Mrs G. puts the G in Galaxy
When I first got the Wii, I set it up in the living room, which has a crappy TV. This was mainly because component cables were impossible to find, and I didn’t want to sully the Bunker with composite output anything.
Then, I got my component cable, and moved it to the theater. The problem was, I never had time to play it anyway.
It didn’t really get used until I got smart and moved it to the DDR Room. It was perfect there. People play it at the parties, and there is enough room to swing your arms around for Wii Tennis and whatnot.
That was before Super Mario Galaxy. I am a huge Mario fan (stuff it, you Sonic-loving douchebags), so I knew I was going to be on it, and that meant it was time for the theater again. I dug out my second Nyko Wii Wireless Sensor Bar which I had been saving for just this occasion. I highly recommend this for anyone with a projector and a Wii.
Looks like I need to dust.
What I was really excited for was Co-Star mode. I had read comments from Miyamoto that he “finally got it right” with coop. I was intrigued.
So, Mrs. G and I sat down and tried it, and it was a blast! It literally turns the standard platformer on its head. You will spend a lot of time “upside down”. Gravity changes in different parts of certain maps, even the movement from area to area is awe-inspiring, launching you from end to end with the shake of the Wiimote.
What is so great about Co-star mode? Well, although Mrs. G likes FPSs and Dungeon crawlers like Baldur’s Gate, she hates platformers. Particularly jumping puzzles and anything requiring timing. In co-star mode, player 2 uses the Wiimote to aim a star cursor on the screen and loot star bits. (Mrs. G absolutely loves looting.) Once you get past that, Player 2 can freeze enemies by hovering the cursor over them, as well as fire star bits with the B trigger, thus making most kickable, like a de-shelled Koopa.
In short, co-star takes a platform game and removes all the frustrating stuff for the wife, or the itty bitty kid who still hasn’t mastered the complexity of jumping. It does this while giving them just enough power to make a difference in how the rest of the game is played.
Here is a Youtube video of Co-star mode in action
If you have been looking for a good coop game to play with your non-platforming missus or pre-gamer kid, this is it!
Co-star mode was fun until I realized that the 2nd player really can’t do anything major: Freezing stuff for player 1 to kill is fine, but not necessary for Mario to kill the monsters. And Mario would loot the bits with or without the 2nd player.
There are many occasions when you are lulled into thinking that the 2nd player is going to be able to do something significant (like shooting bits at a character to make it explode) but then you realize that only player 1 has that functionality.
I finally realized that this co-op mode is more like when our 3 yr old wants to play something that she couldn’t possibly play, so we give her an unplugged controller, and she has a blast pushing the buttons without it really doing anything.
I’m still up for playing b/c it’s fun to watch, but really co-star mode is just an illusion of co-op play. So far, at least…
November 26th, 2007 at 03:46Feh.
Looks like the three year old is going to get the spot next to me playing this awesome game.
November 26th, 2007 at 03:51So there will be two 3yr olds on the couch? 😉
November 26th, 2007 at 03:52Oh snap!
November 26th, 2007 at 03:53If only it was a superior sonic title.
November 29th, 2007 at 02:04^^Says the manchild who still can’t spell his handle right.^^
November 29th, 2007 at 19:34