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 enlarge | Author: Fletcher Black
Publisher: Prima Games
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $18.00 (60%)
New (14) Used (6) Collectible (1) from $9.00
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 200306
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Har/Pstr C
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 8.7 x 1
ISBN: 076155713X
Dewey Decimal Number: 794
EAN: 9780761557135
Publication Date: November 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: new and mostly sealed. has some shelf wear.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good Guide, only one issue with it December 31, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great guide and very practical. I was able to complete the entire game with this book.br /My only complaint is that there is not a "beastiary" or full enemy list to speak of. It does not hurt the guide at all, but I always like to see all of the enemies listed with a brief description and ways to defeat them.br /Concept art section rocks! Wish there was more of it!br /Benbr /
 Poor indexing makes a frustrating guide December 31, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I'm a lifelong gamer in my mid-30s. I particularly enjoy unlocking all the difficult and tangential bonuses in games I love. Super Mario Galaxy is a superb game, replete with fun, optional content (secrets, side quests, Easter Eggs, etc.). You can find most of the secrets if you're curious, persistent, and skilled. But occasionally, if you're really stuck, a hint book is an excellent reference. I prefer a hint book over an internet fan site because it's all right there in your hands, and you or your copilot can read while the other tries again to beat the puzzle you're stuck on.br /br /Unfortunately, if you're like me and enjoy getting all the secrets you can by yourself, then using a hint book minimally to get the rest, you will be frustrated at and disappointed by this book.br /br /(Warning: the rest of this review has minor spoilers for Super Mario Galaxy.)br /br /My primary complaint is the poor indexing. Yes, the levels are organized in a logical fashion and there is at least a table of contents, but there are no indexes. In fact, there are no cross-references to related page numbers *at all*. For example, where's my checklist of 1-up mushrooms across all levels? Where's my list of all the mini-games you can play? How about the locations of all flying red stars? A list of green stars? A list of hungry lumas and how to unlock them? And on a per-level basis, how about a short list of cool things to do, like, did you know that there's a side path behind this tree leading to a bunch of star bits? Did you know that you can kill this unkillable monster by using this trick? Did you know you can get on top of this massive tree that you assumed was unclimbable? These sorts of checklists are a lot of fun for gamers who like to explore everything a game has to offer.br /br /(There is a master checklist of stars. It's not the format I'd want -- it covers about 7 pages rather than appearing on a single page, and there are no page numbers for where to go to read more about each star. But one nice thing is that it has a picture of the star, which could actually help you remember if that's a star you'd already seen or not.)br /br /For example, try using this book to find out about green stars, what they do and where they are located. Good luck! Without an index, there's no way to find where they're mentioned. It wasn't listed in the table of contents, and it wasn't clear from the master star checklist at the end where the green stars were (or if the green stars were even counted as part of the master checklist). Then I figured I would try reading about the level where I found my first green star, to see if it would reference the other green stars and/or tell me what they were and how to use them. The visual cues were ambiguous (more on this below) so I had to read everything about that level in order to find what I was looking for. And all it said was that if you did X, Y, and Z, you'd get "a secret" -- it didn't even mention a green star at all! Failing to cross-link to related information is bad enough, but not giving any useful information in the first place is absurd! If I wanted to be kept in the dark, I wouldn't have shelled out $20 for a hint book.br /br /The lack of visual cues within the text is also very frustrating. For example, when you can branch to get something extra like a mini-game room, 1-up mushroom, green star, etc., have a big, visually obvious sidebar that describes where the branch point is and what you can gain by branching, or at least have an icon of some sort as a quick clue to start reading here if you want a 1-up mushroom. Obvious visual cues allow you to enter the text if you want, or to skip it to avoid being spoiled. The author does use sidebars and bubbles with icons, but does so in an inconsistent and ambiguous way -- sometimes the main text flows through the bubbles, sometimes it's just a piece of trivia, and sometimes it highlights an interesting secret. Without consistent iconography, and where each page is laid out in an arbitrary way, it's impossible to avoid reading linearly.br /br /Another thing I really wished this book had was checkpoints. During the "encore" (purple coin levels) in particular, I really wish the book would give hints like, "there are 12 purple coins in the ocean", or, "you must collect 23 coins before passing this point of no return". Similarly, the game doesn't allow you to get all the stars in a given galaxy before you have to move on, you can only get them all by coming back later for multiple different reasons. I really wish the book would say thing like, "if you've got all the stars it is possible to get by this point, you'll have X stars before you fight Bowser, Jr.". I wanted this information many times and was never able to find it in this hint book.br /br /Lastly, the book spends a lot of time describing how to travel from place to place, in detail. After solving a quarter of the game, and despite its amazing 3D complexities, I've never had a problem moving from place to place or figuring out how to proceed. Hence, about 75% of the content of this book was not useful to me.br /br /I do actually like this book, mostly because it's pretty. But it is not possible to use this hint book the way I want to use one, so I'm giving it 3 stars out of 5.
 Excellent December 23, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I live in France. The guide was sent very quickly. Nothing damaged, excellent item.br /Perfect !
Beautiful Book December 21, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book for my son for Christmas along with the game. The book came shrink wrapped and the cover is beautiful! This is also a very heavy book I was surprised by the weight of it. I didn't open the shrink wrap and I know I am "judging a book by it's cover" but I just know he is going to love it :)
Best Looking Guide Yet! December 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the Collector's Edition, which I never expected to be much different than the ordinary Prima Guides. We have many of the guides for the games my 10 year old plays, since he loves to find the "extras" and Prima Guides never disappoints. This is truly a BOOK and looks much nicer than the typical soft cover, so it is more impressive as a gift...still at a decent price. I recommend all of the guides since my son and all of his friends find themselves reading all the details and enjoying the games even more once they find all the additional things they can do. This one is particularly nice looking and substantial and has EVERYTHING he needs to make the most of the game.
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