Something surprising happened when I completed “Super Mario Galaxy 2.”
I was disappointed.
As an anthology of playable concepts, the sequel to “Super Mario Galaxy” was unparalleled. But there wasn’t a level that transcended traditional game objectives and just let you mess around with the gravitational underpinnings of the “Galaxy” model.
Little did I know the epilogue I desired would take the form a $10 game available through Nintendo’s download-only WiiWare service.
“And Yet It Moves” takes its title from “Eppur si muove,” which Galileo supposedly said after being forced to recant his position that the Earth moves around the sun. Though not as revolutionary (no pun intended) as the heliocentric model of the solar system, the basic premise of “And Yet It Moves” reconfigures the model of the side-scrolling platformer with an elegance Galileo would have appreciated: Tilt your Wii Remote to tilt the world, inverting up, down, left and right as it suits your needs.
There’s running and jumping, as usual, but, like a video game version of the Gravitron, “And Yet It Moves” challenges your notions of up or down. The only catch: Fall too far in any direction, and your little paper character will crumble.
This would be a fun concept just on its face, but the developers introduce all sorts of elements, from rolling boulders to giant swings to bats (which must roost upside-down on whatever is the “ceiling” at that moment). Try entering an area with a swing without spending an hour seeing if you can contrive a 360-degree ride.
Lucky for you, this hour would be accompanied by one of the most distinctive art styles in games, the world resembling a collage of torn cardboard that will remind you of a certain very hungry caterpillar.
By the end, I had such a great time that again I was eager for the next step, the next bold experiment with gravity.
Here’s looking at you, Mario.
