After more than a quarter-century at the forefront of the video gaming world, you'd think that Nintendo would have run out of scenarios for the medium's most popular plump plumber. Like the Muppets and the Leprechaun film series before them, however, the company tapped into a long understood method for prolonging a franchise—send your characters into space. Unlike those perhaps slightly more tired rehashes, however, this latest iteration reinvigorates the Super Mario Bros. series like in a way subsequent titles have failed since the release of Super Mario 64, some 10 years ago. As always, Mario is tasked with saving a kidnapped Princess from the claws of Bowser. This time around, however, the journey finds the hero leaping across 42 galaxies, one planet at a time, navigating gravitation fields, black holes, and comets, with game play that embracing the Wiimote, rather than awkwardly attempting to incorporate it into the game—the downfall of many of the console's games. Once you get the hang of the unique game play, Super Mario Galaxy emerges as arguably the best game produced for the Wii, thus far, and one of the greatest platformers on any console.

For more on this game, see 1Up.com's review of Super Mario Galaxy.