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| A game with truly universal appeal |
“Do you hear the baby stars? These newborns will grow up to become galaxies someday. When stars die, they turn to stardust and scatter across the cosmos. Eventually, that stardust reforms to create a new star ... and so the cycle of life continues. But the cycle never repeats itself in quite the same way ... so ... you'll see.”
-Rosalina
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| It's been a while, so I'll remind you that, unless otherwise stated, all images come from mariowiki.com |
The Facts
Release Date: November 1, 2007 (Japan) November 12, 2007 (North America)
Original Platform: Wii
Director: Yoshiaki Koizumi
Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto, Takao Shimizu
Also Playable On: Wii U (downloadable), Nvidia Shield TV (China only), Nintendo Switch
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| Now this is a story all about how My life got flipped, turned upside down And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there I'll tell you how I became the princess of a comet like this |
What's the Deal
Once a century, a certain comet flies over the Mushroom Kingdom, and the populace celebrates by holding a ceremony called the Star Festival. Princess Peach has invited Mario to join her, but once he does, Bowser attacks with his fleet of airships, uses a flying saucer to cut Peach's Castle out of the ground and pull it into space.
Mario is knocked out into the cosmos, but is rescued by a baby star known as a “Luma”, who Princess Peach was going to introduce Mario to at the festival. Mario and Luma make their way to the comet passing over the Mushroom Kingdom, which turns out to be a starship observatory, operated by all the other Lumas and their “Mama”, a mysterious woman known as Rosalina.
Rosalina informs Mario that her Comet Observatory runs on Power Stars, all of which were stolen by Bowser, leaving the Observatory mostly inoperable. Mario (with the help of the baby Luma) now has to trek across the universe to collect enough of the stolen Power Stars to power the Comet Observatory...which will then be able to head to the center of the universe, where Bowser is keeping Princess Peach.
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| Property values are astronomical...and so is the property! |
Background/Development
As mentioned in my writeup on Super Mario Sunshine, Nintendo EAD was developing a follow-up to Super Mario 64 designed to alleviate the issues with 3D games that SM64 had brought to their attention, a project called Super Mario 128.
SM128 was never intended to be a full game on its own, more so a testing ground for new ideas. Some, like the massive number of characters on screen at a time, led to Pikmin, while the idea of Mario running across spherical surfaces appealed to Miyamoto as a way to prevent players from getting lost in a large 3D environment. Koizumi agreed that it had potential to be a full game, but felt it was impossible at the time, which led to Super Mario Sunshine.
Koizumi's next project at EAD Tokyo was the 2004 GameCube game, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a 2D platformer operated not by button presses, but by clever usage of the GameCube's bongo controller. Koizumi and his team experimented with the idea of context-sensitive actions, increasing the things the player character can do without having to add extra buttons. They also observed how entertained bystanders were as they watched someone play it.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat gave Koizumi and EAD Tokyo the technical experience to allow them to make the next Super Mario.
As an aside: I know this isn't a Donkey Kong blog, and I'll always be a fan of DK Country more than anything else starring Nintendo's prime primate, but Jungle Beat is a whole lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.
September 2025 Edit: Donkey Kong Bananza is outstanding, though!
In 2005, Koizumi prepared an outline for Super Mario Revolution (reflecting the Wii's code name of “Revolution”), a 3D action game centered around traversing spheres that have their own gravity. The game was set in space to allow players to instinctively identify the spherical platforms as small planetoids.
Some of the art in the Super Mario Revolution document seems to indicate that a few concepts in Super Mario Galaxy 2 were intended for this game, such as a planet shaped like Mario's head, and the ability to ride Yoshi (using art from Sunshine)
You say you wanna Revolution, well you know...
EAD Tokyo tossed out the camera system pioneered by Super Mario 64 and refined by Super Mario Sunshine, and created a brand new, mostly automatic camera system, designed for players to not think about or take the camera into consideration when playing.
At the very beginning of development, a fortress planet was designed, and the development team became attached to it, to the point of being very disappointed when it was cut from the final game.
Rosalina was originally intended to be a relative of Princess Peach, and was designed wearing a ballroom gown and a beehive hairdo, before being reworked into her final design, with a more nightgown-esque dress and bangs over her eyes.
Still cute, though. The script for the storybook chronicling Rosalina's backstory was written in secret by Yoshiaki Koizumi late at night. Miyamoto expressed surprise that he did it without anyone knowing about it.
In an interview with Nintendo Power magazine, Koizumi expressed a desire to see Rosalina's Story be published as an actual children's book.
EDIT (September 2025): Looks like he got his wish!
A few assets from Donkey Kong Jungle Beat were left in the game's files, such as a few Hawg enemies, the collectable crests, Cactus King (the final boss!), and a Helper Monkey.
Likewise, some leftovers from Super Mario Sunshine were found, such as the model of Mario with the Shine Sprite Hawaiian shirt (and a few animations), textures from the Delfino Plaza boat, and the model of Princess Peach's hair.
Ice Mario was likely originally planned to be able to freeze enemies, since he's able to turn Octoombas into ice blocks...however, no Octoombas appear near the Ice Flower, so the attack goes unused.
An unused model of Mario is in the game's files (possibly for cutscenes, since it's named “DemoMario”) that looks similar to the one in the final version, albeit with a higher polygon count. However, there's two variations of DemoMario where the colors of his outfit don't line up with his appearance in the game: one gives him a cyan shirt and a white hat/overalls (possibly an early Ice Mario design?) and the other green shirt and brown hat/overalls.
At E3 2006, a playable demo of Super Mario Galaxy was present, taking place in an area known as “Star World” that doesn't appear in the final game. Star World has branching paths made up of assorted planets that are in the final. There's also Toads with stars on their caps instead of circles; these Toads explained the controls to the player as well as provided hints. Some of the Star Bunnies could transform into these Toads.
In November 2007, to promote the game, someone in a Mario mascot costume hung out with Buzz Aldrin (yes, the second man on the moon!) in a zero-G chamber.
My History With It
There were rumors in the early/mid-2000s that Nintendo's next console would be completely backwards compatible, able to play everything from the NES to the GameCube, along with its own games. For the longest time, I thought this was only a rumor until looking it up just now, and it turns out that Nintendo's president, the late Satoru Iwata, originally intended for the console to be just that. Neat!
The console was given the codename “Revolution”, and was introduced at E3 2005 as such. I remember hearing about the “Nintendo Revolution”, but I don't remember having much interest at the time. At E3 2006, the Nintendo Revolution was officially named Wii, and what really caught my attention was the trailer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is what ignited my interest in the console.
Weirdly, for most of 2006, I didn't really care much about the upcoming 3D Super Mario, even though I'd seen the video of a woman playing the E3 “Star World” demo on the front page of YouTube at the time (which was how I first heard about Super Mario Galaxy). Guess I was too all-in on the idea of New Super Mario Bros. bringing the 2D Super Mario back to care about it (I know, I know). It was kind of a “I'll play it eventually and probably like it, but I'm not in any hurry”.
At some point in 2007 (I thought it might've been in an IGN preview, or the “Iwata Asks” interview on Nintendo's site, but couldn't find it on either) I learned that the Fire Flower (and thus, Fire Mario) was in the game, and I suddenly became overwhelmed with excitement, making me much more open to information about the game.
source: YouTube, packattack04082 The revelation that Luigi is an NPC in the game, making his debut in an original 3D Super Mario was pretty dang exciting, too.
I spent the next few months devouring anything I could get on the game. I got the issue of Nintendo Power that had it as the cover story, talked my friends' ears off at school about it, made it the number one item on my Christmas list...all because of the Fire Flower.
I would frequently make a dark joke to my friends that I needed to survive our classes long enough to play through Super Mario Galaxy.
A few weeks before the game released, a comment on a YouTube video I watched spoiled that getting all 120 Stars unlocks the ability to play through the game as Luigi.
I got my copy of the game for Christmas 2007...and upon starting it, was rather itchy all over, for some reason. I remember talking to Rosalina in the game for the first time, and just scratching my torso every few seconds.
Amazing the weird things one remembers. I was fine after a shower, though.
I beat the game after about a week or two, having acquired the 60 Stars required. However, I spent the next several months trying to collect all 120. I eventually did, and intended to 100% it as Luigi as well, but never did.
At one point, my 2-year-old cousin had been watching me play the game. When we stopped to eat dinner, he finished by saying “I'm stuffed...I think I'm going to TRANSFORRRM!” like a Luma. It was awesome.
It was a game I revisited fairly often the next few years, mainly replaying galaxies I enjoyed.
In 2011, my brothers and I were making a series of humorous YouTube videos, and while we never finished the third one, we did get far enough for a trailer...that used the music from Buoy Base Galaxy.
In late 2016, on a whim, I did a replay of Super Mario Galaxy, mostly because it'd been a while, and I wanted to see if I still loved it. I did.
A few months later, I attended Lexington Comic & Toy Convention, where Charles Martinet was a guest! I got to meet Mario himself! And he signed my copy of this game!
Meeting Martinet was wonderful, by the way. He's just as energetic and friendly and warm as you'd expect him to be.
As mentioned before, I bought a copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars when it released in September 2020, but didn't start Galaxy until the start of 2021. Sunshine took me longer than I thought it would, I guess.
It's taken me so long to get this article together that, in the time since I started writing this, the Nintendo Switch 2 was announced AND came out, a compilation release of both Galaxy games was released, and the sequel to 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie was announced to be The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
What was I playing before this?
It's taken me so long to finish this article, and I've played so much, we're just gonna skip this section.
Playthrough
Played
On: Nintendo
Switch (via Super
Mario 3D All-Stars)
Wii
Nintendo Switch 2
All right, it's been long enough! Let's-a go!
We open with an explanation of the Star Festival, and get to run around (what I assume is) Paper Mario's Toad Town on the way to Peach's Castle. It's a gorgeous scene and an easy, stress-free way to quickly get accustomed to moving Mario around with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck.
Princess Peach mentions in her letter that she has something to give to Mario, and we see her holding a Luma when Bowser attacks. I confess that, for YEARS, I assumed that she was holding a foil balloon or plushie shaped like a Power Star.
And then Bowser shows up. Ever wonder how he always manages to kidnap Princess Peach? Now we know: blitzkrieg. He launches a huge assault on Toad Town with several Airships, then fires chains into the the grounds of Princess Peach's Castle before using a laser to cut the castle out of the ground and pull it into space!
There's an amusing gag here where we see that Princess Peach has some Toads nearby serving as her royal guards...and when the Airships appear, they immediately hide behind her.
Mario is still in front of the castle when this happens, so a Magikoopa (Kamek himself, according to the official trading cards) appears, whips out a magic wand and blasts Mario into the abyss.
It's interesting comparing this opening to that of Super Mario Sunshine. With Sunshine, there was a lot of dialogue, and characters mostly standing around as the story is set up. In Galaxy, though? It's action-packed and quite cinematic. The bit that always stuck out in my mind was Kamek winding up to blast Mario into space, with a close-up on him as he screams excitedly before firing the blast. Feels like the production values have been multiplied several times since Sunshine. It is, quite literally, epic.
Mario wakes up on a small planetoid, and is instructed to chase some white rabbits around. These rabbits turn out to be Lumas: baby stars. The Lumas introduce Mario to their “Mama”, a woman named Rosalina, who gives Mario the baby Luma that Princess Peach was carrying. With the Luma hiding in his cap, Mario is able to utilize the Star Spin move, and he makes his way across a series of planets, concluding in a hollow, metal planet containing a Grand Star.
After recovering the Grand Star, Rosalina takes Mario aboard her starship, the Comet Observatory. The Grand Star goes into the Observatory's reactor and powers up the first dome, the Terrace.
Rosalina then explains that the Observatory is operated by Power Stars and Grand Stars...all of which were stolen by Bowser. She asks Mario and Luma to retrieve the Power Stars, and in return, she'll take Mario to the center of the universe, where Bowser is keeping Mario's “special one” captive.
Whew. Heck of an opening, eh? Gotta love it, man.
On board the Comet Observatory, the player meets an elderly black Luma named Polari, who mostly serves as Rosalina's right-hand man, delivering exposition and tutorials to the player at the beginning. Afterwards, he's mainly there to show Mario the map when he needs it. I guess there's not much to his character, but it always bugged me slightly that we never saw him again, outside of cameos in some of the Mario Golf games and as a possible Luma for Rosalina to use in the later Super Smash Bros. games (The voice is different, so it might not be him)
Soon, the first of the Comet Observatory's domes open up: the Terrace. These domes mostly serve as Galaxy's equivalent to Worlds from the 2D games.
Terrace
There's a telescope inside this dome, which we later learn most likely belonged to Rosalina's father.
First up is the Good Egg Galaxy!
Even in deep space, we still gotta start off with a grassy plains level.
It's relatively basic. There's not much in the way of weird gravity mechanics aside from a few upside-down areas. There is a planet resembling a Yoshi Egg (possibly explaining the name), which is a cute reference.
The first mission ends with Mario cracking a giant egg containing our first boss: Dino Piranha. The battle is pretty simple, still easing the player into the game's mechanics: Mario has to spin at Dino Piranha's tail to smack the orb on the tail into its head three times, while Dino Piranha chases him all over a very small planetoid.
The second mission has Mario gathering 100 Star Bits to feed to a hungry Luma. The Luma transforms into a planet with a moderately-sized tower on top. There's a planet shaped like a large pill that's the player's first introduction to patches of differing gravity.
King Kaliente's Battle Fleet has Mario navigating a bunch of flying saucers before facing off against the titular King Kaliente, an octopus residing in lava that alternates between spitting flaming rocks and coconuts at the player. Mario has to Spin to knock the coconuts back at King Kaliente. It's a neat little boss battle.
Later in the game, after rescuing Luigi, he sends Mario a letter explaining that he found a Power Star, but is now trapped. Going to the Good Egg Galaxy reveals that Luigi is...on top of the house at the beginning. It's not a good showing for him. I know for a fact he'd be fine after jumping to the ground.
Thanks! Glad to be here! The Honeyhive Galaxy feels very much like something from Super Mario 64, with how it's mostly contained to one very large planet, with lots of room to explore.
The first mission has Mario encounter this game's first new power-up: the Bee Mushroom! It transforms him into Bee Mario, giving him the power of limited flight and the ability to stick to honeycomb walls, while also being absolutely adorable.
We meet the Queen Bee here, who is being plagued by a terrible itching sensation over her whole body. Bee Mario has to crawl over her and collect the Star Chips that are hiding in her, uh, fur? Fuzz? Whatever the hair on a bee is.
Someone at Nintendo must've liked the Queen Bee quite a bit, since she (renamed “Honey Queen”) appears as a playable character in Mario Kart 7, as a coach Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and as an assistant character in the Dr. Mario World mobile game.
This mission ends with Mario meeting up with Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade, leading them to hang out in the Comet Observatory's Garage afterwards.
There's a mission where a large wooden watchtower is infested with Mandibugs, and Mario has to reach the top where he faces off against a miniboss of two Mandibugs on top of each other.
The following mission has a boss battle underneath a gigantic tree against a very large Mandibug named “Bugaboom”. The first race against a Cosmic Mario is in this Galaxy as well.
The Purple Coins mission here wasn't too bad until I was unable to locate the last two. Took me close to twenty minutes before I realized they were right behind the starting point.
It was a bit embarrassing. I felt much like Luigi in the Good Egg Galaxy.
To bee or not to bee...
The Loopdeeloop Galaxy is a motion-controlled deal where Mario is surfing on a large manta ray. Unlike the ray surfing in Sunshine, this is MUCH less frustrating, and it happens on a large loop of water that's floating in space. Also, there's penguins around. Yay! I love penguins.
The Flipswitch Galaxy is another small level with only one Star to get. The planet is made up of switches that change color when Mario steps on them. Turn them all yellow, and get the Star. What's cool, though, is that the background is a scene from the NES Super Mario Bros., going between World 1-1 and World 1-2.
After Mario's acquired seven Stars, the Toad Brigade debuts the project they've been working on with some Lumas: a starship shaped like a mushroom called the Starshroom.
The Sweet Sweet Galaxy is one of the first levels I ever saw, in a YouTube video posted on a forum I hung out in (not a video game forum, though. It was a community for fans of The Simpsons). A platforming gauntlet made up of various sweets, such as chocolate bars, and giant cookies, with large utensils in the background, and the Toad Brigade as well as the Power Star located on top of a giant three-layer cake. The music here is a new arrangement of the Athletic music from Super Mario Bros. 3!
Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor is our final stop in the Terrace! After using a Bullet Bill to break open a Launch Star, Mario flies to a planet where Bowser Jr. is using a Grand Star to operate a huge robot known as Megaleg!
Due to Megaleg being so much larger than the tiny planet it's standing on, Mario has to run up it and lead Bullet Bills towards the glass case on the Megaleg's head where the Grand Star is being held. It's a really cool concept for a boss battle, being originally intended as the final battle against Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but was scrapped. Reportedly, the development team was really excited that it could be used in this game.
Fountain
First up is the Space Junk Galaxy!
The first mission ends in an area where the platforms automatically assemble as Mario approaches where they'll be, and disassemble after he leaves. It's hard to explain, but it's really cool.
There's two planets that supposedly resemble the Hocotate ship from Pikmin 2. I guess I can kinda see it.
A boss fight here is against Kamella, a large, female Magikoopa. The battle is pretty neat, fighting on one of the Airships to rescue the captured Toad Brigade.
The boss fight against the spider named Tarantox is fun, but gross. The player has to use Sling Pods to launch Mario at the liquid-filled pods on Tatantox's body, including a large one on his butt.
Ew.
The final mission in this galaxy involves feeding a hungry Luma to transform into a small wooden planet shaped like...Yoshi's head? The Yoshi head planet is covered in Goombas, and defeating them will grant Mario the Power Star.
The Star is called “Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance” in English, but the other names are fun, too. I like the Chinese “Why Would Yoshi Be here?!” or the French “Yo...Yo...Yoshi?!”
Rolling Green Galaxy
Debut of the Rolling Ball, which Mario stands on top of, and the player has to tilt the Wii Remote to move the Ball. It's not the worst thing ever, but it gets a bit frustrating. It's very imprecise.
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' (What?)
Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' (Come on)
Battlerock Galaxy
Lots of cool planets in this galaxy, like one shaped like a molecule diagram, one shaped like a rocket, some flying saucers, and then there's the Battlerock itself, a massive asteroid lined with cannons and huge wires running through it
Topmen and the Topmaniac are the featured enemy for this galaxy, based on spinning tops.
There's a really cool sequence early on where Mario has to travel across flying saucers while dodging cannon fire. I found myself getting distracted by shooting Star Bits at the cannonballs, and ended up losing a life.
Luigi gets trapped underneath one of the flying saucers in this Galaxy, and sends Mario a letter calling for help. Upon rescuing him, he says he was about to go crazy trapped inside that glass case and tells Mario to save him quicker next time.
Which is kinda funny to begin with, but I actually did forget about the letter, for, like, two weeks. Poor Luigi was stuck there for half a month, so him telling me to be quicker next time had me laughing out loud.
Hurry-Scurry Galaxy
Another one-shot galaxy. Collect musical notes as the ground disappears underneath Mario's feet. After collecting all the notes, it's fun to just let the platform disappear and drop down to collect the Star.
I wonder if it's possible to miss, though? Go right past the star and hurtling into the void?
Sling-Pod Galaxy
Fling Mario from one Sling-Pod to another, through an obstacle course of cannons, mines, and Fire Bars.
Notable for having the smallest amount of area that Mario can stand on in either Galaxy game, with the starting platform.
Bowser's Star Reactor
Time for our first showdown against the Koopa King!
The Galaxy is visually themed after Bowser's Castle from the 2D games? Yes!
There's the Bowser's Castle mainstays of Thwomps and Fire Bars? Yes!
Mario has to climb a path spiraling around a tower to reach Bowser, who is waiting for him? YES!
The music is an orchestral arrangement of “Bowser's Road” from Super Mario 64? YES!!
After a brief taunting message from Bowser, he then starts spitting a bunch of meteors(?) at Mario to destroy the path he's walking on. It's odd, but still cool.
The boss battle against Bowser himself takes place on a small, see-through planetoid with blue panels containing lava scattered across it. The music is appropriately epic. Bowser jumps around, making visible shockwaves that Mario has to dodge, before he starts trying to Ground Pound Mario.
The key to winning the battle is to get Bowser to Ground Pound one of the blue lava panels, which sets his tail on fire. While he's running around, you gotta hit him with a Star Spin to knock him on his back and send him skidding all over the planetoid. Another Spin knocks him back on his feet for the next round.
I really like the tonal shift of Bowser being at his most menacing in this game, and having epic, orchestral music playing as he's running around with his tail on fire. It's a nice little gag in a battle that's otherwise played seriously.
Kitchen
Beach Bowl Galaxy
Whatever you're picturing this Galaxy as being based on the name...you're probably not far off. The main planet is a large half sphere half covered in water, with a few small islands scattered around, some palm trees, and grassy knolls on the other half. Also, there's penguins everywhere.
In fact, it's “penguin paradise”, according to one of the birds Mario talks to. These seem to be the same ones from Loopdeeloop Galaxy, since their Coach is also present, and we learn that these penguins are all part of a swim class.
Might seem kinda strange to have penguins on the beach, but South African penguins do exist!
Checking this out on the Super Mario Wiki seems to indicate that the Beach Bowl Planet was also known as the “Heavenly Beach Planet” for a while? Wonder where that name comes from?
I spent too much time researching this, and discovered that the game's internal files refer to the Beach Bowl Galaxy as HeavenlyBeach. That explains it.
Whenever I think of playing through this game as Luigi, I always think of the “Sunken Treasure” mission here, where your Mario Bro. has to collect Star Chips (adorably called “sparklies” by the penguins) hidden underwater. Not sure why that one specifically pops into my head.
One of the level's missions has Mario heading to the “Stone Cyclone”, a winding path above a black hole covered in Thwomps and Tox Boxes.
This planet appears as a standalone galaxy in this game's direct sequel.
“Wall Jumping Up Waterfalls” is a fun mission, just because Ice Mario gets to kick off of running waterfalls by freezing the water beneath his feet. That's awesome.
Bubble Breeze Galaxy
This one has our hero floating inside a bubble above a poisonous swamp, pushed along by giant wind fans and the Wii Remote pointer.
The Toad Brigade is also here, their Starshroom having crashed.
Ghostly Galaxy
Aw yeah. This one's awesome...well, they've pretty much all been awesome, honestly.
It's why it's taken me so long to write this article. There's only so many ways I can say “This galaxy is also amazing”.
First mission is “Luigi and the Haunted Mansion”. As someone who really enjoyed Luigi's Mansion (and regrets skipping it for this blog), I really dig the spooky aesthetic for this galaxy, lifted right from that game. You start off on a Starshroom before taking a Launch Star to a planet that looks like old ruins where you run into “Pumpkinhead Goombas”, which are Goombas wearing Jack-o'-lanterns on their head that have the ability to emit onibi that can burn Mario.
First time playing it, I assumed the Pumpkinhead Goombas were the Splunkin enemies from New Super Mario Bros. I was mistaken, of course.
The stone walkway leading to the titular haunted mansion is a nice touch, with how it twists around due to the mansion itself being upside down from the perspective from the ruins.
Once inside, there's some Boos you gotta deal with by switching on a spotlight, and eventually (after a cool shot of Mario flying around the the outside of the mansion), the player ends up grabbing a ? Coin to summon a Boo Mushroom.
As you can expect, this turns Mario into a Boo, with his cap, nose and mustache over a tongue hanging out. In this form, he can float through the air, turn invisible, and pass through barred walls. This also enables him to read signs written in Booish, and actual Boos will become attracted to him and follow him around (does it count as being a “ladykiller” if the people in question are already ghosts?). Amusingly, due to Luigi being afraid of ghosts, Boo Luigi has a miserable expression on his face.
Also because of Luigi's fear of ghosts, he cowers if Mario approaches him in this form, so in order to collect the Star from Luigi, the player has to drop the Boo form by touching light.
After that is a cool shot of both Super Mario Bros. posing with the Power Star.
For the rest of the game, Luigi hangs out in the Garage with the Toad Brigade, occasionally slipping away to galaxies the player's already visited in order to pick up more Stars...getting himself stuck in the process and Mario having to go rescue him.
I love that Luigi's finally in an original 3D Super Mario platformer. It's so cool to see him as an NPC, and it's fun to play as him after getting all 120 Stars...but, like I said before, it's not a flattering portrayal of the guy. He's scared stiff of ghosts, including his own brother as one, and he keeps ending up in easily-escapable places that Mario has to rescue him from. Seriously, Luigi's more competent than that!
I mean, you saved me from a haunted mansion a few years ago. Guess it's only fair if I return the favor.
The next mission is “A Very Spooky Sprint”, where Mario has to race the Spooky Speedster (this game's equivalent to SM64's Koopa the Quick or Sunshine's Il Piantissimo), who is a Boo wearing an adorable racing helmet. Mario has to get to the goal flag before the Spooky Speedster does by use of Pull Stars.
“Beware of Bouldergeist” has a member of the Toad Brigade informing Mario that the monster that captured Luigi in the first mission lives in the mansion. As you traverse the mansion, black ghosts called “Bomb Boos” appear. Mario can grab them by the tongue and swing (up to six of) them above his head. Upon touching something or after a short period of time, the Bomb Boo will explode.
The boss of this galaxy is Bouldergeist, a shadowy ghost covered in rocks.
Bouldergeist is such a cool design, and the battle is a lot of fun. Bouldergeist will throw large rocks at Mario, and later use its large stone hands to attack. The key to defeating it is to grab the Bomb Boos it summons and blow away the rocky exterior, exposing its true form, a black ghostly head without a jaw and a large, red uvula. Hit that uvula with a Bomb Boo to attack it. Definitely one of the best bosses in the game...even in the Daredevil Comet run where Mario only has a single hit point to work with.
Buoy Base Galaxy
I gotta tell ya, man. In a game with such a killer soundtrack...THIS is the best song. It's so heroic and epic.
We've got a massive fortress being maintained by Gearmos and being held underwater by a huge weight. Mario has to lure a Torpedo Ted (hey, haven't seen one of those since Super Mario World...and won't see one again until New Super Mario Bros. U) to destroy the weight, allowing the fortress to emerge from the water.
Once it's up, Mario's gotta navigate the fortress, battling Thwomps, Amps, Goombas, and Topmen, collecting the Star Chips to create a Pull Star that brings him to the Power Star.
Sing along!
DUN DUN DUNN, DUNDUN DUNDUNDUN...!
Drip Drop Galaxy
This galaxy is just a planet almost entirely covered in water, apart from two very small islands that have penguins on them.
There's also a sandy core that a wrecked Starshroom and an Airship are sitting on.
The only mission here is “Giant Eel Outbreak”, where Mario has to use Koopa shells to defeat the Gringill enemies roaming the water. Not much to this galaxy, but still cool.
Bowser Jr. Airship Armada
As you can imagine from the name, the Prince of the Koopas is sending a fleet of Airships at Mario, and it is awesome!
While we heard it in the opening cutscene and Space Junk Galaxy earlier, I feel like it's worth pointing out the excellent orchestral arrangement of the Super Mario Bros. 3 Airship music that plays here.
Anyway, Mario's gotta use cannons and Pull Stars to navigate the Airships before making his way to the boss arena, where Bowser Jr. in his personal, smaller Airship (more like a flying platform, really), fires cannonballs at Mario.
Firing Mario from a cannon on the first Airship can allow him to reach a very small, but very bouncy planet covered in Goombas.
If Junior himself is hit with a Koopa Shell or Star Bit during this battle, he'll fall over and release twenty Star Bits.
You can only do this once, though.
To attack Bowser Jr., Mario has to stomp the Koopa Troopas walking by and throw their Shells at Junior's ship. Do this twice, and Junior switches it up by having Magikoopas show up to attack Mario. One more hit, and Junior turns the ship around to face Mario and starts shooting fireballs from it. One more hit sinks the Koopa kid, and gives Mario the Grand Star, opening up the next dome: the Bedroom!
Bedroom
Gusty Garden Galaxy
If you know any song from the two Super Mario Galaxy games, it's this one. It's shown up in later Super Mario games (like Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Maker 2), Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Super Smash Bros., the credits for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and even the Universal Epic Universe theme park (presumably in Super Nintendo World)
Visually, it's great, too! Lots of grassy and plant-themed planets, including some giant fruit, and a topiary garden on a giant cube. The sky is a bright blue above some dense clouds way below.
Traversal between planets isn't just via Launch Stars this time, but by grabbing onto giant dandelions known as “Floaty Fluffs” and riding on gusts of wind. You can Spin to get some more height, but do it too many times, and you'll run out of seeds and begin to plummet.
The first mission is to catch a Star Bunny running around in the topiary garden.
The second mission is to defeat a giant mole named Major Burrows.
There's an optional planet available by using Pull Stars, since Mario would normally just fly through the planet, a large ring covered in a thorny vine. Some ? Coins summon Star Bits, and once they're collected, a Launch Star sends the player back on their path.
Not optional are the trio of planets shaped like giant apples. Ground Pounding the wooden posts in the apples sends a giant worm to the next apple. Such a cool effect!
Major Burrows is seen chasing a Star Bunny around a massive tree at first, but Ground Pounding near him when he's underground causes him to pop out, opening him up for a Spin attack. Doing so again leads Major Burrows to start running away in panic (it's pretty funny). The second time he's hit with a spin, he turns red and gets angry. Two more Ground Pounds and Spins are enough to win you the Star.
The third mission is “Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble”. Take a Floaty Fluff, some vines, and a few Launch Stars to three disc-shaped planets to gather Star Chips and Launch to two large structures covered in !s and ?s. The exclamation points indicate areas where gravity is active, where the ?s indicate where it isn't. Hitting switches causes the direction of the gravity to change. Gotta love it, man.
Freezeflame Galaxy
Oh boy, oh boy! This is the one! The Galaxy that convinced me that I wanted the game!
For the most part, this Galaxy is half frozen glacier, and half volcanic lava, sometimes both on the same planet. Has a similar vibe to Hailfire Peaks from Banjo-Kazooie.
The first mission begins on a large ring of ice where a penguin challenges Mario (calling him “old man”) to a game of tag. This is mainly to teach the player how to skate on ice. By doing a Spin while walking on ice, Mario can skate (despite not having blades in his boots. He's just that awesome). It's much faster than running, and easier to control your momentum, though it's harder to make tight turns...but when jumping, Mario does so with a flourish that'd make any figure skater proud. It's very stylish.
The next planet is a snowy area with fountains and freezing water that will damage Mario if he's in it too long. A ? Coin summons our first Ice Flower.
Ice Mario can walk and skate over liquid surfaces by automatically freezing it under his feet. Works on water, but also lava. It's a really cool effect, especially when using water emerging from fountains as platforms by freezing them.
At the top of “Freezy Peak” is Baron Brrr, our boss battle for this mission.
Pretty basic battle, get close to Baron Brrr, Spin at him to make him defenseless, then Spin again to damage him. Do it three times (while avoiding the Ice Bubble enemies and shockwaves he summons) to get the Power Star.
The second mission takes Mario from the ice ring to the lava and fire-themed planet, where he has to progress by lighting torches. And how does he do that? With the Fire Flower, making its 3D debut!
I'm not sure why I was so excited for this, because I'd experienced Fire Mario in New Super Mario Bros. earlier that year, so it's not like there'd been a huge gap. Admittedly, I don't love that the Fire Mario form only lasts a short amount of time, and it's a little difficult to aim the fireballs, but still. Fire Mario!
Also love seeing the Urchins from Super Mario World reappear. And they can be defeated with fireballs now!
For the mission “Hot and Cold Collide”, we begin on the ice ring planet yet again...but now there's giant balls of lava all over, with fireballs in the way as well!
The next planet is divided into cold and hot halves. We begin on the cold half, covered with snow and ice, as well as a rising and falling freezing water level. Spin a wheel to drop the barrier between the two halves to get to the hot, fire and lava side.
There, pick up my beloved Fire Flower, return to the cold half, and light the torches to access the Launch Star...
...which takes you to a series of floating ice and lava platforms. As Ice Mario, skate across both ice and lava (even upside down, which is awesome), until you reach the Star.
I haven't mentioned many of the Secret Stars in this playthrough, but I felt that “Conquering the Summit” was worth mentioning, because I acquired it accidentally. I was trying to get to Baron Brrr, but took a wrong path, grabbed a Fire Flower, and eventually ended up at the summit of the Galaxy where I found the Star.
How can Mario freeze lava then skate across it?
Shut up, that's how.
Dusty Dune Galaxy
To be honest, the desert aesthetic has never been my favorite level theming in video games.
That said, while this one looks pretty standard, there's some really top-notch platforming in this Galaxy.
Gotta give a shout-out to one of the ring-shaped planets with the speedy sand that rushes Mario along. The entire game up to this point, I wanted to Long Jump in a way that allowed me to orbit a planet...and this is where I was able to. I can't stay there forever, since Mario's orbit shrinks as it continues, but it's still fun. Unnecessary, but fun.
The tornado “enemies” here were named “Tweesters” on the Super Mario Galaxy trading cards, sharing a name with an obstacle from the original Paper Mario RPG, but, as of 2022, are officially known as “Bone Twisters”.
Their Japanese name, “Sunakaze-kun“, implies that they're sand variants of the Cyclo enemies from Super Mario Sunshine.
I'm hesitant to call them enemies since jumping into one and Spinning turns Mario's arms into propellers and allows him to fly temporarily...though there are a few Bone Twisters that have spiky debris within them that damages our hero.
“Sunbaked Sand Castle” is probably the most memorable mission, where Mario has to travel up a tower that's slowly sinking back into the sand.
Honeyclimb Galaxy
A single-star galaxy involving using Bee Mario to climb honeycomb walls to reach the Star. Nothing groundbreaking, but you can't go wrong with anything that requires the Bee Mushroom.
Bigmouth Galaxy
Another single-star galaxy. The goal this time is to visit a planet shaped like a massive fish, dive into the underground lake, retrieve a Gold Shell and use it to crack open a treasure chest back at the entrance that contains the Power Star. There's a Green Koopa Troopa hanging around the treasure chest, but don't believe it. Its shell cannot open the chest. Only the Gold Shell can.
Bowser's Dark Matter Plant
The only level to keep the word “Plant” from its Japanese name. All the others were changed to “Reactor” (aside from “Bowser Jr.'s Ship Plant”, which became “Airship Armada”)
As the name implies, this galaxy is covered in Dark Matter, which instantly disintegrates Mario if he touches it.
But it does look pretty cool, I gotta admit.
A big chunk of the level involves going through areas of differing gravity, while avoiding the Dark Matter. Gravity shenanigans are what this game does best, so I found this part to be a lot of fun.
The Bowser battle is pretty much the same as last time, with the only really new wrinkle being that Bowser has been inspired by Mario to have a Spin attack of his own. It's honestly kinda cute?
Catch Bowser's tail on fire, and knock him around with a few Spins, and another Grand Star is now ours!
After returning the Grand Star to the Comet Observatory, a counter appears underneath Rosalina that informs the player how many more Stars are needed before the Observatory can travel to the Center of the Universe for the final battle.
Yeah, we're definitely in the final act of the game.
Engine Room
Gold Leaf Galaxy
At first glance, this seems to just be a mirror of Honeyhive Galaxy, but with an autumn theme.
That's because it is.
At least the starting planet is. The rest are original to Gold Leaf.
The second mission in this galaxy features the return of our friends from Super Mario Sunshine...Cataquacks.
At least they're all blue, and there's none of the damage-dealing Red Cataquacks from that game.
The mission When It Rains, It Pours is the highlight of the Galaxy, in my opinion. As Bee Mario, you have to navigate up a vertical obstacle course to reach an observation deck where you then have to battle the Undergrunt Gunner boss. What makes it interesting is that there's rain clouds everywhere, and while Bee Mario can stand on top of clouds, regular Mario can't...however, touching any water causes Mario to lose his Bee powerup, so you gotta step carefully.
Sea Slide Galaxy
This one has a very simple design (mostly just a large ring of water), but it's a full-on proper galaxy, with six Power Stars to get.
The first mission has some Penguin Racers telling us that someone named Guppy has been causing trouble. Mario has to talk to Guppy, and then follow him throughout all of Sea Slide, swimming through rings that Guppy leaves behind.
Despite being named “Guppy”, he's actually an orca. And he kinda looks like a stereotypical Japanese gangster.
Something that's kinda sweet, though, is that after completing this mission, whenever you see Guppy again, he's being friendly to everyone. Mario really taught him the error of his ways.
Despite his evil-looking grin back there, Guppy really is a pretty good guy
Toy Time Galaxy
This, in my opinion, is the galaxy that best represents what this game is about. The entire galaxy is themed around a child's playroom (and is even called “Toy Box Galaxy” in most languages), with planets resembling various types of toys, cutlery, desserts, and pencils. All the while, a chipper new arrangement of the franchise's main theme is playing (titled “Super Mario 2007”).
It's just designed completely around the concept of childlike joy and fun. Not even NPCs are immune, with Captain Toad riding the giant toy train at the start of most missions, singing to himself and clearly having a blast.
The first mission in this galaxy, Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser, has our hero running around a giant toy robot that vaguely resembles Bowser (If you say so, I guess. I don't see much resemblance). What's a lot of fun here is that Mario has to undo giant screws to remove parts of Mecha-Bowser, which is such a cool idea, and is so cleverly worked in that you might not even realize that's what you're doing.
This Galaxy introduces a new power-up: the Spring Mushroom. Spring Mario can jump much higher than usual...and that's pretty much it. He loses the ability to walk or run, instead moving around by perpetually bouncing. It can be difficult to utilize, but luckily, it's not something that comes up very often in the game.
Though, I can't help but think about when one of my friends was playing this game around the time Galaxy 2 was released, and how she went on a profanity-laced tirade on MSN Messenger about it to me.
I don't love the Spring Mushroom. But she hated it.
There's a bunch of Gearmos that are being held captive at the top of Mecha-Bowser, and after defeating it, there's a huge explosion, with the now-freed Gearmos standing around, covered in soot and smoking from the explosion.
The most well-known planet in this galaxy is the one designed after Small Mario's jumping sprite from the NES Super Mario Bros. The first mission, where the player has to collect Silver Stars, isn't bad at all. The fleshtone pixels on the sprite are yellow platforms that rotate upon being stepped on, the red pixels are lava, and the brown pixels are green platforms that shrink upon being stepped on.
The other side, where the sprite has been recolored to resemble Luigi, though? Hoo boy. The brown pixels are now poison, and the green pixels are the shrinking platforms. Wouldn't be so bad if not for the mission that takes place there: Luigi's Purple Coins. Say those three words to a Super Mario fan, and watch the flashbacks in their eyes. 150 Purple Coins on the planet, but only 100 are required to get the Power Star...and you only have three minutes. Good luck!
Bonefin Galaxy
This galaxy is unlocked by collecting 55 Stars and completing Drip Drop Galaxy's sole mission, which, aside from Bowser's Galaxy Reactor, is the highest amount of Stars needed to unlock a regular galaxy.
Makes sense, though, because Drip Drop introduces the mechanics needed for this one.
This one's an underwater boss battle against a giant skeletal shark named “Kingfin” (oh, it's a pun on “kingpin”! I just now got that!), even though sharks don't really have bones...who cares, right? Kingfin looks awesome.
Pretty simple boss fight, just throw Shells at him, his bones gradually becoming more cracked, until he breaks apart completely. Simple, but made a tad more complicated by his metallic Bonefin minions that home in on Mario.
Sand Spiral Galaxy
We begin on the wreckage of an Airship, before heading into a large cave filled with quicksand where two of the Toad Brigade offer Mario either a Boo Mushroom and a Bee Mushroom.
Boo Mario has unlimited flight and isn't bothered by the Boo enemies, but can instantly lose his powerup if he touches one of the several beams of light shining down.
Bee Mario's flight is limited and has to carefully move from one platform or pole to the next, but isn't bothered by the light.
Six in one, a half-dozen in another, y'know? I went with the Bee Mushroom, partly because the Toad offering it was avoiding admitting that he'd been eating them all day.
After the cave is a rocky platform rotating around a bright moon, with several Space Mines floating about. A Rainbow Star makes short work of the Mines, though the temptation to run full speed makes some precise jumps closer to the moon hosting the Power Star more difficult.
I didn't mention it, but usually this Yellow Toad is asleep when you encounter him. At one point, he mumbles "All you can eat mushrooms" in his sleep. Don't think too hard about Toads eating mushrooms.
Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor
This is the only Grand Star that isn't required to beat the game, since the countdown to Bowser's Galaxy Reactor began after collecting the Grand Star in Bowser's Dark Matter Plant.
Mario begins on a small planet with Goombas and a Bullet Bill Blaster. Use the Bills to blow up a glass cage, and take the Launch Star to the boss!
The name of the mission is King Kaliente's Spicy Return, so we find ourselves in a rematch with one of the bosses of the Good Egg Galaxy.
The biggest difference this time around is that the platforms on the battlefield quickly sink into lava if Mario is standing on 'em, so there's a bit more urgency this time around to not stay in the same spot.
Garden
Deep Dark Galaxy
Like the Bonefin and Bigmouth Galaxies, this one is a spooky, ghost-themed beach. The main planet is a beach with a large cave that contains a haunted ship.
There's a few fun planets scattered around this one, mostly reached by firing Mario out of the cannon on the beach.
One is a very tiny planet covered in shallow water and Cheep Cheeps flopping around. The idea here it to pound the wooden plugs to activate a water shooter that takes Mario to a different planet.
Another is a small planet covered in Octoguys and a Rainbow Star. There's also a Fire Flower here, needed for some of the missions on the main planet.
The most interesting one is a recreation of the starting planet in the Gateway Galaxy, but on a much smaller scale. There's three Goombas and a gold screw in the ground. Unscrewing it reveals the planet is inflatable, causing air to start leaking out of the planet and the whole thing to shrink.
This also causes a large ring of coins to become visible as the planet shrinks.
This planet isn't necessary to any missions in the galaxy, it's just really cool.
The main feature here is the underground lake inside the cave, where a haunted ship (possibly an Airship?) resides. On this ship is another boss battle against Kamella.
The English name of the mission is “The Underground Ghost Ship”, but the Chinese, French, and German versions give it the cooler name of “The Witch of the Ghost Ship”.
Guppy makes a reappearance in this underground lake, and leads Mario on another chase through some rings.
Dreadnought Galaxy
I admit, I often get this one confused with Battlerock. They have similar themes of a large space battleship, and even a similar section where Mario has to ride a platform past cannons firing at him. They have the same music and boss in the form of Topmaniac, too. Both galaxies also have a mission where a Gearmo makes Mario blow up piles of trash with Bob-ombs.
That said, the Dreadnought itself is really cool looking.
The inside is a fun little platforming gauntlet centered around the gameplay mechanic of switching up the gravity.
Matter Splatter Galaxy
The gimmick of the first half of this galaxy comes from a mission of the Ghostly Galaxy, where the only solid structures Mario can stand on are puddles created by droplets of matter that are bouncing around everywhere. When a droplet hits where a floor or wall would be, it splashes into a temporary puddle, creating that piece of solid ground for a few seconds. All of the terrain is invisible and intangible until a droplet of matter touches it.
I hope that explanation made sense. It's a super-cool effect.
The gimmick for the second half is that the solid matter is now acting like a moving spotlight. If Mario is outside of the spotlight, there's nothing solid or visible for him to stand on, and he falls through.
It's also super-cool, but gets a bit more frustrating, especially once the Spring Mushroom is required.
Does this help explain it any?
Melty Molten Galaxy
Well, here we are in the final regular galaxy of the game. And man, it's a doozy.
Worth mentioning here that the Japanese name of this one is the “Hell Prominence Galaxy”.
The first mission, The Sinking Lava Spire, might just be the coolest mission in the whole game?
You've got Mario running around the base of an active volcano, then taking a Sling Star to the summit of said volcano...then a Launch Star to another planet, complete with an awesome shot of Mario flying away from the volcano as it erupts with a fiery explosion behind him, scattering Star Bits everywhere.
After some Star Chip collecting while navigating some glass and lava planetoids via Pull Stars, Mario ends up at the titular Lava Spire, which is quickly sinking into the lava as Mario has to scale the giant stone structure as fast as he can, with the Power Star residing up top.
It's so freakin' cool.
The second mission has the player navigating a constant rain of meteors coming down, while visiting a planet inhabited by Thwomps, and finishing off by steering the Star Ball from the Rolling Green Galaxy through giant, spinning tunnels of lava.
Also of note is that there's a rematch with Dino Piranha, from the Good Egg Galaxy , but now he leaves a trail of flame and his tail bulb alternates between being on fire and not, causing the player to have to wait til the fire's out before Spinning at it.
You understand I didn't have a choice but to use this image to illustrate this galaxy, right?
Snow Cap Galaxy
Had to go through a lot of work to get to this one. Not only was it not available until completing The Sinking Lava Spire, I had to farm 1600 Star Bits to feed a Hungry Luma
Which I accomplished by visiting the Sling Pod Galaxy multiple times.
The only mission in the galaxy is Star Bunnies in the Snow.
Mario has two and a half minutes to find Star Bunnies hiding on the main planet. One's hiding inside a hole in the ground covered by snow (which can be brushed aside with the pointer, which is a cool idea), one's inside a treasure chest that has to be opened with a Koopa Shell, and the most difficult one is hiding inside a snowman that has to be destroyed by Fire Mario...but the Fire Flower is inside a compartment on the other side of the planet that can only be opened by hitting the Flipswitches.
It took me a few tries to get it, but it was fun!
Library
After collecting 17 Stars, the Library opens up. It's not a dome like the others, there are no galaxies to explore. Instead, upon entering the Library, Mario walks in on Rosalina reading a storybook to a bunch of young Lumas, each chapter being unlocked as the player progresses through the game.
The storybook tells the tale of a young girl who finds a Luma inside an old rusted spaceship. The Luma is waiting for his Mama, and the girl uses her father's telescope to look for her, to no avail. So, they instead fix up the spaceship, and go off into space to find Luma's Mama.
The story continues telling the duo's adventures in space, like Luma introducing the little girl to Star Bits, and them finding a turquoise comet that they park their ship on.
The girl has a dream about her mother leaving her. Her mother tells her that she'll always watch over her, and the girl awakes, crying. She and the Luma continue to search the cosmos for Luma's Mama, but still have no luck, so the girl vows to always take care of Luma.
They begin to build a home on the comet, with all sorts of various rooms, like a Garden, a Library, and a Gateway...
Soon, they encounter many more Lumas, all of whom start calling the little girl “mama”, which she finds hilarious, but decides to take them all in to their new home on the comet.
The girl looks in her father's telescope at her home planet, and begins to feel very homesick, talking about how much she misses her mother, father, and brother, bursting into tears when seeing the hill she used to stargaze from.
She says that she wants to go home and see her mother again, but she can't...because she's “sleeping” under the tree on that hill.
To cheer her up, her Luma companion transforms into a comet, reborn to help her and her fellow Lumas along their way. The other Lumas explain that as the destiny of all Lumas: they all will grow up to transform into something: comets, planets, stars...
The girl and her family of Lumas now spend their time on this comet, traveling the cosmos and welcoming new Lumas into the universe. She states that she takes care of them until they're ready to leave the nest, and she sees them off with a smile, because “that's what makes a mother the happiest”.
Then I start crying.
Despite this new role of hers, she expresses a desire to return to her home planet every century, to take a nap in her “favorite sleeping nook”.
The 2025 port of the game includes an epilogue where Rosalina plays a lullaby on guitar to get the energetic Lumas to go to sleep, and then remarks on the fun and memories of life's journeys and looking ahead to the next one. It's a very sweet ending.
So...as I'm sure you've surmised, the little girl is Rosalina, and the Storybook tells the player her backstory. It's a very (bitter)sweet story, but very cute, with lovely painted artwork on each page. It's surprisingly emotional, and makes Rosalina the only Super Mario character, period, to have an in-depth backstory.
In 2025, a physical edition of the book was published (I gotta get ahold of a copy), and the Nintendo Switch port of the game that same year includes an extra chapter that was not in the Wii or 3D All-Stars version.
The Center of the Universe
Bowser's Galaxy Reactor
Once you've collected 60 Stars, talking to Rosalina has her ask Mario if he's ready to go to the center of the universe.
Upon saying yes, we're treated to a cool cutscene of the Comet Observatory transforming into a spaceship and blasting off. We see it tear right through the Airship armada, and Rosalina points out that there's a warp field inside Peach's Castle. She then tells Mario to go, and a bridge forms for him to run across to get to the warp field.
First off, this is AWESOME. Suitably epic for a battle to determine the fate of the universe itself. Secondly, I always thought it was super cool how we get to hear Rosalina command “Go, Mario!” I admit, though, in this playthrough, Mercedes Rose's delivery sounds more annoyed, which I found funny.
Not a complaint against her, by the way. I really like Mercedes Rose as Rosalina.
The first part of this galaxy seems to be made up of the ruins of what looks like a castle (possibly Bowser's?), with these spotlights that have their own gravity, allowing Mario to walk on the walls. Neat!
Then there's three planets themed around elemental obstacles: lava, ice, and quicksand.
For some reason, this bit gave me a little trouble. Had to replay it a few times.
After that is an area where Mario has to traverse across blocks forming a path for him (called “Cosmic Blocks”, apparently. Had no idea until now. Neat!) and dodging Firebars.
Almost there...
Now we're in a massive cylinder of lava with horizontally-moving platforms and Bill Blasters firing Bullet AND Banzai Bills at Mario.
Y'know, I don't think I've ever ridden the platforms to the ceiling of the cylinder. The ceilingder, if you will.
Can you tell I don't have an editor?
Bowser Jr. taunts us with Princess Peach before Mario strikes a determined pose and begins running up a flight of stairs that's crumbling from the meteors Junior is firing from his Airship. Pick up the 1-Up and Life Mushrooms on the sides, and come face-to-face with Bowser at the top of the stairs.
Bowser gives an incredible supervillain monologue about how he'll rule the entire universe with Princess Peach at his side, an empire that'll last forever. But the first thing he's gonna do, though? Stomp Mario.
Here we go!
The first part of the final battle has Bowser curl up into a boulder and try to roll over Mario. The key here is to Spin his face when it appears. This is a reference to the boulder enemies that have appeared all throughout the game that can be destroyed by Spinning at the red part that's not covered in rock. I didn't realize that was possible until long after I'd beaten the game. Didn't get the reference first time I played this final boss, but figured out how to attack Bowser anyway.
For the second phase of the battle, Bowser curls up into his shell and rolls along the ground. Since he's covered in spikes, Mario has to Spin at the rubbery bulb plants along the planet's surface, smacking Bowser with them, and flipping him onto his back. With the Koopa King sliding around on his back, now Mario can hit him with a Spin.
The final phase is set on a large glass orb (the titular Galaxy Reactor, I presume) located inside a huge sphere of lava, comprising the sun at the center of Bowser's galaxy.
Nothing we haven't seen before, continue dodging the shockwaves from Bowser's stomping, then steer his ground-pounding onto an orb filled with lava, causing his tail to catch fire. Spin him at this point to send him skidding across the surface of the planet, then again to stop him. Do this a few times, and the last Spin has Mario punching Bowser into the sun they're fighting inside.
POW!
Mario's grabbed the Grand Star and Princess Peach. They're flying back to the entrance of the galaxy, when....the Galaxy Reactor starts to malfunction. Bowser laments the loss of his cosmic empire, the reactor goes supernova, forming a massive black hole...
That's not a good prize. ...the black hole sucks the entire universe into it. Suddenly, a bunch of Lumas start diving into the black hole, sacrificing themselves to stop it. Among those Lumas is the one that's been traveling with Mario this whole time. It waves goodbye before jumping in.
The black hole is stopped, and Mario finds himself floating in a bright void when a giant Rosalina appears before him. She explains that the sounds of crying that are heard are that of baby Lumas, having been reborn. They sacrificed themselves to rebuild the universe, because everything in existence is made up of stardust. That said, things might be a bit different this time around...
Back at Peach's Castle (which is now where it should be), we see the Star Festival from the beginning of the game is happening, with most of the characters Mario had met on his adventure (both allies and enemies) celebrating together. Mario wakes up with a butterfly on him (symbolizing death and rebirth) alongside Princess Peach and Bowser (the latter of which seems grumpy that his plan failed, but is at least happy to be alive).
Mario finally realizes what Rosalina was talking about, jumps to his feet, and yells to the sky a greeting to the new universe.
As we pan out to see some of the new planets that have come about. Roll credits.
Going back to the game after beating it causes Purple Comets to start appearing in galaxies, and the counter on the Comet Observatory now displays how many Stars are left in the game. Rosalina mentions that getting them all will allow access to “another world”...with those last two words in green. (referring, obviously, to how you'll be able to do a new playthrough as Luigi)
Items
Returning:
Coin
1-Up Mushroom
Power Star
Fire Flower
New:
Star Bits
Bee Mushroom
Red Star
Boo Mushroom
Rainbow Star
Ice Flower
Notes
Spring Mushroom
Life Mushroom
Star Chips
 |
| It'll probably come as no surprise that this image was the background of the infobox on my MySpace profile. |
Milestones
First mainline Super Mario game on Wii.
Not the first game on Wii to feature Mario, of course. Or even the first one to be a part of the greater Mario franchise. That honor, at least technically, probably goes to WarioWare: Smooth Moves.
The first game on Wii to star Mario, though, was the action RPG Super Paper Mario, by Intelligent Systems in April 2007.
The first part of the Super Mario Galaxy duology.
Debut appearance of Rosalina, the Lumas, and the Comet Observatory
As mentioned before, Rosalina is the first character to get any kind of substantial backstory
I guess Bowser Jr. sorta had one in Sunshine, but...c'mon. Nothing compared to Rosalina's.
First game since Super Mario 64 where the main objective is to collect Power Stars.
Possibly the first appearance of Kamek in a Super Mario game since Yoshi's Island.
First Super Mario game with a live soundtrack
Luigi's first appearance in a 3D Super Mario (not counting the remake of Super Mario 64 on Nintendo DS)
First time Luigi is playable in a 3D Super Mario (again, not counting Super Mario 64 DS)
First Super Mario game to end with the entire universe being sucked into a black hole and destroyed
First appearance of the Airships since Super Mario Bros. 3
First quadruped Koopa Troopas since SMB3
The official debut of the Toad Brigade, and Captain Toad, in particular
If you don't count Sunshine, that is. I suppose this one counts as the introduction of the names “Toad Brigade” and “Captain Toad”, as well as the debut of their individual personalities.
Toadette's first appearance in a mainline Super Mario game, albeit as a cameo in the intro.
First appearances of ? Blocks and Fire Flowers in a 3D Super Mario.
Mario's cap usually has the letter M on it, but if he was wearing it here, it'd have the letter B.
Trivia
In Korea, the game was titled Super Mario Wii, and the startup screen audio was changed to reflect that, by using the same “SUPER MARIO--” voice clip from the other versions, but replacing “Galaxy” with a voice clip of Mario yelling “WHEE!” when doing a Long Jump.
The Good Egg Galaxy has the most planets of either Super Mario Galaxy game, with 19 planets.
The second mission of Good Egg has a Star Bit asteroid that only appears when playing the game in 4:3 aspect ratio. If playing on a widescreen display, that particular asteroid will not spawn, and thus it doesn't appear in Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
The image of space in “Galaxy” in the game's logo is from an image of the Andromeda Galaxy, originally taken by Robert Gendler in 2005.
Visible through the Kitchen dome's window, is an image of a comet passing by. This is actually a modified image of Halley's Comet, taken in 1986 by NASA.
I don't know if it's been confirmed, but I feel like, in the Storybook epilogue from the 2025 rerelease of the game, Rosalina playing a lullaby to the Lumas on a guitar is a reference to a piece of concept art for 2017's Super Mario Odyssey, which depicted Rosalina as a street musician with an acoustic guitar.
The game keeps the entire staff credits loaded in the RAM at all times. Inefficient, perhaps. But still cool.
If Mario rescues Luigi, but falls into a black hole before collecting the Star, upon re-entering the level, Luigi will ask his brother if he's okay.
Conclusion
Eh, it's all right.
Just kidding. I adore this game.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this is one of the greatest video games I've ever played.
Visually, it shows that nobody knows how to get more out of Nintendo hardware than Nintendo themselves.
The game may not have originally been in HD, but it's still vibrant and gorgeous even on a CRT display.
There's a very strong art direction. The majesty and openness of deep space but with that classic Super Mario aesthetic throughout, and some sci-fi elements sprinkled in.
Small details like Bowser's hair blowing in the wind (yes, wind in space. Go with it), to epic setpieces like planets exploding in the background, the calming nature of the domes or Rosalina's Library, or the entirety of Matter Splatter Galaxy...there's always something interesting on screen.
Musically, Mahito Yokota's soundtrack (with guidance from Koji Kondo) is spectacular. Majority of the tracks are big, sweeping scores, performed by a live orchestra.
Yokota originally had what he thought was a more traditional, poppy, Latin-inspired, Super Mario sound in mind before Kondo told him to get the idea of Super Mario being “cute” out of his mind, and he spent the next three months working hard on the compositions.
His efforts paid off. Again, the music is very grand, fitting for a space opera, but also very excited about the possibilities of an adventure in deep space.
The tracks that aren't orchestral go for a more weird, synth-y sound...but still really catchy.
“Buoy Base” is my personal favorite track, but I also have a lot of love for Galaxy's arrangement of “Bowser's Road” from Super Mario 64.
Mario controls similarly well to how he did in 64 and Sunshine, with most of the same moves as in the former. However, the Wii Remote enables a few new tricks.
The big one is shaking the Wii Remote to have Mario perform a Spin attack that looks similar to his “Mario Tornado” move from the Super Smash Bros. games. It's a fun move to perform and the game keeps coming up with interesting uses for it, though I admit that having it be connected to shaking the controller feels arbitrary. Not bad, but there's no reason it can't have been a button press instead (something 3D All-Stars and the 2025 rerelease wisely made an option).
The Wii Remote's pointer functionality, on the other hand...the cursor being used to collect Star Bits, blowing air at bubbles, and holding onto objects/enemies in Co-Star Mode...that's a legitimately clever use of the gyroscope and feels perfectly natural.
This game is much like Super Mario Bros. 3 seventeen/nineteen years prior (depending on which release you're counting) in that it's constantly throwing new concepts at the player. The outer space setting means that there's no limits to what the levels can be; this one's got giant apples and a worm digging through them. This one's a giant toy box. This one's a haunted house. A strip of water in the sky where penguins surf on manta rays. Just so much creativity throughout, and it's all just so joyful to explore.
Granted, it is much more linear than previous 3D Super Marios. But it makes up for it by most level missions taking the player on completely different paths, avoiding the “collectathon” feeling of a lot of 3D platformers (including Sunshine and especially SM64) and keeping things fresh when revisiting levels.
This is a space opera, and the tone of the game is of a grand, epic, cosmic adventure, but with that classic Super Mario sense of goofiness and whimsy.
The addition of Rosalina and the Lumas add some much-appreciated depth to the franchise, giving us some lore for the universe itself and Rosalina in particular being a fully fleshed-out character with a tragic, bittersweet backstory that doesn't feel out-of-place.
Things like the final battle at the center of the cosmos that results in the complete destruction of the universe...being punctuated by a small plumber causing a fire-breathing turtle to run around with his tail on fire keeps things from being too dark, and is exactly the kinda thing I love about this franchise.
Something unusual for a Super Mario game that Galaxy delivers on is themes. Particularly found family, grief, and rebirth.
Grief and found family are the core of the characterization of Rosalina and the Lumas.
Rosalina fled her home while grieving her mother's passing to help a Luma find its mother. Eventually, the Luma accepts that its mother won't be coming back, and Rosalina has to process the same with her own mother. This allows the Luma (as well as all the Lumas) to look to Rosalina as the maternal figure they didn't have, and she manages to accept her mother's death and move on by becoming a mother of sorts herself.
Rebirth is also a major theme, with it stated that all matter in the universe is made up of stardust (which I believe has some basis in reality), specifically from Lumas, who are born knowing that eventually they'll grow up to be reborn as something else.
Mario feeds Star Bits to hungry Lumas, who will happily transform into galaxies or items. And of course, this is reflected in the ending, where Bowser's Galaxy Reactor destroys the entire universe, and all the Lumas (including the one traveling with Mario) throw themselves into the black hole to recreate the universe, allowing it to be reborn (symbolized by the butterfly on Mario's cap when he awakens).
(Yes, I know I already mentioned the butterfly symbolism. I don't care. I think it's such a cool touch)
Ultimately, the game is fun, endlessly creative, with a ton of content and replay value, rich characters, and epic (but still whimsical) tone and story...oh yeah. This is absolutely recommended.
“Welcome...WELCOME, NEW GALAXY!”
- Mario
Next time:
Mario's space adventure was groundbreaking and fresh, blowing everyone's minds! Let's take a moment to breathe by doing a sequel to New Super Mario Bros...but this time on Wii! How about we call it...New Super Mario Bros. Wii?
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