Been playing SMG for a while now, and I'm gonna go ahead and say that it pretty much mirrors Mario 64. Is it possible to get all 120 stars without outside help? Yes. In fact if you put your mind to it I think you could do it without too much "head bashing against wall" action.
However for the non-pro gamer, its usually better to be able to say "What the heck do I do with that Gold chomp?" and spend about 2 minutes online, rather than spend 30 minutes trying every possible action, path, and probably dying at least once.

So just as with M64, it is very possible to fully complete this game without any form of guide, but not everyone will want to go through the trouble of exploring every corner and secret. So don't hate on people who get hints, because at some point during your life, you're gonna get stuck on a game, and it'll be straight to the net for you.

That being said, I still have no idea what to do with that Gold Chomp... although I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

!S

i had to use a guide to find some hidden stars, etc. but all in all i didnt really use one

i referenced a guide for 2 things, other than that everything was done on my own, 100%

When I bought the game, I also bought the guide with it. I agree this game is fairly easy and can be done without the guide. But I like having this resource readily available when playing, mainly because hubby will be on the internet when I am playing SMG and I can't get to an online guide when I need it.

Nope

Used guide for the first 35 stars to get a hang of it...then stopped w/ the guides