I got Sam Super Mario Galaxy for Christmas (w...

December 18, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games

I got Sam Super Mario Galaxy for Christmas (which we opened early). He's played it for a few days now and it is, indeed, an awesome game. There's these tiny planets that remind me of the one in The Little Prince book. Mario runs around these little things, doing all manner of crazy activities. Each little planetoid is novel and interesting, a constant exploration of a strange cartoon universe.

The best part for me is that there's a "helper co-op" feature. I can point the second wimote and the screen and do things like freeze enemies, pick up gems, shoot gems at foes, and help Sam jump higher than normal. As a parent, it's a brilliant addition, as there are occasionally spots in the game that would otherwise be pretty hard for Sam to get through.

I also picked up Call of Duty 4, though I've only played for a half an hour or so. The production values are excellent, though so far the game is fairly traditional. I suspect it'll be a fun if typical shooter.

I also downloaded Frets on Fire, an open source Guitar Hero clone. It was surprisingly fun, leading to lots of exclaimations of "Rock and Roll!" in the downstairs play room. It's pretty hard for Sam, though, mostly because he can't really hold the keyboard like a guitar. Finally he switched to using the keyboard normally and the game stopped telling him he played like a little girl.