"Super Mario Galaxy 2" Slated For Summer

[Metal Mario]

Nintendo of Australia has confirmed that we won't have to wait until the Christmas season to play Super Mario Galaxy 2; apparently it's set for release during the summer, sometime between June and August!

There might be more concrete information regarding the game's North American release date today at Nintendo's Q1 Media Summit (and maybe some other news too).

[Dark Seraphim]

Wow, Galaxy 2 is coming out soon, but I still don't know anything about it. Is Bowser still the villain in this one? Does Rosalina make a return?

[Metal Mario]

Don't know about Rosalina, although I'd wager that Bowser is probably going to be the villain again (just because that's the way Nintendo rolls).

Maybe we'll be given some more info about the game later today.

[Metal Mario]

Nintendo World Report

Nintendo has announced the release date for Super Mario Galaxy 2 at their Q1 Media Summit in San Francisco. The highly anticipated sequel is set for release on May 23.

Nintendo conducted a live demo of the game for an audience of journalists, showing off Mario's drill move as well as his ability to ride Yoshi. Yoshi's skills were also shown, including his patented flutter jump as well as his ability to float through the air after eating Wind Fruit. The Wind Fruit looks to be an integral part of the overall gameplay.

Several of the game's environments were shown as well, indicating a giant world much like Super Mario Bros. 3. There was a battle with a Gigaleg-style monster on a planetoid, some platforming on a floating cylinder, and exploration of a disc with cut-out stairs and platforms. Several different enemies made an appearance, including a dragon, and ghosts that eat parts of the ground around Mario.

Sweet!

[Valigarmander]

They're gonna have all my money by the end of summer.

Trailer. Enjoy.

Click to view video.

[1-up Salesman]

There are rumors of Sonic being playable in a Galaxy called Green Hill Galaxy. Probably not true.

[Dr. Furball]

Wow.


BLARRG! When was the last time we saw one of those?


The world doesn't revolve around Mario...it IS Mario.


Piantas!


I won't gravel...er, grovel.


World Progression? With Planet Mario as the hub?


My new avatar on places where I don't have to pay to use one.

The rest: GoNintendo - Super Mario Galaxy 2 New Screenshots

[Luigiman7]

^^ ahahahaha no

I'm suprised it's coming out this early. I expect delays, though.

Edit: MARIO PLANET HUB AWESOME

[Metal Mario]

Originally Posted by 1-up salesman

There are rumors of Sonic being playable in a Galaxy called Green Hill Galaxy. Probably not true.

Sonic wishes he could be in a game this good.

[Dark Seraphim]

Originally Posted by Dr. Furball

I won't gravel...er, grovel.

Oh hey look at the background, Bowser's insignia, I suppose that means Nowser will be the main villain then.

[X-3]

Originally Posted by 1-up salesman

There are rumors of Sonic being playable in a Galaxy called Green Hill Galaxy. Probably not true.

CONFIRMED
Spoiler Below

no, I just saw this picture on NeoGAFand wanted to use it

[Dark Seraphim]

^ BWAHAHAHA!

That's hilarious!

[Antisocial]

Originally Posted by X-3

CONFIRMED

This looks like a shoop.

Also, playable Luigi again, please.

[Metal Mario]

Originally Posted by Dark Seraphim

Oh hey look at the background, Bowser's insignia, I suppose that means Nowser will be the main villain then.

Also, Bowser Jr. is in the trailer.

[Random User]

Also, the robot he uses in the trailer resembled the mechas in Blue Dragon.

[Dr. Furball]

Possible boxart?


UR MIA Y?

As for the whole Sonic thing, I hope (and highly doubt) it's not true. I'm a big fan of the Sonic games, but SMG2 is a Super Mario game, and having Sonic in there might disrupt the Super-Marioness of it.

[Valigarmander]

Super Mario Galaxy: UR MR GAY
Super Mario Galaxy 2: (backwards) YA I M R U

"You're Mr. Gay?"
"Yeah I am, are you?"

Holy ****, they're onto us.

[heh]

i never thought the first "secret message" was intentional but i hope to god that one is

[Metal Mario]

Here's some hands-on impressions from Nintendo World Report

It’s been a while since Mario has seen multiple releases of his core titles on the same platform. But the genius of Super Mario Galaxy just couldn’t be contained in a single game, so now we have Super Mario Galaxy 2. I’m not sure what the story is, or even if there is a coherent story, but again, the basic goal is to rescue Princess Peach. The Lumas are back, but it’s not clear whether Rosalina will make an appearance. The Media Summit demo had seven galaxies and two Bowser Jr. battle stages available for play chosen off of a menu, so there was no hub area on display.

Sky Station Galaxy was a simple level designed to introduce players to the game. First, Mario visits Yoshi’s house, but he’s not home (big surprise). The level ends with a Petey Piranha battle. The basics of the game are the same as its predecessor, including the collection of stars to complete the level. If the levels shown here are any indication, the game is much more focused on creating clever and challenging level designs.

Spin-Dig Galaxy introduces the drill item. With the drill, Mario tunnels straight down through the level and comes out the other side (there is no interaction inside of the planet). If he hits an obstacle, he rebounds back. A puzzle component is added here as certain areas are only accessible by drilling. Players must keep a 3-D spatial map in mind in order to read the other side properly. One example of this was a planet with several tall pillars, pillars too tall to jump to. But by running to the other side of the planet and drilling, Mario could make his way to the top. The stage ended in a boss battle. Digga-Leg, cousin of Mega-Leg from the first game, must be defeated in a manner reminiscent of the Raphael Raven battle in Yoshi’s Island. As the enemy chases Mario around a 2D circular planet, you must time your drills through the planet to impact the bottom of the boss while he has his glass surface exposed, and not when he has his drill exposed.

One thing that struck me is that Nintendo may be playing around more with changing our conception of what makes a level itself. With the drill, players are no longer bound simply to the surface. And while it wasn’t in any of the levels I played, the latest trailer showed certain enemies dynamically dissolving parts of levels, something that was played with in the first game.

Hightail Falls Galaxy introduces Mario’s dino pal, Yoshi. While you ride him around like in Super Mario Sunshine, the tongue mechanic has a separate and natural targeting mechanism: the Wii Remote pointer. By pointing and pressing B, Yoshi will lash out his tongue in the direction marked by a red cursor. Yoshi’s elastic tongue can be blocked by obstacles, however. In a nod to Yoshi’s story, Yoshi has his own set of power-ups, each a type of fruit. In this galaxy, the spicy Dash Pepper makes Yoshi do his best mad Wiggler impression, giving him extra speed necessary to scale walls, but at the expense of control. And of course, you’ll have to navigate winding paths in this energized state, where a mistake means tumbling to your doom.

Tall Trunk Galaxy also features Yoshi. Here, Yoshi must eat Blimp Fruits. Doing so turns Yoshi blue, and fills him up with something like helium, allowing him to float until all of the gas leaks out. The level has players making their way up a tree, then around a 2D level wrapped around a cylinder (so you can fall around it forever), another 2D level cut out of a disc, and final area full of spiked enemies waiting to pop Yoshi. Players must time their use of the fruit carefully, floating from one fruit to the next, or grabbing fruit out of the air with Yoshi’s tongue before they fall. Get knocked off Yoshi, and expect to have to chase him around for long distances or until he gets killed after which he’ll respawn from an egg.

Upside Dizzy Galaxy brought back 2D areas with gravity zones that debuted in the first game, zones where the arrow and color indicates the direction of gravitational pull. These were some of my favorite areas in the original, and the level uses them to create a puzzle of sorts.

After a bit of platforming over lava, Bowser Jr's Fiery Flotilla introduces a flying dragon enemy named Gobblegut, which is reminiscent of Fracktail from Super Paper Mario. The boss tunnels through the planet targeting Mario. It seems all that gobbling has given the serpent-like boss some health problems as it has several bright red engorged areas that must be spin-attacked. As the dragon tunnels through the ground, it gets stuck for a short time at each red area, giving Mario some time to attack. This boss was the only problem I found with the game that I hope they fix. The boss didn’t have self-hit detection, so it could cut right through itself to kill Mario. Cheap.

Supermassive Galaxy is homage to Giant World of Super Mario Bros. 3, but the enemies are even bigger. After climbing a few stories, I tried to jump on a Goobma, and all I got was damaged. Blocks are too big to break, and even coins are too big to collect – instead they’re an integral part of the environment. For instance, I had to use a coin to wall-jump off of, timing it properly against its characteristic spin. The jumps were long, and getting hit by a super Thwomp would result in instant death. Since you can’t attack enemies directly, the drill is critical here.

Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet ends in another boss battle, but this time Yoshi comes along. Yoshi can eat Bullet Bills and spit them back out at other targets. Players must use this technique to take out Bowser Jr., who is piloting a giant mech.

Flip-Swap Galaxy, the final level available in the demo is one of the bonus stages that can be unlocked by collecting Comet Metals [sic], though specifics on unlocking haven’t been finalized. While the overall game seems to be focusing more on platforming, the real platforming challenges will be found in these types of stages. If you liked Luigi’s Purple Coins in the first game, this level is right up your alley. In Flip-Swap galaxy, platforms are flip between two positions every time the Remote is shaken. These platforms are sparsely spaced so that careful jumping is necessary. But you can’t use your spin to help you with the jump since that will flip the platform to the wrong position! On top of this, you have to collect 100 purple coins within four minutes. On top of that, you’ll have to time your jumps properly to avoid moving fences of electricity.

While we only got a glimpse at the dozens of galaxies, it’s clear that Super Mario Galaxy 2 takes the original’s impeccable gameplay and manages to refine it even more. While it looks and plays much like its predecessor, more of that greatness is welcome. With more focus on using items to create interesting platforming situations, the game may very well set the new bar for 3D platforming.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Metal Mario

Sonic wishes he could be in a game this good.

hey brother that's not cool, spread the love like butter and keep the hate for mario fanboys


jesting let's hang out some time


kidding again i don't chill with people from the internet

keep on truckin' though