With Super Mario Galaxy less than a fortnight away in Japan, Nintendo has posted a lengthy and quite brilliant gameplay video.

Super Mario Galaxy is released 16 November here in the UK, but the countdown has started early in Japan where the game hits retail on the first of the month. Thankfully you don’t need to understand a word of Japanese to appreciate the tantalizing action on display in a new video uploaded today on nintendo.co.jp. This 11MB clip, running at just over three minutes, shows Mario taking on various new guises – including ghost, and Silver Surfer style ice-man – as he attempts to rescue Princess Peach for the umpteenth time.

The worlds are astounding, not just zany and / or pretty but so intriguing. Mario flies above a lava lake, beneath arcs of flame; swims in azure-blue waters alongside brightly coloured fish; takes up ice skating; throws fireballs from his fists; wraps himself in a giant spring; rides the back of a manta ray; climbs the stairs to a moonlit spooky castle… and on it goes, everything looks so fascinating that we can’t wait to try our hand at the controls.

All this and a brief clip showing how a second player can assist by swatting the bad guys while the other guides Mario past obstacles can be seen in the clip here:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/rmgj/movie/index.html

Click on the link below the Super Mario Galaxy logo and enjoy the show!