You know that race reminds me of the really annoyingly hard bits of games. Take Twilight Princess for example, Rollgoal anyone? I still haven't caught that massive Hylian Loach because I just can't get that Frog lure.

Oooohh!! CHOMP is in the building! (ephidel hugs his inflatable chomp)(^_^)

Ugggh... headache! I think I quit around level 2-1 or something.

That's better than me, 1-5 was as far as I got:(

That's it, I'm gonna go and pwn that game now.

This game is awesome.  They reduced the problem of "let's play the same stage for all these missions" by making the planets in the galaxy smaller.  That way, the only common thing all these missions have is the starting planet.

And next thing we know, XLord007 will have the game completed with all 120 stars by this Friday which would be some true-blue role reversal if I ever did see it.

So I just got a star from Sweet, Sweet Galaxy and it reminded me of that edge-of-my-seat, Mario 64-esque, sweaty palms platforming from yesteryear.  Man this game is sweet.

Hahahaha! Yeah dude, I wouldn't be surprised.

I'll probably have the game beat pretty quickly (18 hours a day), Friday can't come soon enough. In 37 hours time I'll be holding it. This feels like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I've got a golden ticket. The suspense is killing me.

*gasp*

I MUST PLAY THIS! My best friend who has a Wii isn't getting it because in his words, "Mario games are overhyped."

As a sign of how pathetic I am, I went and bought the game... without a system to run it.

I see you've caught the bug too. That's the first step on the road to Nintendo fanboyism (^_^). I think it's true love. Ahhhh.

Just finished it with 120 stars like 2 days ago.
I had finished the story itself already as soon as I had 60 stars, but this game actually marks one of the extremely rare times that Nintendo includes an extra ending if you get all there is to get. I think they've only ever done that with Metroid before.
The other bonus you get is pretty nice too. I might play through the game again with this.

And come on! The loopdeloop stuff was easy, as was most everything. The only thing that gave me a hard time was having to clean up junk using Bob-ombs. The first time was okay, but the second trial was HELL.

It sounds like the game isn't very long. But stars AGAIN, and 120 of them, they've definitely played it safe with the game mechanics.

Talking about Metroid I missed the Gold credit you get when you protect all 12 Demolition Troopers:( I'm gonna have to play through it again to get the credit now:)

I feel so left behind...

Just picked it up yesterday at Toys R Us.  Got my $25.00 and turned right around and got Picross DS.  It's nice to finally be caught up (somewhat) to the more elite of this forum!  I'll start Galaxy hopefully on Friday.

Hey, you'll be starting at the same time as me! I can't believe I'll be playing it in less than (ephidel checks the time) 19 hours. I'll disappear for a while when I get it, so don't expect to see me until I've CANED Galaxy. ^_^

Have you checked out GameFAQs yet?  I'm curious if that first unlockable is legit:  http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/wii/code/915692.html

Does anyone notice how technically impressive the sound programming is?  The score segues from orchestra to MIDI without any type of pause or abrupt transition.  Only the trained ear would ever hear the difference.  That's very impressive.  And now that they've figured out how to make orchestrated music psuedo-interactive, I expect more in-house Nintendo games to be given the orchestral treatment (particularly Zelda).

well I have minor complaint about the game,
I bought it yesterday and finished it today(granted, only 62 stars), but it took me maybe 10-12 hours to blaze through the main story,
I've been waiting for this game basically since Super Mario Sunshine, which is about 5 years - finishing it within a day is kind of disappointing but then again what 10 hours that been!
I intend to collect all 120 stars which shouldn't take more than another 10 hours(I hope it will).
hands down the best platformer of this generation, gameplay, design, soundtrack, graphics, ideas behind it are top notch.
truly fantastic experience.

The only real complaint that I've heard has been the game's length, but I'm sure that this is a game you wouldn't mind playing through again. I have a feeling that this will be one of those games that I will play two or three times in a row.

I think I'll do one star a day, Mario training.

@Ryu: Haven't quite got that far yet, but now that I've read that, I'll definitely be checking it out. Sounds like it might be legit.

totally, definitely a classic that I will be giving a whirl every now and then upon completion.

It's not another Mario 64... thank goodness! 22 stars in, it's pretty promising. Nintendo has finally found success in making a 3D Mario game.

Oh yeah, a lot of the music is fantastic.

I finally sat down and started really playing SMG. I just finished the first observatory, and I have 10 stars. It's taken me about two hours to get this far. I have to say, I haven't been this enthusiastic and genuinely giddy about a Mario game since the first time I played M64. With SMS and NSMB, I had a lot of fun, but in retrospect I had some reservations... something just didn't feel right to me 100%. SMG is an absolute joy to play, and the amount of polish and genuine gaming bliss that's on this disc makes Contra 4 look like a PopCap game. I'm having an absolute blast.

Now that's just cold cheese, brother.  How you gonna compare such wildly different gaming genres like that?  Like peaches and plums, man.

If I had a peach and a plum in front of me and tried a bit of each, I'd have the right to say that this plum tastes like cardboard and this peach tastes like sweet rapture. In other words: Contra 4 was a let down for me, and Mario Galaxy was not. The level of enjoyment I get from MG makes me not even want to look at the Contra box I have on my shelf right now.

Don't get me wrong; as fanatical I am about the game, I can certainly respect your feelings of discontent for Contra 4.  All the same, this thread just seemed like an inappropriate place to express said feelings - especially since the C4 thread, at the moment, is active and like one or two topics next to each other.

I am fairly sure that if I referenced my feelings about Mario Galaxy and another game, you would not have made these posts in this thread in response to mine; you wouldn't have posted if I said that SMG made Ratchet and Clank look like freeware. I made a few comments about Contra here because I was relating my experience with that game to my experience with SMG, which I think is appropriate since this thread is about people's experience with SMG, and also because I have played both games back-to-back.

I find it very interesting that with the frequency of off-topic posts that happen here in a majority of the major live threads, you only posted here to call me out when I make a negative comment or two about Contra, the one game that you are fanatical about right now. Don't take it so personally.

I finally got a chance to play SMG and within a day, I had 32 stars. As far as play mechanics go, there really isn't much new here but who cares when it's this much fun? Music-wise, I've found the orchestral stuff terrific (what little of it there's been so far) and the synth material is adequate.

Wouldn't that be something?  I haven't played the game since Tuesday, but my vacation has officially started, so once I take care of some stuff around the house tomorrow, it'll just be Mario Galaxy for me for the next six days.  Can't freaking wait.

You might be right.  Although to be fair, R&C is much more apt to comparison to Galaxy than Contra, both being 3D platformers and is featured on current next-gen systems.  But that's beside the point, I know -- and I'm cool with your reasoning here, too: 

Didja finally get your Wii?  Didja?  ^_^

I'm taking the slow and savoring route with Galaxy.  I only have about seven stars so far, but I've replayed the few levels I already beat numerous times.  Not that there's a whole lot of of other secrets to be found, but at least I'll have a nice surplus of Star Bits by the end. :)

And I just discovered that "secret move" that the instruction manual and even the guide failed to mention; the "homing stomp," which is accomplished by pressing the Z button at the peak of a midair spin.  Very cool.

Damn, I never knew about that.  Thanks for the tip.

I am a big fan of how there are a few objectives in a bunch of galaxies than a bunch of objectives in a few levels. As my buddy so aptly put it: "It's like 'oh, man, I unlocked a new galaxy, lets check this shit out,' rather than 'ok, I need to clean goop off of the beach.'"

Alas, no. I brought the game to a friend's house. The machine is practically impossible to find right now!

That's probably why I was in such a hurry, because I knew I was on a time limit... I'm half tempted to wait until I have a Wii (whenever that will be ), start over and take my time, exploring every area and admiring the sights.

Plus, I can't get enough of that Egg Galaxy theme. Before I quit playing, I had made it to that gusty level and I love the music there too.

I'm pretty sure there are rips/recordings out there already, but I've been meaning to get on the horn to do some custom recordings of my own.  Your post just prompted me to do so. 

I haven't gotten up to what you're likely referring to as Gusty Garden, but here's Good Egg Galaxy, at least.  It's got just a bit of sound effects toward the beginning, unfortunately, what with those darned Meta-Knight-esque Electric Goombas hopping about and the Star Bits twinkling in the background.  It was the only way I could include the intro of the piece: 

Good Egg Galaxy:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/angie_liu … gs&.view=l