Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Sequels seem inevitable after a successful game release, especially for a series as popular as Super Mario. What makes Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Galaxy 2) stand out, however, is that it was originally intended as an updated version of the original Super Mario Galaxy (Galaxy) called Super Mario Galaxy More, but there was enough new content that the development team turned it into a full sequel. When Galaxy 2 released for the Nintendo Wii in 2010, it garnered instant acclaim, with many considering it on par with or even better than the original and became one of the best-selling titles for the system (though it would still fall a few million units short of the original). Since I played the original Galaxy in anticipation of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, I continued my journey with Galaxy 2, this time through the original Wii release via the Wii U’s backwards compatibility. While it did deserve the praise it had received, I felt more mixed about the presentation overall compared with its predecessor.

Super Mario Galaxy (Switch)

Back in 2007, Nintendo released Super Mario Galaxy (Galaxy), an early release for their explosively popular Wii system and the third 3D platformer in the Super Mario series. During its lifetime, it sold nearly 13 million copies on its original platform and continues receiving critical praise, even against other modern Mario titles. Although I had heard about the game for nearly two decades, including comparisons made against other games like Sonic Lost World, I got hyped enough for the release of a 2026 film adaptation, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, that I decided I should finally play the game and express my thoughts on it as the first Mario game reviewed on this blog. Fortunately, I can confidently say that it lived up to the hype, though Mario’s journey through the stars wasn’t entirely a smooth one.

Before continuing, I want to firmly establish that this review is based on the Switch version of the game as presented in Super Mario 3D All-Stars (which I played through a physical copy) and played with a Switch Pro Controller (due to suspected JoyCon drift). As such, I will not make any comparisons with the original Wii release or the later Switch compilation re-release with Super Mario Galaxy 2.

The version used for this review.