Like most people who have touched a video game controller, my little sister loves Mario and Nintendo. She was the catalyst for my parents buying a Wii and a couple of DSes, and whenever I go home for the holidays, I make sure to get in at least a few rounds of Mario Kart with her.

When Super Mario Galaxy came out on the Wii, my sister was ecstatic. A brand-new Mario on her brand-new system! So I picked it up for her as a Christmas present.

She tore open the packaging, started up a new game...and promptly turned the controller over to me. The game was too hard for her. Navigating in 3D, waggling when she needed to waggle -- all of it proved too difficult for her limited gaming experience. I ended up beating most of the levels for her as she half-heartedly collected Star Bits in the limited Co-Star cooperative mode.

So when I went to check out a demo of Super Mario Galaxy 2 (due out May 23), I had her in mind. Will my sister be able to have fun with Mario Galaxy 2 without calling for help?

Here are four reasons why she -- and every other casual gamer -- will.

1. Yoshi

Regardless of your skill level, you'll have fun controlling Yoshi in Mario Galaxy 2. He can gobble up most anything and spit it out as a projectile. Certain berries he consumes set him speeding off like the Road Runner from those old Looney Tunes cartoons or wafting through the air like a balloon with a slow leak.

Yoshi was my sister's default character in Mario Kart and one of her favorite parts about New Super Mario Bros. Wii. There's something about running around on a dinosaur that makes her feel empowered -- even if he is the least ferocious dinosaur this side of Barney. She'll get a lot of mileage out of riding around on Yoshi in Mario Galaxy 2.

2. Hint TV

Near the trickier sections of levels in Mario Galaxy 2, you'll notice a signpost with a video playing on it. This is Hint TV. Walk up to the signpost and press the A button to watch a video of a Mario pro successfully navigating the obstacles ahead, along with explanatory text.

My sister doesn't necessarily lack the skill to play Mario games, but she often lacks the language. She didn't play many games growing up, so she doesn't realize that certain concepts seasoned gamers take for granted -- the wall jump or the triple jump, for example -- are tools at her disposal. Hint TV just may give her the knowledge she needs to make it to the end of a level.

3. Cosmic Guide

What if you watch Hint TV but still don't have the skills to make it through a level? Enter the Cosmic Spirit, a celestial apparition in the form of a beautiful princess.

If you die a number of times in a row or dawdle in a particular area, the Cosmic Spirit will appear and offer to activate the Cosmic Guide. Much like Super Guide in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the Cosmic Guide will take control of Mario and steer him to safety. You can press a button to resume control of Mario at any time.

Taking advantage of the Cosmic Guide does have a downside, however: The star you collect at the end of the level will be bronze instead of gold, subtly encouraging you to retry the level on your own later.

The Cosmic Guide is the perfect substitute for me personally helping my sister beat a level -- not an easy task, considering we're 500 miles apart from each other. Using it, she'll be less likely to quit the game in frustration and never play it again.

4. A more robust co-op mode

If all else fails, and my sister just can't hack the single player by herself, Mario Galaxy 2 includes a robust "Co-Star" mode we can play whenever I'm at home. The first Mario Galaxy also featured a Co-Star mode, but it was a pretty passive affair: Your presence was reduced to a pointer, and all you could do was use the Wii Remote to collect Star Bits for the primary player or point and shoot those Star Bits at enemies -- or Mario, if you wanted to be a jerk.

In Mario Galaxy 2's revamped Co-Star mode, the second player is present on-screen as a red Luma star that follows Mario around. As the Luma, you can kill some enemies, stun others for Mario to stomp on, and collect coins to replenish Mario's health. You can even hold on to coins to give Mario a health boost when he most desperately needs it.

I know my sister will love the new Co-Star mode. She enjoyed being the co-star in the first game -- it was a definite step up from passively watching -- but she quickly lost interest. She felt less like a co-star and more like a key grip, futzing around at the periphery while I hogged the limelight.

While playing Mario Galaxy 2's Co-Star mode, I truly felt part of the team, killing enemies for Mario and helping him out of precarious situations. I felt like a fellow star of the show, and I think my sister will, too.

Plus, if she takes over Mario and I handle the Luma, I'll be able to do a lot more to help her -- making her feel more confident about her skills and increasing her enjoyment of the game.

With Super Mario Galaxy 2, Nintendo appears to continue its trend of innovative techniques to draw in novice players -- without sacrificing the overall difficulty for us Mario veterans. I can't wait to hand the controller over to my little sister.