Topic: Super Mario Galaxy 2 to Feature Traditional World Map

[KDR_11k]

Miyamoto's explanation though comes across as a polite way of saying "we're dumbing it down for stupid rubes who can't figure out what to do next."

What about the people who don't WANT to decide what to do next, who want the next level presented to them with a note attached "beat this" instead of shopping around for the path of least resistance? For an example Reflect Missile lets you pick any level of the given set at will but I usually set it to randomly serve me levels that I haven't beaten yet because I know that if I get a big selection I'll be weighting choices against each other like which level looks beatable, in random I get challenges thrown at me with no regard for what I think of them which forces me to adapt and improvise and ultimately is more fun. With a buffet style if a level is hard I'm tempted to go elsewhere, with a world map I have a reason to keep trying.

[GoldenPhoenix]

The hub in 64 was perfection. The hubs in Sunshine and Galaxy were very interesting but ultimately too spread out, which made jumping from level to level a bit tiresome. I'd prefer a well thought out hub by I guess it's not that big of a deal. It should certainely make collecting all thestars more effecient.

I disagree, I think Sunshine had one of the best gaming hubs, period. Tons to explore yet everywhere was pretty easily accessible as well.

[Mop it up]

The only thing annoying about Sunshine's hub was any place you had to travel to with a Yoshi. I think there was one place you had to get to by riding a really slow-moving boat, it was so boring.

[GoldenPhoenix]

The only thing annoying about Sunshine's hub was any place you had to travel to with a Yoshi. I think there was one place you had to get to by riding a really slow-moving boat, it was so boring.

Yeah that part was lame, but really SMS's hud was fantastic in how it all integrated with the worlds as well, I remember trying to figure out where I was in relation to the town in a world for fun, something that would be expanded upon with Wuhu island.SMS gets a lot of crap but it has the most cohesive world and setting of any of the Mario game.

[Rize]

The hub world was the best map in Mario Sunshine.

I liked Rosalina's floating place in Galaxy too.

The hub was very good in Sunshine, but the game itself had some relatively bland levels (too much of the same or similar theme).

[KDR_11k]

The hub in 64 was perfection. The hubs in Sunshine and Galaxy were very interesting but ultimately too spread out, which made jumping from level to level a bit tiresome. I'd prefer a well thought out hub by I guess it's not that big of a deal. It should certainely make collecting all thestars more effecient.

I disagree, I think Sunshine had one of the best gaming hubs, period. Tons to explore yet everywhere was pretty easily accessible as well.

I loved Sunshine's hub for the first few stars because stuff kept happening but when that ran out the whole thing got boring and a chore.

[GoldenPhoenix]

The hub world was the best map in Mario Sunshine.

I liked Rosalina's floating place in Galaxy too.

The hub was very good in Sunshine, but the game itself had some relatively bland levels (too much of the same or similar theme).

I loved the variety in Sunshine levels, they tried to do different things with each world while maintaining the same theme. Also Delfino Plaza was anything but a chore to play in, it was a living, breathing place.

[ShyGuy]

Yeah Delfino plaza was awesome. Running around and discovering new places like the coin tunnels, using the water nozzles to unlock new things. It was a great map.

I liked the Amusement park and the Beach too, they felt very much like open worlds to explore.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah Delfino plaza was awesome. Running around and discovering new places like the coin tunnels, using the water nozzles to unlock new things. It was a great map.

I liked the Amusement park and the Beach too, they felt very much like open worlds to explore.

Very true. I think people put too much emphasis on the levels having a tropical setting and don't realize how diverse each world was. The amusement park had very different things to do then let's say the Hotel. Gosh I want to play SMS again now lol.

[Mop it up]

Yeah Delfino plaza was awesome. Running around and discovering new places like the coin tunnels, using the water nozzles to unlock new things. It was a great map.

It was. But that isn't what Mario games are supposed to be about. The Super Mario Galaxy games are much closer to being Super Mario Brothers in 3D.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah Delfino plaza was awesome. Running around and discovering new places like the coin tunnels, using the water nozzles to unlock new things. It was a great map.

It was. But that isn't what Mario games are supposed to be about. The Super Mario Galaxy games are much closer to being Super Mario Brothers in 3D.

SM64 wasn't a Mario game either then. Really the Mario series has been evolving since SMB.

[Mop it up]

I didn't say it wasn't a Mario game, just that it deviated from a traditional Mario game. And yes, Super Mario 64 did the same. It doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them (Super Mario 64 is one of my favourite games), but I'm glad that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is returning to the series' roots, so to speak. Now we just need a two-player mode...

[TJ Spyke]

Super Mario Bros. didn't even have a world map. Super Mario Bros. 3 was the first to introduce it, so SMG2 is not returning to the roots of the series.

[Mop it up]

Semantics. I just mean the 2D games as a whole, really.
Technically, wouldn't the roots of the series be Donkey Kong?

[Peachylala]

Semantics. : I just mean the 2D games as a whole, really.
Technically, wouldn't the roots of the series be Donkey Kong?

I am so thankfull the jumping stopped being ass in 1985. =P

[ThePerm]

i would be dissapointed at the lack of hub, but i think they have done hubs to death in mario, plus it makes 2 player mode and even co-op mode more likely

[Guitar Smasher]

I thought Peach's castle in SM64 was brilliant, and although I'm not a huge fan of Sunshine, Delfino Plaza is a bright spot in the game.  That said I think getting away from a hub is the right choice for Galaxy 2.  The starship in Galaxy 1 was uninteresting, provided nothing to explore and was just an obstacle slowing me from playing the actual game.

I just hope Nintendo doesn't expect this change to bring the game closer to NSMBWii sales.  2D Mario is simply more popular than 3d Mario, and that won't ever change.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I thought Peach's castle in SM64 was brilliant, and although I'm not a huge fan of Sunshine, Delfino Plaza is a bright spot in the game.  That said I think getting away from a hub is the right choice for Galaxy 2.  The starship in Galaxy 1 was uninteresting, provided nothing to explore and was just an obstacle slowing me from playing the actual game.

I just hope Nintendo doesn't expect this change to bring the game closer to NSMBWii sales.  2D Mario is simply more popular than 3d Mario, and that won't ever change.

I think the lack of hub is a good thing if you aren't going to spend time on it, it was obvious in Mario Galaxy the hub was pretty much an after thought.

[broodwars]

I'm approaching this decision the same way I had to approach a lot of stuff recently in Final Fantasy XIII: if Nintendo's not going to make interesting hub worlds with places to explore and things to find, it's better to bring the game back to the basics and focus on what they do well (or often in Nintendo's case, what they can do cheaply and without much effort but nonetheless do solidly).  I'll take this style of hub world over the snore-fest that was Galaxy's or the even worse one that was Sunshine's any day.

[TJ Spyke]

I would love to have Sunshine's again. It was easily one of the best hub worlds a platform game has had, and it actually unified the whole game.

[KDR_11k]

Yeah, I liked the Sunshine hub when stuff was happening there.

[ThePerm]

what would be better than a hub would be sewer system interconnecting all the levels, obviously since its Mario it doesn't have to make sense.

[Stogi]

I suggested an ever expanding universe of planets and stages. There are no stars; just platforming heaven.

[BlackNMild2k1]

what would be better than a hub would be sewer system interconnecting all the levels, obviously since its Mario it doesn't have to make sense.

Like Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story?

That level interconnectedness made absolutely no freaking sense at all.

[Stratos]

what would be better than a hub would be sewer system interconnecting all the levels, obviously since its Mario it doesn't have to make sense.

This except when you entered the sewers it went to old school arcade Mario Brothers for the sewer travel between worlds and you could stay there and fight enemies for points and such.

Like Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story?

That level interconnectedness made absolutely no freaking sense at all.

This proves that Mario is really a Slider and those pipes warp him to alternate dimensions with different realities.