Super Mario Galaxy Review

By: Nate Review Guy, 2/27/21

Released 14 years ago in 2007, Super Mario Galaxy aimed to revolutionize the adolescent 3D Mario series by altering the perceived space Mario would explore.  Upon it’s publishing, Galaxy instantaneously bolstered the credibility of the Wii, and moved an impressive 12.80 million units in physical sales alone.  As a result of it’s colossal production value, the game experienced praise from an abundance of critics, despite greatly shifting the series it consisted of.  And today, countless fans still refer to Mario Galaxy as the game that peaked the 3D Mario Series as a masterpiece of Nintendo.

Given my age, Super Mario Galaxy was only the third video game I have ever played, with Mario Kart Wii and Wii Sports Resort narrowly beating it out by only a couple of weeks.  Yet nonetheless, I vividly remember the profound mental revolution I had upon my first experience with Galaxy.  The game managed to capture the adventurous side of me, as I was quite eager to blast from galaxy to galaxy, seeing what new environment I would be blessed to explore next.  And since I recently got to replay SMG, thanks to the Super Mario 3D shovelw- Allstars, I figured now would certainly be a fitting time to review one of Nintendo’s most iconic creations.  However, don’t expect me to blindly administer praise to the game, it definitely is not perfect and I won’t be one of those people who name their kids after Super Mario Galaxy.  Trust me, I do have a few problems with the experience, and won’t hesitate to study the game with a very critical eye given it’s superb public identity.  With all that being said, let’s discern precisely why Super Mario Galaxy is held on such a titanic pedestal.

Controls

Exponentially tight and intuitive controls are often associated with Mario, considering how open the level design of a complete 3D space typically is.  Yet, due to Galaxy embarking upon a detour to a more linear path to the objective, and the fact that the physics were going to be distinctly different, a few alterations to the control scheme should be expected.  Namley, Super Mario Galaxy’s gravity mechanics forced the development team to rethink enemy encounters, as landing directly on the head of those sneaky goombas would feel awkward in a globular environment.  Thus, the spin jump was born, allowing Mario to effectively double jump and defeat hazards with a frail of his arms.  The inclusion of this move is genius; the player gains an ability to course correct, and the levels would benefit with a new layer of complexity in their design from another method of traversal.  However, since this game has to exist on the Wii console, the spin jump was mapped to a shake of the control.  While that isn’t automatically a design error, it still would’ve felt much more convenient and responsive had it been mapped to a button on the controller-nunchuck duo.  But with that being said, the addition of this specific motion control does indeed enhance the immersion of the gameplay; and allows the player to interact with Mario in a more engaging way rather than a traditional button.

Speaking of the motion controls, it’s time for everyone’s favorite segment of a Wii game review: how big of a piss can you take on the Wii’s gimmick and identify?  Well, in Super Mario Galaxy’s case, the expected Wiimote accessibility is shockingly rather polar, both intuitive and somewhat obnoxious.  To start with the positives, let’s address the Starbit collection method.  In SMG, the player can utilize the Wiimote’s pointer function to pick-up stray Star-bits as long as they are visible.  Earning currency in this fashion was one of Mario Galaxy’s most overlooked innovations, as it allowed the level designers to institute bizarre routes to the end of a level without the monotonous hassle of coin placement.  As a result, the player can engage in a passive flow of platforming without being disrupted by bright yellow stimuli.  It’s actually quite thrilling at times; the individual can accelerate through a Galaxy and grab as many Starbits as plausible without compromising their momentum by snagging a coin.  In brief, the Starbits were a fantastic solution to a question I’m ecstatic the developers asked themselves: will collectible coins weigh down the unprecedented mechanics and courses of Galaxy?*

Other than the former, Super Mario Galaxy contains motion based elements in pull stars and specific Galaxies.  Primarily, pull stars are used within levels to shift grounded paths by having Mario gravitate through a field of space with them.  Although these segments function quite smoothly, they contrast a bit too much from the usual Mario feel for my liking.  How so?  Well to put it shortly, pull stars are so goddamn slow.  To illustrate, consider Melty Molten Galaxy’s pull star section.  What normally is a ginormous and rapidly moving level comes to a sudden halt when you find yourself waiting for multiple slow geysers to yield in a path of pull stars.  While not all of the game’s implementations of the mechanic are tedious, I am rather partial to how they are used in Space Junk Galaxy myself, they certainly could have been fashioned in a more expedited way.

Admittedly, I do quite enjoy a notable majority of motion-based minigame galaxies.  In fact, Super Mario Galaxy’s endeavors to constitute an exclusive single star to each of these galaxies kept them necessarily abbreviated to maximise the player’s enjoyment within them.  However, that is not to say they are liberated from their inherited glaring flaws.  Rolling Green, Rolling Gizmo, and the two Manta-Ray galaxies are all solid blueprints for a memorable stage.  In essence, they each possess a complete ensemble of the vital Mario ingredients for a fulfilling level: new and bizarre set pieces, Koiochi Hayashida’s signature design, and a unique dynamic consisting of an organic gimmick.  Yet, these four galaxies in particular make the critical mistake of employing motion based inputs in eminently precise environments.  To elaborate, the occasional unresponsiveness of moving the controller prompts the player to suffer usually undeserved falls from a delayed response of the console.  Furthermore, the galaxies require a substantially advanced amount of balance to bisect, given that they each take place on slimmer platforms.  Again, I do indeed appreciate these two galaxies, as they are fascinating twists from the usual gameplay, yet the unneeded motion controls severely damage their quality as a whole.

Normally, I would begin to discuss Mario Galaxy’s inhumane tortute emitting from the Wii Console called Bubble Blast Galaxy, but my blood pressure has already skyrocketed by the mere conception of pointer controls.  So instead, let’s wrap up this section on one of Galaxy’s highest notes: the controls that come from the controller*.

Aside from the spin jump priorly mentioned, Galaxy features the fairly established and expected set of returning controls.  The long jump, the side somersault, the back somersault, the triple jump, and the ground pound make up the collective of veteran actions for Mario to employ.  But unfortunately, the dive, another semi-iconic staple of a Mario platformer, was discernibly absent in favor of the spin jump.  Obviously, possessing duel course correction maneuvers similar in function would’ve felt slightly uncanny for the consistently sharp movements of Mario, yet the dive did work in tandem with Cappy in Odyssey, so it’s doubtable this would’ve been jarring of an audit.  In fact, it would’ve been neat being able to dive out of a spin jump, especially for a few of the dare devil comets that required a limited time to be met.  Yet either way, the dive not being included in Galaxy became hardly noticeable as the player became further adjusted to the controls, making it’s absence certainly justified.

One last mechanic in Galaxy that demands a short appraise is the Green Shell.  In the past, swimming in 3D Mario Games was plagued by the pacing of water traversal, as Mario would move much slower when swimming through the waves.  On top of that, it tarnished possibly the greatest value of the older platformers: movement, due to the player being restricted to a few controls in contrast to the land’s smorgasboard of leaps and combos.  So to help alleviate the natural geographical nusiance, Galaxy provided the Green Shell for rapid speed in water.  As a result, more tropical and oceanic themed galaxies augmented to a new standard for aquatic Mario spaces, as the movement in the water itself became pleasing.  From this, the evidence of Galaxy attempting to learn from the failures of its parents becomes more clarified.

Based on my seemingly unbalanced ratio of critiques to appraise, you may assume I’m not too fond of Galaxy’s controls on the whole.   However, the opposite of this review’s reality is actullay the case, as I adore how Mario controls in his first intergalactic adventure.  The annoyance of the motion controls is faint in comparsion to the instances of traditional movement, and when the tradition occurs, Mario may just be at the best he’s ever been.  Each action near impeccably pairs with the lack of gravity in the game, making Galaxy have an unsought feeling of momentum manifested into the cosmic environment it hosts.  And while the motion controls should have certainly been further polished or neglected in entirety, Galaxy is somewhat adept at hiding these grievances behind the level’s respective alluring set pieces and course variety.  All in all, specific nitpicks were necessary for inspection to maintain objectivity for this honest review, proving that Galaxy’s slips only occur in rare instances.  To close, if you ever wanted to single handedly revise the laws of physics to allow you to run through the universe with as much ease and thrill as riding a bike, then Mario Galaxy is undoubtedly a game well suited for you.

Visuals

The art style of Mario has progressively developed into becoming possibly the most familiar element of the games bearing his name.  Players have begun to establish an appreciation for the colorfully diverse threads of reality Mario would find himself in, contrasting perfectly with the realisticness focus of most modern games*.  And while Mario 64 may have commenced the flavorful visual trend, it was Mario Galaxy who truly experimented with a diverse pigmentation pallet, paving the way for the style in 3D World, Odyssey, and likely more games to follow suit with this artistic philosophy.  So, let’s take a rather abbreviated stop to admire the view.

Before a discussion of the environment, Galaxy’s sprite work deserves recognition.  Nearly every notable powerup, collectible, and 3D model feels modernized and enhanced; a light testament on behalf of the Wii’s potential.  Most remarkably are the power-stars, designed with an almost fabric-esque material and gold plating that make obtaining them a fair reward of a grand interstellar journey. 

The most prosperous strive for creative identity Super Mario Galaxy took would be in it’s captivating setting: deep space.  In essence, the team managed to create a seemingly infinite dark sky above the player in a simplistic matter, establishing little details with an upsurge of effort into those little details.  Often, looking up would treat the observant to a somber look at the calming night sky, or in some instances, the titanic array of planets coupled with a large skybox.  In effect, it is the sky texture that can truly augment an accompanying galaxy’s tone in Galaxy; whether it be the extra dark and ghastly winds of Ghostly Galaxy, the listless but magical junk fortunate to exist in Space Junk Galaxy, or even the bright and welcoming colorful room of a child in Toy Time Galaxy.  In fact, I hypothesize that the scale of the game was made for a hidden thematic focus of Galaxy, one that was more felt then observed.  And while I will investigate this further in the review’s story section, it should definitely be noted that it is the visual skyboxes that are what immerse ourselves into Galaxy’s subliminal messages. 

Likewise to the former, Galaxy’s stages each possess a strong visual design and a defining sense of identity from that design.  The game hosts a plethora of unforgettable experiences for the eyes, stemming from the team’s very creative thinking and effort.  To illustrate, the Freezeflame Galaxy is an excellent contrast of ice and fire, which allows both elements to naturally dominate their side of the solar system.  Often, we encounter small details like ancient debris on the molten side, and mysteriously frozen objects and enemies on the frost side, which could indicate that the land already had pre-established history before we even stepped on it, which allows the player to make their own interpretation of what happened based on the setting.  Yet, there are still a few galaxies that felt like a certain degree of care was ditched when founding their geometry.  Namely, places such as Slingpod Galaxy and Boo’s Boneyard lack character, and are seemingly nothing but floating objects in space without the charm or metaphor of Space Junk Galaxy.  But nonetheless, aside from a few lackadaisical missteps, Galaxy features an abundance of vibrant and memorable levels with fascinating architecture, amazing color, interesting set pieces, and occasionally brilliant environmental contrasts.

After a masterclass of creating stunning and colorful universes in Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Galaxy fortunately refuses to disappoint when compared to its predecessor.  Despite being on the Wii hardware, the game runs consistently well at a steady 30 FPS without any discernible compromises being made.  And as connoted prior, almost all the galaxies have accomplished to craft an unforgettable identity with their unique visual designs as the source of their legends.  In conclusion, Mario’s world of vibrant colors augmented itself into a universe of unparalleled tints and pigmentations during his quest in deep, dark space.

Level Design

Perhaps the most quintessential aspect of Super Mario Galaxy is the captivating level design present in almost every level.  In fact, the unforeseen creative breakthroughs are often celebrated on a scale near the size of a continent, because of how revolutionary Super Mario Galaxy was for the art of generating a compelling challenge.  So, while it would naturally be easy for me to mindlessly rave about the genius of Mario Galaxy’s stages, I’ve decided to prioritize thinking more critically on the analysis ahead.  Consequently, this method could uncover stealthy truths about the game’s design consistently overlooked by other critics and fans.  Let’s take a look.

Most notably, almost the entire collective of courses in Galaxy adhere to the Kishōtenketsu design philosophy.  Originally conceived by Koishi Hayashida, each challenge is carefully crafted to resemble the common ingredients of a story: the introduction, development, twist, and finale.  To elaborate, the levels begin rather elementary by establishing a new gimmick and gradually increasing the difficulty of said gimmick, until a grand twist occurs leading into the end of the stage.  As a result, a great majority of the galaxies were evocative of a different epic feel to the player when going through the stages; which culminated in unforgettable classics such as Honeyhive Galaxy, Freezeflame Galaxy, and Melty Molten Galaxy.  

However, for a game that often reutilizes its settings, seeing Kishōtenketsu survive for more than two stars is rare in contrast to the usual third star mini game or abbreviated challenge.  Henceforth, the definite problem facing Kishōtenketsu is it’s lack of the ability to recycle and reinvent itself in places that have already constituted a gimmick.  It’s effectively similar to attempting to tell a sequential story without constructing a new world around it; the story may still be wonderful, in Galaxy’s case it often is, yet you’re still left to wonder how it may have potentially looked if the concept was still fresh.  To prove this, simply look at places such as Battlerock, Toy Time, Beach Bowl, Ghostly, Gusty Garden, and Sea Slide; all of these galaxies are undoubtedly phenomenal, yet either repeat areas or abandon it’s initial concept entirely to prevent Kishōtenketsu from being redundant.

Now to swiftly transition to behind the curtain, let’s take a look at what may potentially be the anticlimactic resolution of Mario hub worlds: the Comet Observatory.  Primarily, the observatory is substantially smaller than its predecessors, Peach’s Castle and Isle Delfino, and contains not a single secret star or collectible for the player to obtain.  Instead, it’s merely a linear circle containing relaxed rooms for the levels to reside.  Although there are an abundance of reasons that institute an appreciation for this space station, in terms of level design visionary, it certainly was a bright mechanic from the game’s designers.  To elaborate, since Mario Galaxy’s stages are far less explorative then a few of it’s series companions, the Comet Observatory was built with the idea of being a facilitated route between levels.  In contrast to Super Mario 64, whose hub world used to be a hike between levels*, the Comet Observatory keeps the path between stages hasty, in order to preserve the player’s attention span and motivation to continue their play duration.

Sadly, the Comet Observatory housed a singular fatal flaw in Super Mario algebraic expression, that profoundly crippled it’s performance: the y-axis.  Usually, trips between different rooms of the Comet Observatory take a miniscule amount of time when circling it’s grounded circular layout.  But unfortunately, if the player were to desire to journey into the later game galaxies, that would mean a trip to the layers ascended from the initial floor, henceforth instigating a tedious pattern of constantly climbing the Comet Observatory between stars when completing the game’s resolving and twilight courses.  Now, this wouldn’t inherently be a significant point of criticism if the game’s intent was to encourage open exploration in it’s hub world.  Yet since the Comet Observatory persisted in lacking a necessary reason for your prolonged residence, climbing through it’s metallic steel architecture again and again begins to feel repetitive.  In essence, the Comet Observatory had a solid purpose and overall congealed attempt to modernize the typical modern Mario hub world.  And while it certainly held a discernible amount of triumphs, the establishment of vertical depth kept it on the latter of the fine line between innovation and regression.

Returning to the course design for a sequential investigation, the way the team behind Galaxy programmed Mario’s interactions with space was a virtuoso demonstration of redefining a genre through an advanced abstraction.  Rather than adhering to the celebrated perception of a platforming game, Nintendo entirely shifted one of the most relatable physics, gravity, by making the individual move in a more circular and twisted pattern rather than the typical one dimensional jump.  In general, the courses within Galaxy take beneficial advantage of allowing the player to truly play with the circular gravity movement, or at times lack thereof, and augment the sense of immersion when completing courses in space.  For example, consider Ghostly Galaxy.  Explicitly, this level was carefully crafted to resemble it’s root inspirations of a mysterious haunted house; oftentimes possessing paths and jumps that require the player go upside down, up the walls, and even run on the exterior of the mansion.  In fact, Galaxy contains numerous levels similar to Ghostly, which each equally provide the new system of cosmic traversal that made Galaxy so groundbreaking and fresh.  Honestly, this restructure of how we can think of movement in a video game has become unfairly overlooked; as the portion of risk the developers took behind instituting successful and functional levels with such an immense and undefined property is understated by us fans.

Another memorable level from SMG was the relatively ginormous Freezeflame Galaxy.  Essentially, the stage masterfully combines the lava and ice elements encountered earlier in the game, and gives each one a chance to blossom for its own star.  Then, the level combines the two for the final star of the system, where you rapidly skate across listlessly floating platforms of fire and snow in order to collect the conclusive star.  Due to Freezeflame’s multidimensional design, the level creators were able to smoothly demonstrate Kishōtenketsu without encountering the pitfall of third star syndrome.  Evidently, the developers missed a titanic opportunity to constitute more levels featuring a duality of themes, as returning to more dynamic set pieces simplifies the level’s potential for another story in an organic way.

Toy Time Galaxy is not only one of the more visually stylish courses, but also one of the more tactical and precise levels on the design front.  Particularly, the initial star possesses a wonderful stage progression that seamlessly introduces two new mechanics with a climactic pseudo-boss fight that features, and tests you on, both acquired skills.  After the predictable lax opening planet, Toy Time wastes no time by instantaneously prompting the player for an interaction with a screw, the first of the recurring elements.  Then, the level tasks you with solving a collective of puzzles with these screws, and clarifies their physics in a proportionality safe environment.  Next, Mario would discover a new toy to play with: the spring powerup is discovered in a vertically orientated plane for him to trial the supplemented jump.  And lastly, the colossal mecha-bowser challenges the player to a duel of familiarity, as victory requires you to systemically unscrew his parts, and ascend a conveyor belt to the top of his head with the spring powerup.  On the whole, this Toy Time Galaxy star is a near immaculate manifestation of Kishōtenketsu, demonstrating the dynamic of its philosophy by instituting one of its greatest applications in a more demanding level, thus, illuminating a path for even the most opposing levels to utilize a rapid and convenient tutorial segment. 

But unfortunately, to say Mario Galaxy is entirely consistent at generating brilliant levels would be like having Russia as the ultimatum when Turkey and South Korea are negotiating their share of the universe.  And what might be the all mighty god ending form of weaponry that these two states would use in that conquest?  While, let’s just say a few of their opponents had to control a bubble with a Wiimote when resisting the power of the all mighty god ending form of weaponry created by South Korea and Turkey.

Now in the context of this review, did that resemble any form of coherent sense or was that a randomly assorted jamble of phrases produced for the sake of a clever metaphor?  No?  Well how about explaining that to Nintendo, who for some reason was so adamant about motion controls that they went far enough to have an obligatory pointer distraction in a platformer action game.  As I mentioned earlier, I was quite mixed on the notion of having Pull Stars work as an obstacle to the gamer in specific galaxies.  However, this minor grievance becomes amplified to a plateau of dissatisfaction for the two stages that toss you into a bubble in Galaxy.  Collectively, you can expect a devious assortment of displeasures; which includes janky controls, slow gameplay, faulty motion detection, random difficulty spikes, and unfair challenges nonchalantly programmed simply because they had to be.  To put it shortly, myself, and likely an abundance of others, decided that they have played enough Galaxy for the day after clearing this dysfunctional duo of levels.

On a more positive note, Galaxy’s collection of bosses was another standout in level design.  Mainly, a fair majority of them often had their own fascinating Achilles Heels that reflected upon a new mechanic introduced in the Galaxy.  For instance, Bouldergeist was damaged by the bomb ghosts disbursed by him, which you instantly knew how to handle due to those very same ghosts being used to overcome a challenge in an earlier segment of the mission.  In addition, after Space Junk Galaxy taught and handled the new Sling Pod obstacles, you would be sequentially armed with those variables to defeat Tarantox, the stage’s boss.  While Galaxy never makes a strenuous attempt to design an organic challenge from its boss fights, each is still enjoyable to compete against due to its evolution of what you have encountered in that level.  In all, design like this is genius, and allows the experimental phase of the boss fight to undetectably take place while the player is playing the course prior to it.

The enemy variety in Galaxy is unfortunately a mixed bag.  Primarily, a broad span of Mario’s recurring rivals have been brought back, and used in clever and fitting ways.  However, given that the experience is set in a variety of environments in space, you would expect to see a few fresh enemies that are native to specific galaxies.  Now, the game does indeed have a noticeable amount of new foes, like the Octoombas and Mandabugs, but a discernible preponderance of courses rely on previously existing enemies.  Henceforth, the game becomes a bit too familiar in contrast to our expectations for what we could encounter in unmanifested Mario worlds.  Like come on, the literal Mushroom Kingdom seems to have the most diverse set of races in the entirety of the megaverse Galaxy aims to portray.  It should be evident that mistakes were made when the creatures that Mario frequently commits war crimes on are more populous than those he maintains peace with.  Essentially, the bottom line is that Mario Galaxy lacks the desired influx of new enemies.

To be open or not to be?  A common turnoff for a multitude of Mario veterans was Galaxy’s return to the linear status quo, instead of further expanding the open worlds of 64 and Sunshine.  While obviously the retro homecoming miffed some fans, the game’s genre is rarely anything to hold against it.  In fact, I would even say that Mario Galaxy was a damn good linear game, that ascended nearly every platforming trope imaginable.  Be that as it may, I admittedly still wonder what Galaxy could have been if it was a figurative 3D space that took place within literal space.  If Galaxy 3 were to announce that it would take inspiration from the widespread success of Odyssey, I would be very optimistic for what Nintendo could create from the bizarre fusion.  Overall, adhering to linearity was probably the best route Galaxy could have taken for the Wii era.  But today, it would be fascinating to see how Galaxy’s unique sense of gravity and movement could be incorporated into 3D areas.

Despite a handful of disinteresting and forced missions, Galaxy proves to have a strong collection of cleverly designed levels credited to Kishōtenketsu.  While the system is undoubtedly elementary to perceive, each individual galaxy that is subjected to it had a variety of nuances that made them wonderfully distinctive.  The amount of attention provided to the broad collective of galaxies is exponential and evident, as the finely crafted levels subtly graduated in difficulty with every preconceived jump Mario took.  In fact, it’s even challenging for the more compulsory Wii levels to be visible in the abundant pile of classics when recollecting on a former playthrough.  Now, I’m not attempting to convey that the forced motion control galaxies don’t stain the experience, rather, the more polished and legitimate courses more than compensate for the missteps.  However, the reanimation of Kishōtenketsu for the sequential stars in each galaxy were either not as impactful, or abandoned the galaxy’s constituted gimmick due to the monotonous task of retelling a known story the developers were likely conflicted by in the design process.  Yet in the end, the level design from Galaxy rivals that of Super Mario 64, and should be meticulously analyzed and recognized as a breakthrough theory of player-game immersion.

Game Design

While we as players certainly remember our experiences in specific levels, it is important to recognize that game design serves as the foundation in which each stage functions.  Likewise to the dimensional transformation of level design, Mario Galaxy’s game design makes some noticeable changes from it’s two predecessors, and attempts to reimagine plenty of Mario classic connotations.  Whereas a plethora of the new editions were created with the intent of catching up to the idea of an anti-gravity, some were produced in order to craft a distinctive name for Galaxy.  So did these reimaginings blast Galaxy to heights unmanifested by man, or did the rocket malfunction by the outcome of a mediocre ground crew?  Oh wait, are you asking me?  Oh I couldn’t say man, it’s not like I’m a rocket scientest.

As I mentioned prior, plenty of Mario’s mechanics have been reformed for the sake of fitting Galaxy’s mechanics.  Most notably, coins have been repurposed to be of substantial use for the player by becoming not unlike the vanilla Mushrooms of the 2D outings.  In the past, upon collecting a coin in Mario, nothing too crucial would happen until 100 were snagged, earning the player an extra life.  However, due to the obvious aging of the life system, obtaining a life in all Mario games in exchange for coins, but the original, was borderline futile since dying never did any more damage than losing a miniscule amount of progress.  And while Mario 64 and Sunshine shifted the premise with 100 coin secret stars, the lack of a sandbox in Galaxy made this unconventional.  Not to mention, Star-bits took a likely role away from the coins by promoting obesity in the universe in exchange for more levels.  So clearly, the developers would have to constitute a new use for coins that was not seen before.

And thus, a health meter, indicative of the one from Super Mario 64, was born.  This new system dedicated coins to an immediate convenience for the player, allowing them to be unobtrusive to the actual objective.  Subtle repairs like fixing coins help reveal the care Nintendo had for developing Galaxy to us, as they were willing to acknowledge a persistent flaw of theirs in order to make the most of such a wonderful concept.  After all, it is the small acts in games that can indicate the confident intent and diligence of a development team to consumers.

Unlike the proper majority of past Mario components, the life system did not go through any dramatic adjustments in Galaxy.  Instead, it received a minor tweak by having Mario return to a set checkpoint upon immediate death, and a level boot out upon a complete loss of lives.  Likely, the developers had very limited options in how they could implement this series staple in Mario Galaxy without disrupting the core experience.  Hence, Nintendo adhered to tradition and played it safe with a simple progress loss, which somewhat benefits the game in retrospect.  The notion of being forced to repeat an already accomplished challenge makes the player respect and acknowledge both the level’s trials and it’s hidden 1-Up Mushrooms.  Although this may be cheap and half-assed from a creativity front, functionally Galaxy’s life count succeeds in its intended job of further inflicting fun tension and suspense nonetheless.

Super Mario Galaxy hosts a diverse and fascinating assembly of power ups, some reprised from former games, with others making their former debuts.  On paper, Mario Galaxy did a wonderful job with these items; as they all collectively have compelling and indicative uses and necessities, and when present, are incorporated smoothly into the stage they suit.  However, the common gamer often dismisses this set when reminiscing on past Mario abilities, which emanates from a lack of foresight the developers had when finalizing the complete set of galaxies.  To explain, the powerups in Galaxy were dreadfully underused, and seldom applied for a majority of the star missions.  Therefore, feel almost absent in hindsight when the entirety of Super Mario Galaxy is thought upon in retrospect.  Moreover, since the game has a staggering 7 power ups to design multiple stages around, each one would only witness the spotlight for a miniscule portion of galaxies.  On balance, Mario Galaxy’s primary flaw with its power ups is not the qualities of them, rather the quantity of their presences.

It’s legitimately a tremendous shame that the former is a reality, because Mario Galaxy does indeed have a diverse and captivating power up arsenal.  One of my favorites, the Bee Mushroom, introduced a pseudo-flying and wall scaling opportunity for Mario, with the catch of limited airtime and a weakness to water.  In addition, the ice flower was another dynamic item in Galaxy, providing the player with miracles of water walking and enemy freezing against a timer.  And the unpopular Spring Mushroom was actually relatively unique at the time of Galaxy’s release, due to it pioneering a traditional “Moon Jump” ability for the player.  Lastly, the Ghost Mushroom was not only an entertaining fusion between Mario and a boo, but also allowed levitation and wall crossing, culminating in one of Galaxy’s premier star missions: Luigi and the Haunted Mansion.

However, I cannot deny that a select few power ups were partially dissapointing.  Primarily, the Fire Mushroom’s presence felt more like a requirement, due to its reputation, than a genuine component to Galaxy.  Not only does its timer restrict it from being valuable, but since its properties don’t really fit a 3D space, it has been relegated to simply igniting a few cauldrons and taking out already unproblematic enemies.  Also, the Red Star, Galaxy’s equivalent to the wing cap, has been reduced to only two appearances: one trivial purple coin mission and the Comet Observatory.  Although I stated prior that the lack of powerup appearances undoubtedly hinders Galaxy, having debatably the powerup with the greatest potential be the one that appears the least frequently only magnifies this design flaw.  To illustrate, imagine how revolutionary a linear course in space, that is navigated by flying, would have been for the platformer genre. 

Evidently, Galaxy misused its power ups in the most disappointing way possible, and could have easily constructed additional galaxies designed around these inventive convictions rather than doubling the motion control levels and secret stars.

Speaking of the bonus stars, Prankster Comets provided challenging revisions to a specific star from a bigger Galaxy, and were incrementally unlocked throughout the duration of your playthrough.  Albeit, while a majority of the missions felt indicative of some padding on the developer’s parts, some still managed to be a thrilling twist on the gameplay and did not overbear on the player since they were varied amongst five types.  But the key expression is some; Galaxy had a plethora of Prankster Comets that were simply disinteresting and aggravating, as we will discuss later.  With that being said, the rate at which you unlocked these comets was inconsistent, as they appeared at incalculable intervals, and the game would suddenly drop five of the same type on you when the main story was completed.  Fortunately, Galaxy’s team did include a Hungry Luma, who could make these levels appear on your demand, providing some sovereignty for the player when they wished to seek a test on their skills.

As for the comets themselves, only about two of them drastically alter their original level.  Speed, Daredevil, and Fast Foe Comets merely shorten your time; or feel like a lackadaisical Mario Maker course, where the stage’s primary source of difficulty derives from a swarm of enemies or numerous hazards.  But, the Cosmic Clone and Purple Coin varieties were discernibly independent from their source star, and converted a traditional platformer mission to an open space or competitive race.  Moreover, it was definitely compelling to have a glimpse into what a sandbox based Galaxy would have looked like, as almost all the appearances of Purple Coin Comets were present in some previous explorable open area of a level.  On the whole, the comets did fill the role the developers intended them to, if a bit derivative, and were decently suitable for the job of discovering new ways to perceive a stage’s progression.  But with that being said, they did become fairly repetitive after a bit, and occasionally even discouraged me from continuing to play the game during that session.  In fact, a key lot lacked creativity with their difficulty, and absorbed it from attempting to annoy rather than test the player. 

 Another non-traditional star mission were the Hungry Lumas.  And unlike the mixed intent of the Prankster Comets, these stars make sense to be included in Mario Galaxy, and even enhance its mechanics.  Provided that Galaxy created a new kind of currency, Star-bits, that were much easier to collect at the moment of a level, the game needed a way to motivate and reward the player for obtaining them.  And thus, the Hungry Luma system provides that required iscentive with the enchanting prize of an additional Galaxy.  In short, Hungry Lumas paved the way for an upcoming pattern of more beneficial rewards for the player in Mario platformers, when they dedicate effort to collecting smaller items like coins.

A devastating misstep Super Mario Sunshine took was having star missions that were forced to be completed in order to proceed in the game, after Super Mario 64’s more relaxed and free advancement.  Fortunately, the developers of Galaxy were able to utilize notes from two contrasting predecessors, when designing the game’s inner mechanics, such as loosening the star deadlines.  Indeed, the only stars necessary to beating Galaxy’s main story are the first few and Bowser missions, provided that you have assembled the required total of stars beforehand.  Henceforth, Galaxy emerges as a game deliberately designed to have replay value, as you can pick and choose your desired galaxies when attempting to clear the climactic final level.  So in the end, Galaxy understood the value of providing freedom and choice to the player, and directly benefits in a similar fashion to Mario 64’s progression.

But when it comes to the mission per level ratio, Galaxy ultimately deviates from possessing an equal amount of objectives in each world like 64 and Sunshine.  Now, a galaxy can be expected to either have 1 or 3 stars initially as a base, but certainly gain a larger portion from Prankster Comets and Hungry Lumas.  Likewise to Hungry Lumas, this new amendment to the formula was of necessity; the worlds in Galaxy were no longer open, but could become much more dense in activity when concentrating on implementing a few stars.  Correspondingly, Galaxy makes use of this newfound perk by attempting to strike a balance between widespread and singular galaxies.  Despite players often overlooking the more eclipsed and abbreviated mono-objective courses, they still serve as delectable appetizers to the main course.  Their purpose is to stimulate the player with another mind bending formulation, and in the time they were granted, they undoubtedly accomplished their purpose as abbreviated bursts of adventure.

The game design of Galaxy is definitely cohesive with the design of the levels, and the two resonate with each other for a melee of intergalactic immersion.  But while the game design is indeed the Atlas that holds up the recognizable course assembly of Galaxy, like the Titan himself, it certainly has a substantial portion of punishing mistakes.  Namely, more than half the Prankster Comets seemed disinteresting conceptually, and the power ups were fatally underused.  Yet, Galaxy did attempt to acknowledge and grow from its predecessors, and even adjudicated the better design decisions from those two contrasting games to enhance the third installment.  All in all, tucked away behind a marvelous stride forward in the design process of a game’s level, resides a slightly above average sequence of base design decisions.

Soundtrack

Atmospheric, intelligent, and delightful are three adjectives of the conscious during the pondering of Galaxy’s sound.  To enumerate, Nintendo took a radical new step for the composition of the new game’s music to make it sound as grandiose as the experience itself, by utilizing an orchestral score.  As a result, Galaxy promptly developed into becoming a unique Mario experience in tone, as the adventure converted from a comical side to a much more serious and spacious one.  For this reason, Galaxy’s soundtrack became one of the most celebrated across all of gaming, and annihilated a majority of its competitors in this department.  Granted all that, I wholeheartedly concur that Super Mario Galaxy owns potentially the greatest OST ever. 

Before all else, it should be expressed how much work the selection does when presenting the overall vibe of Galaxy.  Since music is a key component to influencing our momentary moods, the game uses it as a tool for evoking a feeling of awestruck upon the player.  In fact, it works exceptionally well with the pre-established level design of incremental twists, making each new planet hit on the auditory side as well from a spike in the music.  Plus as I articulated prior, its momentous assortment of sounds and instruments excellently exhibit the modern-classical fusion intended.  To illustrate this point, give yourself a listen to the themes of Gusty Garden and Good Egg Galaxies, they totally will not disappoint.  Generally speaking, it is this grandiose collective of auditory bliss that primarily contributes to the game’s amaze. 

` Yet, Galaxy’s OST is more polar than stagnant, as it has a quiet and calm complexion that occurs between the thrills and shocks.  Effectively, this betweenness unexpectedly characterizes and personifies this otherwise bizarre game.  Life itself is loaded with dread, stimulation, happiness, conflict, and a multitude of various emotions that could influence, by either fulfilling or tarnishing, our time.  However, we often overlook the moments of borderline neutrality; those meaningless evenings with you, and you alone, decompressing and contemplating the world around you.  Galaxy’s more mellow tracks, such as that of Space Junk Galaxy and the Comet Observatory, resemble the less notable segments of life, or in Galaxy’s case between levels; that are near equal in value to the more exciting times, given that it is a part of our time to feel.  Could I be overestimating the intent of the soundtrack?  Yes, more than likely in fact, but since video games are a form of art, especially the one subject to review, we are each entitled to the foundation of our own perspective.

Well I hope that you enjoyed that impromptu tangent of mine.  To abruptly transition, the sound effects of Galaxy were nearly on par with the immaculate musical track.  The game seamlessly blended traditional Mario sounds with cosmic noises to create an unprecedented auditory experience.  Nearly everything manages to radiate the surroundings of a tremendous galaxy of color, from the comedic Goomba stomp to the great force of a Launch Star.  In brief, Galaxy undoubtedly harnessed the power of sound design to enhance the overall experience.

Ultimately, Super Mario Galaxy’s overall soundtrack is almost flawless, and expertly conveys an abundance of differing feelings and tones to it’s listener.

Content

In terms of the total content in Super Mario Galaxy, the game doesn’t attempt to deviate from the former standard of 120 stars.  Since Galaxy lodges a wide collective of different environments, far more than 64 and Sunshine, matching the two former titles was likely the most compromisable goal on behalf of the developers and consumers.  However, there was a noticeable amount of backtracking in Galaxy to pad out the experience, as plenty of the Prankster Comets and additional stars forced a retread on previously beat ground.  Naturally, this is a massive violation of one of the key foundations of designing a linear game: a steady flow of new ideas rather than repetitive stages.  Hence, why Prankster Comets are indubitably one of Galaxy’s worst features.  Overall, you can likely expect to get about 10 hours worth of playtime to complete the main story, and about another 7 on top of that for an 120 star playthrough.  Provided that, Galaxy’s best element of this category is its density, as those 17 hours will remain fairly well paced throughout the game.  (Not including the retreaded areas).

Initially obtaining all these 120 stars will unlock Luigi as a new game plus of sorts.  While this may be off putting to a majority of completionists, its neat to see L finally become real to gain a total of 240 stars in Galaxy 1*.  Jokes aside, Luigi utilizes more loose physics then Mario when moving, making him almost feel like a Super Mario Sunshine mode.  And while the developers not adjusting the stages to better suit Luigi may initially seem inert, it actually results in the game’s benefit by exposing a boatload of unintended short cuts.  In sum, if you subjectively view the mode as a bonus for exceeding Galaxy’s expectations in terms of collectibles, then Luigi may possibly be one of the better 120 star prizes of the 3D Mario series. 

The content of Mario Galaxy is bizarre in the sense that it depends on the perspective of the player.  If you were to enjoy hunting down secrets or triumphing over Prankster Comets, then neither of those sub-stars would feel like padding.  Also, if you are the type to take pleasure in replaying a slightly altered version of a previously finished game, then Super Luigi Galaxy would certainly appeal to you.  But sadly, the game utilized an unnecessary amount of artificial challenges and repeated areas to extend the play time; thus, making Galaxy’s on the whole content quite flawed.

Story

On the surface, Super Mario Galaxy protracts Miyamoto’s vision on the narrative of a Mario game: as abbreviated and simplistic as possible in the contextual sense of the game itself.  Admittedly, I cannot say I disagree with this design philosophy; I do love stories, but I play Mario platformers for a blast of bizarre and fascinating locations and levels.  Hence in Galaxy, Bowser kidnaps Peach, but this time in space, which requires you to traverse the cosmos after him.  On the way, Mario will encounter Rosalina, who claims that if you could power her ship with Power Stars she will take you to Bowser’s primary hideout.  Clearly, the game is upfront with its story progression, resulting in the player immediately engaging with the platformer based gameplay.  However, I would be a fool to claim Galaxy lacks the thematic elements and tone found in traditional stories.

The more perceptive of players would have likely noticed the titanic scale of Galaxy.  Despite not possessing entirely open courses and worlds, Super Mario Galaxy still utilizes a collective of planets and atmospheric skyboxes to establish a size that somehow was at its biggest within the Maro series.  In fact, the very introduction to space begins with a mystical cutscene, the player sitting alone on an average sized planet that the camera zooms out from revealing a dark solar system luminescent with constallations.  And while this may seem fairly daunting when described without context, it actually sets a contrary tone; one that signals to the player how long, grandiose, and visually appealing of a journey they are about to embark upon.

Like I said earlier, Galaxy does indeed have a thematic idea.  Said idea is that our universe is massive and diverse, too large for a singular individual to make a substantial impact on everything.  And while this is perhaps a lesson that has been taught regularly across all forms of media, Super Mario Galaxy stands out in its more positive interpretation of this concept.  To put it lightly, it expresses just how enchanting reality can be, and instills a sense of wonder and consideration for the sky above rather than a fear of it.  We do not know just how broad or exactly what is above, but is it necessarily a bad thing if it is traversed with our speculation?  In short, human existence concentrates profoundly on the why of everything.  Galaxy presents a different take on the subject by asking the player what is everything, in a way that allows their imagination to drift into places only known by them.

Rosalina’s semi-hidden backstory in Galaxy echoes this idea.  It follows the events of her losing those she cared about, only to be lost in space in search of them.  After a long series of surprisingly somber moments, she accepts that the galaxy is her new home and befriends the large population of Lumas she meets.  The side tale of acceptance and integration attempts to remind the player that they have, or can obtain, a home in this broad universe; a place they will cherish and value the most amongst a large world.  In contrast to the wonderment of everything, there will be a certainty of something someplace. 

Another point of significance within Super Mario Galaxy has to be the curious Space Junk Galaxy.  Rather than having a coherent theme or story, Space Junk is merely as its name implies: lost junk in space.  Yet, the game indicates that each piece of junk has a reason to be there, and acknowledges the location as equally vital to your quest as the more habitated locals.  The concept of junk that exists eternally in space expresses the undercover metaphor yet again, the largeness of the universe.  It connotes that there are “spare” areas of empty space in the universe that cannot be filled by even natural formations.  And the magic behind these spaces is that they are open for anything imaginable to one day be there, whether it be the most valuable thing in the universe or a large pile of disposed trash.

Lastly, the ending of Super Mario Galaxy somehow exceeds and ascends the game’s original idea of its own world.  Remember, this is literally a Mario game we are talking about.  Anyways, upon defeating Bowser you promptly meet Rosalina, who is casually spectating the universe being sucked into a vacuum.  She informs Mario about how the universe is resetting itself, and new planets will be created out of expanding Lumas.  So essentially, the foundation and interstellar world of the Mushroom Kingdom is theoretically infinite, given the fact that it constantly repeats this cycle of resetting itself.  Now, while it is indeed understandable that not all patrons of the Mario series would appreciate this level of critical thinking in a series that started with a plumber from Brooklyn beating up a giant monkey, nonetheless its presence in such an instrumental game like Galaxy makes it all the more layered and valuable.

That was quite a lot to get through for the story of a Mario game.  In sum, Galaxy managed to encapsulate existential questions and theories into its seemingly nonchalant narrative.  Interestingly, none of the thematic ideas of Galaxy felt out of place when contrasting it to the usual upbeat tone of a Mario game, as rather than intimidating the player with their own insignificance, it instills a sense of wonderment for the universe around them*.  And it genuinely is fascinating to see such a story told from a primarily visual perspective, as rather than being informed about Galaxy’s titan of a universe, you physically get to explore parts of it through diverse landscapes.  In the end, whether the philosophical approach was intended by the developers, its attendance in Super Mario Galaxy undoubtedly makes the game a work of art.

Conclusion

Being able to look over one of my favorite games in a methodically critical  approach was honestly fascinating, as I legitimately did have my outlook on Galaxy changed from this review.  Notably, I was definitely shocked to see the staggering amount of minor nitpicks present in the experience which would typically be glossed over during a casual playthrough.  For instance, it was much harder to notice an absence of the powerups when the game easily distracted you with alluring levels.  And while the backtracking was certainly present, I would usually put off the Prankster Comets until the later game when the stage was a bit more fresh.  Yet, it should be necessary to acknowledge the game’s flaws, especially in a game like Galaxy that earned an imminent sequel.

But with all that aside, I still do believe Galaxy is a monumentos experience.  It manages to blend a curious setting with exceptional and revolutionary level design that changed how we could think about the physics of games in totality.  To emphasize, Kishōtenketsu aided majorly in the arduous task of successfully blending two radically different Mario experiences: 2D and 3D.  In addition, Galaxy harnesses space to institute a bizarre existential vibe that is uniquely calming and fascinating, rather than the common dreadful or untimely trope.  To conclude, although Galaxy definitely is not perfect, I would argue that it is still one of the most experimental and groundbreaking games ever conceived, and deserves to be recalled as a gaming classic.

Thank you, if you have managed to read through the entirety of this review.  I hope to continue writing game reviews in the future, and you simply acknowledging my work genuinely gives me a ton of motivation to continue this passion project.  Now, I would like to start a tradition by giving a clue to the next game I will be reviewing at the end of the current blog.  So please stay tuned for my next retrospective, would you kindly?

Footnotes/Credits

*Yes, I am aware that coins do exist in Super Mario Galaxy.  However, they simply refill your health and don’t have real impact outside of the level.  

*-Nate, 2021

*MOST, not all.  I simply have made this statement as a lot of games today typically attempt to emulate visuals that compare to the real world.  Yes, I am aware that games, like Mario, do tend to take a more cartoony direction with their visuals, and they do indeed exist.

*I do like Peach’s Castle for Mario 64.  It just wouldn’t fit in a game like Galaxy.

*Seriously, who runs out of lives in 3D Mario games past the first two?

*Attempted to solve L is real 2401.

*That is, if they bother to notice it.

Images Credit:

Image 1- IGN

Image 2- WCCFTech

Image 3- NDTV Gadgets 360

Image 4- NintendoLife

Image 5- reddit (deleted user)

Image 6- Nintendo South Africa

Image 7- The Gamer’s Temple

Image 8- themushroomkingdom.net

Image 9- Video Chums

Image 10- Polygon

Image 11- Metro

Image 12- Nintendo Sound Collection on YouTube

Image 13- iMore

Image 14- Nice Skybox on WordPress

Image 15- Anna P on Pinterest

Image 16- NeoGaf