I doubt that the developers at Nintendo have been brainstorming ways to tie Zelda and Mario together (outside of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, anyway), but at a recent demo of Super Mario Galaxy 2 at Nintendo's office, I couldn't stop drawing parallels between the mustachioed plumber's new adventure and past games in Link's long-running franchise. While they're still very different games, both in tone and controls, here are a few of the bigger similarities I noticed:
Goron Mario
With any new Mario game come enhanced abilities, from full-on animal suits to special caps and capes. But the latest power on-hand for this demo was Rock Mario, or as I like to call it, "Goron Mario." From the name alone, you might think this new ability bears something in common with Metal Mario from Mario 64; instead, this craggy transformation lets Mario morph into a rolling boulder of destruction. Like a lazy Goron (and a lot like the Goron Mask in Majora's Mask), you can use your power to quickly zip across the stage. You don't have much control once you get going, but the power's more about mowing down enemies and smashing anything that gets between you and finding the star hidden at the end of each level.
Click the image above to check out all Super Mario Galaxy 2 screens.
I only got to play around in one stage as Rock Mario, but I did get to close out that level with a fight against Rollodillo, an armored, rolling boss who's only weak point is on his exposed backside. If you stay away from his furious rolling attack long enough, he eventually exposes his furry (we're talking Star Fox Adventures-level fuzziness) blue butt letting you aim your newfound rolling powers at his vulnerable back. So, while your attack mechanics mimic something from Link's world, the boss itself is classic Mario.
Slide Puzzle Shuffle
Sliding blocks around to solve puzzles isn't purely the domain of Link and company, but Mario games tend to focus more on split-second timing and stomping your way through problems than moving around crates and forming pictures. But in the Puzzle Plank Galaxy, I had to circumnavigate and butt-stomp floating boards to move them around and arrange their front side into a picture (to make a star piece appear). Sure, Link usually has to do a more actual pushing and pulling, and the actual puzzle part doesn't approach the elaborate crate and block theatrics of a good Zelda game, but it was still a bit more than the straightforward platforming you tend to associate with Mario.
2D Platforming
When I say "2D platforming," I'm referring more to the brief, side-scrolling dungeon sections from the Game Boy Zelda outings -- not to the entirely 2D Adventure of Link). While it might be a bit of a stretch, since Zelda's 2D sections were copying Mario more than the other way around (especially when you throw in the Thwomps, Chain Chomps, and Goombas from Link's Awakening), but you're still getting a decidedly 2D (well, Nintendo officially calls them "2.5D" areas) experience in the middle of an otherwise non-2D game such as in Bumble Beginnings, a stage in the Honeybloom galaxy.
You traverse a straightforward, retro level by dodging enemies and leaping obstacles, but without moving into the foreground or background. It's not new, no -- you had the same thing in Mario Galaxy 1 -- but its one-off, flat gameplay follows a precedent set by bygone Zelda games. And just in case you didn't get the hint from the level's title, this particular galaxy also has you flying around in the returning-from-the-last-game bee suit.
