Super Mario Galaxy

aka: SMG, Super Mario Wii: Galaxy Adventure
Moby ID: 31282
Wii Specs
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Mario takes to the skies and beyond in another outing to save the Princess. As the Mushroom Kingdom prepares to celebrate the arrival of a comet that appears in the skies every hundred years, Princess Peach sends Mario an invitation to attend. As Mario arrives, Bowser and minions attack the Kingdom and once again kidnap the Princess... and her entire castle. Mario gives chase but is lost as the ship leaves the atmosphere and ends up on a space station built on the visiting comet overseen by the mysterious Rosalina. It's up to Mario to brave new galaxies, find the elusive Power Stars, and bring his friends home.

Super Mario Galaxy plays similarly to Super Mario 64, as Mario explores his latest 3D world defying gravity, crossing various terrains, and even running upside down across the planet surfaces. Bouncing from planet to planet, Mario must collect Star Bits and coins, using his usual jump attacks and spins (now controlled with movement from the Wii Remote). The Wii Remote is also used to collect out-of-reach Star Bits and also can be controlled by a second player.

In addition, Mario can find new suits (similar to Super Mario Bros. 3) that give him the ability to turn into the ghostly Boo Mario, the high-flying Bee Mario, launch fireballs as Fire Mario and skate across frozen lakes as Ice Mario. New challenges also await Mario including ray surfing, balancing on a high-speed ball, floating inside bubbles, and other challenges in his quest to get all 120 stars. Even Luigi lends a hand in the search, making valuable contributions to the adventure.

Players can also take a snapshot of the worlds they've completed along with their best record times and send them to their friends via Wi-Fi.

Spellings

  • スーパーマリオギャラクシー - Japanese spelling
  • 슈퍼 마리오 Wii 갤럭시 어드벤처 - Korean spelling (Hangul)

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Credits (Wii version)

149 People (129 developers, 20 thanks) · View all

Game Design Concept
Director & Game Design
Level Design Director
Level Design
Script
Program Director
Player Character Programming
Game Programming Lead
Movie Scene Programming
Camera Programming
System Programming
Boss Character Programming
Collision System Programming
Enemy Character Programming
Event Programming
Design Coordinator
Character Design Lead
Character Design
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 96% (based on 147 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 157 ratings with 10 reviews)

Mario Galaxy is by far the best 3D platformer ever made.

The Good
The game is beautiful, the worlds are huge, it makes the game look like something on a Xbox 360, and that's a huge achievement. The control is easy to learn and very tight. There are different gameplay mechanics included through out the game, weather its riding on a manta ray or balancing on top of a ball through a obstacle course. The soundtrack is amazing, all the music was composed by a symphony, with some sci-fi sound thrown in in a few levels. it just amazing. The bosses are huge and have a unique design to them, ranging from the dino piranha to Bowser himself. The game is very long, there's plenty of replay value, with 121 stars to collect with both Mario and Luigi, you will be playing for a long time. The co-op mode is fun, as the second player can help you but also affect your progress through the game.

The Bad
There's barely anything bad about this game. Its awesome in every way. Its just a little too easy, but that's a small complaint.

The Bottom Line
Get it. Its worth every penny. This game proves the Wii is capable of making games as good as the other next-gen systems without the powerful hardware. its amazing.

Wii · by samsam12 (714) · 2008

A worthy sequel to Super Mario 64

The Good
If there is one thing I remember from Super Mario 64 it's the atmosphere, the awesome feeling you get when exploring the beautiful castle and discover new worlds. Would a second round in the same castle give the same feeling? I don't think so. Instead of the classic castle, we now get to explore space itself. Mario is taken to a giant observatory in space and has to visit various worlds to gather stars. The observatory and indeed all the levels still have a very entertaining atmosphere though, especially the observatory which functions as a HUB-world has a very soothing feel to it.

Because Mario has been taken to space as part of Bowser's latest plans, the designers of the game weren't limited to earth logic anymore. This results in all the levels been galaxies with various planets in them, each planet has its own gravitational pull, so Mario can freely explore the many areas. The designers also went all-out with the creativity, so the game boasts roughly thirty stages with various themes. Not having to make much sense anymore has clearly done the designers some good, as the depths of outer-space can contain literally anything. Aren't you excited about the prospect of been able to explore a galaxy where everything is made out of candy?

The controls have remained relatively unchanged from Super Mario 64 with only a few small tweaks. The first is, of course, the integration of the Wii-remote. By shaking the remote you make Mario spin. This can be used to knock over enemies or damage them, depending on which enemy you are fighting. It can also break scenery and when done near an interactive object (launch stars, vines and underwater) it will use that object. You can also use the remote to pick up "star bits" (which function as currency or ammo) or use some special items.

Every major level has a special challenge that randomly shows up as you play the game. These challenges will slightly alter the level and rules. Daredevil challenges will have you going through a level with only 1 hitpoint, Cosmic challenges will have you race against a clone, speedrun challenges will put you on a timer and Fast-Foe challenges will give opponents a speed-boost. If you're a real man, like me, you of course go for the 100% and do all of these extra challenges. Even if you do just a few of them, you'll notice that they are quite fun and give a good incentive for players to get better at the game.

Each galaxy only has five or so stars in it and some minor galaxies only have one. Why is this a plus? Well, I actually found that most of the levels in Mario 64 were fun, but started to get annoying very fast after you went for star number eight in that level. It would still be a good level, but the minor changes that game made for each new star were not impressive enough to keep me interested. Galaxy instead limits itself to three main stars, one hidden and a challenge star, resulting in much shorter, but also more plentiful levels. There are also no "6 red coins" missions and collecting a 100 coins is only used as an unlockable bonus mission after completing the game.

Finally, I must say that the characters in this game are genuinely enjoyable. Mario games have never been focused much on their characters, we all know and love Mario, but it's still no Shakespeare. Galaxy however does have some cool upgrades in this field though. First of all is the character of Rosalina who, despite her design been kind of a lazy Peach-rehash, is pretty awesome. If you want you can go into the library and read a whole book about her back-story, it's a nice lore, but not the most convenient way of telling it. The familiar Toads have also been upgraded and are now a core-part of the missions. They go to locations on their ship and track down stars for Mario. They are helpful, but never lose their characteristic cowardice.

The Bad
Because each planet has its' own gravity and is pretty small, you can go upside-down and walk all around the planet. It sounds good, but when you try to do this, the game runs into a few problems. Going upside-down is not a familiar angle for the Mario engine and it isn't sure what to do with it. The controls are sometimes reversed, but the camera can get stuck or the other way around. A Problem I ran into a lot was trying to go under a planet, but the second I got there the controls would reverse and Mario would turn around and walk up it again, going in an endless loop of reversing controls. You can also freak the game out a bit by long-jumping near the edge of a planet, this has allowed me to skip sections of the game on occasion.

The game wants to introduce a little story into the series, which isn't inherently a problem (Sunshine did it too), but the execution is very lacking. Every time you start a new game you'll have to sit through this very long story for children with some kind of lullaby in the back-ground. It's very obnoxious and it serves only to scare away older people who might be playing this.

The power-ups in this game are not terribly fascinating. By finding mushrooms and flowers you can transform Mario into different versions of himself (other suits), it sounds okay, but it isn't. The only three suits are a bee-suit, boo-suit and spring-suit, all three of which serve only for having Mario fly or at least jump higher. The boo-suit also allows Mario to pass through walls, but this is rarely used for good puzzles. This means that in a situation in which you are put into the spring-suit, you think something along the lines of "I could have done this same puzzle with those other two suits too". The flowers are an ice and fire suit for Mario, pretty basic, but functional.

Some of the hidden stars can get very obnoxious in this game, in the sense that the method of obtaining them is very vague at best. In one level you had to travel from planet to planet using the wind, but this was in a linear fashion, so once you went somewhere, there would be no way back. Some brilliant mind looked at this and figured "let's make the item you need appear only after the player has picked up five random coins in these winds". Can you see where this goes wrong? You have no reason to think the coins will give you the item and even then you'd have to do this all in a perfect shot or restart the entire level.

The game is a little too easy if you ask me, there are a total of 105 stars that you can obtain in a single play-through, but you only need 60 of them to unlock the last boss. This means the game can be finished in maybe two days time and you'd never have to worry about getting stuck along the way. I did this the first few times as well, but now that I went for a 100% completion, I suddenly found levels that I had never visited before and which happened to be totally freaking awesome.

The use of a live-system has perplexed me ever since I was little, it makes sense in arcade halls where you need to pay to play the games, but why use it on a console. What is the point of sending me back to the title screen after I die an arbitrary number of times if I can just click start and resume from where I left off? Here it's even more weird because Mario loses lives when he loses races... why? Do the lives represent Mario's ego? Also strange is that you can't save your lives, whenever you turn the game on and off you're back to four lives. This means that you can farm yourself crazy for hours and leave with maxed out 1-ups and lose it all with a literal press-of-a-button.

The Bottom Line
Mario Galaxy is, like I said, the true sequel to Super Mario 64 for me. Unlike Sunshine the gameplay felt much better, the atmosphere was a lot more enjoyable and the missions were all very fun and clever. I had a lot of fun with this game to say the least and getting a 100% completion is a recommendation for the fun of it alone. There are some flaws, naturally. power-ups aren't very fun, the physics are somewhat dodgy and the story could be better implemented, just to name a few.

I can recommend this game to many people; children, die-hard gamers, Mario fans, parents... just consider this a global recommendation.

Wii · by Asinine (957) · 2012

WOPS, In Space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Good
I have nothing against Italian people. In fact, I think I really like Italians. I mean: they have really smoking hot women, excellent food, a long and fascinating history, and I enjoy the works of Dario Argento, and Federico Fellini. I just thought that it was a funny one-liner. So please, no hate mail as I already have an inbox full of it already.

So, I finally got a Wii. I knew the first game I had to get was Super Mario Galaxy. So this is my first Wii review. Are you as excited as me? No? Well that’s just because you are an assh…..I mean on to my review!

Like many gamers I grew up playing Mario games, and many other plat-formers. Even now as an adult I still enjoy them every now and again. There is just something fascinating to me about a game that is fun whether you are 8 or 80.(Unlike some callous gamers, I do not think that Mario games are just for certain age groups.-MM-)

In Mario’s latest adventure, we find that the Mushroom Kingdom, is celebrating the Star Festival. When the stars are out in full twilight, and magical Star-bits fall from the sky. Our fearless hero is invited to the castle, for a private party with the Princess.(Possibly for some backdoor action.-MM-) When, gasp! Bowser attacks, and Princess Peach, and her entire castle are spirited away. Mario gives chase, but cannot catch up. He is then sucked into space. He eventually ends up on a Space Station, where he meets the mysterious Rosalina. She offers him a Quid Pro Quo, help recover enough Power Stars, 60 total, and the Station will be powered up, allowing Mario to fly to the center of the galaxy and rescue The Princess….again.

Of course, this a Mario game. So completionists, can score all 120 Power Stars. I ended the game with 64 or so.(However, I am going to try and get them all.-MM-) There are also special Stars to collect. Red, and green. Red allows Mario to fly, while green opens up a new area to explore, or “galaxy”. There are also many other secrets. What’s a Mario game without them? Eventually, Luigi, and the toads, will help Mario find some of the “hidden” stars. Mario will be on his own for the rest.

There are many Galaxies to explore, and many of Mario’s old super powers return. Starman and Firepower. As well as new ones, Boo Mario, and Ice Mario. He will also fight old foes, goombas, boo’s, and green and red turtles.

The boss fights are much better. Now you do not repeat the same fights over and over again. Like in some Mario titles. Like Super Mario 64. The stages or, “Dark Star Reactors”. Are always different as well. Some times you will battle a big baddie. Other times it will be Baby Bowser, and yet other times it will be the big dingus himself: King Bowser.

Don’t be scared by the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. Once you learn how to use it, you will find that it is second nature. And Mario Galaxy is a good game to start with, as the learning curve is low.

The graphics are very good. And while it’s no: Xbox 360, high-end PC, or even Playstation 3. It still looks good. Better yet it looks good either in SD or HD. Unlike many Jap games for the other two consoles. One of the only other Wii games, that looks this good is Sonic: And The Secret Rings.

The music is quite nice, from the spacey themes, to the remixes of familiar old tracks. The sound effects are much what you would come to expect from a Mario game, love it or hate it. There is minimal voice acting. Which sucks, but the little that there is sounds good.

The Bad
This game is very easy. Much more so than Mario 64, or Super Mario Sunshine. Some levels do offer a challenge, but most of these can be skipped. On the plus side, it is better than getting stuck in the game and getting frustrated.

Some of the new powers are dubious. Like Bee Mario, for example.

My mushroom kingdom for full voice acting! Since Nintendo usually hires quality voice over people, would it kill them to have more of it?

The Bottom Line
I was skeptical. Epically after the let down of Super Mario Sunshine. Don’t be, Super Mario Galaxy, is a fine example of how Nintendo has still got it, even after all these years. And is a great game for those new to the Wii.

Wii · by MasterMegid (723) · 2010

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Super Mario Galaxy appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cover

In the fall of 2007, it was discovered that certain letters on the box cover are marked with stars, and they spell the phrase "UR MR GAY" (you're mr. gay). The question is, how did this get past Nintendo's proofreaders?

References

The airships from Super Mario Bros. 3 make an appearance complete with the original music.

Sales

According to publisher Nintendo, Super Mario Galaxy sold 12.59 million copies worldwide (as of September 30, 2015).

Awards

  • GAME British Academy Video Games Awards
    • 2009 - Best Game
  • GamePro (Germany)
    • March 28, 2008) - Best Console Game in 2007
  • GameSpy
    • 2007 – #4 Game of the Year
    • 2007 – #3 Console Game of the Year
    • 2007 – Wii Game of the Year
    • 2007 – Wii Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2007 – Wii Platformer of the Year
  • Official Nintendo Magazine
    • 2010 - Game of the Decade 2000-2009

Information also contributed by optrirominiluikus and sgtcook

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Guy Chapman.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Android added by firefang9212.

Additional contributors: Sciere, Freeman, gamewarrior, samsam12, Cantillon, ymihere, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, Grandy02, provisional_account, FatherJack.

Game added November 25, 2007. Last modified February 17, 2024.