to this day have some of the most intuitive and nuanced controls and movement mechanics of any 3D platformer.
These videos are so good. My whole evening has been watching them
i absolutely love the galaxy soundtrack
Sunshine may have had the best movement, it also had the blandest level design which didn't take advantage of that movement. Galaxy had a much more fun and exhilarating level design that utilized Mario's available move set to it's maximum.
PRAISE THE SUN HE HAS RETURNED. Also, are you ever thinking of doing a walkthrough of Dark Souls like you did Demon Souls? It would be amazing to hear you go into detail about everything.
He has? Where did I miss that? XD
I could listen to you TALK FOR HOURS. LITERALLY.
i need friends
Watch ALL THE REVIEWS :D
I bet Matthew makes for a better friend than most.
Did you hey them yet😭
The pacing of your videos is great. Such nuanced use of logic, subjective observations and humour deserve a big, fat gold star.
This was yet another incredibly insightful and well-structured review, Matt, and I loved every minute of it! Your criticisms of the overabundance of tutorials and control simplification are fully warranted, but I have to agree with your final assessment in that it's a fantastic game overall. Definitely one of my favorite Mario platformers.
I have this channel playing on my tablet whilst I play Dark Souls 1. The voice, the content, it all calms me, which I need because I am having trouble getting past Ceaseless Discharge. The first boss I have really had any trouble with.
2:32 actually, in 64 dialogue boxes will pop up when you collect enough stars to unlock the next major segment ... so in a way sm64 did the same thing as galaxy. it was just much less obtrusive.
Matthew glossed over my least favourite part of Super Mario Galaxy: the insane amount of padding.
**SPOILERS**
Should you wish to truly 100% this game, you must get every star in the game as Mario, then replay the ENTIRE game again as Luigi, all the tutorials included. Nothing new happens through the game, you're just playing the ENTIRE game again with a more slippery, higher jumping Mario. You do all this so you can get a secret 121st star as Mario and Luigi and unlock pictures.
It just wasn't interesting for me and it completely destroyed my interest in playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 through to the end, since I was so tired of seeing the same things over and over.
I did this was and was less than impressed. That being said the ice levels rock in the galaxy games but it also sucked not being able to race shadow Mario if I wanted too.
Signal LivingSton It's not just that that bothers me. In one of the few galaxies, you're put into a bee world. That's cute. Several worlds later, and there's ANOTHER bee galaxy. I find that incredibly lazy and repetitive.
not to mention having to beat the final bowser level and going through the lengthy cutscene and credits TWICE for mario to get luigi and then another 2 times to get the secret 121st star. Because unlike 64, and I think sunshine, some things don't unlock until you "beat" the game.
That's what you call "padding"? I assume 3D World also has an obscene amount of padding because it requires you to beat every level with every character in order to get a 100% that is only "100%" in name?
TroubleGone
**SPOILERS**
Yes, absolutely. Same thing with Land, which required you to beat every level in the game AND gold flag EVERY LEVEL (and extra level) in the game as both Mario and Luigi to unlock the final level.
I just... I can't...
Fuck it. Subbed.
I thought I'd never play a 3D Mario game which would replace my favorite of Super Mario 64...Then I played Mario Galaxy, and I thought I'd never play a 3D Mario game that would replace it as my favorite...Then I played Mario Galaxy 2...
I love listening to your reviews. Nobody is more thorough than you
Masterful review. I could seriously listen to your game analyses for hours. Looking forward to your Galaxy 2 review! :)
7:36 “raises the skill ceiling” and he jumps on the ceiling
Oh boy I waited a long time for this review ... and I fucking liked it. You are one of the few people who ACTUALLY knows about videogame design and discuss it very well.
best 3d mario game, possibly best mario game
Agreed. This game makes me happy in a way I can't easily describe.
2 is a little bit better though. The secret world of mario galaxy 2 is way more challenging and the comets are more fun.
World S is awesome that's for sure.
I've thought a bit more about your comment on the comets and I think I am now starting to see what the developers were going for here.
You were talking about freedom to do anything at your own pace, right? Well, many players will probably still have decided to play the missions in perfect order in Super Mario 64 because that's what they were used to from the very linearly progressing 2D games, missing the point of making the experience more varied for themselves by doing them out of order.
It feels like the comets were Nintendo's way of saying, "You didn't embrace your freedom in the last games, so we're gonna force you to embrace your freedom in this one", which of course would be a very ironic and silly idea if I put it this way.
Basically, what the comets do is force players not to play a level for a while and then come back to it later, which _can_ be a good thing. This is also why the comet missions can be more challenging and about equal levels of challenge to each other, players are not gonna be trying to complete these earlier than they're probably supposed to tackle them. It's a way of making the player go, "Aw, yes, I get to play this level again!", when the last time they played it might've been hours, days or even weeks ago.
I'm not trying to defend the comets as an ideal game mechanic, I just think I understand the developers' thought processes here. They weren't a big detrement to my own personal experience with Super Mario Galaxy, so I don't think they're a deal breaker either way.
+timmifutz
I reckon if they were more interesting in general, they'd probably be fine (even better if they were different for Luigi's run...you know, the whole universe-restarting-but-with-minor-changes shebang that Rosalina talked about?). The speed-runs barely change anything and don't add much challenge to boot, unless the player can't help but collect goodies at every turn throughout the mission. The sequel implemented it better with clocks and really short time limits. The fast foe comets didn't make their levels fast enough, in my opinion, and too many of the daredevil comets consist solely of bosses for my taste. The cosmic comets were good though, often changing decent sections of the level to allow for a decent race course, and were challenging when Cosmic Luigi was involved.
"The spin is a lot less.. fluid than the hovering in Sunshine"
You're clever you know what
Matthew, your reviews deserve a gold star.
I've seen every single video you've done and they're all amazing, including this one. Continue on!
I'm surprised you didn't talk about the story at all in this review, that's something you normally go into quite some depth with.
More so this story, as this game goes quite deep into the lore of Mario and the theory of Rosalina being not only from the future, but also Mario and Peach's daughter.
He does talk about it though..
That lore is pretty far-fetched as there is no concrete evidence to claim that Rosalina is the daughter of Peach.
Get that Game Theory bullshit outta here!
Please no, that insulting attempt at stringing non-theory by The Game Theory™ only serves as a painful reminder for how lazy his material got.
Jack Chu
Yeah, It's fucking depressing how Game Theory turned into Lore Theory. I remember watching those Bioshock videos explaining how living in a submersed and flying society would be more of a bad one then a good one. The last true Game Theory I personally remember is the one about the space bullet physics.
Very good review. This is my second favourite Mario game after Galaxy 2, and you definitely covered what made it so damn good. I particularly liked how it had more levels and less Stars than its predecessors, which allowed for a lot more mechanical diversity, but I must agree that it isn't perfect in that regard, for many of the reasons you specified. It all just felt quite overwhelming to me on my first playthrough, and I never really got to grips with it until I played Galaxy 2 and then replayed the first.
That said, I can’t agree with you on a few things, particularly the long jump. I personally find it a really fun way of getting around the place, especially when you get to grips with the controls. It’s an acceptable substitute for the dive to me, especially in the context of a low gravity platformer where the dive would be similarly floaty, so I just make do with what it is. When I saw you just running about the place in the video, I personally thought ‘come on, just long jump around the place, it’s fun as hell’. This ties in with the camera angle criticism as well, as a lot of the spherical levels are pretty much designed to be long jumped around, and with skilful long jumping it controls so damn well. While I see that you prefer just running about on a subjective level, I can’t agree that it’s objectively better than the long jump in the vast majority of instances. Hell, I realise there aren’t any objective truths in this type of criticism, but the way you review the game makes it out to be that way. (Also, I really can’t see how the controls would’ve worked quite as effectively on an analogue controller, since a lot of the levels were designed around the low gravity and the spin jump, and it all feels really natural to me. It controls far better than Sunshine, anyway.)
Likewise, the coins. Yes, there were a lot of coins in each stage, but to raise the threshold for which coins restore health would just artificially increase the difficulty and unreasonably break from the tradition set in the last two 3D Mario games. This would make the game less accessible to new players as well, and considering that Nintendo generally make their games these days to be fun rather than challenging, this wouldn’t exactly be fun. Besides, they reduced Mario’s overall health just to compensate for this. In hindsight, they probably should’ve added an extra difficulty mode to compensate for this, but for what it is it’s balanced enough to me.
Also, the Prankster Comets aren’t really an annoyance. If you complete them, they will never bother you again unless you select them, and the challenges are both fun and never all that difficult. The ability to pay to move the comets is purely intended for novice players who aren’t as accustomed to the game’s mechanics, which is perfectly acceptable to me. Nevertheless, they work around it quite well in Galaxy 2.
Otherwise, most of my other disagreements are purely for aesthetic reasons. While I do agree that the powerups were rather limited, they were fun to use when they came up for the sheer variety of it all, especially when they weren’t used for a few levels (except for the flight star, which I completely forgot was in the game until my second playthrough). I never tire of seeing the Launch Star cutscenes either for the visual pleasure of seeing the world that Mario’s travelling through (and also - this just came to me - because it gives you a nice breather between sections that doesn’t last too long at all. You’re usually back into the action quite quickly. This is also quite a subjective point though.)
I do agree that the purple coins came around too late. I see no reason why they were shunted off to post-game content this time around, particularly since the Red Coins were integrated into the last two games, other than that they really needed some post-game content and this was the easiest solution. They could’ve been regular Comets easily. They’re usually good levels for what it’s worth, but they should’ve been in there earlier, which they proved in Galaxy 2.
Anyway, this was a damn good review. Can’t wait for Galaxy 2. Many thanks for making this.
Wow, this was really enjoyable.
I'm going to finish the video so I don't know if he touches more on this yet, but I REALLY disagree with the launch stars messing with pacing.
I think they're nice moments to catch your breath and take in everything around you. Not every part of a game has to have an immediate challenge or even game play really. They give everything a sense of scale and often show what to expect for a large portion of a level.
Maybe the first time, it’s pretty numbing every time afterwards though
@@wonderguardstalker For me it's only numb if it's the same level, and I'm not sure if that's the case for anybody but I typically don't play the same level twice unless it's a whole new replay
This makes me wish i had my old Wii and my copy of Galaxy, i love how in depth you go on these reviews
Love your reviews! They make me look and appreciate Mario and his games in many ways.
You have no idea how long I've waited for thos
Another great analysis. The quality of your uploads never disappoints, cheers.
The flying scenes have never really bothered me that much, and I always think it's fun to watch Mario fly through space.
Great approach on the Mario series and on Galaxy on this case. Your reviews are one of the best. They verbalize very well things I have only felted during my gameplays, and make me understand better and being able to explain to my friends why I liked or disliked this or that game better than others.
Of course I don't just copy paste your words or point of views, but they add a lot to my personal arguments and, most important of all, they even make me rediscover some games or have the games or some elements of them in a much higher esteem.
Thanks for this more video. And despite people asking you for make you vids shorter, I would watch them even if you chose to visit some game level by level.
I'm working in order to finish 100% of Mario Galaxy 2 so I'll be able to watch your next video by the time it cames out.
Hey, just wanted to thank you for putting out another great video.
I have never been disappointed by the quality of what you release, and I would rather have great content than fast content.
Again, thanks so much.
Your reviews are probably the best I've ever watched on UA-cam. Good commentary, lots of analysis, well chosen footage.
thank you for publishing this video in 60fps. wouldnt be the same experience of SMG without it.
This is one of the best game reviews on the entire platform IMO. Your insights and visual demonstrations of them are pretty unmatched IMO.
More, Please. I need these videos in my life. These are, in my opinion, some of the best videos on UA-cam. I know it's a lot to ask, but I personally think that Sonic's 3D adventures would be a very interesting topic, seeing as they are so different with each iteration.
Loved listening to this on my drive back to Austin! Thank you sir.
That is such a great shot with the music at 32:55
I've watched this video probably 4 times now but am just now noticing
Finally! Happy new year man. Been waiting a while for this one.
The amount of hype for this video.
I actually replayed Galaxy when I was waiting for your review; I had it in mind as more or less perfect. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but I think it's still a fantastic game after all.
I don't know why you didn't mention it like in Super Mario 64, but there are just so many short cuts in galaxy as well. I wouldn't even be surprised if many of them are unintenional, but still, Galaxy is vastly better than 64 in that regard and the relief of finding one is so great for me, that they are one of the first things that come to my mind when I think of Galaxy.
Still, your review is really great, I think it's even better than the one for Sunshine.
That is actually everything I want to say about the video, but there's something else that I'd like to get out. Many people are complaining about you speaking very softly and slowly. They may be right, but I myself appreciate that you are doing that. English isn't my first language and it's a lot easier for me to understand you when you speak as you do now. Maybe that's even the reason why you do that and for me, it helps. Your scripts obviously aren't the simplest texts you can imagine and if you spoke faster, I would have problems getting all the information, especially on the first time watching. And that's exactly what it was like for me with some of your older videos.
Dear Matthewmatosis,
Thank you for uploading these in UA-cam's 720p60. While it doesn't make a noticeable difference in video quality, UA-cam gives a big preference in loading time to videos that make it to 720p and above.
Your computer game reviews are also among my favorite on the UA-cam video hosting service. Please keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Heran Bago
I don't know, but I couldn't help but chuckle when he said "when we blast off again" at the end.
Matthewmatosis, if you read this, know that your videos are very entertaining to watch. Dont listen to people in the comments that say you make to few videos/ are making them to slow. Just take your time, because we like them for their high quality and in-depth analysis of the games and not for their quantity. Thank you really much for sacrificing your free time to make entertaining videos for us.
Watching this to hype up my hype for the switch version!!~
In terms of awesomeness per video, this is easily one of the very best gaming channels on all of UA-cam.
Anyway, I was just playing through Galaxy again these past couple days and I started noticing all the little things that were mentioned: flaws like the worthless coins, lack of a dive button ruining momentum, and the comets blocking off other stars, and the absolutely brilliant level design. Still my favourite Mario game out of the ones I've played.
33:00 That's strange... I remember that song having lyrics about bees.
another really great detailed review :) agree that Rosalina's backstory could be sold as it's own book, got a chill down my spine at the reveal about the tree on the hill, so unexpected in a Mario game
I dont even like Mario but I watched the whole thing, thats how good his videos are!
GRAB THE POPCORN EVERYONE! A NEW MATTHEWMATOSIS VIDEO IS HERE!
This is an amazing video that I’ve watched a ton, and i absolutely love your channel! This next part is just a personal thought of mine, no hate intended
I think the entire point of this game is the fact that the movement is limited. Mario Galaxy in a lot of ways has the same vibe as Mario 3D land or similar games. The designers clearly wanted the player to have to really and truly interact with the levels themselves, instead of seeing what’s possible with the freedom of the move set in a more open and less linear level design. If you were to give Mario Galaxy these same tools from 64 and Sunshine, it would absolutely destroy the game. Levels would be too easy, the best parts of levels could easily be missed, and the pacing would be utterly destroyed. I think it’s become a pitfall of almost every reviewer to say that less freedom is “regression,” when in all honestly, it’s just different. This feels more like a bias towards previous games , rather than genuine criticism. If Galaxy had come out before 64 and Sunshine, I could easily see videos like this one talking about how Mario’s new movement mechanics are nice and all, but the level design is much less advanced and thought out, seeing how much of it you can just skip or choose not to interact with. In the grand scheme of things, the designers chose movement mechanics that perfectly complimented the level design of each of these games, instead of worrying about which one was more “advanced” for the sake of being that way
Fantastic review and succinctly and beautifully sums up why I adore this game.
Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are real masterpieces.
***** I don't see anything bad about 2 except for not being as good as 1. There are some pretty nice added mechanics and harder challenges.
*****
That's what I'm interested in most about the next video, what he will say about how much of the content is the same , all the others were pretty much built from the ground up.
CornishCreamtea07 He wasn't a fan of Twilight Princess being too similar to Ocarina so I'm sure there will be complaints about Mario. I like Galaxy 2 though, mostly because of Yoshi, but otherwise it's very similar to the original.
I haven't played any of the Mario games, but I've really been enjoying these reviews.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Luigi "second quest". What's your opinion about it? I personally liked the game so much that I loved to revisit everything again with somewhat different movement. The 121st star at the end was a nice way to finish off the game.
While I don't agree with all of your opinions (particularly on some Zelda games) your views are so well thought out and communicated that it's a great and enlightening experience to watch your reviews. Great job, man! Just subscribed.
Ah, another Matthewmatosis review where I just look at the screen and think "I agree" 500 times. Good stuff.
I always sorta saw the thing about enemies giving you a coin if you jump on them and Star Bits if you spin them to be symbolic of the series. Jumping is the more traditional part of the series and, in turn, gives you the more traditional collectible, whereas the Spin Attack and Star Bits were both new additions to the series at the time, so it makes sense that one would result in the other.
People often complain about the camera controls in Sunshine (and yes they were not great) but I’ve always had a much harder time getting a good view in Galaxy due to how complicated the angles can get, and that the Wii remote doesn’t allow for camera control. To me, Odyssey was the first game where they really nailed it
Always worth the wait! This is one of my favorite games and I love how Mathewmatosis can define what makes it great, but also can see past that to see how it could have been even better. He always brings up interesting game design concepts that make perfect sense when he explains them even if I didn't realize they were there when I played the game.
I LOVE your videos! Keep up the excellent work
"Compared to the hovering ability from sunshine it feels consoderably less fluid" Finally got this on a 4th viewing 😂
I’ve watched all of Matthew’s Mario and Zelda vids like seven times each. I’m barely even exaggerating, just something about this channel clicks so fucking well
I'm so amazed by the visuals of this game- I look at games like Modern Warfare, Halo, Battlefield, all games that haven't aged well since 2007. Yet Super Mario Galaxy still manages to top visuals of games even made to this day.
Nice review, you brought up a lot of points that other reviewers seem to gloss over.
I'm a big fan of your reviews, Matthew. Mario Galaxy is astounding, and you pointed out some great features I forgot we're in the game. Hoping to adopt your topic flow in some of my future reviews.
Love the in-depth analysis. Looking forward to your next one!
As usual fantastic analysis, it just occurred to me that the witcher series is absolutely perfectly suited to your review style.
I hope you would consider this as I would kill for that :)
22:56 "...but just one extra button placed on the front might've made a huge difference."
I _so_ agree with this. I really wish the "B button" was placed above/below the "A button", and the "B Button" be renamed the
"Z Button" or "Trigger" or something.
That way, there'd be an extra button to perform the dive and slide kick maneuver, or talk to NPCs without having to sacrifice the jump.
Although, I suppose the "C button" could've been used for the dive and talking to NPCs, and the down button on the d-pad could've been used to center the camera behind Mario.
It's funny. I was just tglhinking about this a few hours ago and wondering when this would be uploaded. Very nice surprise. Thanks Matthew!
Really good video. Felt better planned and executed than the Sunshine video. Gold star indeed.
One thing I have to mention is that you said the camera in Galaxy was, at least occasionally, better than that of Sunshine, since it does a good job with angles. But, I remember you praising the camera in Demon's Souls for being almost entirely free for the player to control, save for dashing. Like you said, Sunshine had poor camera during hovering, but, other than that it lets the player control it freely, similar to the Souls game.
I suppose the ideal would be a camera that focuses on whatever it is the player needs to do or get to, so the player never has to even think about it. Galaxy does most of the time, due to its linear level design, though I prefer the free camera of Sunshine even if it can be frustrating to have to line it up for jumps constantly.
Great review. Definitely underrated this game at the time but the remasters are a lovely game. So nice to have control options too. People make way bigger issue out of resetting the cursor.
I love your reviews, you notice so much stuff that most people dont see and you always explain youself perfectly. If you haven't please do a series of reviews on metroid