The following report is based on a GC07 preview build, and as such may not be reflective of the final version. But, you know, we try our best.

Behind the curtain of the press room, in the dinof the convention hall, basses are thumping,the masses are chattering, and speakers arebroadcasting the shouts of extroverts. But allthat fades into the background, because I'm playing Mario Galaxy, and I'm New Bee, and I'mhaving the most fun I've had all week.

The first thing you notice is how it looks. Thecolours sit on the screen like fresh paint inthe afternoon sun: everything shimmers andfizzles. It's sharp, crisp and gorgeous. The Wii may be theleast powerful console of the generation, butsuch a statistic means nothing when you seehow imagination and visual craft can createsomething that has onlookers simply standing andsmiling. It raises the bar for what's possiblefrom the Wii hardware - the 'it's only the Wii'excuse won't cut it anymore. (Believe me, I sawsome poor looking third party titles at the show)

The second thing you notice is how effortlesslythe games flows. In the hands of lesstalented hands, the concept - a platformer whoselevels are arranged around a collection ofhigh-gravity walk-around planets - could havebeen something of a mess. It could be disorientating, or awkward with the camera andmovement. But it's not: it is seamless. Eventhe ambidextrous use of the Wiimote pointer feelsinstantly natural. Movement is spontaneous butsolid, and the intertia as you float between planetoidsis perfectly judged. The new mechanics becomeinvisible, the sure sign of quality design.

It is the new features of Galaxy which have eatenthe most newsprint, but the greatest impressionyou get from it is something as much classic, familiarself-assured as it is exciting and innovative. More thanMario Sunshine - a game that deserves more creditthan it got, but which still added a sometimesunnecessary artifice to the experience - thisfeels like a proper, pure Mario game. Running overand under floating planetoids, shaking the Wiimote to launch between them, grabbing and flinging objects with the pointer: the wholeexperience of just navigating the elastic,kinetic, environmentsis delirously entertaining. Like those first,grinning moments in SM64, it's rewarding just tobe playing the game, curiously poking and exploring for the simple sake of it.

The four levels we were shown at GC are probably wellknown by now: a Bee level in which you don theBee costume apparently for no other reason thanto look adorable; the game's opening section;a space level whose nebula imagery will stun you; and aPiranha-battling level. Two 'secret levels',accessible via entering a bottom combo I hearis now doing the rounds on GAF, were on the build as well. This journalist was scorned bya Nintendo rep when he tried to nefariously access them, but did get to see a fellow journoplaying through one of the levels. Seemingly buildon the concept of Cookie Cutters, its movingplatforms were a step more difficult than theplacid 'official' levels, and bodes well for thechallenge of the final version.

It's what you can't read in reports or see invideos that makes Galaxy such an exciting title:the uncluttering, silky smooth feel of playingit. Free of gimmicks, distractions, and excesses,you'll love it for the same reasons you lovedMario as a kid. It's bright, cheerful, unfettered by pretension, and is constructed bypeople who know and love what they're doing likefew others working in the format.

Most of all, it is unapologetically, life affirmingly fun. Remember playing videogames like that?

Conor Smyth
[email protected]