Super Mario 3D All-Stars Part 3: Super Mario Galaxy

Well folks, it's time to end our look at Super Mario 3D All-Stars with a game that everyone agrees is pretty damn good. The Wii is one of Nintendo's biggest success stories. It's the second highest grossing console of all time, it brought in a whole new audience of casual gamers and proved that motion controls could actually work in gaming, you know if the developers actually tried. But for all it's success the public opinion on the system is split down the middle, mostly due to it's library of games. Now I love the Wii as it has some truly fantastic games on it but I can't deny that it was plagued by a lot of casual shovel-ware crap. But it also had some truly spectacular games, Zack and Wiki, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Donkey Kong country Returns, Wario Land The Shake Dimension, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, No More Heroes, it had some good stuff if you dig into the library.

But the game that many people consider the cream of the crop is Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 but that's not on this collection so we can't look at it. It should be on the collection but alas it is not for some inexplicable reason. Super Mario Galaxy was both a critical and financial success when it released in 2007. It was such a critical darling that it still remains within the top ten best reviewed games on Metacritic, it should be in the top five but Metacritic counts Multiplatform releases as separate entries which is really stupid for Xbox 360 and PS3 games considering they're the same game but whatever. It wasn't just a success with critics but with fans too, a rare thing to find theses days but it was a different time. To some Super Mario Galaxy is one of the plumbers greatest, if not the greatest, game he ever starred in. But does it still hold up 13 years later? Let's find out.

It's the night of the star festival, an event held every 100 years in the Mushroom Kingdom when a mysterious comet can be seen in the sky. Mario is invited to attend the event by Princess Peach and immediately after arriving the event is attacked by Bowser. Bowser does what he always does and kidnaps Peach by plucking her entire castle out of the ground and flying into space, which is actually not the first time he's done this believe it or not. Mario tries to give chase but is stopped by Kamek who blasts the plumber into deep space.

Mario wakes up on a small planetoid and runs into a small star child called a Luma. Luma introduces Mario to his Mama, Princess Rosalina. Rosalina takes care of the Luma's on her Comet Observatory, the same comet that the Star Festival celebrates. Unfortunately the Observatory has no power because Bowser stole all the Power Stars fuelling it when it flew near Mario's planet so he could use them to create his own Galaxy at the centre of the universe. For Bowser that's a pretty epic plan. Now Mario has to use the Observatory to search the universe and find the Power Stars so he can rescue Princess Peach once again.

So it's a very traditional Mario story. Bowser kidnaps the princess and Mario has to rescue her but it's just done on a much grander scale. I do like how epic this game can get, especially with the opening and ending cutscene, it helps give this simple story a sense of grandeur it normally doesn't have. Personally I prefer Mario games to be more light hearted and goofy ala Sunshine and Odyssey but it is nice to see the series try something new. Speaking of something new, Mario Galaxy does introduce a lot of new characters that would go on to be series mainstays. Captain Toad actually made his debut in this game and he's the same lovable goof we all know and love but the best new character is Rosalina. Mainly because she has an actual backstory. As you play the game you'll unlock chapters of a story Rosalina reads in the library. It's a nice little fairy tale going over Rosalina's origin, how she met the Luma's, how the Comet Observatory came to be and why it only passes by every 100 years. I wish more Mario games did this kind of world building.

The Wii wasn't known as a graphical powerhouse but it had some good looking games. Since it couldn't rely on the pure power of the system a lot of games instead relied more on the art style which I think has led to a lot of them aging a lot better than most games of that generation. Mario Galaxy is definitely one of them. Unlike Sunshine which had a tropical island theme, Galaxy goes for a space theme which I have to admit I like a lot more. Maybe it's just my fascination with space but I always loved space themed levels in platformers and Mario Galaxy is a game based almost entirely around them. I say almost because it does have variety in it's level themes. You have grassy garden themed stages, Bee Hive themed stages, one of my favourite levels is one that mixes fire and ice together and there's even a ghost house themed level like in Super Mario 64. These levels help give Super Mario Galaxy a sense of visual variety that Sunshine lacked somewhat.

It helps that these levels all look really good too. There's a certain majesty when looking out into the vastness of space, a beautiful empty sadness you get when staring out into the vast sea of stars that Mario Galaxy gets down perfectly. The game is very colourful, character models look great and have great animations but it's the serene majesty of looking out into these worlds that left the biggest impact for me. 3D All-Stars once again does a great job of remastering this game in high definition. It's rendered 1080p in docked mode and 720p in handheld mode like in Sunshine though Galaxy benefits from running in 60 FPS. Mind you the original Galaxy ran at 60 FPS so we can't thank the 3D All-Stars version for that. Mario Galaxy arguably needed the least amount of visual touch ups since the game already looked great to begin with but it is nice to see what it would have looked like if the Wii was an HD console.

And then there's the music. I'm just gonna come out and say it, this soundtrack is a masterpiece. It was the first Mario game to use a full orchestra and they used it to full effect to compose some truly majestic and epic tracks. Gust Garden Galaxy is the one everyone points too because of how good it is but there's some other examples I love. The final Bowser battle theme is so good, the final battle theme in Mario 64 was good as well with the organ music and everything but the one in Galaxy is just epic, it really does feel like the final battle between Mario and Bowser. I love the Comet Observatory theme too, it sounds like a galactic waltz and it's super relaxing which makes it feel good to come back to after completing a stage.

The thing is though, Mario Galaxy doesn't overuse the orchestra. It will break it out for those big bombastic themes but it also knows when to use more goofy and cartoonish themes as well so those big moments feel all the bigger. Honey Hive Galaxy is a good example of this, There's even plenty of remixes of classic Mario themes as well, there's even a new collectible in the form of music notes that will play a classic Mario tune as you collect them. There's not much I can say about the soundtrack that hasn't already been said. It's phenomenal. It's one of the greatest gaming soundtracks of all time. For me it's in the top 5 easy.

Now we move on to the gameplay. Super Mario Galaxy still follows the same basic structure as the previous two games we've looked at. You once again have a hub world, in this case the Comet Observatory, which contains a variety of levels that contain missions which reward you with a Power Star for completing them. Thankfully we're back to the way it was in Mario 64 where levels are unlocked by collecting a certain amount of them and you only need a certain amount of them to get to the final boss. So now every Star is important and don't come off as filler, except for a few but we'll get to that later. There are a few changes made to this structure however. For one, the Comet Observatory is probably the most straight forward hub the series has had up to that point. There are no secrets to be found here, instead you have various domes that will unlock as you progress through the game that contain a selection of levels you can pick from.

While I miss finding secrets in the hub like you could do in previous games this does make sense when you consider the shift in focus Mario Galaxy has. See, Super Mario Galaxy marks a shift in the 3D Mario games away from the open exploration of Super Mario 64 towards a more linear structure with a heavier emphasis on platforming obstacle course like level design as seen in Mario's 2D adventure. Now I would argue this trend started in Sunshine but it didn't become obvious until Galaxy, and Sunshine did still have open level designs. While Galaxy does still have some open levels that require you to look around a little bit but for the most part this is a pretty linear affair. Now this isn't a bad thing but those that enjoy the more open exploration of the previous games will likely be disappointed with the more linear gameplay seen here.

Not that there's much to hate about the gameplay, because Super Mario Galaxy's level design and overall gameplay is quite excellent. And it's all down to it's central gameplay gimmick, gravity. Super Mario Galaxy's main level design idea centres around mini planetoids that each have their own gravitational pull. This allows Mario to run all around them, including the underside, to progress through each level. Like in Sunshine the different star missions change the level design but here the changes are far more drastic. Each star mission almost feels like a unique level in and of itself because you will visit areas you couldn't get to in other missions.

The main goal in each mission is to make it to the Power Star, mostly by traveling through a series of platforming challenges. Since Super Mario Galaxy is made up of smaller planetoids you'll traverse each level through the use of Launch Stars to blast Mario to his next destination or Pull Stars that pull Mario towards them, usually when it comes to the Pull Stars they're in a line you have to pull Mario through often with obstacles that need to be avoided.

But just because Galaxy is more linear doesn't mean it doesn't have any exploration at all. Some areas will have secret areas that can contain additional goodies like extra lifes or they might contain an optional path that leads to secret Power Stars. There are two types of collectibles that Mario can pick up throughout each level. Coins return and do what they did in previous games, heal Mario when he collects one, but now they give an extra life when you collect 50 of them. The other collectible is far more prominent however, the Star Bits. These are little bits of stardust and they also give an extra life when 50 are collected but they also posses a more practical use. Occasionally you will find a hungry Luma that can be fed a certain number of Star Bits to unlock additional levels or areas within levels. I wouldn't worry about not having enough because Star Bits are absolutely everywhere and you will have more than enough if you are diligent in picking them up. You can also shoot Star Bits at enemies to stun them but I almost never did that. I hoarded my Star Bits like a dragon hoards his gold.

But I think it's time I talk about the controls because this is the part I was most curious about when it comes to the 3D All-Stars version. But first let's go over the general movement control. Mario has seen a decrease in overall control since Sunshine. He still feels responsive but his control isn't as free form as it was before. It's a bit more rigid and heavy similar to how it was in 64 but just slightly better. While it is a shame the controls aren't as good as Sunshine I do understand that the more rigid control was likely done due to the gravity design the game went with. I would imagine having free form control likely would cause issues when trying to move upside down. That being said I did come into some issues with control when it came to the gravity, moving upside down was confusing at times and there were even instances of Mario spinning in place for no reason. These issue are a rarity but I still thought I should bring it up.

Luckily Mario's move set remains intact. All the moves he had in Mario 64 return including the back flip and the long jump which is great to see back. Unfortunately he can no longer do the spin jump he had in Sunshine but he does have a spin that can be used as an attack, he can also use it in the air as a sort of pseudo double jump. I really like the spin, it's a great tool for saving yourself from a missed jump and it's a way better attack than the punches and kicks from 64. but it's here where I need to talk motion controls.

The Wii was known as the console that popularised motion controls and a lot of games took advantage of that. Mario Galaxy did just that but it was more subdued than most. It mostly used the pointer function to pick up and shoot Star Bits and use the Pull Stars but it also had you shake the Wii Remote controller to do a spin attack. There were also levels that had Mario riding on a ball or on a manta ray that required you to tilt the controller to steer them.

3D All-Stars does a good job of working these motion controls into the Switch version. The gyro controls in both the Joy Cons and the Switch Pro Controller to control the pointer as well as the tilt function for those motion controlled levels and the spin attack is now mapped to a button though shaking the controller is an option if you want a closer experience to the original. I played the game with a Pro Controller and while it wasn't as intuitive as the original I still found it worked rather well. It helps that there is a button than can re-centre the pointer at any time which helps make things more comfortable. When playing in handheld mode most of the pointer functionality is done with the touchscreen and it works remarkably well. So well in fact that it became my preferred way of playing the game. Even the tilt controls worked well when in handheld mode and I didn't have too many issues with them. While I wouldn't say the motion controls were done perfectly, the tilt controls can be finicky when using a Pro Controller, they did a good job of translating them over to the Switch.

But there is one thing I have to ask, why were the pointer controls not mapped to the right analogue stick? Wouldn't that have made them more comfortable. Sure the camera is mapped to that but you could have just used the D-Pad for that like in the original. I didn't mind the controls as they were, they clearly were emphasising the Joy Cons here, but some other control options would have been nice.

Since I've already brought it up I should probably go over the camera. The camera has reverted to choosing between different angles like in 64 and you don't have as much control of it as you once did. Though this was likely due to the gravity mechanic and the lack of a second analogue stick on the Wii Remote. The thing is it actually works really well here, better than the previous two games we've we looked at. I had no real issue with seeing where I was going and while the camera can get messed up when shifting between planets it never gets so bad that it causes unfair deaths.

Super Mario Galaxy has 120 Power Stars to collect though like Mario 64 you only need a certain amount of them to get to the final boss. Like with Mario 64 though you need to defeat the bosses of each dome to unlock other areas of the Observatory. When it comes to bosses Super Mario Galaxy has quite a number of them. Every level has at least one boss and while a few of them are re-used the majority of them are unique. The Bowser battles are the best we've seen in a 3D game so far and take advantage of the gravity mechanic very well. Every dome has roughly 5 levels in each, one of which is a boss level.

But back to the levels. You could put the levels in one of two categories, main levels and bonus levels. Bonus levels are shorter levels that have only one Power Star. Main levels have at least 6 Power Stars. You only need 60 Power Stars to reach the end so you once again have a ton of wiggle room in which Stars you go for.

Variety is pretty good in Super Mario Galaxy. Every level is different and it throws a lot of new ideas at you every step of the way. One moment your traveling through space junk the next your infiltrating an enemy dreadnought and blowing it up from the inside. You'll jump around on cakes, traverse a galaxy made up of toys, race a giant Boo through a maze of Pull Stars, chase a bunch of bunny rabbits through a garden, variety is strong here and no idea is reused that often. This can be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at things. On the one hand the game is constantly shaking things up so the experience feels fresh throughout, on the other hand it can feel like these ideas aren't as fleshed out as they could have been. A part of me does think that some of these ideas are a little under cooked. Perhaps they could have used them a few more times to flesh them out more. Then again if you don't like the idea at least you won't see it for very long so it's just a matter of perspective I guess.

One way the game adds variety is through power-ups. Mario is known for his power-ups and this game is no exception. Bee Mario gives him the ability to fly, allows him to walk on honey combs and makes him light enough to walk on clouds and flowers but at the cost of his more acrobatic abilities, you lose this form if you touch water or take a hit. Boo Mario turns him into one of his ghostly adversaries and allows him to float and turn intangible for a short time, he will revert to normal if you touch a beam of light. Spring Mario turns Mario into a spring to jump to higher places, this one I don't like that much since it makes the control worse. Fire Mario returns from Mario's 2D games and it swaps out the spin attack for the ability to shoot fire balls. For some reason this is timed and will run out after a few seconds so it's used more for puzzle solving. The same is true for Ice Mario which basically turns Mario into Ice Man and let's him walk on water. The final power up is the Rainbow Star which makes Mario invincible for a short time. Overall it's a decent selection and while some are better than others I do like the variety they bring to the table.

There is some repetition in the game however. Remember how I mentioned that main levels had six Power Stars? Well three of those are the main missions of the level and the fourth is a secret star. So what about the other two? This is where Prankster Comets come into play. These will have you replay levels but under different conditions, red comets have you do a speed run, blue comets have you race a cosmic Mario clone, white stars give you one hit point to finish the level and yellow comets speed up the enemies. These show up at random which is really annoying because they can show up in a level you want to play and you have no choice but to complete the comets challenge if it appears. Fortunately there is a Luma that can change comet positions for just a few Star Bits if that happens.

My only real issue with these challenges is a problem I have with Mario Galaxy overall, it's a bit too easy. While some challenges and levels were trickier to get through than the others I never found any of them to be that difficult. Most are fairly easy and I can only think of a few I struggled with and even those weren't too tough. I also never got a game over because the game showers you with lives at every turn. The bosses were most effected by this. While a lot of them can be fun they can also be an absolute pushover, I beat some of these guys in seconds. Even if you do have trouble on certain sections the game gives you so many live that you will likely never see the Game Over screen. Now I don't mind a game being easy so long as the level design is strong and the gameplay is interesting which Mario Galaxy thankfully delivers on. Those looking for a strong challenge will be disappointed in Mario Galaxy but everyone else should find something to like.

There is one last challenge to talk about. After you beat the game purple Prankster Comets will appear. These will create the 100 Purple Coin challenge in that level. These are like if the 100 coin challenges and the Red Coin challenges did the fusion dance. Luckily it isn't as bad as it sounds. These only drop you into a small part of a level so there's no need to scour the entire map to look for them and there's even some variety in how they are structured. That being said I'm still not a fan of these for two reasons. Some of these can take a little too long to complete for my liking, some took me at least a half an hour to do, and they come across as filler since you only gain access to them after you beat the game.

That being said you do unlock something cool when you collect every Power Star. You get a second campaign where you play as Luigi. Luigi also shows up I the main campaign and can help you find some secret Power Stars as well, it's nice to see him finally get some attention. Being able to play as green Mario is a great reward for getting 100% completion. Luigi even plays a little differently than Mario as he has a higher jump but weaker traction like he did in Super Mario The Lost Levels. There's even a bonus final stage if you beat Luigi's campaign to 100% but I was unable to do so because of time constraints. Luigi is essentially the hard mode of this game so he may had an extra layer of challenge if you find the base game too easy.

And that is Super Mario Galaxy. So does it still hold up all these year later. Heck yes it does. Super Mario Galaxy is considered one of the best games of all time for a reason. The level design is creative, it's gameplay is solid, it's soundtrack is godlike and it offers a ton of content but doesn't overstay it's welcome. That being said it is not flawless. The game is too easy and the final few Power Stars feel like padding, but these are just minor complaints in a game that is truly excellent. I could easily say that Mario Galaxy is the best game in this collection but I have to admit that Mario 64 does have it's own appeal with it's open ended level design. Some might find that game more enjoyable as a result. But I do think that both Galaxy and 64 are better than Sunshine and even that game does things better such as the control and world design. All three games in 3D All Stars is great in it's own way so I can't say which one is objectively the best as personal preference definitely plays a part in this.

But this leads me to a question I asked at the beginning of this thing, is 3D All-Stars worth picking up? Well if we're only looking at the games then the answer is yes. What you're getting here are three excellent games that have been remastered rather well. While I would have liked to see some additional gameplay improvements, especially in regards to 64 and Sunshine, I don't think they did a bad job when it comes to remastering them. They all run and sound great in both handheld and docked mode, heck I would argue the fact that these games are now portable should be a selling point in and of itself.

But then we get to the extras and this is where the problems start. The only extras you get are the complete soundtracks for all three games, not a bad thing to have considering that all three soundtracks are excellent but that's all you're getting when it comes to extra's. Combine that with the fact that all three games are running on emulation and it can be easy to see this collection as lazy and not worthy of it's £54.99 price point. I think it is though. Not only are all three games excellent but you also get a ton of content out of all of them. That being said it probably should have been cheaper, maybe around the £40 range, but I still think you're getting a fair amount of content for the price.

The only Umbridge I have with the collection is the limited release. Why do that? I get they're going for the whole Disney Vault thing but it just seems like they're leaving money on the table. So if you want to get 3D All-Stars I say it's worth getting but get it now before it goes away forever.

And with that we bring this little review series to an end. It was a lot of fun going back through these games again despite the frustrations I got with Sunshine. Mario has had a hell of a time in the last 35 years hasn't he. He's cleaned up a tropical island, been through outer space, fought an evil mirror image of himself, teamed up with Bowser to defeat a weird talking bean man, raced with Pac-Man, battled his biggest rival at the Olympic games and even worked as a pinball. I don't know what's in Mario's future but whatever it is I know it'll be a good time. Happy 35th Anniversary Mario, here's to another 35 years of platforming excellence. Until next time, remember to stay safe and have fun.