The Ramblings of ThePrimeDreamer

Last week I picked up Super Mario Galaxy and I dove into it like I was 10 years old again and started playing without even reading the directions.  And the controls and game play were so intuitive I don’t think I’ll ever need to go back and read the game manual at all.  When I first heard about Super Mario Galaxy I had my doubts.  Mario 64 was the game that nearly killed off gaming for me completely.  I just couldn’t deal with the new generation of video games post Super Nintendo.  And even though I did fall back into line with video games and Nintendo, I didn’t feel any love at all with Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube.  Maybe I was just shielding myself from any hopes of a real Mario game.  The premise of “galaxy” was Mario but with planets and flying across the cosmos.  Already I thought, “this game is going to tank”.  We were treated to an old school Mario game on the Nintendo DS and I was very much pleased with it.  “Why couldn’t they stick with the original idea” I thought to myself.  And soon the days went onward and the Nintendo Wii progressed without any real Mario game.  But slowly news came forth about galaxy.  And soon I started to hear that Super Mario Galaxy was more like Mario 64 than Sunshine.  By now I had come to terms with 3D gaming and do realize that Mario 64 was a great step from 2D to 3D, so this comparison was good to hear.  But soon I heard more good things and good reviews from critics and gamers.  By late October I decided that I’d actually get the game but I didn’t have much anticipation for it.  I was afraid I was building an anticipation and expectation that wouldn’t be met.  And it didn’t help that I saw a kiosk of the game and played a little bit of it.  The screen was fuzzy and while Mario looked awesome, the control was different using the nun-chuck and wii-mote.  Looking back now, I think I was still shielding myself from any disappointment but deep down I realized that the game was actually fun and that maybe there was truth to what I read and heard.  

The day had arrived.  I had the game and it was all primed and ready to play.  I had my doubts still and I wasn’t sure how the game would start.  I didn’t know how it would look and feel in my room.  I wasn’t sure really what to expect.  After a quick tale about a girl and stars, I was introduced yet again to the Mushroom Kingdom as introduced in Mario 64.  But it was night.  It was dark.  And stars were falling all around me!  Nothing menacing but small, bright, and colorful stars were falling all around me.  It was a dazzling display of color and light and all around Mario were Toads all enjoying and telling me to meet with Peach.  I had free control at this point.  There wasn’t any learning stage at all.  I could run, jump, and stomp.  I could crouch and I could grasp up onto walls.  It was amazing.  Mario had almost all of his abilities from all his appearances from Super Mario Bros. all the way to Super Smash Bros.  And most importantly, Mario handled brilliantly.  The control scheme was very intuitive and although I was holding the nun-chuck and wii-mote it felt like I was eight again holding the NES square controller.  I was dumbfounded.  I was playing another Mario game.  And I’m still playing right now.  The planet concept that I earlier mocked is rather truly a spectacle.  Someone had mentioned that in previous games, we were conditioned never to near a ledge fearing a death whereas in galaxy, we learn to move onto a ledge and leap off into the heavens and have gravity play a part as we fall down onto a nearby planetoid and continue our quest.  The game is lush with colors and it’s such a joy.  This  game really does bring you back to your childhood.  There’s one level in particular that made me jump and a scream with laughter.  It’s the Rocky Road stage of Sweet Sweet Galaxy where I have to run across a road that’s basically made of sweets with cookie cutter holes that I have run across to finish the stage.  And it’s moving too!  I died about twenty times and laughed every minute of it.  It was tough actually but there’s no denying that I didn’t have fun doing it.  And that’s what I love about good Mario games and Nintendo in general.  

It’s surprising to realize that it’s been a year to the date today that the Nintendo Wii made it’s debut.  I remember it clearly.  The Wii would make its worldwide debut, not in Japan but in the USA, at midnight on Saturday.  I was already out of work by then and I planned on getting the Wii at the West Coast Launch Party at Universal Citywalk.  But unfortunately the demand for the Wii was much more than I anticipated and even though I waited in line for three hours, I didn’t move much near the store.  And it didn’t help that I was very, very, very far in line.  The Nintendo Store was in the middle of the plaza and the line extended to the middle courtyard and went into two different circular lines then the line went up a flight of stairs and onto another floor that wrapped around for a long stretch that went far back towards the parking lot bridge.  And where was I?  I was past the bridge around the parking structure.  I didn’t get a Wii there but I was still determined to get it.  And I knew the best place to be was somewhere with many Best Buys, Circuit Citys, and Targets.  So I headed down to Irvine and snuck in a few winks at the Solana aparment.

The disappointment of not getting a Wii at Citywalk fueled my determination to get one.  I woke and decided to visit the Irvine/Tustin Target.  As I pulled in looking for parking I saw a line that stretched far to the back of Target and as I walked through the crowds I heard the same whispers I heard a few hours earlier.  I heard, “there’s much too many people here for all of us to get one,” “they handed out vouchers, if you don’t have one you don’t get a Wii,” and “this one only has seventeen and there’s a line of 130.”  What I heard wasn’t good.  After deciding to wait in line I also happened to hear that lines around the area were busy as well.  I discerned that the stores in around South Coast Plaza were pretty much taken.  After standing for fifteen minutes (nothing compared to the hours I wasted at Citywalk) a Target representative came out and definitively said that those who had a voucher would be getting a Wii.  No more and no less.  And with that I left Target and bypassed the crowds at South Coast and headed further south towards Mission Viejo.  I theorized that no one would head out to a store in the boonies and that I would get better chance at getting a Wii.  No line of teens, no lines of parents – it was going to be easy pickings for me.  Unfortunately that was a very bad plan.  Not only did I get there late but I also saw groups buying far too many Wiis then needed which meant they were going straight up on Ebay.  Angry now at being wrong, late, and somewhat cheated I was at a crossroads.  I could admit defeat and get a Wii the next shipment out or I could drive around and hope against hope to get a Wii.  I was in Orange County and I had exhausted all of my avenues of purchase.  This was foolish I thought to myself.  I’m a grown man looking for a video game and I’ve lost much time and effort into it.  I was going back to Solona and getting a proper rest.  Still saddened at my failure, I drove through South Coast going back when it dawned at me most people would think of the obvious stores to get the Wii at, like Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, and all the toy and  video game stores.  But the rest wouldn’t think of second tier stores such as K-Mart and Sears.  And since I was in the area, I decided to drive back to towards South Coast and into Sears.  

Amidst some scary close calls where I could have been denied a Wii, I got my Wii, some extra controllers, and some games to boot.  And I headed back to Solana with the biggest grin on my face and such contentment in my heart.  So am I happy that I stuck with Nintendo and the Wii?  Sure the Wii doesn’t boost the best graphics or the best processor speeds but what it lacks, it sure makes up in story, gameplay, and presentation.  And to date, the Wii has a slew of games waiting in the works.  The Wii Zapper with Link’s Crossbow training is close at hand, as is the Wii Fit board and game play which should bring in more people to gaming.  And as 2008 comes along there will be no shortage of games for the Wii when the next iterations of Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing all find their way on the Wii.  It’s been on incredible year for the Wii and I can’t wait to see what’s in store in the second.