Meh.

I just don't think Galaxy 2 deserves its heaping praise. It's a good game, but it shouldn't be topping rating charts. That's what I hate most about it, it gets pretty much a free pass and I've made fairly convincing arguments against people who defend Super Mario Galaxy 2. Of course, it's a nice discussion but I don't think people have ever brought up a valid counterargument on why Super Mario Galaxy 2 deserves its praise.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of single-player games, but it just irks me that games like Left 4 Dead 2, the Spore Galactic Adventures expansion pack, Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and other iterative sequels do so much more to their games relative to Super Mario Galaxy 2. Super Mario Galaxy definitely had its flaws, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 did VERY little to address it. Even when simply expanding its gameplay, Galaxy 2 didn't do much other than introduce new levels and new powerups (some barely used) while nearly eschewing its old, under-used powerups and introducing linear level progression and gimped swimming controls. It also rehashes so many concepts such as hot-cold (twice), introduces even more forgettable bosses where you hit an obvious weakpoint on its behind SEVERAL TIMES (Mario never had great bosses, but Galaxy 2's are especially forgettable), sand dune thing, a fully recycled part of Beach Bowl and Toy Time, etc.. It's a failed opportunity, and so even as a game that just adds minimum changes to the gameplay but have more objects, enemies, levels, etc. it's still a game that fails there. It had a few cool things like Beat Blocks, slowing down the tempo, and a few things, but it doesn't make up for the "been there done that" exasperation I was feeling when I played the game.

On the skin level, Melee introduced a chock ton of new content that changes gameplay.

Direct gameplay
Addition of side-special moves, a giant gameplay change
Addition of air dodging, which is a huuuuge gameplay change
Addition of side-stepping, which is pretty major, but it's much better in the sequels
Addition of charging Smash Attacks
Addition of a Special Mode.
More single-player options (the lack of single-player options was a big criticism of Smash 64):Event Matches, Adventure, AND All-Star mode

And the other stuff
Double the characters
Much more stages
Much more items
Addition of a collectable system, trophies.
Music options

Yeah, your main might be utter trash in Melee, but it has nothing to do with Melee itself and just your character's moveset is awful and heavily nerfed from Smash 64. Maybe you can give Melee a fair judgement by using some mods that exist and are dedicating to balancing Melee, and so that means Kirby probably getting a huge buff.

On the other hand, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is mostly new levels and new enemies and new temporary powerups. There isn't really anything new to shake up the gameplay such as new modes (except a better Co-Star mode, which I have to give it to them, is the most improved thing in Galaxy 2) or new mechanics with levels built around them.

Melee's AI is even worse than Smash 4's AI to be honest. If you think they're unfair, you're not used to their playstyle. They don't attempt to dodge your Pokemon, they never dash, they like using their jabs and grabs, they never charge their attacks, they hardly use items unless it's an accident or a Pokeball/Cloaking device, and they're prone to hilarious mistakes like trying to meteor smash you and killing themselves after failing. Kirby's AI is especially awful. Just use inhale on him, press down or b, watch him try to use Stone on you, rinse and repeat. Then kill him. He always comes out from the rock when it expires, so yeah. If you can beat Smash 4 level 9's, you can certainly beat Melee's level 9's. Yes, they are very awful. I beat them when I was, like, 9. Heck, there is a picture of a level 9 getting beaten up, and it's from 2005, so yeah.

I'm a Melee fan, but I avoid Melee elitism. I think Smash 4 and Smash 64 are valid competitive-wise, and I actually like Smash 4 because Mario's a total beast rather than some middling plumber, but I don't like tier lists as much as I accept them. I just use who I like.

Oh, wave-dashing isn't a glitch. It's more like an exploit of your character's momentum from an airdodge translating to a slide in the ground.

Posted by xkitten

Fair argument.

And yeah, I also use characters I like. I happen to use Kirby, Luigi, and Zelda who are nowhere near high in the tier list I just dislike that Kirby was nerfed so badly.

Oh yeah, they're not amazing characters, but you can beat the level 9's handily with them. Beating up level 9's in Melee is very routine for us.

^Melee is still more balanced than Barlw in my opinion.