Super Mario Galaxy Review – Not Every Classic Ages Well
Playing Mario 64 and Sunshine is one of my favorite childhood memories, but I never played Super Mario Galaxy. So I was very excited to experience it for the first time. Many describe Super Mario Galaxy as the best 3d Mario, sadly my experience was a very different one.
A magical Adventure
Let's start with something positive. Mario Galaxy feels dreamy and magical in many ways. The center of this feeling is, of course, Rosalina and her storybook. The whole presentation and the story itself is without a question the best Mainline Mario game ever created. So much so that I'm honestly sad that it feels very optional.
You could pretty much play through the whole game without ever interacting with it. I really wish Nintendo had been braver and made Rosalina and her story more of a centerpiece of the game.
But it's not just the story that makes the game feel so dreamy. The music is simply amazing. When you fly with Mario from planet to planet while listening to an enchanting tune, you simply can’t help but smile. Same goes for some of the galaxies. But even with my first point I feel like Nintendo played it too safe. Many galaxies simply just look like a typical Mario world. I wish they would have gone all out with a more creative dreamy fantasy theme. Because the moments when Galaxy dares to go down that road are when it’s at its best.
In those moments it reminds me of Super Mario Wonders. In that game Nintendo dared to fully go all out and it created one of the best Mario Games of all time. Mario Galaxy would have had the potential to do the same. But sadly it didn't.
Controls are lost in time
Mario Galaxy was first made for the Nintendo Wii in 2007. Back then Nintendo was all about motion controls. Some parts of this are just optional gimmicks, while others are central to the gameplay. I can totally see how people who played this in 2007 loved it. Back then it must have felt new and exciting. I remember myself playing Zelda Twilight Princess on my Wii and how much I loved the motion controls. However sadly for me this part didn't age well.
There are parts where you have to point from star to star and move Mario in this way. To me those parts often felt extremely clunky. At one point I had to race against a Boo with those controls and it was one of the most frustrating experiences I ever had in a Mario Game.
Especially in the first part of the game i feel like Nintendo pushed in a lot of motion control parts that sadly just felt unfun for me.
But it's not just the motion controls that frustrated me. The camera often felt extremely bad. I fully understand that it must be hard to create camera controls that work while moving upside down on a planet but for me i often felt like i lost control of Mario just because of the camera. The fact that you can sometimes control it and sometimes can’t doesn’t help either.
Level design between timeless and old
Now let's talk about the most important part of a Mario game, its levels. Before playing Mario Galaxy I often heard how creative its level design is supposed to be. Sadly in 2025 I can't really agree with this anymore. Coming off from my Donkey Kong Bananza Review and playing Mario Odyssey, two games which are full of creative levels and ideas, I couldn't help but feel bored at the first half of Mario Galaxy's levels. Sure there are some smart ideas. Especially when the game plays with its gravity it can lead to really fun moments. But for the most part I didn't really feel great about the first half of Galaxy.
Thankfully in the second half of the game levels become a bit more creative and wild. One level set in a toy factory became one of my favorite parts of the game. It was filled with cool little gameplay ideas and challenging platforming parts. This was great fun!
Speaking of challenges. This is one part where Mario Galaxy shines in my eyes. I wouldn't call the game “hard” but it does offer some seriously fun and challenging platforming parts. The idea of the comets who spice up old levels with things like speedrunning challenges became my favorite part of the game.
Also the fact that Galaxy still uses the old school approach to levels with one star per level is great. It showed me again how much more I enjoy it to do a level for 5-10 minutes with some fun challenges and then be rewarded with 1 star compared to Bananza or Odyssey where you find stars or bananas behind every single corner.
Good and bad collide in a decent game
Many of my criticisms come from the fact that I am playing Galaxy now for the first time. I can totally see how someone in 2007 would have loved the motion controls. I can also see how back then the game must have seemed even more creative without knowing more modern games like Mario Wonders or Odyssey. But I'm here to judge the game for what it is now and not what it was in 2007.
To break it down simply. When Mario Galaxy is great, it’s easily one of the best Mario experiences you can have; however, when it’s not, it can quickly become one of the most frustrating ones. If I’m honest, I had more fun with any other 3d Mario game than with Galaxy. In the end I still enjoyed my time and Mario Galaxy is a great game but sadly not the masterpiece i was promised to experience.
Rating: Recommended