Super Mario Galaxy Lives Up To Its Reputation

Growing up, I never owned the popular Wii. Certainly, I played Wii Sports plus various premier games while staying with relatives and companions during the 2000s decade, however I missed owning the console myself, causing me to overlook numerous outstanding titles in Nintendo’s iconic franchises.

A prime example was Super Mario Galaxy, which, along with its sequel, has been freshly updated and transferred to the Nintendo Switch. The first one was also included as part of the 2020 collector's set Super Mario 3D All-Stars. I appreciated the chance to experience viewed by fans as one of the best Mario titles in history. I became immediately engrossed, and can definitely say it fulfills nearly two decades of anticipation. However, I also recognized how pleased I feel movement-based inputs generally persisted as historical features.

The Cosmic Adventure Begins

Following traditional Mario storyline, Super Mario Galaxy begins with Bowser capturing the princess along with her castle. His fleet of cosmic vessels carry her into outer space, flinging Mario through space during the event. Mario encounters star-like cuties known as Lumas plus Rosalina atop her Comet Observatory. She charges Mario with tracking down stars to fuel her spacecraft so they can chase after Bowser, opening exploration opportunities to start discovering.

The game's jumping mechanics provides delight, and all it took completing a couple levels to realize why it maintains excellent reputation. It’ll feel familiar to anyone who’s played a 3D Mario, while the gameplay are approachable and intuitive following Nintendo's style.

Unique Movement Systems

As a space nerd, the setting is right up my alley, and it allows for Super Mario Galaxy to have fun with planetary forces. Round structures enable Mario to literally run circles about them like he’s Goku following Bubbles on King Kai’s planet. When they’re close together, Mario can leap across and get snatched by the gravity of a nearby platform. Other platforms appear as discs, typically including rewards underneath, easily overlooked spots.

Meeting Familiar Faces

What’s fun about playing Super Mario Galaxy 18 years later includes knowing familiar faces. I didn't realize Rosalina originated within this title, nor that she served as the caring guardian of the Lumas. Prior to this experience, I only knew her as a standard member Mario Kart World roster option. Similarly with Penguins, alongside whom I enjoyed swimming through introductory ocean area.

Motion Control Challenges

The primary drawback during this adventure in 2025 concerns movement inputs, employed for acquiring, directing, and launching stellar fragments, colorful objects distributed throughout stages. Using portable mode required angling and turning the Switch around to aim, which feels a bit clunky. Motion controls feature heavily within various navigation areas, where you have to aim the star-shaped cursor toward structures to pull Mario to them.

Missions entirely needing gyroscopic features are best played with the Joy-Cons detached improving control, including the aquatic gliding mission at the start. I rarely become supportive of gyroscopic gameplay, and they haven’t aged particularly smoothly throughout Galaxy. Thankfully, by collecting sufficient stars from other levels, these motion control ones can be wholly skipped. I attempted the stage requiring Mario guiding a large sphere across a path dotted with holes, then quickly abandoned after one attempt.

Enduring Gaming Quality

Except for the clunky Wii-era control schemes, there’s really nothing to criticize in Super Mario Galaxy, and its space-set levels offer pleasure to explore. Although notable titles such as Odyssey have come after it, Super Mario Galaxy continues as top-tier and creative Mario titles available.