The first is a drill attachment, which Mario carries above his head shake the Wiimote, and he will burrow straight through the centre of whatever planet he is on. The key to reaching what often appear to be unreachable stars is Mario's array of power-ups and special abilities, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 has two new ones. Those puzzles are invariably so good that they will make you chuckle and nod in appreciation of their sheer cleverness. As in the first Super Mario Galaxy, you have to reach stars to open new galaxies, by executing deft platform moves and solving all manner of puzzles, often involving delicious mischief with the laws of gravity. This time around, you can opt to play as Luigi as you enter each galaxy. Structurally, it is near-indistinguishable from its predecessor, with several worlds to navigate, each split into seven or so galaxies (the last of which presents you with a boss to be defeated before you're awarded a Grand Star). At least Miyamoto-san saves his best efforts for games featuring Mario, as Super Mario Galaxy 2 amply demonstrates. The problem isn't likely to resolve itself until medical technology allows us to clone several copies of Nintendo's in-house development genius, Shigeru Miyamoto.

The arrival, then, of Super Mario Galaxy 2 could not be more timely. The compelling games with which it was furnished when new dried up in recent months to a trickle of dross, and one suspects many Wiis began to gather dust in the back of toy-cupboards. C onsoles usually take a while to get into their stride, but the Wii, as befits its disruptive nature, seemed to have reversed that trend.

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