Mario Galaxy vs. Ratchet & Clank: ToD Showdown

PS3Blog.net writes:

With the next Ratchet & Clank game coming out this month and with a next Mario Galaxy game coming out next year, and now that I've completed both games and had time to reflect on them, I thought it would be fun to do a scored category-by-category comparison of the two kings of the 3D platformer.

Scores are obviously subjective and light-hearted fun..

[darkequitus]

I would agree with the writer here.

I bought TOD and Q4B (unfinished). I have played my Neices Mario Galaxy before moving to the US, and it is impressive looking for a Wii game. The gameplay is very rich indeed.

[Keith Olbermann]

Ratchet is mostly about the weapons. There is platforming but not to Marios degree. I enjoyed galaxy better as well up until I realized I was receiving no trophies or achievements and it looked pretty bad on my hdtv. Call me names if you like but its true.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Actually most people would admit that SMG looks pretty good on an HDTV. I know it did on mine. Any other Wii game and most would agree with you, but you picked the wrong game to say looks bad.

[Xander-RKoS]

Really, no achievements or trophies? Has that really become a motivator for finishing a game?

[Xbox Avatars Shoe]

R&C has moved from it's heaving platforming-based gameplay, towards more of an action theme. There's more shooting and combat than platforming in R&C now. Insomniac has even discussed how they purposely made the PS3 series is a lot different than the PS2 games.

Mario Galaxy is 99.9% platforming so this isn't really a great comparison. Obviously a game centered on platforming will have better platforming than a game focusing on action with some platforming on the side.

[mal_tez92]

The Mario franchise has been milked for too long and has gone to hell. The only good ones are the sidescrollers so I'll be getting Super Mario Bros.

Ratchet and Clank is a great franchise that keeps on improving and has a lot of room left to grow. I'd say it wont die for another 2 to 4 games.

[asdr3wsfas]

The game has something like a trophy - when you get all 121 stars w/mario and luigi you get pictures of mario with the princess and luigi with rosalina sent to your wii console. You can mail it to others who have a wii or even email it from your wii. This is essentially proof you owned the game (I still have mine saved).

If mario looks bad on the hdtv you either don't have composite cables and the 480p setting or you didn't calibrate it for the wii. Turn down sharpness and get the other settings right.

I have a 40 inch 1080p I got for cheap, so it's not solid quality. Mario galaxy looks incredible on it. Don't use the same settings for the ps3 and wii - sharpness may help a system that runs in 1080p resolution, but it'll obviously hurt one upconverted from 480p.

I played SMG to the end and got all 121 stars with both chars. I quit the demo of R and C. It's a good game but a shooter, not a platformer like I was looking for, and to compare them because they both have cute lead characters is silly.

[Marceles]

Best thing about Mario Galaxy was its advanced level design while the best thing about Ratchet were the action packed levels and graphics. I like both games. The other thing I liked about SMG was that there weren't many shortcuts to get to the stars, while on SM64 alot of them were a side-backflip and wall jump away.

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

Hmmm... I love both games. But I honestly enjoyed SMG more than ToD.

[akashifire]

Mario is the king of platformers :)

[Saaking]

They're completely different games and both are amazing AAA games not possible on the 360. There should not be a comparison.

[foreverflame]

Banjo>Rehash and clank,have fun playing with a squirrel.

[kissmeimgreek]

cmon... get it all out of yah. only 10 days left

[hatchimatchi]

lol @ foreverflame

classic

[kaveti6616]

Uh... have fun playing with a bear. What kind of insults are you resorting to? Come on, man. At least try to be funny with your trolling.

[sakura2009]

forever flame. have fun playing with a pedobear

[EvilTwin]

I think of R/C as more of an action game with some elements of platforming thrown into the mix.

Mario is pure platforming, and it doesn't get any better in the genre than SMG. On Wii, the visuals don't get any better, either. With sparse, spherical worlds, it plays to the console's strengths.

Two great games.

[hatchimatchi]

ratchet & clank and mario are both full of win. I'm glad i own a wii and a ps3. I can't wait for 'a crack in time'

[ozstar]

Using guns as a point of comparrison between the games makes the article stupid.

[S4NDM4N]

Both are amazing games, but I loved ToD so much

Groovitron was amazing

[BannedForNineYears]

Ratchet and Clank TOD really sucked in my opinion.
Super disappointing.
Seems like it's meant for 5 year olds...I miss the old Ratchet and Clank games :( :( :( :(

[hatchimatchi]

what's the difference between the old R&C games to the new ones? Tools of Destruction was the first one i played, i loved it though. I'm 24, but i enjoyed how the game made me feel like i was watching/playing a pixar movie. Were the old ones more adult oriented?

[sakura2009]

i love both. both games are great. i like mario galaxy better though. mario as a franchised prove that u dont need mass destruction to make a great platformer

[Alpha_Gamer]

New Ratchet games blow. Should have ended it with Deadlocked. Oh well, ps3 fanboys will gobble it right up and continue to pass up amazing multi-plats such as borderlands just because it`s exclusive.

[Queers of War]

And you will continue hyping up multiplats because you you don't have exclusives. Unlike you, we have a "choice" of getting Ratchet, Borderlands, or both.

You should change your name to Beta Gamer since that is exactly what the 3sh*tty plays.

[djroberts]

Arbitrary and dumb comparison. Both games are great. Galaxy definitly has more issues such as spring mario, purple coins, etc... Ratchet has a great story (galaxy is very weak here), fantastic level design, and more depth. I must say though with all the bits in Ratchet's favor, Galaxy has a great fun factor and something that just feels right.

Both games are great and very different. It's obvious that Galaxy took some inspiration from past Ratchet games where many games have taken inspiration from past Mario titles.

[beavis4play]

he doesn't include a score for "quality of story" which TOD whips SMG and in the technology section, TOD gets only +1?....that's laughable.

good thing this guy says it's "light-hearted fun" because it's a pretty lame comparison.

[StarCSR]

R&C have some great games, but comparing them to Mario is like comparing CoD to Gears Of War... In the end they are different styles of games who just have SOME similarities.
Haven't played the latest R&C on PS3, but I've played the PS2 games and they were fun. But Mario....It's Mario. Except for Mario Sunshine he has always been the king of platforming. And Galaxy was one of THE best.

[hatchimatchi]

i never understood why most people don't like mario sunshine. I actually prefer that game to mario 64 and mario galaxy. I didn't mind the water pack, i know most people disliked it. The reason i like sunshine so much is because of the music and environment, the beach setting was great. It gave the game a great atmosphere.

[Skynetone]

i just thought it was a bad rip off of jak and daxter