This is a sequel that does away with any pretence of narrative – even more so than most Mario games – with no intention of adhering to what was popular at the time (2010 was a big year for big open world, story-driven games) this is platforming in its purest form, and for me, this is Nintendo revealing the true potential of the genre, with countless possibilities for its potential future all laid out at once.Įvery galaxy you blast your way into here – with a delightful shake of the Wiimote – is built around a concept so delightful that an entirely new platforming IP could be forged around it, and then it’s jettisoned out into blackness, never to be seen again in most cases. We all know how it was meant to be Super Mario Galaxy More, a semi-sequel with just a year scheduled to get out the door, and we all know how those amazing minds at Nintendo – with the game’s engine and any teething problems firmly behind them with the 2007 original – were fully unleashed now, coming up with so many amazing ideas for levels that that 1.5 became a big fat 2. It’s the ultimate representation of everything Mario that’s gone before it pure unadulterated genius pouring out of the minds of Nintendo EAD. Promises made and then kept in the most spectacular of fashions. laid the still-recognisable foundations of 2D platforming as we know it and 1996’s Super Mario 64 made the first properly successful jump for the genre into three dimensions, Super Mario Galaxy 2, for me, feels like a destiny fulfilled. How can I push something so obviously important as Dark Souls to one side? What about the majesty of Nier: Automata, Minecraft and Breath of the Wild? But really, going with my (considerable) gut, thinking with as clear a head as I’m now capable and spitting out the first thing I think of, it’s an easy choice. I’ve said it often enough over the years it’s quite possibly my favourite of all time, but these things get confused when you sit and think for too long or listen to external voices or try too hard to force it. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, really. That game is, of course, Super Mario Galaxy 2. And so it was something of a surprise that, when asked to do just that, one game suddenly leapt out of the jumbled mass of gaming memories that make up the majority of my brain, blasting up and out of the carnage, launching into clear space and crystallising itself in my mind’s eye as the clear and obvious winner. Today, PJ takes us right back to the start of the decade.īeing asked to choose your favourite game of the decade should, in theory, be a pretty tough thing to do – especially if, like me, you’ve played an absolutely ridiculous number of games over the past ten years. Following on from our reader-voted Top 50 Games of the Decade, Nintendo Life staff members will be picking their personal favourite Nintendo games between the years 2010-2019.