Super Mario Galaxy

From Nintendo

Super Mario Galaxy
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	November 1, 2007 November 12, 2007 November 14, 2007 November 16, 2007 November 29, 2007
Genre(s)	Platformer
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone
Platform(s)	Wii
Media	Wii Optical Disc
Preceded by	Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Galaxy is a Wii video game initially released on November 1st of 2007 during the holiday rush. The platform video game will have the player flicking the Wii Remote under special launchers, subsequently sending Mario soaring through space. Critically it is the most exalted video game released on the console according to game aggregator Game Rankings, and the second leading title of all time on any console, falling directly behind Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64. Commercially the game did monumentally well, soaring to the top of the charts during many months and selling millions of copies.

The developer of the game was Nintendo EAD Tokyo, the creators of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat on the GameCube. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto is credited for the game's concept, which he claims he came up with before the Cube was even released.

The main goal of the game is to congregate all of the Grand Stars, of which there aren't many, in order to save the princess who as of late has been kidnapped by Bowser. However, beyond the initial goal are 120 stars. In order to complete the game, the player will have to collect at least 60 of these luminous entities. A further objective is to collect every last one of them, which will coerce the dexterity of the player to emerge.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Characters 1.1.1 Bosses 2 Gameplay 2.1 Gravity and Planets 3 Forms 4 Items 4.1 Prankster Comets 4.2 Mini-game stages 4.3 Co-Star Mode 5 Galaxies 6 List of stars 7 Development 7.1 Early Stages 7.2 Spheres 7.3 Character Inclusion 8 Release 9 Reception 9.1 Sales 10 Legacy 11 Trivia 12 External links 13 References

[edit] Plot

In typical Mario style, Princess Peach is kidnapped by the ill-boding Bowser, who roots the princess' castle directly from the ground and sends it into space. Mario, who was casually enjoying a festival near Peach's castle, struggles to save her, though falls short after being attacked by a Magikoopa, who blows the plumber away while in the orbit of their planet.

Mario strikes onto a nearby moon, where he is greeted by an odd looking star named a Luma. After following through the Luma's requirement, which involved chasing bunnies, the Luma brought Mario to a woman named Rosalina, whose ship, known as the Observatory, had stopped working. The source of this outcry is the same as Peach's kidnapping - Bowser had stolen the Grand Stars that power the ship and kept them as his own. Mario agrees to retrieve the stolen objects, and in turn Rosalina would send Mario to save his beloved Toadstool.

After fighting his way through hoards of enemies, Mario fights his way through the final castle and comes face to face with Bowser himself. After the battle is finished and Mario inevitably wins as always, everyone excluding Rosalina is sent back to their planet, where they partake in a special event, Bowser included (who was too tired to fight any longer). The game ends with the various different "galaxies" that Mario travelled to being pulled in the planet's orbit, with Mario welcoming them and presumably their citizens.

[edit] Characters

The primary characters in the game consists mainly of Mario, Bowser, Princess Peach and Rosalina. Luigi, Mario's brother, is an unlockable character and basically takes Mario's role when the player chooses to switch. He and Mario are the only playable characters, though a cast of others will assist them such as the friendly bees, the Luma, Guppy, and the Manta Rays who'll give Mario a lift. Most of the characters are new to the series, though to keep in tradition with the franchise many other characters and species from previous games make an appearance as well, such as Bowser Jr. and the aforementioned ones.

[edit] Bosses

Among the characters are the game's multiple bosses. Only two characters have a major role in the story, those two being Bowser and Bowser Jr. The others are just collateral to the story and don't serve a prominent role other than super large bad guy. One strange character is arguably a boss - the cosmic versions of Mario and Luigi (depending on which character the player is playing as). They're similar to the Koopa the Quick portions of Super Mario 64, in that you'll have to race him to the finish in order to complete the goal. The other bosses in the game are:

• King Kaliente - An antagonistic and large octopus like creature engulfed in flames.
• Tarantox - A spider who can be if Mario uses the sling pods to his advantage.
• Dino Piranha - Probably influenced by Petey Piranha from Super Mario Sunshine, this boss has a comparable head and rampages on his tiny planet.
• Bugaboom - Found on the Honey Hive Galaxy, this insect creature is found crawling around a tree and must be ground pounded.
• Kamella - A Magikoopa who can be compared to Kamek and Kammy.
• Bouldergeist - A spectral boss who's corrupted a pile of rocks.
• Baron Brrr - An ice king who resides at the top of an icy mountain.
• Topmaniac - A large top with spiky sides.
• Major Burrows - A colossal mole who can be found on the Gusty Garden Galaxy.
• Kingfin - A secret boss and arguably one of the more challenging ones.
• Megaleg - A large robot and the most sizable creature in the game.

[edit] Gameplay

In the beginning of the game, Mario will find himself enjoying a nice festival. Here the player will be able to learn the basics of the game, such as jumping and moving. Moving is done with the joystick on the nunchuk attachment. The harder you press on it, the faster the character will move. Jumping can be done with the A button, and a long jump can be executed with a combination of the A and Z buttons. After being sent to a moon, Mario will learn how to spin, a crucial attack in the game.

Spinning will not only defeat many of the enemies, though it's also needed in order to send Mario through space. To do so, the player will have to position Mario under a star launcher and flick the Wii Remote. Doing so will cause him to quickly shoot through the star and be sent to a nearby planetoid. Planetoids are literally small objects floating in space - you'll rarely ever be able to travel on large bodies. This makes the game interesting and fast. On some occasions, however, the stages will be larger than usual, some even being reminiscent of Super Mario 64 in terms of size.

Pointing is also needed in order to progress through the title. To do this, just simply point to where you want the cursor to be placed, and then usually press the A button. This is needed in order to do quite a few things, such as collecting star bits, pulling Mario if he's been placed on a a sling pod, and so forth.

[edit] Gravity and Planets

The multiple different planets in the game each have varying degrees of gravity that'll somewhat affect the gameplay. For example, if Mario is stationed on one small planetoid with a similarly shaped one placed near it in mid space, Mario can long jump to the other one, orbit around it a few times and will then land willy-nilly on it. Sometimes while orbiting around the planetoid, the gravity of the other planet will pull him back and he'll transition from planet to planet.

Despite the gravity being very low, Mario will not be sent into space simply by jumping. This is due for gameplay purposes, as it would heavily distract the player and inescapably would end the entire game if the protagonist was unable to return back to the surface of a planet. Rather, the gravity will only come into play during the right moments, such as when long jumping off of a building and then having Mario soar to the other side of the planet that the building was at.

Each of the game's spheres can be completely traversed from top to bottom unless a miniature black hole is stationed in the middle of it. This indicates that if the player were to go over the edge, they'd be sucked in, thus resulting in a lost life. This is basically the game's equivalent to a bottomless pit that is present in most video games of this genre.

In all there are multiple galaxies in the game. These galaxies are hosts to an abundant amount of stars. Galaxies vary heavily, though basically there is either one primary planet and a plentiful amount of other smaller planets surrounding it, or just an ample amount of small planetoids without one immense one. The following are galaxies that feature one "main" planet:

Sub-galaxies with a "main" planet
P=If there are more than one planets, then under "P" we'll add YES; if not, then we'll add NO.
Galaxy	P	Galaxy	P	Galaxy	P
Loopdeeloop Galaxy	No	Flipswitch Galaxy	Yes	Sweet Sweet Galaxy	No
Rolling Green Galaxy	No	Hurry Scurry Galaxy	Yes	Buoy Base Galaxy	No
Drip Drop Galaxy	No	Bigmouth Galaxy	No	Bonefin Galaxy	No
Snow Cap Galaxy	Yes	Loopdeeswoop Galaxy	No	Grand Finale Galaxy	No

[edit] Forms

Forms never played as big as a role in the 3D titles as it did in the 2D ones. Super Mario 64 had its Metal, Flying and Invisible cap, while Sunshine had its various nozzle upgrades, though none of the games went to such an extent as Super Mario Bros. 3 did until Galaxy was released.

The first suit that Mario will don is the Bee Suit. It will give Mario an extended amount of aerial time and will send him farther than a normal jump would. Certain flowers suspended in mid air would normally vanish into thin air, though the Bee Suit evidently makes the character lighter, thus giving him access to these flowers. Honey Combs and even the Queen Bee's fur can also be tracked when the Bee Suit is being worn. This costume will disappear if Mario either falls into a body of water or is attacked by an enemy.

The Boo Suit allows Mario for the first time transform into his revered ghastly opponent who first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 as Boo-Diddly. Mario will be clothed in this attire after he acquires a white, fanged mushroom, true to the spirit of a Boo. While Boo Mario, you'll be able to levitate and pass through special walls. On the contrary side of the coin, however, other Boos in the area will gravitate towards Mario, and if they happen to come in contact he'll take damage, thus losing the suit. He'll also lose the suit if he goes under a source of light.

Galaxy is the first 3D title in which the Fire Flower has been included as a power up. As Fire Mario, you'll be able to spew fireballs from your hand for a short time Solving puzzles and dispatching of enemies are the positives of this power up, though you'll only have it for at least 15 seconds. While the Rainbow Mushroom is new to the series, it performs a similar action that the Starman did in previous 2D titles - make the player invincible and allow him to plow through enemies. However, like the Fire Flower, this power up won't last long for obvious reasons and will eventually vanish after a short period of time.

The Ice Flower will cause Mario to be completely encased in ice, having a similar appearance to Metal Mario from Super Mario 64, though with the ice replacing the metal. As Ice Mario, Mario will be able to traverse potentially dangerous water and wall jump up water falls, causing solid pieces of ground and solid walls as he walks or jumps on them, respectfully. He'll only have this power up for a short period of time however.

The Spring Suit resembles a twisted metal mushroom before Mario takes it as his own. When he does, a spring will surround Mario, greatly reducing his maneuverability though allowing him to jump higher than normal via special button presses. This power up will last forever unless the player is attacked by an enemy, in which it'll vanish, requiring Mario to go back and find another if needed (interestingly, however, on many occasions when you're supposed to use the Spring Suit, Mario can manage to get to the desired locations by doing special combos without it. Take, for instance, the very first time you find it).

Finally is the power up that'll allow Mario to fly. This power up, which is basically a red star, won't be used very much. After picking it up Mario's clothes will become red and black and he'll then be able to fly. The only places in which you'll be be able to do this are the Gateway Galaxy and the Comet Observatory.

[edit] Items

Excluding the suits above, there are a multitude of items that will aid you on your quest, though will not transform him or give him any greater powers. Many of these items are related to stars in one way or another.

Star bits are the most common item you'll find in the game, and they're found literally everywhere. Besting enemies, breaking crystals, and just finding them out in the open. Star bits can be shot at enemies to stun them, tossed into the mouths of hungry Luma in order to open up new galaxies, and so forth. Finding fifty of them will result in an extra life.

Star chips come in clusters of five, and finding every single one will usually reveal a star launcher or star slinger. Power stars are the items that Mario is required to find, and in all there are 120 of them. You don't have to collect every single one in order to complete the game, though doing so will reap rewards. Silver stars are similar to star chips, in that you have to find five of them. The main difference is that once you find all five of them, a power star will appear rather than a star launcher.

Koopa Troopa shells are also present and are more useful than ever before, especially when in bodies of water. While in the water, the Koopa shell will allow the character to go faster and be more fluid. When ready, they can launch the shell at an enemy, usually destroying them.

[edit] Prankster Comets

Prankster Comets are basically extremely hard missions that out due every other mission by quite a lot in terms of challenge. When completed they'll always reward the player with a star, though some tend to avoid them because of their difficulty. Before entering a galaxy you'll see if a prankster comet is revolving around it, and the color of it determines what type it is. In all there are five different colors of comets. These comets will only appear after completing the final Bowser stage.

The types of comets include:

• Cosmic Race Comet: Race against a doppleganger of Mario in stages either already created or made specifically for the race. The Luigi race will have the character racing against a blue version of him, and will be considerably harder.
• Daredevil Comet: The daredevil comets will require the player to complete a mission without being attacked or hitting an obstacle. These are commonly against bosses.
• Speed Comet: The speed comets will require the player to finish a stage in a set amount of time.
• Fast Foe Comet: These will double the speed of the enemies. These types of stages usually consists of Thwomps, thus implying why they can be so challenging.
• Purple Coin Comet: In these missions you'll have to find a total of 100 purple coins. These are the most common comets. Some are timed and others aren't.

[edit] Mini-game stages

Uttering that these particular stages are mini-games can be debated, though it's certain that they drift away from the main gameplay of Galaxy and offers new interesting gameplay mechanics.

If you play through these mini games in their respective order, then you'll encounter the Manta Ray Surfing mini game first. Here you'll have to point the Wii Remote towards the screen and tilt it left and right in order to turn the speeding Manta Ray in that direction. There are not fences to keep the player inside the tight spaces, and thus falling off will commonly happen, requiring the player to start over. Pressing the A button will cause the manta ray to accelerate. Depending on who the player is, these stages may be the hardest or easiest missions in the game.

The second is a rollin ball game that can be compared to the Monkey Ball series by Sega. However, controlling the ball is completely different from how you controlled it in the Wii installment, known as Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. In this game you'll hold the Wii Remote upwards, and tilt it slightly down in any direction to accordingly make Mario go that way. The farther you tilt, the faster Mario will go. Press the A button to jump.

The final mini game missions are the ones in which you point towards the screen and use a sort of fan to blow Mario in a bubble over a poison swamp or electrified field (depending on which one you've chosen, the latter ultimately being the most challenging and the one found later on in the game). Move the cursor around the bubble and press the A button to blow the fan, thus moving Mario in the direction the fan is pointing in.

[edit] Co-Star Mode

Co-Star Mode is a feature in the game that was created by the developers in order to please non-gamers or beginners; either by letting them just be involved rather than attempting to actually complete the stages, or by providing a 'helper' for them, as the second player may collect Star Bits and freeze enemies - the P2 pointer may also be used as a directional aid when in the hands of an experienced player. Essentially the primary player, or player number one, uses a Wii remote and Nunchuk, while player number 2 will use just a standard Wii remote to collect Star Bits and stun enemies as well as assist/mess with the main player. If both players press 'jump' simultaneously a 'special', higher-than-usual jump is activated.

[edit] Galaxies

Super Mario Galaxy features a multitude of areas that can all be found within 10 areas of the game's observatory. The following will take a look at these ten areas and of course will give an overview of each world within the galaxies.

The first area is the gateway, and isn't exactly considered a paramount area. There are only two sub worlds in this place, neither of which are as fantastic as those in the later stages. Galaxies found here include the Gateway Galaxy and Gateway's Purple Coins.

The Terrace is the first main area in the game, and includes six galaxies - The Good Egg Galaxy, a simple area with plenty of hazards. The Honeyhive Galaxy is a bee infested area that introduces the Bee Suit and the Queen Bee. In the Loopdeeloop Galaxy, you'll have to race to the finish on a manta ray. You'll have to transform all of the blue switches into yellow ones on the Flipswitch Galaxy. The Sweet Sweet Galaxy is a stage for pure-platforming fans. Finally, Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor is the first main boss fight. Here, you'll go against Bowser Jr.'s Megaleg robot.

After you defeat Megaleg, you'll be given access to the second main area - the Fountain. The Space Junk Galaxy is a futuristic area with plenty of surprises (including a cameo appearance of Yoshi). The Battlerock Galaxy is an interesting area that centers around a large boulder flying through space. The Rolling Green Galaxy includes a mission where you roll around on a ball to get to the end. In the Hurry Scurry Galaxy, you'll jump across vanishing platforms to get to the star. In the Sling-Pod Galaxy, you'll jump from sling pods and pull stars. Bowser's Star Reactor includes the first fight with Bowser, though beforehand will require you to go through an obstacle infested area.

The kitchen is the third main area, and can be found after finding Bowser's grand star. The Beach Bowl Galaxy is an area that has contradicting themes - water and sky. The Ghostly Galaxy introduces Luigi in the game, and typically Mario will have to rescue his green-clad brother. The Drip Drop Galaxy is large area that consists of water. The Buoy Base Galaxy is another water area, though also features a large pillar in the center that you're allowed to climb. In the Bubble Breeze Galaxy, Mario will enter a bubble, and you'll then have you use the Wii remote to blow him around the stage. In Bowser Jr.'s Airship Armada you'll travel onto multiple airships until you clash with Bowser Jr. once again.

The Bedroom is the fourth area in the game. Here you'll find the Gusty Garden Galaxy, an area that includes tons of grassy planets and an amazing composition. The FreezeFlame Galaxy includes areas that are ice and fire based. The Dusty Dunes Galaxy is, as its name implies, a desert area. The HoneyClimb Galaxy will have you once again wearing the Bee Suit where you must climb the honeycombs. Big Mouth's Galaxy is an area in which you go through a planet that is carved to look like a fish. In Bowser's Dark Matter Plant, you'll once again fight the behemoth known as Bowser.

The Engine Room is found near the top of the Observatory, and can be found after beating Bowser. The Gold Leaf Galaxy is essentially just a mirror of the Honeyhive Galaxy, with some major additions as well as a fall theme to it. The Sea Slide Galaxy will require you to race in the water using the red shells you find and travel the area in search of Silver Stars. The Toy Time Galaxy introduces Spring Mario, and will take place on toy-inspired planetoids. The Bonefin Galaxy is a water area that is home to the boss known as Bonefin. The Sand Spiral Galaxy takes place on a large barrel and features plenty of enemies. Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor includes the final Bowser Jr. stage where you'll fight an enhanced version of King Kaliente.

The final main area is the Garden. The Deep Dark Galaxy includes multiple different themes, and rarely does it seem dark as its name suggests. The Dreadnought Galaxy takes place on a large structure that resembles a caslte of some sort in space. The Melty Molten Galaxy is an area that consists mainly of lava. The Matter Splatter level is an often time confusing area where you must go across disappearing and reappearing platforms at just the right moment. The Snow Cap Galaxy is covered in snow that also has an Aurora over it.

After collecting 60 stars, you'll be given access to Bowser's Reactor, which includes the climatic boss fight with the antagonist of the game - Bowser. After doing so, you can go back through all of the levels you've missed and also find new ones including the Loopdeeswoop, Bubble Blast and Rolling Gizmo Galaxy. Once you've found all 120 stars, you'll be able to go to Toad Town once more to collect 100 purple coins in the level known as the Grand Finale Galaxy.

[edit] List of stars

Star name		Star name
Gateway Galaxy		Boo's Boneyard
Grand Star Rescue	Gateway's Purple Coins	Racing the Spooky Speedster
Good Egg Galaxy		Honeyhive Galaxy
Dino Piranha	A Snack of Cosmic Proportions	Bee Mario Takes Flight	Trouble on the Tower
King Kaliente's Battle	Purple Coin Omelet	Big Bad Bugadoom	Honeyhive Cosmic Mario Race
Dino Piranha Speed	Luigi on the Roof	Luigi in the Honeyhive	Honeyhive's Purple Coins
Loopdeeloop Galaxy		Flip Switch Galaxy
Surfing 101		Painting the Planet Yellow
Sweet Sweet Galaxy		Bowser Jr's Robot Reactor
Rocky Road		Megaleg's Moon
Space Junk Galaxy		Battlerock Galaxy
Pull Star Path	Airship Attack	Battlerock Barrage	Breaking into Battlerock
Tarantox's Tangled Web	Pull Star Path Speed Run	Topmanic and the Topman Tribe	Battlerock's Garbage Dump
Yoshi's Unexpected Appearance	Purple Coin Spacewalk	Topmaniac's Daredevil Run	Luigi under the Saucer
Rolling Green Galaxy		Purple Coins on Battlerock
Rolling in the Clouds		Hurry-Scurry Galaxy
Sling Pod Galaxy		Shrinking Satellite
A Very Sticky Situation		Bowser's Star Reactor
Beach Bowl Galaxy		The Fiery Stronghold
Sunken Treasure	Passing the Swim Test	Ghostly Galaxy
Secret Undersea Cavern	Wall Jumping up Waterfalls	Luigi & the Haunted Mansion	A Very Spooky Spirit
Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone	Beachcombing for Purple Coins	Beware of Bouldergeist	Matter of Splatter Mansion
Drip Drop Galaxy		Bouldergeist's Daredevil Run	Purple Coins in the Bone Pen
Giant Eel Outbreak		Buoy Base Galaxy
Bubble Breeze Galaxy		Floating Fortress	Secret Buoy Base
Through the Poison Swamp		Bowser Jr's Airship Armada
Gusty Garden Galaxy		Sinking the Airships
Bunnies in the Wind	Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows	FreezeFlame Galaxy
Gusty Garden's Gravity Scramble	Major Burrow's Daredevil Run	Freezy Peak of Burrow Brr	Conquering the Summit
The Golden Chomp	Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube	Freezeflame's Blistering Core	Hot & Cold Collide
Dusty Dune Galaxy		Frosty Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race	Purple Coins on the Summit
Soaring the Desert Winds	Blasting through the Sand	Honeyclimb Galaxy
Treasure of the Pyramid	Sunbaked Sand Castle	Scaling the Sticky Wall
Bullet Bill on Your Back	Sand Blast Speed Run	Bigmouth Galaxy
Purple Coins in the Desert		Bigmouth's Gold Bait
Bowser's Dark Matter Reactor		Gold Leaf Galaxy
Darkness on the Horizon		Star Bunnies on the Hunt	Cataquack to the Skies
Sea Slide Galaxy		When it Rains, it Pours	The Ball on the Big Tree
Going After Guppy	Faster than a Speeding Penguin	Cosmic Mario/Luigi Forest Race	Purple Coins in the Woods
Silver Stars of Sea Slide	Hurry, He's Hungry	Toy Time Galaxy
Underwater Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race	Purple Coins by the Seaside	Heavy-Metal Mecha Bowser	Mario Meets Mario
Bonefin Galaxy		Bouncing Down Cake Lake	Flipswitch Chain
Kingfin's Fearsome Waters		Fast Foes of Toy Time	Luigi's Purple Coins
Sand Spiral Galaxy		Bowser Jr's Lava Reactor
Choosing a Favorite Snack		King Kaliente's Spicy Return
Deep Dark Galaxy		Dreadnought Galaxy
Underground Ghost Ship	Bubble Blastoff	Infiltrating the Dreadnought	Dreadnought's Colossal Cannons
Guppy and the Underground Lake	Boo in a Box	Revenge of the Topman Tribe	Dreadnought's Garbage Dump
Ghost Daredevil Run	Plunder the Purple Coins	Topman Tribe Speed Run	Battlestation's Purple Coins
Melty Molten Galaxy		Matter Splatter Galaxy
Sinking Lava Spire	Through Meteor Storm	Watch Your Step
Fiery Dino Piranha	Burning Tide	SnowCap Galaxy
Lava Spire Daredevil Run	Red Hot Purple Coins	Star Bunnies in the Snow
Loopdeswoop Galaxy		Bubble Blast Galaxy
The Galaxy's Greatest Wave		The Electric Labyrinth
Rolling Gizmo Galaxy		Bowser's Star Reactor
Gizmos, Gears, and Gadgets		The Fate of the Universe
Grand Finale Galaxy (120 stars and as Luigi)
The Star Festival

[edit] Development

Super Mario 128 was shown as a tech demo when the GameCube (then known as the Dolphin) was first revealed. It was set to the side when Super Mario Sunshine was released, though certain attributes such as the hundreds of characters moving on the screen at once were included in the hit GameCube title Pikmin [1]. After this release, many people started to speculate whether or not Shigeru Miyamoto would create another Mario platformer for the GameCube, and follow up with Super Mario 128. At every E3 that followed, Nintendo confirmed that they would release Super Mario 128, but never followed through. At E3 2005, many people expected to see it, and were disappointed when it didn't show up. The only thing that was said at E3 was that Shigeru Miyamoto is making the game, but wasn't ready to show it (Reggie Fils-Aime).

After E3 2005, Nintendo stated that Super Mario 128 was moved to Wii (then known as the Revolution). By E3 2006, Nintendo revealed Super Mario 128 as Super Mario Galaxy. Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that he wanted to focus more on a next-generation Mario, and because of the Wii's immense innovation, the console was a perfect fit for what he was gearing towards.

[edit] Early Stages

After the development team finished their first project Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat for the GameCube, the designers started debating on what they should create next. The producer of the game suggested that the team create an original game, though Miyamoto then stated that he'd hoped that they create another game based off of a popular video game character. The director said that because the company had just opened, he wanted to direct something on a small scale, though Miyamoto asked if he wanted to create something much bigger, and after talking with the team, a member of the company said that he wanted to create the next Mario game, which was the starting point for Galaxy.

Before development on the title really started to boom, the director set aside a few staff-members to create a prototype of the game. The prototpye included spheres (for more on the development on the spheres, see below) and, being featured in space, included gravity that would work with these spherical objects. They apparently created this prototype in order for the rest of the staff members to understand what exactly they were talking about, and what their goal was.

[edit] Spheres

One of the main aspects of the game are the spherical planetoids that Mario will traverse around throughout the entire game. The idea of this was, in a sence, shown originally in the Mario 128 tech demo, though was set on the shelves for the future. The future seemed bleak for this idea to be included in any games, as Miyamoto stated that development teams didn't exactly grasp onto this idea as he had hoped. He stated that he wished to include the idea into Doshin the Giant, a sleeper title, though by the time he requested it, the game was nearing its completion, and thus could not be added into the game.

When Miyamoto proposed the idea for Galaxy, the EAD Tokyo team were frightened of creating such a title because of the technical effort that would be required for the title. They also, like previous teams, didn't quite understand how this could be implemented into a video game, namely a Mario video game which never seems to have such dramatic changes in such a tried and true concept. Nevertheless, they agreed to do it, and thus one of Galaxy's main concepts was created.

[edit] Character Inclusion

As mentioned throughout the page, both Mario and Luigi are playable characters. To get Luigi, one must first find all 120 stars, then once again beat the last Bowser stage. According to the director, many people on the team argued that it was too challenging to get Luigi, and had hoped that the player would have to perform another task to do so. Mr. Koizumi, however, felt that the player should have a reason to get all 120 stars, and have a much larger reward than before.

In a Gamespot.com interview with the director, the topic of Yoshi was brought up, and why they didn't include him as a playable character in some form. He said that at first they were thinking of adding a ridable Yoshi for Mario (or Luigi), though one of the species' most popular ability is being able to hover in the air for a long time, which was already included in the Bee suit, and thus didn't feel it was necessary to include him. Nevertheless, a wooden Yoshi head does appear as a planetoid in the Space Junk Galaxy.

[edit] Release

Months before the game was released, rumors swarmed the internet stating that you'd get a silver pre-order coin that featured Mario and a yellow Luma. It was later revealed that this was true, though would be exclusive for Americans only.

Prior to its release in America, Nintendo had a photo session shocasing Mario and Buzz Aldrin (the second person on the moon) hovering in the air.

At the Nintendo World Store in New York, New York, Nintendo had a launch party celebrating the release of Super Mario Galaxy and included DJ's, velcro walls, bungee runs, trivia sessions, an in-store laser light show, and a photo-op with Mario himself. Also included were 250 Wii units.

A few days after the game was released in America, countries all across Europe got to experience the newest addition to the Mario franchise. Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario and Luigi (among others) left the Americas to celebrate the launch in London, and a classic image was released showing Mario along with a few fellow astronauts recreating the famous "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima".

After Nintendo sold Nintendo Power to Future US., they also quit making strategy guides for their multiple game titles, giving the license to Prima Guides who created two seperate strategy guides with over 300 pages each (the more expensive one featured concept art and a star list, and only had 16 extra pages).

[edit] Reception

Virtually all critics have been overly excited for Super Mario Galaxy, and have rewarded the game with average scores of 9-10. It should also be noted that the big three, which include IGN, Gamespot and 1up all gave the game a 9.5 or higher.

For IGN, the game is the highest scored Mario game excluding their review for Super Mario 64, which earned, rightfully so, a 9.8 [2] (with IGN giving Galaxy a 9.7 [3]). Gamespot, recently being known for having beyond critical reviews, gave the game an outstanding 9.5 [4], compared to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess's 8.8 [5].

Official Nintendo Magazine rated it 97%, the highest they've ever given a game.(Joint with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.)

At one time, Super Mario Galaxy was the best rated game of all time on Gamerankings.com. During this time, Nintendo sent out a press release alerting everyone of this momentous ocassion, only for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to go back to the number one spot a few hours later. Currently the game is number three on the list, with the Playstation 3 version of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV heading in front of it. Ocarina of Time is still the highest rated video game of all time, though had to reclaim its spot after the 360 version of GTA IV was ahead of it. A few reviews that rated below its average caused it to not only go below Ocarina, but below Galaxy and the PS3 version of the title.

Prior to the game's release, Super Mario Galaxy was the cover story for multiple magazines including Nintendo Power, GamePro, Hardcore Gaming Magazine, Revolution and NGamer. Mario and his brother Luigi (among other characters) were also on the cover of an EGM magazine proclaiming that 2007 will be the best year ever.

Super Mario Galaxy won game of the year from multiple resources, including Gamespot, Edge, Nintendo Power, IGN, GameTrailers, and Yahoo! Games. It also recieved the best adventure game of the year by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and Spike TV's game awards show (where it also won Wii game of the year).

[edit] Sales

Oddly, despite the fact that the game had a whopping 700,000 pre-orders in Japan, only about 256,000 copies were sold in Japan during its first week [6]. The game sold many more in the Americas and Europe, and also was the number one seller for video games on Amazon for three straight weeks. In its first week of sale worldwide, it apparently sold 500,000 copies, which is to-date the best first week for any Mario title. Currently it is the fourth best selling Wii video game of all time, with 6.1 million copies sold to date. Surprisingly Mario Kart Wii has surpassed it, as have Wii Play and Wii Sports. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit trail close behind it.

[edit] Legacy

Rosalina appeared as a playable character in Mario Kart Wii, with a Luma accompanying her at all times. The Rainbow Road stage in the same title was based around Super Mario Galaxy. One of the tournaments required the player to knock a total of four Spikey Topmen (regular enemies of Galaxy) off of a Galaxy themed stage.

[edit] Trivia

• The first area featuring Bowser uses the same music as that in Super Mario 64. Additionally, it is formatted similarly to the Bowser battles of that game.
• In multiple areas, creatures resembling Deku Shrubs appear.

[edit] External links

• This page on the Wii Wikia.

[edit] References