Super Mario Galaxy and the joy of a game that is purely about play
These days, I find there is a temptation among certain types of people to only ascribe worth to games that have "something to say", usually in a narrative sense. It wasn't always this way -- and it doesn't have to be this way! While I was away on holiday last week, I played through all...
These days, I find there is a temptation among certain types of people to only ascribe worth to games that have “something to say”, usually in a narrative sense. It wasn’t always this way — and it doesn’t have to be this way!
While I was away on holiday last week, I played through all of Super Mario Galaxy, a game that I’ve been meaning to get to for the longest time, but which I’ve never really made time for — at least partly because I am not immune to the above. I quite often find myself thinking that story-centric games are somehow more “valuable” than games which focus on their mechanics or the simple act of play.
Sitting down and properly spending some time with Super Mario Galaxy reminded me that gaming is a rich, broad and diverse medium, however — and sometimes exactly what you need is a game that might not have much to “say” in terms of narrative, themes and characterisation, but which nonetheless provides a rewarding, memorable and fully engaging experience. Let’s talk about that after the jump.
Super Mario Galaxy was first released in 2007 for Nintendo Wii — a platform that kind of exemplifies the issue we’re talking about here. It quickly gained rave reviews and remains extremely fondly regarded to this day, but until its 2020 reissue as part of the limited-print Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Nintendo Switch, and its subsequent re-reissue (again for Switch) alongside its sequel in 2025, it had been regarded as somewhat trapped on its original platform: a dated console with a control scheme perceived as gimmicky by many, and standard-definition visuals.
The Switch version of Super Mario Galaxy brings the whole thing into high-definition (including up to 4K resolution if you’re playing on a Switch 2) but otherwise doesn’t make too many changes to the original formula; it even maintains the original release’s pointer-based controls, though given that Switch controllers lack the IR pointer hardware that the Wii Remote used, this is implemented instead through gyroscopic controls that can be recalibrated at the touch of a button. (Those allergic to waggle will be pleased to note, however, that most of the things that can be accomplished with motion controls or the pointer can also be handled with directional and button inputs, with the only exception being hoovering up the collectible Star Bits with the pointer cursor.)
In Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach yet again, this time dragging her entire castle to the centre of the universe, where he hopes to use the Power Stars and Grand Stars to rule a cosmos-spanning empire. Mario, who rather optimistically pursues the villain and his fancypiece into space, finds his initial efforts thwarted, but before long comes into contact with the race of spacefaring “Luma” creatures and their “mama”, Rosalina. They take him aboard their Comet Observatory, and from there, Mario begins a galaxy-hopping adventure to, as usual, give Bowser a good kicking and get Peach back in time for afternoon tea.
As overarching plots go, it’s business as usual for the Super Mario series, though there is an optional “storybook” you gradually unlock as you progress through the game which tells an oddly heartfelt and surprisingly moving story about Rosalina’s origins. None of it really matters, though, because a Super Mario game is not about enjoying an ongoing story; it is about clearing a bunch of increasingly tricky courses, dealing with a range of obstacles of gradually escalating fiendishness, collecting a bunch of doohickeys and finally beating Bowser.
Indeed, outside of the storybook sequences, which are completely optional to engage with, after the introductory sequence, Super Mario Galaxy’s narrative component completely gets out of the way for you, and it’s right into the meat of the game: discovering new “galaxies” using the Comet Observatory, completing various objectives on them to earn Power Stars, using Power Stars to unlock new galaxies and areas of the Observatory (which in turn can find more galaxies) and, at various intervals, stomping Bowser and his son into the next “world”.
Structurally, Super Mario Galaxy has a fair amount in common with Super Mario 64, with each “galaxy” acting in a similar fashion to the various stages in that game. Multiple Power Stars are available in most galaxies, and before entering a galaxy you are invited to choose a particular star to tackle, with new stars unlocking as previous ones are attained. As you progress through the game, you’ll also encounter Hidden Stars by taking alternative routes or completing optional challenges, and special “Comet Stars” become available to challenge at various intervals, giving specific missions to take on in each stage. We’ll come back to those.
Super Mario Galaxy’s main gimmick is the fact that its stages aren’t flat. Many of them feature spherical or cylindrical elements, allowing Mario to run right around them onto their “underside”. This is in keeping with the “space” theme, but honestly it’s one of my least favourite aspects of Super Mario Galaxy; it’s during these sequences that the controls are most likely to cause issues, with a particularly persistent and annoying problem being that, under certain circumstances, holding a direction steady will sometimes cause Mario to inexplicably run around in circles.
At other times it can be unclear which direction you need to press to go “into” or “out of” the screen, especially when Mario is upside-down, and in later stages, where you need to be doing this while completing particularly difficult dexterity challenges, it’s not ideal. It’s also inconsistent as to whether or not it will flip the camera around to show Mario right-side up when you go “underneath” something; the very first galaxy you explore sets the expectation that this will always happen, but… well, it very much doesn’t.
Thankfully, the entire game isn’t based around these sequences; many stages are what many would consider to be much more conventional “3D Mario” stages: little worlds to explore, where finding the route forward is your main objective. In some respects, it’s a little sad that Super Mario Galaxy is arguably at its best when it’s being the most conventional, but those conventions did become conventions for a reason, after all. And Super Mario Galaxy does at least add some interesting new ideas to these sequences, too.
The first new power-up you’ll encounter is the Bee Mushroom, which allows Mario to transform into a bee. While in bee form, he is much lighter, so can stand on platforms that would otherwise give way beneath him, such as flowers and clouds. He can also fly for a limited period, allowing him to reach places that simple jumps cannot. When I say “limited” I mean it, though; you’ll be making short hops as a bee rather than long-haul flights, meaning you’ll still need to plan your route carefully. It’s a well-implemented and flexible transformation that is used effectively in a number of different galaxies.
Later in the game, you’ll encounter the Spring Mushroom, which, as the name suggests, causes Mario to get coiled up in a spring. While Bee Mario is a delight, Spring Mario is an obscenity. Mario doesn’t run or jump normally while in Spring form; he bounces around, making him difficult to control and move with precision and literally impossible to stand still. Even with the controls fully centred, Spring Mario will move around, making it very difficult to line up jumps or position yourself accurately. Thankfully there are relatively few sequences that involve both Spring Mario and particularly precision platforming, but the few that are there were a real lowlight of the entire game for me. I sincerely hope I never have to see Spring Mario ever again.
Elsewhere, you’ll encounter Fire and Ice Flowers, and these are implemented a little differently to in other Super Mario games. Rather than being a permanent power-up you hold on to until you take a hit, they are both timed, and are both primarily used for solving puzzles rather than combat.
Fire Mario can, of course, shoot fireballs, which can defeat enemies, but their primary function is to light torches that function as switches in some galaxies.
Ice Mario, meanwhile, is able to create icy platforms when he walks on water, and he can also “skate” at a higher speed than normal when moving over water or ice. Most of the Ice Mario sequences involve quickly getting from the power-up’s location to a relatively distant destination using the ice platforms to traverse otherwise impassable obstacles; there’s often some tricky and quite precise platforming involved during these sections, and two specific instances in the game require the rather difficult “triple jump” technique to be performed with perfect timing and accurate positioning.
There’s a lot going on in Super Mario Galaxy, then, but in true Nintendo tradition, it never becomes overwhelming. The controls never use more than three buttons — one for jumping, one for attacking and performing actions, one for crouching — and each Power Star in each galaxy focuses on just one particular type of stage gimmick at a time. Like many other Nintendo games, there are certain obstacle types you’ll see a grand total of once in the entire game — but during the stage in which they appear, you’ll be taken through an opportunity to experiment with them in a relatively safe environment, then presented with increasingly challenging circumstances in which to demonstrate your mastery of them. After that, you might not ever see them again — particularly if you focus on the game’s critical path rather than attempting to attain 100% completion.
I found it interesting that you can technically “finish” Super Mario Galaxy at pretty much its halfway point, with 60 of its total 120 Power Stars collected. At that point, you are able to unlock the final encounter with Bowser, and completing that causes the credits to roll. Some players will be perfectly happy with calling that “beating the game” and moving on — and that’s fine. Making half of the game’s challenges optional means that those who find themselves struggling with some of the trickier moments can set a particular objective aside and try something else.
Given that, on the grand scale of Super Mario games, Super Mario Galaxy tends to veer towards the more difficult end of proceedings, this is a good thing that keeps the game accessible without being patronising to anyone; those who want that stiffer challenge can go for all 120 Power Stars — and those who really want to push themselves can get all 120 Power Stars once with Mario, and then all over again with Luigi, who controls notably differently from his brother, as has been series tradition since both incarnations of Super Mario Bros. 2. There are, in fact, two bonus Power Stars you can only get during the “Grand Finale” celebratory stage that unlocks when both Mario and Luigi have attained 120 stars each — only the most dedicated players will attain these, but it is both rewarding for those who choose to pursue this goal, and for those who choose to tap out after just 60 stars in Mario’s playthrough.
The game’s relative lack of narrative contributes to this flexibility. Pursuing 120 stars instead of 60 doesn’t necessarily get you more “plot” (although there is a little bonus post-credits scene after attaining 120 and re-beating Bowser in the “finale”) but, for some, it will be a more rewarding gaming experience. Meanwhile, those who choose to tap out at 60 will have still played a “complete” game — and also have the option to come back to it at a later stage without feeling like they have to start all over again because they’ve “forgotten what had happened”, as can be the case with narrative-centric games.
It helps that a lot of the later Power Stars come from the aforementioned comets, which start showing up semi-randomly after you’ve made a certain amount of progress through the game. When a comet appears at a galaxy, visiting that galaxy forces you to take on the comet’s challenge, with a special Comet Star on offer if you beat it. And the comet challenges are all designed, in various ways, to test your mastery of various aspects of the game.
Comets come in various forms. Fast-Foe comets demand that you complete a tricky platforming sequence with enemies or obstacles that are moving more quickly than normal. Speedy comets challenge you to complete a particular Power Star’s objectives against a strict time limit, and sometimes with some subtle tweaks to the level (usually to make it a little easier and/or speedrun-friendly). Cosmic comets pit you in a foot race against a shadowy Mario who often cheats to get to the goal — though you are also free to do so, too. Daredevil comets task you with completing an objective — usually, though not always, defeating a boss — without taking any damage. And purple comets, which only appear after beating Bowser in the finale for the first time, demand that you collect 100 purple coins in a stage.
As you might expect for something which technically counts as “post-game”, the purple coin challenges are some of the most difficult in the entire game. Pleasingly, they take a variety of different forms, too. In some cases, collecting all 100 coins is just a matter of following a linear trail; in others, you’ll need to explore a stage thoroughly in order to track every last one of them down. In others still, you’ll be presented with a self-contained traversal challenge in which there are more coins than you need scattered around, but collecting 100 of them is very perilous indeed.
The most difficult of all the purple coin challenges involves scrambling around a pixel-art depiction of Mario constructed entirely of immediately fatal toxic goop and platforms that either permanently dissolve or start continuously tipping over the moment you step on them; the challenge here comes not only from surviving these relentless obstacles, but also from planning a route that will allow you to actually get back and retrieve the Power Star once it appears. Because, yes, of course it appears right back at the start of the stage, so you’d better hope you left a clear path back!
Super Mario Galaxy can be difficult, particularly during these optional late-game challenges, but it’s never unfair. Even its most frustrating, annoying sequences, such as the aforementioned purple coin scramble or anything involving Spring Mario, can be overcome with enough persistence, determination and the ability to stay calm under pressure.
But I also think one of the most worthwhile things about the game as a whole is that it doesn’t, in any way, make you feel like a “failure” if you decide to walk away from something that just proves to be too much for you. Not everyone will have fun attempting to accomplish the most difficult objectives, and Super Mario Galaxy never punishes you for deciding that enough is enough and just wanting to move on. Remember: you can beat the game after completing just half of all the objectives in one of the two playthroughs required to “100%” it, and you are not, in any way, a lesser player for choosing to be satisfied with that.
More than anything, Super Mario Galaxy just wants its players to have fun. It’s one of many great examples of Nintendo treating its games as a toybox rather than a tightly scripted, authored narrative experience. There is structure and there are objectives to complete — but the priority is not on ploughing your way through the whole thing in the hope of seeing “how it ends”. You know very well how it ends before you even begin — Mario beats Bowser and rescues Princess Peach, just like he always does. That doesn’t mean the journey isn’t worth taking — and for many years now, more than pretty much anyone else in the games industry, Nintendo understands that the journey can, itself, be the most rewarding thing about an experience you have chosen to spend your time interacting directly with.
Coming away from Super Mario Galaxy after playing it for the very first time in 2026, it’s not my all-time favourite Super Mario game — that honour still belongs to the incredible Super Mario 3D World — but I do understand why it is regarded so fondly to this day, and I had a great time with it. It is a game that understands that many of us pick up a controller so that we can play; a game that, in many ways, represents a side of the medium that can sometimes feel like is fading away somewhat. (It isn’t; you just need to know where to look.)
It was a fine game to play on my holiday — and yes, I did immediately make a start on Super Mario Galaxy 2 as soon as I’d bagged 120 stars and rolled credits for the second time. More on that another time, though…
Want more Pete? Check my personal blog I’m Not Doctor Who, and my YouTube channel ThisIsPete. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider buying me a coffee.
Did you know you can subscribe to MoeGamer as a newsletter and get new posts delivered right to you? Just pop your email address in below and subscribe for free. Your address will not be used for anything else.
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions">
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container is-not-subscriber">
<form
action="https://wordpress.com/email-subscriptions"
method="post"
accept-charset="utf-8"
data-blog="228627537"
data-post_access_level="everybody"
data-subscriber_email=""
id="subscribe-blog-2"
>
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-elements">
<p id="subscribe-email">
<label
id="subscribe-field-2-label"
for="subscribe-field-2"
class="screen-reader-text"
>
Type your email… </label>
<input
required="required"
type="email"
name="email"
autocomplete="email"
class="no-border-radius "
style="font-size: 16px;padding: 15px 23px 15px 23px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 1px;"
placeholder="Type your email…"
value=""
id="subscribe-field-2"
title="Please fill in this field."
/> </p>
<p id="subscribe-submit"
>
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe"/>
<input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="228627537"/>
<input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://moegamer.net/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron=1789599310.0548179149627685546875"/>
<input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="subscribe-block"/>
<input type="hidden" name="app_source" value=""/>
<input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog-2"/>
<input type="hidden" name="lang" value="en_GB"/>
<input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="45744a2789" /><input type="hidden" name="_wp_http_referer" value="/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron=1789599310.0548179149627685546875" /> <button type="submit"
class="wp-block-button__link no-border-radius"
style="font-size: 16px;padding: 15px 23px 15px 23px;margin: 0; margin-left: 10px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 1px;"
name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget"
>
Subscribe </button>
</p>
</div>
</form>
</div>
</div>
Did you enjoy this article?
Recommend it — Standard Reader surfaces well-loved writing to more readers across the network.