Official Nintendo Mag gives Galaxy 97%

via Computer and Video Games

"Super Mario Galaxy is one of the finest games we've ever played".

Those are the words you wanted to hear, right?

Issue 23 of the Official Nintendo Magazine UK hits shelves tomorrow with the first English-written review of Miyamoto's platform stunner, and the big, fat 97 percent slapped on it means they like it quite a bit.

"It's funny because the thing that annoys us most is that its fantastic graphics show us the sort of games we could have been playing for the past year had some developers bothered to pull their finger out," reviewer Chris Scullion says, in praise of the lush visuals we've been shouting about for months.

"Throughout the whole game the graphics constantly amaze, with stunning visual effects, some remarkably huge playing areas, and characters that are positively filled to the brim with personality," he continues.

"The sound is some of the best we've heard in a Mario game," he goes on to say, citing the mix of catchy new tunes with retro-tastic remixed classics (you can hear SMB. 3 music remixed in this video of the awesome Cookie Factory level).

"Some of the power-ups give a similar sense of nostalgia", he adds, noting the return of Fire and Invincible Mario, along with others "involving ice and bouncing" which they gladly chose not to reveal (no spoilers, thanks).

Gladly, it's not too easy either, says ONM. "While some of the missions are quite simple, others will test the skills of even the most dedicated Mario fans." Phew.

Their only complaint is of the "tacked on" second player Remote feature (which allows another player to fool around with their own pointer). But we were never bothered about that anyway.

Check out the full, spoiler-free six-page review in the Mario-covered ONM #23 on shelves tomorrow, along with a free metal Zelda Hylian Crest pin badge and some Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games DS decals.

We'll have a review of our own closer to the game's launch on November 16.


Magazine frontpage scan here