One thing I should say before this review is that this is a massive nostalgia game for me. The first time I ever touched a Wii was at a family friend's house and they let me play this game when I was about 7. I played through up until the Fountain dome and loved every second of it, to the point that I would get my own Wii later that christmas. And let me say this: Mario Galaxy was the best introduction to a game system I've ever experienced.
This is an incredibly fun game in of itself. That should be expected of a mainline Mario game, but what brings it to stardom is how much more this game feels like it is than just a typical nintendo romp. Now normally Mario is a fairly safe franchise for me, I love his games and barring a few noticable exceptions rarely do they stick out in my mind more than just a fun experience I come back to every now and then to relive my childhood. Super Mario Galaxy is one of those few games that I think about for more reasons than just its gameplay, for I believe that this has the overall more engaging interpretation of the space setting of any game I've played.
Space in real life is nothing. It's a void of emptiness that we as a species instill meaning into. We want to see the universe as something grander, which for what we know can still be, but everything we want is so intangible that we can only imagine it. There are so many different concepts and theories about exactly what lies beyond our planet that when combined of what we do know means that this black canvas can be interpreted in ways that vary from person to person. Why else would so many kids dream of becoming an astronaut? We invent so many stories of what lies in the distance that the imagination can take those ideas and run wild with an array of possibilities as vast as the universe itself. For what it's worth, I feel this game conveys those same ideas as well.
Having each level be a different galaxy allows for a different slice of that proverbial pie to be represented in its fullest. Adventurous like the first frontier of Good Egg Galaxy, meloncholic like the emptiness of Space Junk Galaxy, dangerous like the ongoing war of Battle Rock Galaxy, downright frightening like Bonefish Galaxy. There are so many different moods and feelings conveyed in this game's level design and yet they all encompass different and valid ideas of what space is. All this is compounded by my absolute favorite OST in video games, encapsulating each individual area with the appropriate theming. I could not have chosen a better choice for Mario's first orchestrated soundtrack.
This game as whimsical as it is still has underlying tones of darkness seeding into it. First let me say this game can be brutal, and not in a difficult way. So many ways mario can die in this game are straight up morbid, from the sheer horror of getting sucked into a black hole, disintegrating into dark matter (which put me off from completing this game for a good while), getting electrocuted so hard only your skeleton remains. Space is harsh and traumatizing in the wrong situations and I'm glad a Mario game is willing to go the steps to showcase it in some way, and they don't just do it in gameplay either.
I would be remissed if I didn't discuss what most people think about when it comes to this game. The introduction of Rosalina as a brand new character to the series, and now an official mainstay of the franchise. While I feel most people nowadays like her bc shes a giant space mommy wife, but to gloss over her origin in this game is a shame. Everything about her in this game just emanates this etheral comfort and warmness. Her observatory being a sanctuary for her lumas while also being modeled to accommodate her living there, along with this absolutely beautiful song that especially in the second version for me is something I would straight up play at my own wedding if I could. And let's not forget her library, going over her backstory over the course of the game with a song that's both nostalgically somber and tear jerking depending on the chapter shes reading. I cried in the later chapters of her book, a feat very few games can claim over me. For how vapid I see the Mario series overall (not in a bad way mind you), I'm reminded that genuine stories wanted to be told around 2000s, which has led to some of my favorite games of all time. It really is a bygone era that I reminisce on dearly.
Super Mario Galaxy is my absolute favorite of the mainline Mario games. It feels like more than a game at points with how much of a love letter it is to the world outside our world. As much as I love its sequel, I feel the fact it feels more like a normal game hurts it while helping this game feel more unique, and I often don't think about it as much as a result. Space is the most versatile setting one can ever imagine, and this game shows off the entire spectrum it brings.
This is an incredibly fun game in of itself. That should be expected of a mainline Mario game, but what brings it to stardom is how much more this game feels like it is than just a typical nintendo romp. Now normally Mario is a fairly safe franchise for me, I love his games and barring a few noticable exceptions rarely do they stick out in my mind more than just a fun experience I come back to every now and then to relive my childhood. Super Mario Galaxy is one of those few games that I think about for more reasons than just its gameplay, for I believe that this has the overall more engaging interpretation of the space setting of any game I've played.
Space in real life is nothing. It's a void of emptiness that we as a species instill meaning into. We want to see the universe as something grander, which for what we know can still be, but everything we want is so intangible that we can only imagine it. There are so many different concepts and theories about exactly what lies beyond our planet that when combined of what we do know means that this black canvas can be interpreted in ways that vary from person to person. Why else would so many kids dream of becoming an astronaut? We invent so many stories of what lies in the distance that the imagination can take those ideas and run wild with an array of possibilities as vast as the universe itself. For what it's worth, I feel this game conveys those same ideas as well.
Having each level be a different galaxy allows for a different slice of that proverbial pie to be represented in its fullest. Adventurous like the first frontier of Good Egg Galaxy, meloncholic like the emptiness of Space Junk Galaxy, dangerous like the ongoing war of Battle Rock Galaxy, downright frightening like Bonefish Galaxy. There are so many different moods and feelings conveyed in this game's level design and yet they all encompass different and valid ideas of what space is. All this is compounded by my absolute favorite OST in video games, encapsulating each individual area with the appropriate theming. I could not have chosen a better choice for Mario's first orchestrated soundtrack.
This game as whimsical as it is still has underlying tones of darkness seeding into it. First let me say this game can be brutal, and not in a difficult way. So many ways mario can die in this game are straight up morbid, from the sheer horror of getting sucked into a black hole, disintegrating into dark matter (which put me off from completing this game for a good while), getting electrocuted so hard only your skeleton remains. Space is harsh and traumatizing in the wrong situations and I'm glad a Mario game is willing to go the steps to showcase it in some way, and they don't just do it in gameplay either.
I would be remissed if I didn't discuss what most people think about when it comes to this game. The introduction of Rosalina as a brand new character to the series, and now an official mainstay of the franchise. While I feel most people nowadays like her bc shes a giant space mommy wife, but to gloss over her origin in this game is a shame. Everything about her in this game just emanates this etheral comfort and warmness. Her observatory being a sanctuary for her lumas while also being modeled to accommodate her living there, along with this absolutely beautiful song that especially in the second version for me is something I would straight up play at my own wedding if I could. And let's not forget her library, going over her backstory over the course of the game with a song that's both nostalgically somber and tear jerking depending on the chapter shes reading. I cried in the later chapters of her book, a feat very few games can claim over me. For how vapid I see the Mario series overall (not in a bad way mind you), I'm reminded that genuine stories wanted to be told around 2000s, which has led to some of my favorite games of all time. It really is a bygone era that I reminisce on dearly.
Super Mario Galaxy is my absolute favorite of the mainline Mario games. It feels like more than a game at points with how much of a love letter it is to the world outside our world. As much as I love its sequel, I feel the fact it feels more like a normal game hurts it while helping this game feel more unique, and I often don't think about it as much as a result. Space is the most versatile setting one can ever imagine, and this game shows off the entire spectrum it brings.