It’s been a while, but we’re within sight of the end!  I popped Super Mario Galaxy in last night and managed to hammer my way through three more stars.  I completed the Bedroom Galaxy (Bowser’s level here was very annoying because of gravity, screen orientation, and control manipulation).  After completing the Bedroom Galaxy, I was informed that I had gathered enough stars to grant me access to the final level, Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor.  However, I still hadn’t touched the newly available Engine Room Galaxy, so I decided to try it out for shits and giggles.  I jumped into the 1-star galaxy to knock out a quick star, the Bonefin Galaxy.  This is a very small world, made of water.  Almost immediately after jumping into the world, a giant bone shark comes out and starts swimming.  Using koopa shells, the shark is defeated and a star is earned.

One final update remains until I’ve beaten the game.  If it allows me to keep playing galaxies after beating it, maybe I’ll go for full completion, but I don’t know about that right now.

-[insert revolutionary thinking here]

(Editor’s note: This was written in September.  It has been waiting on the fancy little “Featured Articles” icon to be created.)

Upon completion of this fourth star, I noticed that the Daredevil comit was in orbit around the Gusty Garden Galaxy, giving me a fifth star to grab!  I had to beat Major Burrows again, but with only one health piece!  One hit and I was a goner.  Major Burrows was easy, though, since I figured out how to defeat him last update.  One quick battle later, and another star was mine!

Having finished every other galaxy in the Bedroom Observatory (except for the Bowser Boss galaxy), I went back into the Dusty Dune Galaxy.  This star was interesting.  There was a great deal of fast moving sand that kept you moving in a particular direction whether you wanted it to or not.  Smart navigating and jumping was the key to making it past this obstacle.  Then, a double sided world with a timed obstacle was the last thing standing between me and my star!

That’s it for progress update 16!  Progress Update 17 should be coming sometime this week!

-[insert revolutionary thinking here]

(Editor’s note: This was written in September.  It has been waiting on the fancy little “Featured Articles” icon to be created.  This means the last time I played SMG was in June.)

Wow.  Three months since I last played Super Mario Galaxy.  Time to jump back in and grab a few more stars!  With my last update, I had unlocked and completed the Trial Galaxies.  I am now ready to continue into the Bedroom Observatory to tackle the Gusty Garden Galaxy!

In the Gusty Garden Galaxy, I was faced with multiple floating islands with a special flower.  The special flower raised me up into the air currents and pushed me towards the next island.  I had to spin the flower to regain altitude, but the drawback is that you only get three spins before the flower disappears, so they had to be timed just right!  Eventually, I arrived at a cube shaped planet.  To win this star, I had to chase and catch a rabbit.  It took a ew moments, but in the end, the deed was done and the star was mine!

The second run through the Gusty Garden Galaxy gave me a new enemy, the burrowing moles.  These moles had spiked hard hats on, so I couldn’t just thwomp them.  I had to butt slam the ground next to them in order to bring them above ground, then spin attack them.  At the end of this star level, I had to battle Major Burrows, the giant burrowing mole.  This took a slightly different strategy, because he was big, and fast.  He spent most of his time underground, instead of half-underground like the previous burrowing moles.  I could only get him to pop up fully after he surfaced half-way to get his bearings.  A ground pound would pop him out and in, and a second ground pound would pop him out and stun him.  A spin attack later, and he drops back into the ground.  Rinse and repeat, and voila, the second Gusty Garden Galaxy was mine!

The final star had a great series of gravity puzzles and traps.  It was pretty straightforward, but very fun.

That’s it for progress update 15!  Hopefully it doesn’t take another three months for me to get around to progress update 16!

-[insert revolutionary thinking here]

Progress Update 14 starts me off with another postcard from Luigi, claiming to have found another star in an early level!  I remember the area as part of the first time I encountered the Bee Mario mushroom, so I headed over to the Honeyhive Galaxy for an easy star and a ridiculous number of star bits!  I decided at this point to try the Trial Galaxies opened up by the Green Sling Star I had restored.  The first galaxy was the Bubble Blast Galaxy.  This trial required me to collect five star pieces by navigating a bubble through an electric labyrinth.  After the five star pieces were collected, a sling star appeared, which launched me to an electric obstacle course filled with floating mines and Bullet Bills.  At the end of this course was my first trial star!  A second trial awaited, however, in the Rolling Gizmo Galaxy, which is where I headed next.  This trial required me to roll a giant hamster ball containing my star over a very narrow, windy, and moving course!  This was difficult, as controlling the ball requires a great deal of patience, finesse, and skill.  Eventually, however, I got the ball to the end, it broke open, and the star was mine!  One last trial remained, and I traveled to the  Loopdeeswoop Galaxy to conquer it.  This star required me to Ray Surf to the finish line in under three minutes.  If I thought controlling the hamster ball was difficult, I had forgotten about the Ray.  The Ray was extremely frustrating because of the random waves that would throw you off course.  Normally, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, however, the course was very narrow, making even slight course adjustments potentially disastrous.  In the end, however, I managed to get my third trial star, completing the Trial Galaxies!

That’s the end of Progress Update 14.  Come back for Progress Update 15 sometime this weekend!

-Because I said so

Going into Progress Update 13, I’ve already completed two of the five galaxies in the Bedroom Observatory.  The next one up is the Dusty Dune Galaxy which, at first look, seems to be a full desert galaxy.  Almost immediately, I met up with an old friend: Dry Bones!  After passing him by, I encountered a pair of tornadoes.  When I jumped in, it launched me into a helicopter spin that hovered me down slowly to the ground.  This must be used to traverse the flowing quicksand that comprises most of the beginning of this galaxy.  Jumping down into a warp pipe, we go underground and deal with quick flowing quicksand and a series of pihrana plants!  No problem, though.  The main obstacle presented in this galaxy was the flowing quicksand, which is easily bypassed and navigated.  I captured the star and jumped in for another one.  In this round, we see yet another old friend: Pokey!  After beating five mini-Pokey’s, you deal with a full size Pokey.  It was as simple as spin attacking each of his stacked balls until he was nothing more than a head.  Shortly after the Pokey, I came across a hungry Luma, who transformed into a new special planet in the galaxy and a new special sling star.  After finding the five silver stars, the final green star appeared!  I was transported back to the main Comet Observatory platform for a special cutscene.  The Green Launch Star was created, and three new galaxies were made available.  A new Hungry Luma appeared next to the Bedroom Observatory with a special galaxy for me to conquer!  I feed him the required number of star bits, and the Bigmouth Galaxy appeared.  A new enemy awaited me.  A sneaky crab was sidling along the beach.  A Kung Fu Penguin was hanging out, waiting for me to talk to him.  The star was in a golden chest, which required a golden shell to open.  The golden shell was down through the water, with a very strange gravity reversal.  In the end, the star was won, and I was returned to the Comet Observatory.

That’s it for Progress Update 13.  Check back soon for Progress Update 14!

-Because I said so

After playing some Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy with Lindsey, she headed off, and I started up Super Mario Galaxy!  I headed back into the Bedroom Observatory, and noticed that the Freezeflame Galaxy had a Cosmic Comet in orbit!  I jumped in and got ready to race!  One quick dash later, I have another star.  I headed back into the Freeflame Galaxy for the third official star.  This star had me experience both ice and lava elements of the Freezeflame Galaxy.  An interesting ability of the Ice Flower is that it turns water into ice whenever you walk over it.  Also interesting is the fact that it can turn lava into ice when you walk over it.  This was handy, as the only way to get to the star was to pass through alternating areas of ice and lava, with a good number of Ice Flowers thrown in at strategic locations.  Having mastered ice skating over pools of lava, I obtained yet another star.  The fifth Freezeflame Galaxy star was waiting for me, so back I went!  This star was very difficult.  Not because of a difficult enemy, but because it required a great deal of timing and skilled jumping.  It took multiple tries to get to the top of the mountain, beyond Baron Brrr, but I was finally able to make it and claim the star!  I had now fully completed the Freezeflame Galaxy.

Given the frustration I experienced during the final Freezeflame Galaxy star, I decided to end Progress Update 12, and go to the grocery store for some milk.

Progress Update 13 will be up soon!

-Because I said so

Progress update 11 is here!  As soon as I started my play file, I noticed that one of the toadstools had a mail icon, meaning I had a message.  I retrieved a letter from Luigi, who was informing me that he had found a new star in one of my previous galaxies.  He included a snapshot of the location so that I could figure out what galaxy he was in.  I also received a letter from Princess Peach, which included 5 1-Ups!

Taking Luigi’s snapshot, I tried to remember the name of the galaxy he was in.  After browsing through a few galaxies, I finally arrived at an answer: The Battlerock Galaxy from the Fountain Observatory.  I found Luigi fairly early in, and rescued him.  He provided me with one of the special green stars I mentioned in an earlier progress update, putting me one closer to the special green star gate becoming available!  Having completed this, I made my way back to the Bedroom Observatory, and jumped back into the Freezeflame Galaxy for the second star.  This galaxy was mentioned in the previous progress update as being the first full ice galaxy in the game.  That, apparently, was incorrect.  The twin of the ice planet in this galaxy is a lava planet, and it’s where I was headed next.  A new foe awaited me in the form of a giant rolling ball of lava with eyes.  Fortunately, they were very slow and easy to avoid.  Eventuall, in this level, I was able to find a Fire Flower!  Fire Mario had arrived!  The Fire Flower in Super Mario Galaxy is a limited effect flower like the Ice Flower, so I had to move fast.  For some reason, fireballs were the only way to vanquish the giant rolling balls of FIRE (whatever).  They are also the only thing that can light fires in the empty urns.  This is necessary, because they open doors and raise platforms to allow you to progress in the game.  It actually becomes necessary to complete the level, as you have to light two urns from across the lava in order to extend the bridge to the star.  It was difficult to aim across the lava, but I managed it and got the star!  I decided to stop at this point, because I had a bit of a headache, but I’ll pick it up again sometime tonight, I’m sure!

Progress Update 12 coming soon!

-Because I said so

One month since progress update 9 has passed, and we have finally arrived at progress update 10!  I finally sat down and put Super Mario Galaxy back into the Wii.  Last time I checked in, I had completed three full observatories, and was looking forward to entering into the fourth observatory, the Bedroom Observatory.  The Bedroom Observatory, as I mentioned in progress update 9, differs from the previous observatories by having only one one-star galaxy and three three-star galaxies, rather than two one-star galaxies and two three-star galaxies.

I went in and took on the one-star galaxy first to get it out of the way.  The Honeyclimb Galaxy star consisted of heavy use of the Bee Mario suit, requiring you to essentially climb a honeycomb cliff using the suit to reach the star at the top.  Following this, I jumped into the first three-star galaxy I saw, which was the Freezeflame Galaxy.  We have now arrived at the first ice galaxy.  The first star I attempted had me assaulting the pinnacle of the planet, climbing up the peak by using the Ice Flower extensively, as well as the newly introduced skating ability, which allows Mario to skate across ice surfaces, providing a great deal of control that is usually lacking in ice levels.  Reaching the top, I defeated Baron Brrr fairly easily, and earned my second star of the night.

At this point, I set the game aside for the night.  I’ll try to play again tomorrow and put up progress update 11!

-Because I said so

A much shorter gap between 8 and 9 than 7 and 8!  Going into Progress Update 9, I had 1 star remaining (that I know of) before the Kitchen Observatory’s Bowser battle.  I jumped back into the Ghostly Galaxy for the final star.  This level introduced me to the Bomb Boos, black ghosts that would explode when spun into an object.  Mastering spinning the ghosts where you want is the only way to progress through this level and defeat the final boss, who was quite the doozy.  Being unable to obtain the comet star of the Ghostly Galaxy (as there were no comets in orbit), I continued on to the Bowser battle with 41 stars in tow.  The Bowser battle galaxy gave me my first taste of the launch cannons I so loved from Super Mario 64.  Defeating Bowser Jr.’s airship attacks was fairly simple, and yet another Grand Star was mine, opening up a new Observatory on the Comet Observatory!  The newly opened Bedroom Observatory galaxies were already completely opened to me because of my high star count.  I have four galaxies to get through before the Bowser Battle of the Bedroom Observatory, after which the final Observatory (the Engine Room) will be available to me.  The Bedroom Observatory, in a departure from the other Observatories, contains only a single one-star galaxy, and three three-star galaxies, whereas the other Observatories contained two of each.  That’s it for this update!

Tune in next time for Progress Update 10!  We’re nearing the finish, I think!

Never fear, I haven’t given up on this game quite yet!  Life has been good at keeping me away from it for the past couple of weeks, but no longer!  Progress update 8 finds me back in the Kitchen Observatory, collecting more stars!  Having completed all but one galaxy in the Kitchen Observatory (other than the Bowser Galaxy), I turn my attention to the Ghostly Galaxy’s first star, “Luigi and the Haunted Mansion”.  This star gave me my first experience with Boo Mario and my first meeting with Luigi!  Boo Mario is a great cap.  You can float as well as pass through bars, etc with ease, which is necessary for completing the level.  After meeting up with Luigi and gaining the power star, I sat through a cut-scene where I was told to talk to the newly freed Luigi for some help and information.  Luigi told me that I had missed a star in the Good Egg Galaxy and told me that if he found it, he’d write me a letter.  After this, I jumped back into the Ghostly Galaxy for star 2!  While heading into the star course, I found a secret route, and gladly followed.  This was a very difficult (at first) star to get.  You had a small area of ground to walk on, and it was constantly moving forward towards your destination.  You had to follow the ground, or risk falling off.  It was very surreal.  This star having been attained, I experienced another cut-scene, with a picture card from Luigi stating that he had found the Good Egg star, but was stuck!  The picture showed his location in the galaxy, and, eager for another star, I headed over!  Back in the Terrace Observatory, I enter the Good Egg Galaxy and quickly find Luigi to obtain the star he posesses.  At this point, our dog started growling at Mario for some reason.  Undeterred, Mario re-entered the second Ghostly Galaxy star.  This star consisted of a space race between Mario and a giant Boo.  It was a bit difficult, but very fun.  Now at 40 stars, a new chapter has been added to Rosalina’s Storybook, and Progress Update 8 comes to a close!

Keep your eyes open for Progress Update 9!

-Because I said so