New trailer and details for Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo introduces Rock Mario, the retro level select system and Starship Mario, among other things
If you were wanting to be surprised about the additions and changes in Galaxy 2, you might want to stop reading now, as Nintendo are showing of a ton of content as the release draws closer, and even more is saved for later. We’ll try our best not to spoil the level design, but sometimes you can’t avoid it. Today brings a trailer which demonstrates the Super Mario Bros. 3-style level selection and a couple of other new bits. IGN also has a hands-on with the game that explains some features more clearly.
The hub world may have been lost in the sequel, but there’s something close to it still here. Mario uses "Starship Mario" to travel from place to place, which you can explore at any time. All the friendly Toads and Lumas live on this place, which is shaped like the good plumber’s head. You can get extra 1-Ups from here just like in the original, but now special power-ups have been added. Apart from revealing it changes its theme depending on the galaxy you’re at, Nintendo hasn’t let out many other specifics yet.
Next come new powers, and there’s been one revealed each for Mario and Yoshi. First up is Rock Mario, which makes Mario roll Goron-style when you shake the Remote. You have very limited steering control, and need to hit something big to actually stop. The trailer shows one example activity of running through a set of bowling pins. One particular boss battle involves a giant armadillo who tries to squash you after going into a much bigger ball.
We’ve seen what happens when Yoshi eats normal fruit or chilis, but another power puts him in a whole new light, literally. If the fellow consumes a bulb fruit he turns into Light Yoshi and has a yellow glow, which lights up the location of platforms in some galaxies. It’s great to see Yoshi being given quite a few abilities in the game, and not just left as an empty addition.
As usual, we don’t know quite when to expect to receive Super Mario Galaxy 2 here, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do.
