Super Mario Galaxy Adds Parent & Child Play Mode

Posted by: Micheal Mullen on Game News

New gaming mode in latest Mario lets parents take helpful backseat role to help their youngest players.

The beautiful visuals and compelling gameplay in this week’s release of Super Mario Galaxy for Nintendo Wii is also appealing to younger children who haven’t polished their coordination skills. While teens and adults will want to hog the game for themselves, Super Mario Galaxy offers a new mode that allows children to enjoy the same experience with an older family member.

Sure, playing the game is a classic single player experience but the game’s cooperative mode gives the second player an assistive function. As the second player, you don’t get a character on screen, you get a cursor that is used to capture gems, gather coins, help give Mario jump boosts and distract would-be foes. So younger gamers still get to control the primary character, feel like they’re controlling a game and ensures that the game experience lasts longer than what would occur based on their current abilities.

Talking with Nintendo yesterday, the company prefers to use the term Coaster Mode in place of cooperative since the two players aren’t really playing the game equally. While GameDaily’s Libe Goad cites that the Super Mario Galaxy’s weakest link was the game’s cooperative mode, the mode is clearly not something that most gamers would use. Yet, parents who want to enjoy gaming with their younger children (and not fight over who owns the game) will find the new mode a welcome addition to creating in-game cooperation and real-life bonding.

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