Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo Wii

1:17pm Sunday 20th January 2008

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HE HAS been Nintendo's star for more than 25 years and now the galaxy is the limit for this indefatigable plumber.

In Mario's latest adventure, he attends a festival in the Mushroom Kingdom and all is well until the villainous Bowser swoops in and kidnaps Princess Peach.

With the help of some illustrious beings called the Lumas and a mysterious woman called Rosalina, Mario is soon in hot pursuit.

By collecting stars, Mario unlocks the gateway to various planets gradually opening a path to his beloved princess and nemesis Bowser.

As usual, it's the time-honoured Mario story that Nintendo has been milking for two decades but the space setting makes it refreshing in a way that Mario's previous adventure, Super Mario Sunshine failed to live up to.

The gravity effects as you navigate the various planets are really fun allowing you to circumnavigate sideways or upside down. This is a bit bewildering at first but soon becomes second nature.

The sense of risk is also still present because if you stray too far from a planet's gravitational field, you'll fall into a black hole.

This all may sound a little complicated, but the controls are very simple, especially if you've played Mario games before.

With the main challenges easy enough for young players and enough quirks, hidden extras and bonus challenges to keep its adult audience appeased, Super Mario Galaxy will no doubt have a universal appeal.

But with a galaxy now conquered, the game begs the question - where will the Mario series go from here?