Mario Mania hits the UK at official launch of Super Mario Galaxy 2

To celebrate the launch of the hotly anticipated Super Mario Galaxy 2, hundreds of fans dressed as Mario queued for up to 8 hours outside GAME, Oxford Street last night. Super keen fans donned their best Mario outfits to be first in Europe to get their hands on this year’s most critically acclaimed video game, Super Mario Galaxy 2 on Wii!

More on Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M plus release dates

Wii Games - E3 2010 - Super Mario Galaxy 2

Patrick Klepek sits down with Abbie Heppe to discuss her recent trip to the Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco, where she saw Nintendo's upcoming lineup and went hands-on with both Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M.

Super Mario Marathon For Child's Play - Live

Three gamers, seven games, fifty-five hours, all for the sake of the children. The trio is broadcasting their Super Mario Marathon live all weekend via UStreamTV, kicking off at 3PM Eastern and going until all the games are completed or they go crazy and turn on each other.

read more | digg story

Top ten games of 2007 - Number Three : Super Mario Galaxy on Nintendo Wii

Mario is back (again) and even though this must be the hundredth game to bear his name, it still manages to feel fresh and inventive – grasping hold of the brilliance of Super Mario 64 and slipstreaming past it, towards excellence.

Super Mario Galaxy is a simple premise – the Princess has been kidnapped again and there’s only one plumber in the world with the guts to get her back. Unfortunately, that plumber ends up getting a bit lost and comes to on the Cosmic Observatory, a travelling telescope which runs on Power Stars. The rest of the game is then spent collecting Power Stars to charge the Observatory so that Mario can search for Peach and bring her back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Super Mario Galaxy is one of those games that is as much evolution as it is revolution. Sure, it’s yet another Mario game and yes, it is pretty much just Super Mario 64 in space and with different abilities – but that’s no bad thing!


Super Mario Galaxy is a perfect singleplayer adventure-platformer, with all the chaff and crud blasted off and the game reduced to just the core fun-making components. It’s pretty much the only thing the Wii can run anyway.

Miyamoto’s little Italian pal has come a long way since he first started out under the name of ‘Jumpman’ and never is that more clear than in Super Mario Galaxy, which sees Mario exploring strange new worlds and ways of playing. Sometimes you’ll be rolling around on top of balls, tilting the Wiimote to control speed and direction. The rest of the time you’ll be flying around as a bee, drifting through walls as a ghost or bouncing around as a spring.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Mario game if it didn’t have an adorable child-like appearance and array of characters too. Super Mario Galaxy has these both in spades – cutesy little Star creatures who demand you stuff them with delicious star bits so they can “TRRAANSFOOOOOORM!” into brand new planets. There’s even a storybook section to the game which lets you learn more and more of the back story.

There are admittedly a few flaws in the game, but the fact that they are so incredibly few is a testament to the quality of the game. Who cares if there’s no really decent co-op?

Stuffed with reasons to play and with a control system and presentation which is easy to pick up, Super Mario Galaxy appeals to kids and adults alike and is the type of game which will keep couples and families playing together for months.

Source: Bit-Tech

Best 30 games of the year 2007 - Next Gen

They're calling it the best year ever. If so, which games really made it one to remember? Next-Gen picks out and ranks the best 30 games of 2007.

2007 was a great year for videogames. This year saw some of the best games hit store shelves and online storefronts, and in the US, we’re on track for a record sales year.

What we have on the following pages are the 30 games this year that we consider best-of-the-best. With so many strong titles available, it was at times almost physically painful to cut certain games from the list. We took a variety of factors into consideration for this particular list, such as a game’s innovation, execution of technical components, commercial and cultural impact, and above all, how fun and/or memorable a game is. Sometimes where genres overlapped, the lesser representations had to be axed, unless of course those "lesser" games also achieved something remarkable this year.

30 Contra 4—DS Konami, WayForward

29 Pokemon Diamond/Pearl—DS Nintendo, Game Freak

28 Peggle—PC PopCap

27 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock—multi Activision, Neversoft

26 MotorStorm—PS3 SCEA, Evolution Studios

25 Skate—Xbox 360, PS3 EA, EA Black Box

24 MLB Power Pros—Wii, PS2 2K Sports, Konami

23 Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro’s Treasure—Wii

22 Warhawk—PS3 SCEA, Incognito

21 Virtua Fighter 5—PS3, Xbox 360 Sega, AM2

20 Super Stardust HD—PS3 (PSN) SCEA, Housemarque

19 Supreme Commander—PC THQ, Gas Powered Games

18 Forza Motorsport 2 Microsoft

17 Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords—multi D3, Infinite Interactive

16 Mass Effect—Xbox 360 Microsoft, BioWare

15 Assassin’s Creed—PS3, Xbox 360 Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal

14 Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction—PS3 SCEA, Insomniac Games

13 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune—PS3 SCEA, Naughty Dog

12 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption—Wii Nintendo, Retro Studios

11 Crysis—PC EA, Crytek

TOP TEN

10 Pac-Man Championship Edition—XBLA Namco Bandai

09 World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade—PC Vivendi Games, Blizzard

08 God of War II—PS2 SCEA

07 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass—DS Nintendo

06 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare—PC, Xbox 360, PS3 Activision, Infinity Ward

05 Halo 3—Xbox 360 Microsoft, Bungie

04 The Orange Box—PC, Xbox 360, PS3 EA, Valve

03 BioShock—PC, Xbox 360 2K Games, 2K Boston/2K Australia

02 Rock Band—Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 MTV Games, EA, Harmonix

01 Super Mario Galaxy—Wii Nintendo

Source: Next Generation

BioShock video game Triumphs at TV Video Game Awards

BioShock, the moody, elegant adventure from Take-Two, continued its romp through the year-end video game awards season on Monday as it took the top prize in the awards presented by “X-Play,” the G4 television channel’s video game program.

BioShock emerged in August with relatively little advance publicity to captivate players with its tense yet melancholy mood, rich voice acting and exciting action. The title, which is available for PCs and the Xbox 360 console, won the top prize at the Spike network’s annual awards earlier this month.

The “X-Play Best of 2007” awards broadcast was scheduled to have its premiere on Monday with the program’s regular hosts, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. The network plans to unveil a new format for “X-Play” next month, adding more news and demonstrations to its range of reviews.

In addition to the top prize, BioShock also won the award for best art direction, writing and original soundtrack. The other nominees for best game were Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, Mass Effect and Super Mario Galaxy.

Each of those games was released after BioShock, perhaps overwhelming gamers. The industry is usually focused on the holiday season, but by coming out in the summer, BioShock appeared to generate momentum among fans before the autumn deluge.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the G4 awards, which are chosen by staff members of “X-Play,” was that the much-ballyhooed Halo 3 was shut out after being nominated in six categories. Thousands camped outside of stores in September to buy that game when it was first released, and it has sold millions of copies as the flagship title for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Yet despite its enhanced graphics, Halo 3 has come to generate a “more of the same” feeling for many players. While Halo focuses on high-octane futuristic combat, BioShock is a more intimate, psychologically engaging experience built around a provocative, intellectually mature story.

In addition to BioShock, two other titles won multiple awards. Activision’s Call of Duty 4 won for best shooter and sound design. The puzzle game Portal (from Valve) won for most original and for best new character.

Source: New York Times

Guitar Hero video game tops Swedish charts

All four SKUs in top ten

Activision's Guitar Hero III has shot to the top of the Swedish multiformat charts, with all four SKUs in the top ten.

Other new entries in the top twenty are Microsoft's 360 exclusive Mass Effect at three and EA's Need for Speed Pro Street at number 11.

Super Mario Galaxy is the best-selling game on the Wii, while Nintendo favourites The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and New Super Mario Bros are at one and two in the DS charts, respectively.

Electronic Arts holds the top three spots in the PC charts, with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Crysis and Need for Speed Pro Street.

The full charts for the Swedish market follow:

Multiformat

1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (PS2)

2. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (360)

3. Mass Effect (360)

4. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

5. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (Wii)

6. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (PS3)

7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)

8. Assassins Creed (360)

9. Singstar Svenska hits Schlager (PS2)

10. Assassins Creed (PS3)

11. Need for Speed Prostreet (PS2)

12. Need for Speed Prostreet (PS3)

13. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)

14. Crysis (PC)

15. High School Musical: Sing It! (PS2)

16. Need for Speed Prostreet (360)

17. Need for Speed Prostreet (PC)

18. Unreal Tournament 3 (PC)

19. World of Warcraft (PC)

20. The Sims 2 Tonårsprylar (PC)



PC

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

2. Crysis

3. Need for Speed Prostreet

4. Unreal Tournament 3

5. World of Warcraft

6. The Sims 2 Tonårsprylar

7. En riktig jul - Julkalendern 2007

8. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

9. Counter-Strike 1: Anthology

10. The Sims 2 Jorden Runt

PlayStation 2

1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

2. Singstar Svenska hits Schlager

3. Need for Speed Prostreet

4. High School Musical: Sing It!

5. Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz

6. Singstar Svenska hits

7. FIFA 08

8. Buzz: The Mega Quiz

9. The Simpsons

10. GTA San Andreas


PlayStation 3

1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

2. Assassins Creed

3. Need for Speed Prostreet

4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

5. Ratchet & Clank Tools of Destruction

6. FIFA 08

7. NHL 08

8. Rainbow Six Vegas

9. Lego Star Wars 1 & 2 The Complete Saga

10. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008


Xbox 360

1. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

2. Mass Effect

3. Assassins Creed

4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

5. Need for Speed Prostreet

6. Halo 3

7. Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation

8. NHL 08

9. Gears of War

10. FIFA 08


Wii

1. Super Mario Galaxy

2. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
4. Rayman Raving Rabbids

5. Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess

6. Metroid Prime 3 Corruption

7. The Simpsons

8. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

9. Table Tennis

10. Lego Star Wars 1 & 2 The Complete Saga


Nintendo DS

1. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

2. New Super Mario Bros

3. Mario Party DS

4. Lego Star Wars 1 & 2 The Complete Saga

5. Pokémon Diamond

6. Bilar

7. Pokémon Pearl

8. Mario Kart DS

9. The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer

10. Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends


PSP

1. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

2. Silent Hill Origins

3. The Simpsons

4. Tekken Dark Resurrection

5. FIFA 08

6. GTA Vice City Stories

7. Daxter

8. Need for Speed Underground Rivals

9. Crash of the Titans

10. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Shopto confirms its position as a leading online retailer

Shopto.com is proud to announce record traffic figures for its online retail store in October 2007, with November expected to bring further growth. As such, the site is benefiting from its most successful period to date.

Between the 1st and 31st of October 2007, Shopto.com received more than 300,000 unique visitors, all searching for the best prices and the biggest deals. Between them, these visitors generated over 9 million page impressions, comparing favourably with videogames portals such as totalvideogames.com, computerandvideogames.com, eurogamer.net and videogamer.com.

November has already seen a dramatic increase, with traffic up over 32%, putting shopto on course to break the 500,000 unique user mark by the end of the month. Complimenting the sharp increase in users, page impressions are also up 40%, with an expected 12 million pages to be served before the end of November.

“The Christmas period is always a busy time of year for retail, and shopto’s market leading prices and renowned customer service is really starting to hit home within the gaming community,” commented Igor Cipolletta, Chief Operating Officer of shopto.com. “We’re geared up for our biggest period yet, and with some of the best deals on hardware and software in the UK, we’re proud to offer our unrivalled service as one of the leading names in online retail.”

www.Shopto.com has hundreds of deals online right now, including a Nintendo Wii console, with Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Prince of Persia: Rival Swords retailing for an unbeatable price of £279.99. Also on offer is the HDMI enabled Xbox 360 Premium pack, including a copy of Crackdown for just £214.99 and the newly released 40GB PS3 for £279.99. These bundles are not exhaustive, and Shopto.com strives to always offer the best deal for the consumer, offering them the choice and affordability they require.

Super Mario Galaxy Wallpapers

Get your wallpapers here

Mario Galaxy Box Art That Should Have Been

Some new wallpapers have turned up on the Japanese Mario Galaxy site.

What, you don't care about something as trivial as that? You're right, we're sorry. Nintendo news is, after all, serious business.

You probably think this picture is awful, hate both Mario and kittens and most definitely won't be clicking on it for a bigger version.

Have a look here

Wii are the champions...

Nintendo Wii Mario Galaxy Bundle Coming?

According to a distributor in the UK, Nintendo Europe is getting ready to launch a new Wii bundle which will include Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy.

This would be big news as it would make it by far the best value in the gaming industry as two pack-in games is almost unheard of, especially when you factor in that retailers cannot even keep the system stocked for more than an hour or so before selling out.

Wii Sports has been the standard pack-in game for Nintendo since launch though so it is possible that Nintendo wants to change things up and include Super Mario Galaxy as well.

This comes as Galaxy had one of the best software launches of the year selling very well in North America as well as Japan.

The bundle would likely be priced a bit higher but as stated would include the Wii, Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, and an Official Nintendo carry bag.

500,000 Super Mario Galaxy sales in first week

Fastest-selling Mario title in the US (Surprise, Surprise)

Nintendo has revealed that Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii sold over 500,000 units in its first week of sale in the US.

"Super Mario Galaxy had the strongest one-week debut of any Wii game to date and has also become the best-selling Mario title ever in its first week, with US sales of more than 500,000, based on internal sales figures," commented George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing.

Released in Europe last Friday, the game debuted at number five in the UK all-formats charts, although the Chart Track data only accounts for the first two days of sale in the region.

Super Mario Galaxy - U R MR GAY

Notice the white sparkles on the corners of some of the letters, they spell out U R MR GAY.

Could this possibly be an accident, or did some Xbox Live kid do the boxart design?

Great lookin boxart even if it does make you MR GAY

Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers. Don't get a life just yet.

It's like a buffet that's filled with 100% gourmet food—as opposed to a bunch of congealed fats at the mercy of a few struggling heat lamps, sloppily topped with bread crumbs, cheese or icing.

We're in the midst of one of the most incredible launch seasons in the history of video games the known Universe.

Both Super Mario Galaxy and Assassin's Creed would be a massive release during any month, but instead we get both in a week, sandwiched between other goodness.

So are you doing any shopping this week?

Mario Galaxy sales less than super?

Super Mario Galaxy requires old fashioned gaming skills like practice and patience - granny won't be clamouring for a go come Chirstmas Day.

It may have reviewed well but Super Mario Galaxy has had a relatively slow start in the UK charts. Straight in at, er number 5, the Nintendo icon's new game was outsold by the mediocre likes of The Simpsons Game and WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008. Assassin's Creed - which took the top slot - is the fastest selling new IP since The Getaway in 2002 and apparently sold over three times as many copies as Mario.

There are some obvious points to note. All the games above Mario in the chart are multi-format, and Assassin's Creed in particular has been heavily hyped to the core gaming audience. And you can't discount those Wii stock shortages. But could it be an issue with game itself?
20 and 30-something gamers are happy to relive those halcyon days when Mario was *the* gaming icon. But is Super Mario Galaxy too hardcore for the average Wii user? Finely judged jumps and tricky platforming are a long way from the bowling in Wii Sports. Super Mario Galaxy requires old fashioned gaming skills like practice and patience - granny won't be clamouring for a go come Chirstmas Day.
Nintendo has consistently reiterated their support for their "core" market with the likes of Zelda, Metroid and now Mario. But could that change in the future if Big Brain Academy and the like start outselling the gaming veterans?

WII LOVE THE NEW SUPER MARIO GAME

FINALLY it’s here, a truly classic game for the Wii.
Having been forced to play Wii Sports for the best part of a year, I had just about given up on Nintendo’s revolutionary console.

Sure, there have been plenty of releases. But Boogie and Super Paper Mario are never likely to hold the attention of the keen gamer.

But at last we have a game that means business and shows the best of the console. Take a bow, Super Mario Galaxy.

The premise is simple – Princess Peach is captured by Bowser (yes – we’ve been here before) and Mario must save her.

What follows is one of the most ingenious 3D platformers ever created, as you blast from galaxy to galaxy collecting stars. Within each galaxy is a series of moon-like levels, perfectly 3D so you are often chasing or being chased around the surface of a globe.

Once you’ve collected all the stars on the moon you blast into space to the next one, until you finally reach the boss level.

The controls are simple – thumb-stick for direction, nunchuck to spin Mario and kill the baddies that roam each moon and the cast is a who’s who of the Mario world.
Super Mario Galaxy proves flashy graphics and frame rates mean nothing when compared to old-fashioned gameplay.

If you’ve got a Wii, buy this game. If you haven’t, here’s the perfect reason to get one.

My Verdict: Out of this world! 96 per cent.

Mario Galaxy Makes Wii Sing, Donkey Kong Makes It Cry

Mario and Donkey Kong rose to fame together in 1981. But since then, Mario has gone on to enjoy an illustrious solo career, while Donkey Kong has become something of a simian Sonny Bono.
Two new games for Wii illustrate the disparity. Super Mario Galaxy got the benefit of Nintendo's top gameplay designers and is appropriately brilliant. But Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast is a confusing mess trying to cash in on its title character's fame.
Super Mario Galaxy

Mario has always represented Nintendo at its innovative best, and Super Mario Galaxy is no exception. Indeed, this is probably the best game Nintendo has put on the Wii yet -- polished, addictive and jam-packed with surprising moments.
If you've ever played a Mario game before, you'll feel right at home with the control scheme as you go running and jumping about, scaling walls and stomping on evil mushrooms. What Galaxy brings to the table is that all the action now takes place on strings of tiny planetoids in deep space.



VIDEO LINK - A small sampling shows the many, varied worlds packed into Super Mario Galaxy.

This accomplishes two things: For one, players no longer have to worry about manually adjusting the "camera" to see (an oft-heard complaint about Mario Sunshine for the GameCube). More importantly, it provides for a wide variety of new gameplay mechanisms involving gravity. You might have to play some planets upside down or figure out how to escape a planet's orbit, jumping far enough to reach its neighbor.
Wii motion controls integrate gently into the experience: You shake the controller to make Mario spin into enemies and stun them. But light shooter elements added to the game prove even more interesting. Pointing the Wiimote at the screen brings up a cursor you can use to collect "star bits" to fire at enemies. You can even have a second player pick up a controller and do this for you while you concentrate on moving Mario around.
But seasoned gamers will likely want to do it all themselves. That's Mario Galaxy's real strength: It's easy enough for anyone to enjoy clearing a few levels, but finishing the game requires some effort. And once you've saved the Princess, many challenges remain that will tax even experts.
I haven't even told you the best parts. Like surfing on a floating river, riding a manta ray. Or scrambling over giant 8-bit pixel art made of disappearing platforms and lava. Or the beautifully orchestrated score that accompanies everything. Galaxy is jam-packed with brilliant ideas at every turn.

‘Galaxy’ revives old-school pleasures of Super Mario

Between the releases of "Assassin's Creed" (multi-platform) and "Crysis" (PC) and the introduction of the Check Mii Out channel to Wii gamers, this has been a busy week in the gaming world. It was hard to choose the focus for this week's column, but the release of "Super Mario Galaxy" for the Wii ultimately came out on top. "Assassin's Creed" looks absolutely amazing, but "Super Mario Galaxy" is just, naturally, in a stratosphere all its own.

"Super Mario Galaxy" embodies everything a Wii gamer is looking for. It is accessible and appropriate for all ages, and contains enough challenges to hold up over time. This is not the kind of game that you pick up for a week and then never play again. It has variety and presents a beautifully charming world that looks fun to interact with. This is reminiscent of the classic Mario games that could be played over and over again without getting old. Recent Mario titles have lacked this charm, which makes "Galaxy" all the more appealing.

Part of the world's appeal is in the graphical presentation. Based on appearances alone, "Super Mario Galaxy" exceeds everything put out on the Wii thus far, including "Metroid Prime 3." Everything looks crisp, clear and colorful, and while the Wii is not known for its graphical attributes, this game seems to push the system's capabilities to their absolute limit, with beautiful results. The graphics are probably still not as good as those of the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, but I am not sure why they would ever need to be. Part of Mario's charm is in the cartoonish presentation, and I doubt that anyone wants to see a realistic, hairy, Italian plumber as the hero.

The stunning graphics make an excellent first impression, but the game continues to impress with its solid gameplay. As I mentioned earlier, there is an inherent charm that makes the stages fun to explore even when you are not trying to accomplish any particular goal. Games like "Grand Theft Auto" (and I suspect the same will be true of "Assassin's Creed") have a similar feel, and when a game has this inherent fun factor, it typically stands the test of time.

What makes the gameplay of "Super Mario Galaxy" so appealing is the way in which it brings something new not only to the Mario universe, but to video games as a whole. "Super Mario Sunshine" for the Gamecube tried to accomplish this by adding a water-pack, but it did not feel right. "Galaxy" goes back to what Mario does best—running and jumping—but places him in a whole new environment: outer space. While the graphics push the Wii to its limit, the physics of the game are what really show the talent of the developers.

"Galaxy" is made up of many galaxies, each with a collection of planetoids that Mario can traverse. Each of these has its own gravitational attraction, meaning that each planet plays a bit differently from the others. These planets are also complete spheres; you can see that you are on a tiny spherical mass, rather than the usual flat landscape. Sometimes, when Mario jumps in the air on one planet, the gravitational pull of another planet will attract him to it. Quite simply, this is an insanely ingenious gameplay dynamic that makes for an extraordinary experience.

Perhaps, above all else, what makes "Super Mario Galaxy" so awesome is that it hearkens back to Mario's roots. The music sounds like it belongs in a Mario game, the world is filled with Mushroom Kingdom creatures, and most importantly, the famous "suits" power-ups from the classic games make their return. Remember when Mario used to turn into a raccoon or a frog? In "Galaxy," he can power-up into a bee or a ghost, and, for the first time in a 3D Mario game, he has fire power. Thus, the game perfectly combines the classic with the innovative, providing both nostalgia and awe-inspiring moments for all gamers to enjoy.

In conclusion, this is the definitive game for Wii, and perhaps the Game of the Year for any system. It is the best Mario game in over a decade; you have to go back to at least "Super Mario 64" (1996), and you may even look back further to "Super Mario World" (1991) or "SMB 3" (1990) in order to find a Mario game this good. It currently has a 97.4 percent rating on "gamerankings.com," and until "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" comes out in February, "Super Mario Galaxy" will definitely remain the best Wii title. So, with apologies to "Assassin's Creed," this week belongs to the mustachioed mushroom muncher, Mario.

‘Super Mario Galaxy’: Out of this world

As harmless small stars fell like candy from a pocket in the sky onto Mario’s idyllic town, his longtime love Princess Peach waited joyfully for him in her castle. But like so many tragedies that befell Peach before, Bowser the brute swooped in and kidnapped her.

And so, nothing short of Mario’s saving the universe will lead to her emotional rescue. That’s how Mario tales wag. The damsel in distress is most in peril whenever her mustachioed hero is away.

But in Wii’s “Super Mario Galaxy,” Nintendo’s craftiness once again makes a familiar-looking Mario game seem like one of the best kids titles of its release year.

In your hands, Mario explores fiery and watery planets in distant galaxies. There’s nothing special about that. But the way you travel the universe is cool and new.

Planets are little things, appearing in the center of your TV screen as if they’re just large globes; variously, planets are merely the sizes of an Earth house or an Earth neighborhood.

This keeps you on your toes. It’s harder to avoid death when you’re walking and jumping upside down, sideways and diagonally around a violent orb.

I have to disclose I didn’t finish “Galaxy” before writing this review. I ran out of time while playing it and two other great new releases - each of which could take 20 hours just to speed through - so I can give you impressions of all three titles, in time for holiday shopping.

The other two superb games will appeal to hard-core gamers who love to shoot things to death.

“Mass Effect” is an action-role-playing game from BioWare, the maker of fun “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” and “Jade Empire.”

The look of “Mass Effect” is a cinematic feat. Like movies, you watch the game’s graphic films just about as often as you play the game. Sci-fi soldiers and aliens from the 22nd century chat gravely about a complex political and military struggle. You pick your responses during these conversations, issuing snippets of curt dialogue such as “What did you find?” and “Why is Williams here?”

Yeah, that’s odd, but fans of role-playing games eat this stuff up. The fun for me comes from saving the universe by shooting evil robot-looking aliens (or something like that) across space stations, foreign planets and finely detailed capitols.

As shooting goes, though, my favorite war game in a while (especially online) is “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” on Xbox 360 and PS 3. Bad guys are terrorists. And the game play and illustrations are excellent, seamless and rich.

“SUPER MARIO GALAXY” Retails for $50 for Wii. Plays fun. Looks very good. Easy to moderately challenging. Rated E for mild cartoon violence. Grade: A

“CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE” Retails for $60 for Xbox 360 and PS 3; $30 for DS. Plays very fun, especially online. Looks great. Moderately challenging. Rated M for blood, gore, intense violence and strong language. Grade: A

“MASS EFFECT’ ’Retails for $60 for Xbox 360. Plays fun. Looks stellar. Moderately challenging. Rated M for blood, language, partial nudity, sexual themes and violence.Grade: A

Super Mario Galaxy: Can Nintendo Keep Everyone Happy?

Friday 16th November sees the release of Super Mario Galaxy for Nintendo’s Wii console. Some say it is the product launch of the year, though I’m not sure Apple would agree. The release of a Mario game is always a high profile media event, given his status as one of the most recognisable company mascots of the past 20 years, but Nintendo have a more difficult job this time around.

For those that don’t follow the video gaming industry – which this year grossed more than the movie and music industries – Nintendo are in first and second position with their best selling DS and Wii consoles. Both machines have brought new gamers into the fold, so with Mario Galaxy they have to cater for two distinct groups: the long-standing gamers who have played every Mario game since Donkey Kong and also the more recent group of people who have never owned a home console before being captivated by the Wii and will be playing this game as their first Mario game and possibly their first game other than Wii Sports.

Nintendo, and their video design guru Shigeru Miyamoto, seem to have relished the challenge. Company head Satoru Iwata has been posting a steady stream of interviews with various team members in an attempt to show the amazing amount of thinking that has gone into the game. Technical details take a back seat and it reads more like an analysis of the psychology of a gamer.

So, have they managed to do a good job? Well, review compilation site Metacritic – a site that collates reviews from all over the internet into one easy to read page of excerpts and an average score – currently lists the game as its highest ever, with an average score of 98 out of 100. Popular opinion has never been so unanimous.

Sounds like there’ll be quite a few people reaching for the stars this weekend.