Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii gaming console ( Buy Wii at ) has been one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. With its release on November 12th, 2007, many of the games details have come to light. Below, we will take a closer look at the new Super Mario Galaxy.

Super Mario Galaxy features the most power ups of any Mario game to date. Most of the Super Mario Galaxy takes place in outer space along a vast chain of miniature planets and other space matter. Mario is able to jump from planet to planet defeating the enemies and gathering items in the process. These power ups include the return of the super mushroom and fire flower. There is also an ice flower which allows you to freeze water and turn it into icy platforms and a new spring power up which allows Mario to jump to great heights. In addition, there is a rainbow star power up which temporarily allows Mario to be invincible and is similar to the star man power up found in other Mario games. There are also 2 transformation suits. These include a bee suit which transforms Mario into a bee and allows him to fly short distances and land on delicate flowers and a boo suit which transforms Mario into a boo ghost and allows Mario to pass through certain walls.

In addition to the power ups and the new transformation suits, new game play mechanics include a new 2 player mode, gravity arrows which make Mario gravitate in the direction that the arrows point and star bits which can be collected by simply moving the cursor over them. For every 50 star bits that get collected, an extra life is awarded.

Super Mario Galaxy starts the game off with Mario receiving a letter from Princess Peach inviting him to the castle for the star festival. Upon Mario's arrival, everyone is celebrating the arrival of a comet which flies over the kingdom and only happens once every 100 years. Small pieces of this comet break off and form what is known in the game as star bits. These star bits are one of the things Mario collects throughout the game. Without warning, Bowser crashes the party and kidnaps Princess Peach. This time, however, he has a UFO and takes Princess Peach into outer space with him.

The new (and the old) game play mechanics make for a very addictive and highly entertaining game. If you own a Nintendo Wii, do yourself a favor and purchase this game. You will not regret it. Without a doubt, Super Mario Galaxy is an interesting, fun and at times dizzying experience. ( Buy Wii at )