OK so I just read gamespot's review of Rayman's Raving Rabbids 2 and were pretty much spot on with what I thought (even down to declaring it was worth a rental but perhaps not a purchase). The saving grace though -- they said the multiplayer was where the game shined, and the single player stunk (opposite of RRR1). So when do y'all wanna come over for some fun with lagomorphs? ;)

I got the purple comet level without defeating the final bowser. You access it in the Gateway Galaxy. (along with the Red Star) :)
I may try the final Bowser tonight, but may wait till I finish the Garden Galaxy.

It's a looooong last level, be warned lol :P

That's odd about the Purple Comet, I remember that it only appeared in my game AFTER I killed bowser (then it said something about the purple comet being in play when I accessed that game again). I'm reading a FAQ and it also says that the purple comets (collect 100 purple coins levels) will now appear in certain galaxies after you defeat the final Bowser. I remember the level you are talking about (with the red stars); maybe it's the only one that can be accessed pre-final Bowser?

You can get to that one before defeating Bowser, but only that one. After you defeat Bowser you get the purple comet at a bunch of different galaxies.

So...when is the game supposed to get hard? I just defeated the final Bowser on my first try. I have 101 stars. And there's been exactly 1 level that's taken more than 4 or 5 tries to beat (the molten level w/daredevil comet. Damn did that suck).

Don't get me wrong, I loved the game. Conceptually brilliant, a great new twist on Mario. But, much like Zelda, I wish it were more difficult. The last couple Mario games ("Sunshine" and "64") I found far more difficult than this one. I really found myself wanting more of a challenge.

Of course, I've just begun the purple comet levels, I'm sure that'll add some challenge. But to have gotten through more than 90% of the game without one was a bit of a disappointment.

I also realized I missed the open-endedness of the previous two 3d Mario games. I know they made the decision to return to a more linear feel, back to what the games used to be, but I really enjoyed being able to wander huge levels at will in Sunshine and 64. That, to me, contributed to the lack of difficulty. Every step was kinda obvious since everything was so linear.

Oh well, fun game overall. But it does seem like these games are skewing too easy (see Zelda) for my tastes, which kinda sucks.

Or maybe you're just super good at these types of games? The levels up in the engine room and whatnot got pretty tough (and what was the one where you had the find the three bunnies in the snow, and they KILLED you if you didn't find them all, wtf?!?!) , and definitely there were some purple coins levels that took multiple trial and error (esp. the ones with a timer) to beat. Actually I think many of the comet levels in general are hard -- killing Bouldergeist with one hit point, the races, etc. And that wave race with the thin little areas to stay onto? Yeeouch. Lots of the levels where it required the spring Mario were hard for me also. (I never played Sunshine, but I remember 64 being around the same difficulty level as Galaxy.. with the exception of one level in 64 where you had to glide around PERFECTLY in an exact pattern to get the star).

Zelda was pretty easy for me as well tho (with the exception of that damn Bjork sledding part and the 3 Darknuts in the pit). But it is more of a puzzle game anyway.

Try Resident Evil 4, that was pretty difficult (a different type of game, of course).

But if you're looking for Goblins 'n Ghosts or Castlevania I-style difficulty... no, they're not up there.

I suppose, but I swear the previous games were harder. I did get a little lucky on that one, could definitely have driven me nuts but I found the shell quicly and put 2 & 2 togeher.

See, those wave races are the perfect example to me. They were definitely tricky, but all I had to do was slow down and take my time and I beat them no problem. The other games had similar race levels, but you had to go full-throttle with no mistakes the whole way to beat them.

Oh well, it was a brilliant concept and artistically wonderful.

Did you run across any bugs? The second time I had to fight Bowser, after a couple jumps he missed the planet on the way down and just flew off into space, never to return. I had to bail back to the observatory. It was bizarre.

Wow that is strange!!! I never ran into anything like that.

Alex finally cracked open Galaxy last night. Some of those levels are really cute, and I see what you mean about thinking spherically.

I've just started Galaxy and am finding it fun enough (though I continue to have ergonomic issues with the controller, that hamster ball level particularly) but it is, so far very easy. I think I've only died multiple times on a level once.

Hopefully it will get harder or I'll probably grow bored enough that "cute" is no longer sufficient. Conceptually brilliant, though.

With the exception of maybe 3 or 4 levels, It doesn't get all that much harder until the very end in my opinion. I am finding the purple comet levels more of a challenge, but you can't even get to those until you beat the final boss stage.