Everything is permissible

Despite Super Mario Galaxy receiving nothing but rave reviews I have been spending most of my time playing Assassin's Creed, killing the enemies of peace in the name of Allah most definitely entertains me.
While the game almost entirely takes place during the Third Crusade amongst the cities of Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, the game is actually based in the near future. The story revolves around genetic memory, which is the concept that our instincts are passed on genetically, AC takes it in a more literal sense that we could actually carry our ancestors memories in our genes. Desmond -the 'main' character- uses a machine which allows him to tap into these memories and take control of Altair, an Islamic member of the Hashshashin sect, which are known as the original assassins. The story has come as a surprisingly deep drama with a lot of depth if you care to seek it out, which appeases my interest in both science fiction, and Islam and the Arab states.
The games main selling point is often seen as the parkour style of navigation, Altair has the ability to grab onto any ledge that protrudes more than three inches, and in the richly designed cities of the holy land this skill is well used. Combat plays a mostly secondary part, you quickly gain the ability to get instant kills if you time your attack right, while this may seem like it makes it too easy it still remains a bit of a challenge and just about manages to keep combat from becoming a tedious chore.
I can see why many people are not particularly thrilled by the game as many of the optional objectives become extremely repetitive, but even in these I have yet to find an annoyance, and for the rest of the game I would happily endure them even if I did.

As for Mario, I am only 9 stars in out of the 120 (only 60 required to complete the story) and have only truly found it all that enjoyable once, in the most recent level which provided a distinct challenge. Up to that point I had found the linearity of the level designs almost boring as I went through the motions with distressing ease, I can only hope that these levels are supposed to be training sections and that it soon becomes a real test of dexterity. And unless it markedly improves I think I will be one of the extremely few people alive to prefer Super Mario Sunshine to Galaxy.