Super Mario Galaxy 2

Stepping out onto the frozen surface of the lake allows Mario to ice skate. He glies elegantly across the frosty waves, pirouetting when he jumps like a slightly butcher Billy Elliot. It doesn't have a massive influence on the gameplay - there is no speed skating mini-game or ice dancing to be done, but it's fun, and a perfect example of the sort of throwaway idea found throughout the game.

Next up came two old favourites, and another new toy: the ghost-house environs of Haunty Halls, Yoshi and the bulberry. Yoshi is just the same as always, appropriately untouched by evolution. Tongue grabbing is done via the pointer and Wiimote trigger, and his trademark flapping float-jump saved me from certain doom more often than professional pride allows me to disclose. The bulberry itself isn't an entirely new idea, but is reworked with that classic Nintendo charm which pardons a little plagiarism.

Essentially it's a torch, and the circle of light which it projects when Yoshi eats it gradually dimishes with time. This being a Boo level, there are some decidedly suspect engineering decisions being made in regard to structural integrity - there's scarcely a floor without holes. Some of these floors are also suffering from something of a Schrodinger-esque existential crisis - until they're illuminated by the bulberry they remain staunchly non-existent. Cue a frantic five minutes rushing from one glowing fruit to the next through a winding maze of sudden drops and dead ends, as the vital circle of light around Yoshi shrinks and shrinks. Definitely the most fun I've ever had in a haunted library with a dinosaur.

The last galaxy we saw, Honeybloom, marked the return of one of the first game's big favourites - the bee suit. Depicted in the side-on, 2.5D style which the camera occasionally switches to, this colourful zone is all flowers, grapes and fuzzy bee soldiers. Picking up the flight-enabling bee-suit early on, Mario putters his way around the exterior of a summer-green cube, resting on carnivorous flowers and little fluffy clouds to recharge his flight gauge.

All this amounts to a tiny slice of what the final game will have to offer, I'm told. As with the first game, nearly every level in Mario Galaxy 2 will feature multiple stars, subtly shifting the goals and structure of each galaxy each time. The comets also return, albeit in a slightly different form - the collection of each medal unlocking a specific challenge for each level, such as the need to complete it without taking damage.

Although the precise number of levels is being kept under wraps for now, the sheer depth of variation already on show bears witness to a playing field of real diversity. Super Mario Galaxy 2 feels fresh yet familiar, challenging yet charming. It's a game for anyone with an ounce of soul left in eyes tired of staring down sniper scopes and iron sights. The toybox beauty of this sequel, its aesthetic appeal and prismatic hypnotism, have charmed all over again.