Recently, I'm playing Super Mario Galaxy on Wii, which was released in Nov. 1. It is so amazing. Just like the 3D Mario series before, you have to search totally 120 stars on every planet. There are many shapes of planets and all stars in the screen. The music is grand, and the game is exciting. I can't stop playing it.

The factor I appreciate the most is its control. Although the way to play is the same as before, this time the background is in the space. Notice that when you are in the space, you may get upside-down many times. You are playing a "real" 3D world game. You can go not only one plane and you can use the gravity of other planets to move there. But the point is you won't get lost when playing. Besides, the camera always takes a good point of view so that you can know how to move easily even if you are upside-down. And you know, the spirit of Mario is run and jump. So you only need to know that pushing A for jump and swinging controller for spin, and you can enjoy the whole game. It has an extremely simple design, so everyone loves this game.

There are many kind design of the interaction, too. When there is new information, and you can see a mail icon when you approach postman. The mission of every planet will give you a clear indication. Even if in the universal world, the route is linear and you can know where to go easily. What surprised me the most is, you can grab the stardust by pointing screen with controller. Thus in the game you almost don't need to think over how to play. It's so intuitional.

Intuitional. It is the most important factor of every design. There were so many 3D action games between these ten years, and there were many games that were similar to Mario. But why is Super Mario Galaxy so popular? I think it is not only because Mario is well-known. If Mario has dozens of game function more than today, and there will be no one likes it. The basic fun of gaming is to use the function you have, follow the rules, and do your best to reach the goal. Too many services will let user get confused. Today Wii has its strong power to do creativity and diversity, but it don't need to show them all at once. We can enjoy the game with just a little creativity and get big surprise. That is simplicity.

I have read some dialogs of Mario's producers. They have more other details that make the game feel smooth, like they match the sound effect with the music in a special technology. I feel so amazing that they did so many efforts and let players feel comfortable unconsciously. Maybe there are more other secrets in there design. You know that you can jump with A button in Super Mario Galaxy, but do you know that there are five different ways to jump? They didn't tell you in the game unless you search your instruction book because they are not necessary. They are for experts, so they are "hided." What a good job!