Grown-up gamers will be in a weird spot when they succumb to Super Mario Galaxy. Compare Nintendo's big hit of the year to a movie like Toy Story—similar all-ages appeal, similar level of quality, humor, fun and attention to detail. Thing is, if you happen to invest in Toy Story's melodrama, it's in passive form. Yet when Mario tickles queen bees, talks to giggly star-creatures, and yells "WA-HOO" while leaping through planets, you're the cause. You press the A button, wave the remote around and create the experience.

It's tempting to say that SMG succeeds in spite of the series' long-running childishness, but of all Mario games, this one's the best at wide-eyed wonder, at feeling like a living, breathing cartoon. With its unrivaled amount of exploration and freedom, SMG earns its playful atmosphere. The core experience is much like 1996's landmark Super Mario 64—run and jump around a series of 3D landscapes to find stars and save a princess. Nintendo's last attempt to rock the boat, 2002's Super Mario Sunshine, was a clunky dud, which justifies this year's return to basics.

For one, there are fewer annoying collection challenges. You're still collecting stars, but in SMG, your reward for amassing virtual trinkets really is the journey. The game's designers previously made Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a brilliant side-scroller that sold for crap. Talk about a redemptive return. The team again proves its genius in understanding pacing and challenge, as levels are separated into short, intense chunks that are simple to comprehend and satisfying to figure out.

Don't come to SMG expecting "short"—you'll have at least 25 hours of diverse exploring in the galaxy, and even better, the series' many clichés are born anew with SMG's gravity-based twists. Fling between miniature planets; walk on the underside of levels; slingshot yourself across a magnet-filled sky. The impossible is now reachable with gravity effects mixed in, a fact reinforced by so many creative challenges and hidden nooks.

Fluid, smooth animation and a memorable, orchestral score round out the cartoonlike experience. Camera angles can crap out on occasion, especially when they hover over a few spherical planet levels, but considering how often SMG's gravity flip-flops, it's incredible that the view doesn't bugger up more often. That fact is just another in Nintendo's many ways to keep you happily pressing that A button.