LEG
Shigeru Miyamoto considers Super Mario Galaxy to be the "true" sequel to Super Mario 64, not Super Mario Sunshine. Though this was not stated around the time of its release in 2007, it is internally recognized for having directly informed the structure of the following three 3D Super Mario games as of 2017, collectively called the course clear-style games.[1] The oldest of these three, Super Mario Galaxy 2, is a direct sequel and the first one to be released on the same console as its predecessor since Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.C Building upon the first game's design philosophy, its courses are more linear and reliant on 2D sections. The outer space theming is subdued. Gameplay components like the world map and Prankster Comets were greatly simplified. The hub world became a smaller area, and the unique narrative elements of Super Mario Galaxy were muted. These changes were made to further foster accessibility to a wider audience and reduce dependency on camera controls. This design trend was subsequently expanded upon in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, games that were viewed as adopting more design philosophies from the concurrent New Super Mario Bros. titles than the hakoniwa principals of prior 3D entries. Super Mario Odyssey was the first 3D game to not be explicitly tied to Super Mario Galaxy since Super Mario Sunshine, but even this title incorporated elements derived from the game. The Moon Kingdom in particular was created to visually contrast with the lush, vibrant elements of Super Mario Galaxy's levels and incorporated explicit callbacks. Gravity is generally weaker in the lunar kingdoms, making jumps feel floatier.
Iconography from Super Mario Galaxy has been incorporated into nearly all space-themed settings throughout subsequent spinoff games, such as in Rainbow Road from Mario Kart Wii and World 8 from Dr. Mario World (2019). Rosalina has become a recurring character in these titles in addition to making reappearances in the mainline games. Rosalina often appears alongside older Super Mario characters in physical Nintendo advertisements, such as at Narita International Airport. Lumas, Star Bits, and the Toad Brigade have also become recurring elements in the franchise. The Toad Brigade Captain has appeared in four subsequent mainline games and even starred in a dedicated title. For more specific callbacks to Super Mario Galaxy, see below.
This is the last game directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi, who has taken on the role of producer for subsequent Super Mario projects. From 2013 to 2023, he was the representative director at 1-UP Studio, a sister studio to Nintendo EAD, where he helped facilitate the development of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021). The level-design director for Super Mario Galaxy, Koichi Hayashida, inherited the role of director for all subsequent course clear-style 3D titles. Super Mario Galaxy was the last Super Mario title to see "serious" involvement from Miyamoto until Super Mario Run (2016).
Super Mario Galaxy not the first video game to integrate spherical worlds that pan under the player character's feet, but nearly all games that have integrated the concept after Super Mario Galaxy are compared to it by professional reviewers and in casual parlance. (Yoshi's Island, Sonic Adventure 2, Ratchet & Clank, and Psychonaughts have some spherical worlds, but it may be needless to list them all. It is more important to remark on examples after the fact of games being compared to it, like Sonic Lost World); note how the concept at large has rarely been attempted.
In-house (conceptual)
- Last Mario game to see "serious" involvement from Miyamoto until Super Mario Run (ref)
- Last game directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi, who would be given greater roles as producer for other Mario projects, while Galaxy level designer Koichi Hayashida would be given directorial duties for subsequent entries
- SMG2 would be the last time Nintendo attempted to create a platformer with spherical worlds (have they ever said why?)
- Apparently Odyssey's Photo Mode derived from the developer's attempt to mitigate the complexity of camera controls (ref)
- Miyamoto expressed that Nintendo is open to developing a third game (his comments suggest Nintendo continued to pursue design choices that would make 3D games less daunting to 2D-players, hence why SM3DL and SM3DW appeared they way they do, but of note, the author of this work aligns SMG with SM64 and SMS as a sprawling adventure-type game) (ref)
- Folks clearly missed the idea of having a 3D Mario game that felt like an adventure (ref)
Industry at large
- Very few studios would attempt making platformers with spherical worlds (I recall some developer somewhere mentioning the technical difficulty with trying to do this)
- When a game does try this or attempts something comparable, it is often referred to as "Galaxy-styled" even though SMG was not the first platform game to attempt this design (Sonic Adventure 2, Ratchet & Clank, Yoshi's Island)
- Low-effort theme park-tie in clearly based on (maybe even directly stole from) Galaxy
- Both Sonic Colors (in a positive sense) and Sonic Lost World (in a negative sense) likened to Galaxy
Rosalina was proposed as a new playable character in the earliest phases of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U during 2012, explicitly with the desire to replicate the feel of Super Mario Galaxy in her aerial movements.[2]
The game has been cited as a source of inspiration for Armillo (2014),[3] Gears 5 (2019),[4] Solar Ash (2021),[5] and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (2022).[6]
Things to read
- 15 Years Ago, Super Mario Galaxy Made It Cool to Be a Gamer
- Super Mario Galaxy: In Space No-One Can Hear You Mamma Mia
- Super Mario Galaxy Showed Us Something The Series Hadn't Before, And Hasn't Since
- 15 years later, Super Mario Galaxy is still the series' most stellar entry
- Super Mario Galaxy Coming To Nintendo DS Thanks To Fan Project
- In Battle of Consoles, Nintendo Gains Allies
- E3 Interview: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto
- E3 – 2006 : LIVE :: Massive Wii games ‘hands on’
- Halo 3 Arrives, Rewarding Gamers, and Microsoft
- Nintendo: Wii play now, but Wii ship later
- One on one with Nintendo at E3
- E3 2005: Shigeru Miyamoto Interview
- TGS 2005: Hands-on the Revolution Controller
- Super Mario Galaxy and the Videogame Aesthetic
- Super Mario Seriality: Nintendo’s Narratives and Audience Targeting within the Video Game Console Industry
- Redesigning Super Mario : Creating realistic versions of some characters and animations featured in Super Mario franchise
- The Fine Line Between Rehash and Sequel: Design Patterns of the Super Mario Series
- The evolution of the introductory section
- Molecular Mario: The Becoming-Animal of Video Game Compositions
- Impact of an Active Video Game on Healthy Children’s Physical Activity
- It's a-me Density!
- Super Mario 64: an exercise on freedom and style
- AusGamer Review
- Is the Japanese gaming industry in crisis?
- Nintendo defies recession with record profits
- Nintendo Wii: Lessons learned from noncustomers
Notes and references
Notes
C - While Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2 was released in 1995 on the same console as Super Mario World, it is not recognized as an entry in the Super Mario series.
References
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedswitch - ^ Sakurai, Masahiro. "Image Transcriptions of Project Proposal for Smash for Wii U/3DS." Source Gaming, translated by Source Gaming, 4 Jul. 2015. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.
- ^ McFerran, Damien. "Developer Interview: Fuzzy Wuzzy Games Talks Armillo And Developing For The Wii U eShop." Nintendo Life, 18 Jan. 2013. Accessed 6 Jul. 2023.
- ^ Sinclair, Brendan. "Making Gears of War click for more than the hardcore." GamesIndustry.biz, 19 Nov. 2019. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.
- ^ Wood, Austin. "Solar Ash lives up to its "dumb elevator pitch" of Super Mario Galaxy meets Shadow of the Colossus." GamesRadar+, 15 Sept. 2021. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.
- ^ Deschamps, Marc. "Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope Director David Soliani Reveals Inspirations, Nintendo's Limits, and More." ComicBook.com, 27 Oct. 2022. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.
SMO
Locations
Setting
Kingdoms
Moon Rocks
The Odyssey
- Main article: Odyssey