Super Mario Galaxy

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Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D action-adventure platformer game for the Wii console, first released in 2007. It is the third Mario 3D platformer, and the follow-up to Super Mario 64 as well as Super Mario Sunshine. Unlike the previous two 3D adventure installments for the Mario series, this game takes place in deep space. Most of the game's levels consist of many small planets and planetoids, while others have bigger planets. Upon release, Super Mario Galaxy received some of the highest review scores and appraisals of any Wii game to date. Since its release, the game has sold over 10 million copies, making it the ninth best-selling Wii game, and earning a Nintendo Selects rerelease. Super Mario Galaxy received a sequel titled Super Mario Galaxy 2 which was released for the Wii in 2010.

Story

Toad Town, as it appears in this game.

Every hundred years, on the eve of the Star Festival, a comet passes over the Mushroom Kingdom and causes magical stars and stardust to fall to the planet below. Peach invites Mario to her castle to join in the festivities and receive something she wants to give. As Mario arrives in the Castle Gardens, Bowser suddenly attacks the Toads with his airships and freezes them in crystals. He "invites" Peach to the creation of his brand new galaxy and cuts the castle off the ground with a UFO to carry it to the center of the universe. Before Mario can reach Peach, Kamek casts a spell at him, sending him into space. A Luma, whom Peach was carrying before her abduction, flees to look for Mario before Kamek warps the castle away with another spell.

File:Unknownfloatingobject.png

Peach's castle being lifted into space.

When Mario later wakes up on a small grassy planet he meets Lumas and eventually Rosalina, a mysterious woman who acts as the protector of the galaxies and the mother of the Lumas. She tells that her ship, the Comet Observatory, had its Power Stars and Grand Stars stolen by Bowser. Without these, the Comet Observatory is unable to move through space. Rosalina asks him to rescue the Grand Stars in order to defeat Bowser. Mario also recieves help from Luma, who grants him spinning powers. Mario and Luma complete missions from galaxies in opened domes in order to receive Power Stars. Once a mission is completed, Mario collects a Power Star and unlocks the next mission. There are normally five galaxies per dome, and once Mario has collected enough Power Stars, the next galaxy in the current dome would be an enemy base where either Bowser or Bowser Jr. would be using the power of one of the Grand Stars. His next mission would be to defeat Bowser or Bowser Jr. and rescue the next Grand Star. Rescuing the Grand Star unlocks the next dome. When enough Power Stars and Grand Stars are collected, the Comet Observatory can take Mario to the center of the universe.

Mario flying with Peach after rescuing her.

Here, Mario defeats Bowser in his brand new galaxy, retrieves the last Grand Star, and rescues Peach. Just then, the sun of Bowser's near-complete galaxy undergoes a supernova and becomes a supermassive Black Hole which begins pulling in everything. The Lumas throw themselves into the Black Hole in order to neutralize it, and it soon disintegrates in a massive explosion. Mario appears in front of Rosalina, who tells him that this is not the end, but a new beginning for the universe, which never repeats itself in exactly the same way.

File:Endingscene.PNG

Various characters celebrating after the universe's recreation.

Mario later awakens in the Mushroom Kingdom near Peach's Castle. He sees everyone he's met throughout his adventure celebrating, while Bowser and Peach lie next to him with no recollection of the past events. When he looks in the air, he notices the reconstructed galaxy, and exclaims "Welcome! Welcome new galaxy!" as the camera zooms out into space, revealing that the universe has been reconstituted. If 120 stars are collected, a special cut scene plays after the credits. There, Rosalina thanks Mario before flying off with the Comet Observatory. The Luma that accompanied Mario is shown to be alive, inside a derelict Starshroom.

Gameplay

Basic Gameplay

Gameplay is somewhat different from previous Mario titles, rather than being strictly 2D or 3D, the game occasionally shifts from 3D to 2D (A practice that became popular in other games, such as the Sonic games), although the core gameplay is mostly 3D. The game uses sphere walking, which would become popular afterward, too. Despite the changes, the gameplay heavily resembles Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, with a similar camera system and similar gameplay mechanics.

Basic Controls

File:SMG SJ Pullstars.png

Pull Stars are used by pointing the Star Cursor at them and pressing .

The game has several innovations and additions to the basic 3D Mario game concept. Mario is controlled with the analog stick and can jump with the . The works just as the trigger did in Super Mario 64. The player uses it to make Mario crouch, do Somersaults and do Long Jumps. Mario can also triple jump by jumping with precise timing three times, each time jumping higher than before. The centers the camera behind Mario, while the can adjust the camera angle manually. By pressing , the player can enter a first person perspective.

The game also uses the motion-sensors of the Wii Remote. The pointer of the Remote appears as the Star Cursor on the screen. The Star Cursor is used to perform a variety of actions, such as using Pull Stars, manipulating Sling Pods, and collecting Star Bits. Shaking the Wii Remote or Nunchuk will make Mario perform a Spin.

Mario's Spin move can defeat enemies or activate machines.

By pressing , players can fire a Star Bit. When enemies are hit by a Star Bit, they are stunned and can be defeated with a touch, releasing Star Bits. Mario can also defeat most enemies by jumping on them, which will create a healing coin. Using the Spin to defeat enemies is also possible. Spinning may also stop an enemy from attacking; if Bowser and Mario both Star Spin at the same time, both moves get canceled. Also when Mario or Luigi Long Jumps then when they land on the ground and quickly do a star spin, they'll do a little pirouette like they're dancing. The player can use any of these tactics or only one of them during the entire game, as a specific tactic is never required to defeat a regular enemy. Only special enemies such as the Giant Goomba in the Gateway Galaxy might require a Spin. Several enemies are, however, much easier to defeat by shooting them than by jumping on them. As in Super Mario Sunshine, Mario can jump on NPCs to gain extra height or annoy them.

Swimming is fairly simple. Mario can change his direction by using the analog stick and can dive by pressing Z. Breastsrokes are possible by pressing A repeatedly while swimming forward. Mario must return to the surface or collect air bubbles periodically in order to refill his air supply. Failure to do so could result in losing a life.

Skating is a technique used when on ice. Mario merely needs to spin while walking, and he will start to skate.

Oddly, a move exists that is not explained in the instruction manual. If the player, while airborne, both shakes the controller and presses (to spin and ground pound at the same time), they will do a special ground pound that homes in on nearby enemies (much like Sonic the Hedgehog's Homing Attack). If there is no enemy nearby, Mario will do a fancier Ground Pound. This move returns in the game's sequel, also unexplained in the packaged materials.

Co-Star Mode

Featured in Super Mario Galaxy is a multiplayer mode named Co-Star Mode. By simply connecting a second Wii Remote, another player can join in and assist the first player by controlling a second Star Cursor, and in doing so can accomplish a variety of different things, some of which the first player can do, but many of which the first player cannot do. When Co-Star Mode is active, "1P" will appear below Player 1's Star Cursor, and "2P" will appear below Player 2's Star Cursor to help differentiate between them. When Co-Star Mode is not in use, these indicators will no longer appear beneath either player's Star Cursors, until such time as Co-Star Mode becomes active again. The second player can collect Star Bits and fire them at enemies to briefly stun them. When the second Star Cursor is pointed at Mario and is pressed, the second player can make Mario perform a Co-Star Super Jump. Combining both jump techniques can make Mario jump higher than when only controlled with one controller.

Mario's Life Meter

Mario's life meter has been decreased to three total. Originally, the creators of Super Mario Galaxy thought of giving Mario a 12- or 6-part health meter, but this idea was eventually considered far too easy. There is no longer a separate health bar for underwater levels which decreases slowly. Instead, Mario has an air meter which decreases and hurts Mario's health when it hits zero. The Life Mushroom replenishes any lost health and adds a second health meter, making Mario's max health six. When Mario's health drops down to three again, the effect of the Life Mushroom is lost.

New Elements

Mario explores a 3D world with planets which have their own gravity. Several levels have arrows which Mario can turn around with a Spin, changing the direction of the gravity. The Launch Star allows Mario to launch off of a planet and go flying to the next. There is little or no warning that a boss might be located on the next planet, and there is also little indication that Mario may be facing something terrible or something peaceful on where he's headed next, and there are also no loading times and screens. The game also contains side-scrolling levels reminiscent of New Super Mario Bros. with classic enemies such as Goombas and Piranha Plants. These side-scrolling levels may also contain directional gravity, allowing Mario to walk on the walls and ceiling.

"Super Luigi Galaxy"

Collecting all 120 stars and defeating Bowser once more unlocks "Super Luigi Galaxy" mode, which replaces Mario with a playable version of Luigi. The storyline is almost the same, even with the original NPC Luigi still being present. The only main difference is that the Cosmic Luigi reaches the Star earlier than the Cosmic Mario, and Luigi receives 20 1-Ups from Peach's letter. Luigi also jumps slightly higher, but has less traction than Mario. When the player has defeated Bowser again and continues with the Luigi story, Rosalina again says if Luigi collects all 120 stars, the player can travel to a new world. When the player collects 120 stars, the player can travel to Grand Finale Galaxy, which shows the celebration of the Star Festival. The 121st star can be found here.

Galaxies

File:Egg planet.PNG

The Egg Planet in the Good Egg Galaxy.

Power Stars make a comeback, last being seen in Super Mario 64. The main goal of the game is to collect a minimum of sixty stars and defeat Bowser. Similar to Princess Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64 and Delfino Plaza in Super Mario Sunshine, the Comet Observatory acts as the game's hub area. There, Mario can access the galaxies from domes. New areas in the Comet Observatory become accessible as Mario gains Power Stars and Grand Stars. A minimum number of Power Stars is required to have enough power to go to each multi-star galaxy, single non-Grand Star galaxies with a ? Block icon when locked are bonuses for finishing certain star missions. The game has a level intro for each star, as in Super Mario Sunshine.

File:GreenPowerStar.jpg

Mario getting a Green Power Star in the Buoy Base Galaxy.

Mario encounters Luigi in four levels (located in the Good Egg Galaxy, the Honeyhive Galaxy, the Battlerock Galaxy, and the Ghostly Galaxy). In Ghostly Galaxy, Luigi is at the end of Luigi and the Haunted Mansion holding a star. After Luigi is rescued, he can be seen in the observatory and helps Mario reach secret stars that he could not get alone. When Luigi is in other galaxies, Mario receives a letter from Luigi every time Luigi has found a Power Star, including a picture which helps Mario find Luigi. After the main game is finished, Mario can return and collect up to 120 stars. Super Mario Galaxy contains a few different types of stars, including red, green, and comet stars. The Green Power Stars are secret stars which are used to unlock the Trial Galaxies and one Red Power Star appears when Mario returns to the gate, which allows usage of the Red Star in the Comet Observatory.

After finishing a level, Mario's highest score of coins for the galaxy is recorded and the collected Star Bits are transferred to the Comet Observatory, where Mario can later use them to feed Hungry Lumas. The requirements for opening up each galaxy is listed below, with Star Bits if the galaxy is created by a Hungry Luma. Note, however, that some galaxies are not unlocked by simply obtaining a number of stars but by completing a specific star. This is true for all Hungry Lumas except the first, and all bonus galaxies from Buoy Base Galaxy onward.

There are a total of forty-two galaxies in the game.

The amount of Power Stars and Star Bits listed after a galaxy is the amount of the corresponding collectibles that is required to unlock the galaxy.

Galaxies marked with an asterisk (*) are unlocked by feeding Hungry Lumas.

Gate
Gateway Galaxy		Boo's Boneyard Galaxy*
Grand Star Rescue	Gateway's Purple Coins	Racing the Spooky Speedster
Terrace
Good Egg Galaxy		Honeyhive Galaxy
Dino Piranha	A Snack of Cosmic Proportions	Bee Mario/Luigi Takes Flight	Trouble on the Tower
King Kaliente's Battle Fleet	Dino Piranha Speed Run	Big Bad Bugaboom	Honeyhive Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race
Purple Coin Omelet	Luigi on the Roof	Honeyhive's Purple Coins	Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom
Loopdeeloop Galaxy		Flipswitch Galaxy
Surfing 101		Painting the Planet Yellow
Sweet Sweet Galaxy*		Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor
Rocky Road		Megaleg's Moon
Fountain
Space Junk Galaxy		Battlerock Galaxy
Pull Star Path	Kamella's Airship Attack	Battlerock Barrage	Breaking into the Battlerock
Tarantox's Tangled Web	Pull Star Path Speed Run	Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe	Topmaniac's Daredevil Run
Purple Coin Spacewalk	Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance	Purple Coins on the Battlerock	Battlerock's Garbage Dump
		Luigi under the Saucer
Rolling Green Galaxy		Hurry-Scurry Galaxy
Rolling in the Clouds		Shrinking Satellite
Sling Pod Galaxy*		Bowser's Star Reactor
A Very Sticky Situation		The Fiery Stronghold
Kitchen
Beach Bowl Galaxy		Ghostly Galaxy
Sunken Treasure	Passing the Swim Test	Luigi and the Haunted Mansion	A Very Spooky Sprint
The Secret Undersea Cavern	Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone	Beware of Bouldergeist	Bouldergeist's Daredevil Run
Beachcombing for Purple Coins	Wall Jumping Up Waterfalls	Purple Coins in the Bone Pen	Matter Splatter Mansion
Bubble Breeze Galaxy		Buoy Base Galaxy
Through the Poison Swamp		The Floating Fortress	The Secret of Buoy Base
Drip Drop Galaxy*		Bowser Jr.'s Airship Armada
Giant Eel Outbreak		Sinking the Airships
Bedroom
Gusty Garden Galaxy		Freezeflame Galaxy
Bunnies in the Wind	The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows	The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr	Freezeflame's Blistering Core
Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble	Major Burrows's Daredevil Run	Hot and Cold Collide	Frosty Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race
Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube	The Golden Chomp	Purple Coins on the Summit	Conquering the Summit
Dusty Dune Galaxy		Honeyclimb Galaxy
Soaring on the Desert Winds	Blasting Through the Sand	Scaling the Sticky Wall
Sunbaked Sand Castle	Sandblast Speed Run
Purple Coins in the Desert	Bullet Bill on Your Back
Treasure of the Pyramid
Bigmouth Galaxy*		Bowser's Dark Matter Plant
Bigmouth's Gold Bait		Darkness on the Horizon
Engine Room
Gold Leaf Galaxy		Sea Slide Galaxy
Star Bunnies on the Hunt	Cataquack to the Skies	Going After Guppy	Faster Than a Speeding Penguin
When It Rains, It Pours	Cosmic Mario/Luigi Forest Race	The Silver Stars of Sea Slide	Underwater Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race
Purple Coins in the Woods	The Bell on the Big Tree	Purple Coins by the Seaside	Hurry, He's Hungry
Toy Time Galaxy		Bonefin Galaxy
Heavy-Metal Mecha Bowser	Mario/Luigi Meets Mario	Kingfin's Fearsome Waters
Bouncing Down Cake Lane	Fast Foes of Toy Time
Luigi's Purple Coins	The Flipswitch Chain
Sand Spiral Galaxy*		Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor
Choosing a Favorite Snack		King Kaliente's Spicy Return
Garden
Deep Dark Galaxy		Dreadnought Galaxy
The Underground Ghost Ship	Bubble Blastoff	Infiltrating the Dreadnought	Dreadnought's Colossal Cannons
Guppy and the Underground Lake	Ghost Ship Daredevil Run	Revenge of the Topman Tribe	Topman Tribe Speed Run
Plunder the Purple Coins	Boo in a Box	Battlestation's Purple Coins	Dreadnought's Garbage Dump
Melty Molten Galaxy		Matter Splatter Galaxy
The Sinking Lava Spire	Through the Meteor Storm	Watch Your Step
Fiery Dino Piranha	Lava Spire Daredevil Run	Snow Cap Galaxy*
Red-Hot Purple Coins	Burning Tide	Star Bunnies in the Snow
Planet of Trials
Rolling Gizmo Galaxy		Bubble Blast Galaxy
Gizmos, Gears, and Gadgets		The Electric Labyrinth
Loopdeeswoop Galaxy		Grand Finale Galaxy
The Galaxy's Greatest Wave		The Star Festival
Center of the Universe
Bowser's Galaxy Reactor
The Fate of the Universe

Green Power Star locations

• Battlerock Galaxy, Luigi under the Saucer: Saving Luigi under the 1st Power Star.
• Dusty Dune Galaxy, Treasure of the Pyramid: Collecting 5 Silver Stars in the Pyramid Planet.
• Buoy Base Galaxy, The Secret of Buoy Base: Under the Buoy Base sealed in a cage.

Prankster Comets

Main article: Prankster Comet

Prankster Comets are objects which interfere with a Galaxy, giving it an extra attribute. The 30 comet stars are obtained by completing special challenges in the larger galaxies, such as speed runs of certain missions, "daredevil" runs (in which Mario's max health is one with no coins in the level), racing cosmic clones of Mario or Luigi, and double the speed of enemies. They only appear after the corresponding regular level (e.g. Ghostly Galaxy's Bouldergeist battle) is completed, sometimes immediately and sometimes only after another galaxy's level is completed. In some cases (like the Space Junk Galaxy), the entire galaxy has to be beaten first. There are 2 prankster comets in each of the 15 multi-star galaxies: one of the types of comets just described, plus one purple prankster comet that appears after beating Bowser's Galaxy Reactor for the first time, forcing missions where the player must collect 100 Purple Coins.

Characters

File:Princessrosettamag.jpg

Mario looking at Rosalina.

Mario encounters many new and old characters in his adventure. Most of these are met in one or more galaxies, though Rosalina, the Toad Brigade and the Lumas are found on the Comet Observatory.

Mario Luigi Princess Peach Rosalina Polari Luma Lumas Toad Brigade Bowser Bowser Jr. Spooky Speedster Star Bunnies

Bees Queen Bee Gearmo Cosmic Mario Cosmic Luigi Penguins Coach Penguru Ray Guppy Boards

Enemies

File:Drybonessmg.jpg

Mario collapsing a Dry Bones in the Dusty Dune Galaxy.

The game has old enemies such as Goombas from Super Mario Bros. and Piranha Plants, enemies which make their 3D platformer debut such as Magikoopas and Dry Bones, as well as new enemies, which include the Octoombas and Mandibugs.

New enemies

Bomb Boos Chomp Pups Cluckbooms Crabbers Fire Shooters Flipbugs Galactic Tornadoes Golden Chomp Goombeetles Gringills Ice Bats Jack O' Goombas Blue Lava Bubbles Li'l Brrrs Li'l Cinders

Li'l Springies Mandibugs Mandibug Stack Octoguys Octoombas Octopi Prickly Piranha Plants Sentry Beam‎s Slurples Spiky Plants Spiky Topman Spring Topman Starbags Topminis Undergrunts Water Shooters

Returning enemies

Amps Banzai Bills Big Amps Bloopers Bob-ombs Boos Boulders Bullet Bills Cannonballs Cataquacks Cheep-Cheeps

Chomps Clams Dry Bones Firebars Fishbones Floating Mines Goombas Giant Goombas Jellyfish Koopa Troopas Lava Bubbles

Magikoopas Mechakoopas Micro-Goombas Piranha Plants Pokeys Pokey Sprouts Preying Mantases Porcupuffers Rocket Engines Rocky Wrenches

Scuttle Bugs Sliding Stones Swoopers Thwomps Torpedo Teds Tox Boxes Tweesters Urchins Wigglers

Bosses

The boss characters.

Sixteen bosses are in the game. Some of them are fought more than once. The numbers below include Prankster Comet encounters.

1. Dino Piranha ×2
2. King Kaliente ×2
3. Mandibug Stack x1
4. Bugaboom ×1
5. Megaleg ×1
6. Kamella ×3
7. Tarantox ×1
8. Topmaniac ×4
9. Bouldergeist ×2
10. Major Burrows ×2
11. Baron Brrr ×1
12. Undergrunt Gunner ×3
13. Kingfin ×1
14. Fiery Dino Piranha ×1
15. Bowser Jr. ×1
16. Bowser ×3

Items

Throughout the game, Mario can use many new and returning items that allow him to do things that he's never been able to do before.

Item	Function
File:1upSMG.png 1-Up Mushroom	Gives Mario an extra life.
File:LifeshroomSMG.png Life Mushroom	A mushroom that gives Mario's Health Meter an additional three sections, bringing the total to six.
File:DISPENSER.png Bob-omb Dispenser	A machine that consistently dispenses Bob-ombs for use by the player.
File:CoinSMG.jpg Coin	Restore lost wedges of Mario's Health Meter. If 50 coins are collected, Mario will earn an extra life.
Crate	Often found in many different galaxies, these can be broken to release items.
Gold Shell	A special, rare shell that is either given to the Coach (in the Beach Bowl Galaxy) or used to open a chest (in the Bigmouth Galaxy). It gives a large speed boost when used underwater.
Green Shell	A green Koopa Shell that Mario can grab by touching it or spinning near it. The player can then throw it at enemies by shaking the Wii Remote. It gives a small speed boost underwater.
File:Item Crystal!.png Item Crystal	A glassy crystal that can contain Star Bits, power-ups, or rarely, enemies and Toads.
Launch Star	A powerful item that quickly launches Mario to another planet when the player shakes the Wii Remote near it.
File:Pull Star.png Pull Star	An item that will pull Mario towards it when the player positions the Star Cursor over it and presses the button.
Purple Coin	A special variety of coin that only appears in galaxies when a Purple Comet is in orbit around a galaxy.
File:Questioningcoin.jpg ? Coin	A large coin that can make a multitude of things appear, including coins, Star Bits, Rainbow Notes, a power-up, or even another ? Coin.
Rainbow Note	Colorful musical notes that only appear after Mario has touched a ? Coin, after which a short trail of them will line up in the immediate vicinity. When they are collected quickly, a short tune will be played in the background.
Red Shell	A red Koopa Shell that Mario can grab by touching it or spinning near it. When Mario launches it, it will zero in on any nearby enemies. It gives a larger boost than the Green Shell when used underwater.
Sling Star	A smaller version of a Launch Star that will fling Mario to another planet or area when the player shakes the Wii Remote near it.
Star Chip	Small fragments of a Launch Star, Sling Star, or Pull Star. When all five have been found, they will reform into their respective star and allow the player to advance. Yellow Star Chips are much more common than blue ones.
Star Bits	One of the most common items in the game, Star Bits can be found virtually anywhere and can be collected with the Star Cursor. Sometimes, Mario has to feed Star Bits to Hungry Lumas to advance. If 50 Star Bits are collected, Mario will earn an extra life.

Power-Ups

Mario regains his ability to attain different abilities via special mushrooms, flowers, and stars, similar to Super Mario 64, in which he could obtain the Wing Cap, the Vanish Cap, and the Metal Cap to gain new powers. In this game, Mario uses seven Power-Ups to gain new ablities.

Power-Up	Function
Bee Mushroom	Allows Mario to fly for a short time when the button is held. Also allows Mario to stick to Honeycomb Walls, and gives him the ability to walk on flowers and clouds.
File:SMG BooSuit.jpg Boo Mushroom	A mushroom that gives Mario the power of intangibility, and also allows him to float in the air with button taps. The Wii Remote can be shaken to go through certain objects.
Fire Flower	A power-up that allows Mario to throw fireballs at his enemies by shaking the Wii Remote.
Ice Flower	A power-up that allows Mario to freeze water or lava in small hexagonal ice platforms and skate across them freely.
Rainbow Star	A power-up that turns Mario into Rainbow Mario, thereby making him completely invincible for a short time. After running for a while with this power-up active, Mario's top speed increases.
Red Star	A power-up that holds the power of Red Luma. It allows Mario to fly for a limited time by spinning while in the air. Hold to stop and change the direction while flying. It resembles the Wing Cap from Super Mario 64.
Spring Mushroom	A power-up that transforms Mario into Spring Mario, allowing him to bounce extremely high by pressing with good timing.

Locations

Bee Mushroom

• Honeyhive Galaxy, stars 1 and 3
• Honeyclimb Galaxy
• Gold Leaf Galaxy
• Sea Slide Galaxy, star 3
• Sand Spiral Galaxy

Boo Mushroom

• Ghostly Galaxy, star 1
• Sand Spiral Galaxy
• Boo's Boneyard Galaxy

Ice Flower

• Freezeflame Galaxy, stars 1 and 3
• Deep Dark Galaxy, star 2
• Beach Bowl Galaxy, secret star

Fire Flower

• Freezeflame Galaxy, stars 2 and 3, secret star
• Dusty Dune Galaxy, star 1
• Deep Dark Galaxy, stars 1 and 2
• Snow Cap Galaxy

Spring Mushroom

• Toy Time Galaxy, stars 1 and 3
• Matter Splatter Galaxy
• Beach Bowl Galaxy, Purple Coin mission

Rainbow Star

• Good Egg Galaxy, star 3
• Honeyhive Galaxy, stars 1, 2 and 3
• Battlerock Galaxy, star 2
• Ghostly Galaxy, stars 1, 2 and 3
• Gusty Garden Galaxy, star 2
• Dusty Dune Galaxy, star 2
• Gold Leaf Galaxy, stars 1, 2 and 3
• Deep Dark Galaxy, stars 1 and 2
• Sand Spiral Galaxy

Red Star

• Gateway Galaxy, star 2
• Comet Observatory, enabled by completing Gateway's Purple's Coins.

Power Stars

Item	Function
Grand Star	A special type of Power Star that is needed to power the Comet Observatory.
Green Power Star	A very rare Power Star that can only be found in three galaxies in the game. They are used to unlock the Trial Galaxies.
Power Star	A regular star that Mario must collect to power up the various parts of the Comet Observatory and ultimately reach Bowser at the center of the universe.
Red Power Star	An extremely rare Power Star that is guarded by the Red Luma. There is only one found in the entire game.
Silver Star	A special star always found in sets of five in some galaxies. When Mario collects all five of them, they will merge into a Power Star.

Minigames

File:SMG Manta.jpg

The first surfing level, Surfing 101 in the Loopdeeloop Galaxy.

• Bubble Blowing
• Manta Ray Surfing
• Star Ball Rolling
• Bob-omb Blasting

All except Bob-omb Blasting can be found in the Trial Galaxies (as well as other galaxies).

Unlockable secrets

File:LuigiInGalaxy.PNG

Luigi encountering Bowser.

Once the player beats the game and gains 120 stars as Mario, they can fight Bowser again by talking to Rosalina. Once Bowser is re-defeated, the player unlocks the option to play as Luigi. He is slightly faster and jumps a bit higher than Mario, but he has less traction, and the Cosmic Luigi stars are more difficult to obtain, due to Cosmic Luigi using shortcuts and techniques not used by Cosmic Mario. Luigi's Spin also takes slightly longer to re-charge, and he has less air capacity than his brother. Luigi also loses air for every time he uses the Spin underwater. Once the player beats the game and collects 120 stars as Luigi, the 121st star becomes available.

File:MLNPC.PNG

(Left to right) Comparison of models for Mario, playable Luigi, and non-playable Luigi

While Luigi is being used, the stars that has required Mario to meet Luigi still feature a non-playable Luigi, bringing up the issue of two Luigis in the game. When the playable Luigi first saves the non-playable one from the Ghostly Galaxy, Luigi dismisses his rescuer merely as someone in the universe who happens to look like him. When Luigi rescues himself afterwards, the lost Luigi refers to him as "me" (for example, "I knew I could rely on... me!"). Rosalina dismisses the two as twins. At first, they appear to be exactly the same. However, if one looks closely at them, one will notice the playable Luigi is wearing lighter green clothes and is slightly shorter. When the Mailtoad has mail, the letter will say it is for Mario, and the Mailtoad feels bad for Luigi. Also, some letters may contain 20 1-Up Mushrooms, instead of 5.

If the player collects 9999 Star Bits, all the coconuts in the game turn into watermelons. They have the same use as coconuts, but have a different color scheme.

Letters

At various points in the game, the Mailtoad will give the player a letter and it will be sent to the Wii Message Board.

Whenever Luigi needs to be rescued after initially saving him from the Ghostly Galaxy, the letter will say the following:

Dear Mario,
Oh, no! It's horrible!
Luigi has gone missing!
What will we do?!

Mailtoad

After rescuing Luigi each of these times, the letter will say the following:

Dear Mario,

Thank you for saving Luigi! Keep trying to rescue those Power Stars, and we'll do our best to help! ♪

Mailtoad

After getting the 121st and final Power Star from the Grand Finale Galaxy, the letter will say the following:

Dear (Mii's name),

Congratulations! We would like to send you a galaxy sized thanks for saving all the Power Stars and playing to the very end.

Until next time;

The Super Mario Galaxy staff

Super Mario Galaxy: Original Soundtrack

Main article: Super Mario Galaxy: Original Soundtrack

A soundtrack for the game has been released, called Super Mario Galaxy: Original Soundtrack. It is exclusive to Club Nintendo members in Japan and Europe. There is a one-disc edition and a two-disc Platinum edition. Both editions aren't available anymore at Club Nintendo Japan. In Club Nintendo Europe, both editions are still available, with the exception of The United Kingdom and Spain, which only have the regular edition.

Development

Super Mario Galaxy finds its roots in the Super Mario 128 demo. Yoshiaki Koizumi, the director of the demo, wanted the part where Mario moves freely around a saucer-shaped platform to be included in an actual game, but found that implementing the concept would be technically demanding. Shigeru Miyamoto remained interested in the concept, and after Donkey Kong Jungle Beat's completion, asked the newly formed EAD Tokyo if they wanted to make a high-profile game starring established Nintendo characters, which led to one of the staff member suggesting that they had the skillset to make a Mario game. Yoshiaki Koizumi felt that the Jungle Beat team had the ability to make spherical platforms work and said he wanted to make the game for the Wii.

Koizumi then gathered several other members in order to create a prototype. The outer space theme was chosen due to him finding that most players would interpret spherical shapes as planets, and gravity was added. The prototype was shown to Nintendo after three months of development, which approved it.

Although Miyamoto was not working full time at EAD Tokyo, he frequently visited the studio to share ideas and oversee development. One of his suggestion was to include a delay between spinning instead of having Mario spin continuously by shaking the Wii Remote, so that the game would be more challenging and interesting to play. A setup was eventually created so that both the Kyoto and Tokyo offices could playtest the game.

The development team made heavy use of play-testers due to the studio's experience while developing Donkey Kong Jungle Beat One of Koizumi's main concern were the camera angles and the motion sickness they caused. He thought camera-induced motion sickness was a problem with 3D action games, and found neither Super Mario Sunshine nor Donkey Kong Jungle Beat's solutions satisfying.

EAD Tokyo was pressured to finish the game close to the Wii's launch, as several executives were disappointed by Super Mario Sunshine not being a GameCube launch title and thought that an earlier release could have helped the GameCube's commercial performance. However, EAD Tokyo decided that making a polished Mario game was more important.

Reception

Super Mario Galaxy has been met with critical acclaim, receiving a GameRankings score of 97.64% from 78 reviews, making it the highest rated game of all time on the website, while having a 97/100 on Metacritic, making it the sixth-highest rated game in Metacritic.

Famitsu Magazine has given Super Mario Galaxy a score of 38/40. The Official Nintendo Magazine UK gave the game 97%. It was called the best game of the decade and praised for having excellent graphics, sound and gameplay as well as a mixture of new features and classic features. Australia's longest-running unofficial multi-format gaming magazine, Hyper, scored the game 97 out of 100, tied for the highest score ever given in the history of the magazine, running since 1993. Also, it was voted by readers as the Game of the Year for 2007. The game placed 51st in the 200th Issue of GameInformer's "Top 200 Games of All Times". Nintendo Power ranked it as best Mario mainstream title in their May 2012 issue.

Super Mario Galaxy is the 8th best-selling game for the Wii, selling 12.22 million copies worldwide as of March 31, 2014.

Gallery

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  Mario soaring
• Rollstar.jpg

  Mario balancing on a Star Ball
• 

  Penguru
• 

  Purple Coin
• SMG BooSuit.jpg

  Boo Mushroom
• Airship.png

  Airship

Quotes

Main article: List of quotes in Super Mario Galaxy

Bowser

• "Princess Peach! You are formally invited... to the creation of my new galaxy! Gwahahaha! This festival's over!"
• "BWAHAHAHA! You finally made it! Just in time for me to stomp you into space bits!"
• "WHAA--?! IT'S YOU! That's it, Mario! I'm gonna stomp you into space bits!"
• "Finally! You got here just in time to see the creation of my galaxy in the center of the universe! WATCH AND WEEP! From this galaxy, I'll rule a great galactic empire with Peach by my side. It will last forever! I will rule every pitiful corner of the universe. So, Mario, as you can see, I got big plans. And stomping you is at the top of my list!"
• "NOOOOO! My Galaxy! My empire! This can't be happening..."

Queen Bee

• "And who might you be? A physician, we presume? No matter. We are in the most vexing predicament and require assistance. The most furious itchiness plagues our entire being! It must be stopped! Please find the source at once!"
• "Yes that's the ticket!"
• "Ah...that feels goooood!"
• "Ahoo hoo! That tickles!"
• "My thanks! You have shown much bravery, New Bee. We trust that we may rely on you in the future!"
• "The neighbors are causing trouble again. We would be most grateful for your assistance!"

Beta elements

Main article: List of Super Mario Galaxy beta elements

Rosalina was intended to be related to Princess Peach. They have very similar appearances, reflecting this. Bonefin Galaxy was intended to be much darker, as was Deep Dark Galaxy. These were changed in the interest of playability. Guppy was originally a dolphin, and a friendly character. Some art of the Sea Slide and Beach Bowl Galaxies suggests that they were conceived as a single galaxy, with beach bowl's main planet in the center of Sea Slide's ring. A piece of concept art labeled only "fortress" is captioned as a piece that is very memorable to the SMG development team, since it was one of the earliest drawings of Galaxy. Ironically, the planet shown in the art is nowhere in the final game.

Regional differences

Textual changes

Canadian French localization

Super Mario Galaxy received a in-game French translation (whereas previous Mario games were left untranslated) for Québec, following a deal between the Office québécois de la langue française and the video game industry to have every games available in French by 2009. This localization features NPCs (particularly the Lumas and the Toad Brigade members) speaking in a thick Joual accent. This translation choice sparked a minor controversy, with representatives of the OQLF and the Union des artistes criticizing it for promoting poor literacy to children . A Nintendo representative responded that the translation was made with "localizing for the market" in mind, as the Québec market made up 25% of sales for Nintendo of Canada at the time.

Following the negative reception to the localizations of Super Mario Galaxy and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (which featured a similarly Joual-heavy translation), later North American French translations (with the exception of Paper Mario: Sticker Star) would be written in a more standard "international" French.

Glitches

Main article: List of glitches in Super Mario Galaxy

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In any of two missions in Buoy Base Galaxy, Mario/Luigi should stand underwater, near the diving Penguin. If done correctly, when the Penguin dives, it will disappear.

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Mario should go to the level "Tarantox's Tangled Web". Then, he should to the final planet where Tarantox is fought and launch the green Toad onto the platform. Then he should jump in the sling pod and launch onto the same platform, so it breaks. If Mario looks at the Toad closely, Toad will be floating.

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The player must select The Silver Stars of Sea Slide mission in Sea Slide Galaxy. From the starting island, the player must toss the shell at the crystal with the Bee Mushroom, and must turn the camera away right after the Mushroom lands from the last bounce. The player must then dive into the water and swim back onto the island, still facing away from the island. By turning back toward the island, the Bee Mushroom should be underwater. If the player gets the mushroom like this, Mario/Luigi will be transformed into Bee Mario/Luigi, but they will be underwater and be able to swim around.

While underwater, the "Air" meter is replaced with the "Fly" meter, though it still functions the same as the "Air" meter. Additionally, Bee Mario still cannot collect shells underwater, like on land. To get out of the water, the player must shake the Wii Remote and fly while in the air; jumping back into the water causes the player to lose the Bee suit, like normal. While outside of the water, the "Fly" meter is gone, but Bee Mario can still only fly as long as the meter would allow.

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It doesn't always happen, but when you get this glitch, all you need to do is go to Space Junk Galaxy, enter the Tarantox mission, and long jump into the Red Toad Brigade spaceship. You will rebound back into the yellow one and glitch inside it. Even though it's a cool glitch, once inside, it is impossible to beat the level.

Staff

Main article: List of Super Mario Galaxy staff

Game Design Concept

• Shigeru Miyamoto

Director & Game Design

• Yoshiaki Koizumi

Level Design Director

• Koichi Hayashida

Level Design

• Futoshi Shirai
• Daisuke Tsujimura
• Haruka Kakinuma
• Ryutaro Kanno
• Toshihiro Kawabata

Trading Cards

Main article: Super Mario Galaxy Trading Cards

Super Mario Galaxy Trading Cards are trading cards that were released to celebrate the release of Super Mario Galaxy. These helped amplify the publicity of the game. Each booster pack would have two regular cards, one trivia card, one standee, and one FunTat.

References to other games

• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - In the Gold Leaf Galaxy, the secret star, "The Bell on the Big Tree", the featured bell is the same one from this game.
• Super Mario Bros. - Several sprites from this game appear here, including a planet in the Toy Time Galaxy, Mario sprites being in the background of a particular Bowser galaxy, and the background of the Flipswitch Galaxy resembling the overworld and underworld levels. Also, the main theme of the Toy Time Galaxy is a cover of the main theme. Also, some of the musical notes are music from the game such as the underground theme and the underwater theme.
• Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels - Luigi's higher jumping and lower traction returns.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 - Several pieces of music from this game are cover versions here. Airships also return.
• Dr. Mario - A planet shaped like a giant Megavitamin cameos.
• Super Mario Kart - Bowser's Galaxy Reactor's music is a cover of Rainbow Road.
• Super Mario 64 - The third and fourth star mission on the Beach Bowl Galaxy feature a similar bit to Shifting Sands painting in Super Mario 64. The Tox Boxes and Sliding Stones also return. The music of some Bowser galaxies are cover versions of the original from Super Mario 64. Peach's Castle design is based on that of 64's, but with a few differences to it. Finally, in both games, after the credits and an ending screen is displayed, Mario would say "Thank you so much for playing my game!". Also, the music for the Rainbow Star is a cover of the Wing Cap theme from the game.
• Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS - Both games begin with a letter being sent from Peach to Mario.
• Paper Mario - Both games begin with a letter being sent from Peach to Mario, also Bowser's way of kidnapping Peach (by stealing the whole castle) is reused here. They also have stories of baby stars. Furthermore, Mario starts off in a realistic 3D version of Toad Town. Also, a portion of Tubba Blubba's battle theme can be heard in the music when Mario is Fire Mario.
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - The floor pattern where Rosalina stands is similar to the pedestal in front of the Thousand-Year Door. It features a circular pattern that lights up each time Mario gets a Grand Star, similar to the effect of bringing a Crystal Star to the pedestal in this game.
• Luigi's Mansion - When the player first sees Luigi, he is trapped in a Ghost House. Mario freeing him is a direct spoof of Luigi's Mansion, as in Luigi's Mansion it was the direct opposite. Also the music that is being played when a boss tower is unlocked sounds suspiciously like the Luigi's Mansion Dark Room theme.
• Super Mario Sunshine - Fire Shooters and Water Shooters, which appear in various galaxies, have a strong resemblance to F.L.U.D.D.'s nozzle. The goal in the Loopdeeloop Galaxy and the Loopdeeswoop Galaxy is also shaped in a Shine Sprite.
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - The flowers that Donkey Kong flings off of were reused in Super Mario Galaxy.
• Mario Party 8 - If a Dry Bones falls into quicksand in Dusty Dune Galaxy, the cry Dry Bones makes when it is "blown away" in this game can be heard.

References in later games

• Mario Kart Wii - Rosalina can be unlocked by having save data from Super Mario Galaxy; the Rainbow Road course is set in space and is full of star bits; its music is a cover of the Good Egg Galaxy theme. Spiky Topmen were bosses in multiple online tournaments, and finally, the countdown sequence for starting a minigame returns as the official sequence for starting races and battles in this game.
• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - The Spike Ball move used in the last boss fight returns in this game.
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - The Dream Ski Jumping Event takes place in Good Egg Galaxy, plus some music from Super Mario Galaxy can be bought. Also, Purple Coins can be collected in some Dream Events.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii - During the credits, Peach can be heard saying the letter she sends to Mario at the beginning of Super Mario Galaxy. In Airship levels a cover version of the music in the intro where Bowser attacks is played.
• Super Mario 3D Land - The haunted house theme returns. The graphics resemble to the ones from this game. Cosmic Mario returns and the airship theme returns.
• Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games: Dino Piranha appears as the enemy faced during the Dream Spacewalk event. Despite taking place in the Sky Station Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2, several planets from the Good Egg Galaxy and Gateway Galaxy are shown.
• Mario Kart 7 - On the Rosalina's Ice World course, the Comet Observatory is visible in the background. A cover of part of Space Junk Galaxy's music can also be heard.
• Mario Party 9 - The Ground-Pound Switch icon appears on Wiggler's body segments and on Whomp's back. Also the music of some Bowser Jr. minigames is a cover of Bowser Jr.'s theme of this game.
• Mario Tennis Open - The Comet Observatory appears as an unlockable court. The music played is a cover of the tune played there and the music for the special game Galaxy Rally is a cover of the Good Egg Galaxy. Also, in the title screen, you can see the Comet Observatory in the background.
• Mario Party: Island Tour - Rocket Road is based on the Comet Observatory. Also, Rosalina and the Lumas will appear on this board.
• Super Mario 3D World - There are secret underground rooms where the player can collect sequences of Coins for a limited time and receive a prize if all Coins are collected. In the promotional spread, a silhouette which appears to be the Comet Observatory can be seen in the stars behind Bowser's Highway. The Light Boxes' light can defeat ghosts like in this game. Rosalina appears in this game as an unlockable playable character, and her special ability is the Star Spin attack. Rosalina's emblem is a Grand Star. Super Galaxy, a stage based off of the Super Mario Galaxy games appears, and so do Octoombas, and the Comet Observatory. The Comet Observatory theme (3rd version) plays in the World Crown map area, while a cover of the Gusty Garden Galaxy theme can be heard in Honeycomb Starway, Honeycomb Skyway and Champion's Road. The overworld map of the Star World has Star Bits in the background.
• Mario Kart 8 - An image of a Luma can be seen from an airplane (from Galaxy Air airlines) at the Sunshine Airport course, as wells as on the Star Cup trophy. Also, part of Cloudtop Cruise's is a cover of Gusty Garden Galaxy's music.
• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U - There is a stage based on this game and Super Mario Galaxy 2 with the Starship Mario and Airship appearing in the background of the main stage. Also, Rosalina & Luma are playable characters (They both are one character).

Trivia

• By coincidence, the title "Super Mario Galaxy" was first mentioned in a fan letter written to Nintendo Power by Jimmy Peterford of Glen Cove, New York. The letter in question, which was printed in the December 1991 issue, detailed a fantasy game system called the "Raw Power System," which would come bundled with a game titled "Super Mario Galaxy," but in Peterford's words, would be "better known as Super Mario Bros. 24!"
• Due to a mixup involving GameStop, the automated phone message sent to those who preordered the game stated Super Mario Galaxy to be an M-rated game.
• Super Mario Galaxy is the first Mario game to have a Latin Spanish translation.
• This game marks the first time a 3D Mario platformer would receive a direct sequel. The second time it would be with Super Mario 3D Land.

External links

• Official Japanese Site
• Official American Site
• Official European Site
• Official Australian Website
• Official Korean Site
• Prologue Video (IGN)
• Super Mario Galaxy Reviews, Guide, Videos, Screenshots and more! (IGN)
• Super Mario Galaxy (Gamewise)