ANALYSIS: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Trailer

Hey everyone! This will mark my first trailer analysis post. In these posts I'll be taking a look at new game trailers and pointing out interesting things you may not have noticed. Today I'll be analysing the latest amazing Galaxy 2 trailer, here we go!



0:00-0:05 And so the trailer begins, let's go! We start off with an E rating for the first few seconds.

0:06 The game's logo swoops in. An orange Luma can be seen perched above the top right corner. At 0:11 the gameplay kicks off.

0:12-0:16 I knew it! I knew the Mario head was the hub! In fact, It's more of a small area than a hub, but maybe it will expand as you progress through the game? Just a thought...

0:16-0:19 Mario runs over to a button located on the boat like thing on the giant Mario head's hat. Pressing this button takes you to the map screen which can be seen at 0:20. The fat Luma is also seen in this part of the video

0:25 Tall Trunk galaxy is selected on the map screen and Mario joyously flies off the head towards the galaxy.

0:29 We see a bit of Tall Trunk, in which Yoshi is seen flying up the tree in blimp fruit form.

0:32 Now we see some ball rolling action from another Galaxy which appears to be the wooden one we saw on the E3 trailer. I could be wrong though!

0:34 Some more action with the ball here, this time on a planet covered in paintbrushes.

0:38 Hooray, new power-up time! Here we are introduced to the Rock Mario suit. This power-up allows Mario to roll into a ball and knock over enemies. I assume you shake the remote to roll into a ball. This power-up very much reminds me of the Gorons from Zelda! Who knows, maybe that's where Miyamoto got his idea for this new suit.

0:42 Rock Mario crashes through some bowling pin like enemies and rolls up a ramp. But what's this? Is that a NSMBWii checkpoint flag I see at 0:45? Yes, it is.

0:46 Another checkpoint flag is seen inside a Ghostly Mansion like galaxy, along with confirmation that Boo Mario is back! This time he is in a Side-scrolling section.

0:53 A bunny with frosty ears is spotted in a snow Galaxy. This looks like the one we saw at E3. But what's that patterned box at the right side of the screen? Is it a random item block like in NSMB, or something different?

0:58 More of the snow galaxy we just saw, but this time with lava. A giant Bowser made of snow is spotted at this part of the trailer which Mario obliterates with some fireballs.

1:02 Mario equips a Bee suit and flies upwards. At 1:07 we see a section very much like the Honeyclimb Galaxy in the first game.

1:09 Another new Galaxy here, in which Mario runs along a giant tube avoiding some big Bullet Bills. Two seconds later he collects a Rainbow Star and blows up some of the Bills.

1:17 The second new Power up is spotted! Light Yoshi allows Mario's chum to light up areas. In this part of the video Yoshi can light up a previously unaccessable area, creating a new path for Mario.

1:22 Mario and Yoshi collect a Power Star and the Galaxy 2 and Wii logos are shown. What a trailer! This game is gonna be incredible!!!



EDIT: I've decided not to do any more of these, but I won't be deleting this post. Think of it as a one off.

QUICK REVIEW: Army Defender

Whenever I have a few spare Nintendo points, I always buy a game that catches my eye. After reading a review of Army Defender in ONM, I thought I might check it out. It's a good thing I did, because if I didn't I would've missed out on the best 200 point app on DSiWare.
The price really helps. The game is well worth the two quid you pay for it. If Studio Kaolink added a few more things they could've sold the game for 300 points more.

The basic idea is that you are defending your base from the enemy forces. These guys range from soldiers to jeeps and even tanks. You defend your base by using a gun turret that can be fired by tapping the touch screen in the direction you wish to shoot. You hold the DSi on its side so the game can be spread across two screens. This is where things get interesting; by pressing either a button on the D-pad or the L trigger, you change the colour of your turret. There are two colours: red and green. Green enemies can only be killed by green bullets and red enemies can only be taken down by red bullets, it's that simple. The game's structure is great too; there are two difficulties to choose from, with beginner being a more progression mode (new enemies are unlocked slowly) and expert being the high score mode where you start off in a harder position than beginner.

Army Defender is the best 200 point app on DSiWare. If you have some spare points then check it out!

Happy 5th Birthday DS!

Sorry It's a bit late, but HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY NINTENDO DS!

Last week marked the DS' 5th year in the UK and the release of the new DSi XL. Unfortunately, I haven't picked one up because 1) I'm already happy with my regular DSi and 2) I don't really have the money anyway. Anywho, coming from the people who own Nintendo's latest incarnation of it's dual screened handheld say the DSi XL is awesome. You really can't tell how big the system actually is until you see it with your own eyes. Many games also appear better on the bigger screens than they did on previous handhelds. The people's conclusion? Very positive indeed! If you don't own a DSi, then by all means pick an XL up. If you're like me and own a regular DSi, then maybe not.

FEATURE: Nintendo Media Summit 2010 Round-Up

A new Mario Galaxy 2 trailer and release date, a new Sin and Punishment: Star Successor/Successor of the Skies trailer and release date, a new batch of Metroid: Other M screens, 2 new Pokemon: HG/SS trailers, a Warioware: DIY release date and more WiiWare and DSiWare? If you don't think this year's Nintendo Media Summit was crammed full of new stuff then you sir are completely insane. Today I'll be talking about my opinions on last Thursday's event. Forgive me if it's a bit rushed, but I wanted to post this as soon as possible! Let's start with the big ones.

The Big One: Super Mario Galaxy 2

As I mentioned before, the summit has brought us a new Mario Galaxy 2 trailer and it has me highly anticipated for the game. As well as a cool new logo, the trailer shows off some new galaxies. The level design in these levels is extremely innovative and it really makes you think how Nintendo comes up with this crazy stuff. There's more snow themed galaxies and even a galaxy where everything is HUGE! Goombas 50 times bigger than Mario? WIN. Comparing the media summit trailer to the one we saw back at E3 last year, the game looks a lot better visually. I'm not sure if that's just the quality of the video, mind! Starry skies can be seen above around Mario and you can see much better effects on Mario, Yoshi and the enemies. Nintendo say they are really going all out with Super Galaxy 2; they seem to have packed much more into the sequel than the previous game and I'll definitely be keeping my eye on it. The release date for the UK is the 11th of june so hold tight till then!

Game of the Show: Metroid: Other M

For me, Metroid: Other M was the highlight of the show. Sure, we didn't get a new trailer but we've been shown lots of new screenshots and ONM say the game is AMAZING to play. We didn't get an exact release date but Nintendo has confirmed it will be out sometime in the third quarter of the year.

The game looks incredible. Nintendo and Team Ninja have said before that you will see a more emotional side to Samus Aran. The fact they've given her a voice really helps with that. The lass has also had a bit of a make-over too, she really looks like a completely different person! Whether you like Samus's new look or not, that doesn't change the fact that Metroid: Other M is going to be incredible.

If you look at the screens and compare them to the game's first trailer, you can see that the health bars and everything have a new design. The gameplay will hopefully be top notch too. I'm not sure if Other M will beat the brilliant Metroid Prime 3 which I just picked up. Let's hope that the game will end up as revolutionary as the leap from the original series to Prime was...

Hardcore Pleaser of the Show: Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Skies

Sin and Punishment 2 was another highlight for this years summit. Now under the subtitle Successor of the Skies, this action packed on rails shooter is still looking awesome. The game's been out in Japan for a little while now, and it's good that a UK release has been confirmed. About the name change, I'm not surprised they didn't end up calling this game Sin and Punishment 2, the original N64 game never saw the light of day here anyway! Thank god for Virtual Console I suppose. At the event we were shown the first batch of UK screens and a new trailer showing off our version of the game. It certainly doesn't look disappointing in any way. The only worry I have is that the game might be too short. Let's hope not!

The Hidden Gem of the Show: Warioware DIY

I'm very surprised that nobody has payed any attention to this game since Nintendo announced it would be coming to the UK. It looks amazing! If you haven't heard of Warioware, the basic idea of it is you play through a set of microgames, small challanges that can last anything up to six seconds. Past WW games have had loads of microgames stuffed into them, but the latest addition to the series only has 100. Why? Because you can make your own! The idea of making your own six second games is bold, since not everyone knows how to do programming. Fortunately, you don't need to know how to do that in DIY; all you do is draw parts of your game, compose the music (you can even hum into the DS mic and it'll turn the noise into notes) and write the instructions. It's kind of like Flipnote Studio, if you can draw, you can do whatever you want. Unlike FNS, if you don't know how to draw there are some ready made parts you can use in your games. These include retro Mario and Zelda sprites too! Now you can make the Mario/Link crossover you've always wanted to see! Warioware DIY doesn't come out for a while, but until it does I have my hopes up. The game also arrives in conjuction with a Wiiware channel where you can play your created microgames on the Wii, let's hope that's free.

That's all for now guys! Until next time, bye-bye!