Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Review

To the stars and even more beyond!

Console: Nintendo Switch

Longtime readers might remember that Super Mario Galaxy was one of the earliest games I reviewed on this blog. I liked it a lot and went hunting for its sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, not long after finishing it. I managed to snag myself a second-hand copy a few months later, but never actually played it. Why? Because my Nintendo Wii is getting old. I’m worried that using it too much will end it. That the 4K TV I got last year doesn't play too nicely with HDMI adapters doesn't help matters either. 

But good things can come to those who wait. The sequel to the Super Mario Bros. Movie is officially the 'Super Mario Galaxy Movie'. As a lead up to this film, Nintendo finally ported Super Mario Galaxy 2 to the Switch after it was notoriously left out of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection a few years back.  With a small gap in my schedule before Pokémon Legend: Z-A, now is as good a moment as any to play the one 3D Mario game I have yet to experience. 

So, without further ado, let's talk about it! 

The Mushroom Kingdom is once again celebrating the star festival, which, of course, is interrupted by a Bowser attack. Using his newfound giant stature, he picks up Princess Peach and flies off into space. The star-like creatures that were with the princess, the Luma, swoop in to help save the day. They launch Mario into space, where he eventually lands on a planet-sized spaceship piloted by the giant Luma Lubba. Together with Lubba and her crew, Mario sets out to save the princess. 

If the above setup sounds eerily familiar, then you're not mistaken. The plot of Super Mario Galaxy 2 is essentially a retelling of Galaxy 1, with some differences. A giant Bowser instead of a giant UFO, Lubba instead of Rosalina, etc. The storybook presentation is nice, but where Galaxy 1 had a 'hook' with Rosalina and her storybook, Galaxy 2 doesn’t really have such a thing here. Lubba is fine, but she is no Rosalina. She isn't nearly as memorable and lacks the same presence and backstory as Rosalina had. She is not mysterious, and while she has a storybook of her own in this Switch upgrade, said storybook is very short and lacks the 'magic' of the original. 

This approach of 'it's basically the same again but slimmed down' to the narrative stands symbolic for the entirety of the title. As you may already know, Galaxy 2 started out as DLC to Galaxy 1. The development team still had some ideas left for this gravity-defying gameplay they wanted to explore. They ended up having so many that they realized they could fill an entire game with it - and so they did. 

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is, of course, a 3D platformer in which you run and jump across all kinds of terrain and platforms across space while stomping on enemies and collecting stars. What makes the Galaxy games stand out from the crowd is those gravity mechanics. Each ‘large’ object has its own gravitational force, allowing Mario to walk on walls or circumvent a moon. It's a wonderfully implemented mechanic that is surprisingly easy to wrap your head around, which leads to some very creative and fun level design. 

Let’s briefly speak about the levels, the Galaxies themselves, before moving on. Actual level layouts aren’t what I remember from Mario games. What stays with me more is the general style they go for and the type of platforming challenges they offer. I found those same things from Galaxy 1 here, albeit more straightforward. Yes, this is the 2nd time around that Nintendo uses this design philosophy, but you don't feel it at all. They are no less fun or feel repetitive. Perhaps if you play both games back-to-back, you Galaxy 2 might tire you out with its level design but even than I think that would be more an issue of quantity than quality. 

Luigi is also here! This time he is playable in select levels even before you get all initial 121 Power Stars.

Nothing more to say about the levels than I enjoyed them… and that I noticed more than a few callbacks to other Super Mario games. To name just one example, a level is more or less the mountain section from Bob-Omb Battlefield from Super Mario 64 plopped into the Galaxy engine. Unexpected, but enjoyable. It made for a good 1:1 comparison between how these two games played. Galaxy 2 feels so much better to control with smoother and more responsive inputs and quicker running speed. 

Galaxy 2 isn't only the same as its predecessor; it does things differently, too! The biggest new trick here is right on the box: Yoshi. True to form, Mario rides on him, with his tongue and flutter jump giving you some extra tricks. If the returning Fire Flower or new Cloud Flower, which generates a cloud as a temporary platform, doesn’t impress you, maybe Yoshi's power-ups will do it for you. From floating like a balloon to a super-fast run. I feel Yoshi could've been in more levels, but I guess that's a testament to how well I liked him here. 

Less noticeable but more impactful to me is the change in structure. In Galaxy 1, you would play one galaxy until you earned enough stars to unlock the next. The Galaxies here are grouped together more. There are often 2-4 Galaxies you can pick and choose to gather the stars in any order you want. There are also a couple of Galaxies more here, but each Galaxy is smaller overall to compensate for this. The new hub also fits into this. The tiny planet in Mario's image is neat and packed with more little secrets than I thought, though too small for my liking.

What is also a noteworthy difference is that this game is designed to be harder than its predecessor. The developers have said that they put more focus on the experienced player when designing the levels. I can't say I noticed this while playing, though. Looking back at them now, I guess it was harder than Galaxy 1, but I still didn't have much trouble. I only started to get that 'gaming frustration' in world 4 of 6... and then didn't encounter it at all in world 6 itself, the big finale.

If you, or more likely your kid(s), do find this title too hard, the Switch version offers you an olive branch in your time of need. You can grab a Joy-Con and help out in assist mode or simply activate an 'easy' mode that gives you double Mario's energy level and prevents players from falling off into the void. A nice feature to have for those who might need it. One that is probably needed most when on the quest to collect absolutely everything. That journey more than doubles someone’s playtime, but it’s genuinely hard because of how obtuse these stars’ locations are and how difficult it is to get to them. Not something I will do, I got more than my money's worth with the 'regular' 121 stars, but it the ‘242-star challenge’ is here for those looking for such a thing.

Now that I am looking back, here is another thing I noticed only after seeing the credits roll. The motion control heavy levels are far and few between. For example, I encountered just one rolling ball during my playthrough. Since the Joy-Cons aren't as good with the motion and pointer controls as the Wii remote and Nunchuk combo, that may have been for the best. 

That rolling ball level. The Joy-Con was more than workable but, from memory, not as good as with the Wii remote. 

Speaking of which: the Joy-Cons are a more than workable way to play Galaxy 2 (and Galaxy 1). They might not be as precise, but they can do everything the Wii controllers could do. It’s also really nice that you can use the spin attack by simply pressing the 'Y' button. It's a lot quicker, convenient, and less tiresome. That said, I did still activate it by shaking the Joy-Con 70% of the time. I guess old habits die hard! 

The Joy-Cons, for the pointer, might desync pretty quickly, but resetting them is as easy as pressing a button. That there are no mouse controls when you plan on a Switch 2 is a bummer of big proportions, though. That would've fixed this desyncing issue and highlighted one of the Switch 2 unique selling points. And when we are on unique selling points for the Switch family of systems, I didn't really play in handheld mode or with the pro controller. Both options are nice to have but the trade-offs for the pointer controls both make them a compromised experience if you ask me. The touchscreen usage is clunky as you have to let go of a trigger, for instance. 

For me, having both Galaxy games on Switch is more about convenience than anything else. That and I do enjoy that oh so nice HD coat of paint. There are some things I can see that this is an old game enhanced, like the shadows on the character models, but it's all small fries. Not stuff you look at long and in motion these things are hard to notice anyhow. Also: the version of Galaxy 1 physically bundled with Galaxy 2 for Switch is just a tad better looking and running than the one in 3D All-Stars.

Last but not least, the music is really good. The orchestral soundtrack is hard to explain since I'm not well versed in music at all, but what I do know is that I really like it. A soundtrack I put on to help me relax or fall asleep. It might be so similar to the Galaxy 1 that you wouldn't be able to distinguish the two, but I don't care. It's more tracks for me to listen to on Nintendo Music!

Conclusion

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is Super Mario Galaxy… again. It’s one of the most straightforward sequels I’ve ever played. It isn't as much a deepening of the original but a continuation of it. Aside from Yoshi and some other minor structural changes you are looking at the same experience. Considering how good a game Galaxy 1 is, I don't think this is a bad thing at all. Not every sequel needs to reinvent the wheel if you know just what to refine, and this game shows it. Wii or Switch, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a game worth playing.