You can always count on Mario to be a system seller and usually put out nothing but great, fun games. When a new Nintendo system launches, Mario is always just around the corner. Well, now that the Wii is set to come out sometime this year, you better believe that lovable Italian is going to be there.

If you want the premise of Super Mario Galaxy in a nutshell this is your paragraph! Imagine Mario shrunk down to miniscule proportions. Now imagine Mario being able to run around the whole perimeter of that ball and not fall off…gravity just keeps him attached. So the gist is Mario runs to a world (usually pretty small and self contained) and he does something there to either create a warp star path or has to find one. After that warp is activated you shoot into the sky and zip to your next “level” – I hate to say level, because they are sometimes so short you wonder about what these planets and other objects (freaking pirate ships in space I’m talking about) are doing out in space like this. I certainly wouldn’t want to live on a planet it takes me seconds to run around…I’d hate my neighbors.

So let me walk you through. My time (short at that because the blond woman didn’t notice a guy left before his play was over, so I was literally given only like 3 or 4 minutes and that completely sucked). Anyways, I complain, blah blah blah, now, I started off on the pirate ship that needed me to lower a drawbridge, but I was unable to do so because of two octopi that were guarding it. Thankfully the octopi shoot melons at you (yes, enemies shooting at you is good) and you can return them with your spin attack (which thankfully goes straight back to your target in an arch instead of just a straight line) that you accomplish by shaking your Wii remote quickly from side to side. Mario controlled great here as he always performed the move only when I wanted him to do so. The same Wii shake move also works to make you move along the star warps.

After the pirate ship was done I found myself zipping through space, and during this time you are able to view other levels still hovering in space that you have already been to or will get to in due time. My next planet appeared to be a boss fight, as I landed on fairly dark rock to begin with, but after running to the top there was a big bad octopus sitting in lava. Much like the ones before it, this octopus shoots melons, and you do your spin attack too launch them back. Repeat this process but avoid his fire spit and you win easily.

Of course there are the old standby Mario moves like jumping and running and…well…you’ve played Mario haven’t you?

There were other moments I saw while standing in line, including such things as making a bullet target you and then make it chase you to a place you need to blow up, and other such boss fights like a giant spider you beat by jumping on his web, hitting points to make him flip over, and then using either the “chuk” or the remote to pull Mario back on the web and fling at the under weak spots.

And graphically…Mario is shiny and has that new car smell. While some games (like the early Metroid) seemed weaker than their past companions in the graphics department, Mario looked better than he has ever before.

As with all Nintendo systems, the first game you typically buy has Mario in it and that is for a good reason, because he is generally the best he is at what he does…launch systems.