• Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.
  • Do you have audio editing experience and want to help out with the Famiboards Discussion Club Podcast? If so, we're looking for help and would love to have you on the team! Just let us know in the Podcast Thread if you are interested!

Discussion Super Mario Galaxy was released 15 years ago today

Mekanos

Mekanos

おっす！
Pronouns
he/they
1200px-GalaxyBosses.jpg


Hard to put into words how impactful and meaningful this game is to me. The scope, the visuals, the soundtrack, the sense of adventure and wonder, it really launched 3D Mario into a new era that we're still feeling today in terms of boundless creativity and joy.

I've said this before but this is one of those rare games that genuinely made me feel like a kid again. I remember spending the weekend of release practically playing it nonstop. It also introduced Rosalina who became a Mario staple and even got into Smash Bros. Overall, the main thing I remember from it is its more moody, somber tone, which is reflected brilliantly in its soundtrack:



Happy 15 years.
 
Mario Galaxy was an incredible experience back when it came out. Gaming seemed to be going in a direction I didn’t like with shooting games looking like they were going to completely take over and with genres like the platformer feeling like they were dying out. Not only that but the last Mario platformer felt like the first in the series to really miss the mark. Fortunately Galaxy then came along and made me feel like a kid again. It was the most I’d loved a first party Nintendo game since the launch of Ocarina of Time. I actually still get goosebumps listening to the closing section of the Game Trailers review. Go to 6:30 til the end - beautiful.

 
Last edited:
Rosalina's storybook genuinely was touching to me. Don't laugh.

I was also pretty surprised that Nintendo gave a Mario character some reasonably in-depth motivation for their characterization and actions.

This might be the most beautiful game ever made.
 
The hype ahead of this game seemed impossible to live up to. I remember it and Spore were seen as THE revolutionary games that would be remembered for years. Galaxy delivered, Spore not so much.

There was some grumbling at the time that it didn't really use the wiimotes for more than waggle (meaning it's just a button press activated by random motion), but time has proven that it was Nintendo's less gimmicky games from that era that have stood the test of time. No one cares about that now.

The amount of levels, and new ideas in each level, and items, enemies, animations, content... it was all just mindblowing. They took the gravity mechanic and mined every single speck of gameplay and joy they could out of it. The fact that it has the only memorable / moving story in Mario history is just the cherry on top.

I will never, ever understand how people could rate the fun but derivative Galaxy 2 ahead of the original innovator itself.
 
Heron said:
I will never, ever understand how people could rate the fun but derivative Galaxy 2 ahead of the original innovator itself.
Click to expand...
Don't want to drag down the celebration thread too much - it's true that Galaxy 1 makes a stronger first impression, but I do think G2 is perhaps, the more replayable game, so I find myself more drawn to it over the years. But both are thoroughly fantastic games either way you slice it.
 
Work of art and Masterpiece don't begin to define how highly I think of this game, gave me what was probably the best childhood memory of my entire life.
 
Replaying it in 3D All-Stars (all 121 stars as both brothers) doesn’t make me look back on the game as fondly as I used to, but it’s still very solid and the first playthrough was unforgettable.
 
Heron said:
I will never, ever understand how people could rate the fun but derivative Galaxy 2 ahead of the original innovator itself.
Click to expand...
Because it builds upon the original and adds more, and as a result is an even better and more fun game? Personally, I will never understand how people can dismiss sequels that build upon their predecessors as being inherently lesser simply because they weren’t the first game to utilize the concepts. I pretty much always end up preferring sequels like that to the originals just because they take the same concepts but fine tune them even further. Like, sure, there may be less of a “wow factor” because of that, but that doesn’t change the core gameplay experience at all. Plus you have to consider that it’s possible for people to play the games out of order, too, and this “wow factor” doesn’t really mean much of anything years later after the game’s not new anymore.

But both Galaxy games are incredible, anyway; can’t really go wrong with either. I just don’t think the first game should automatically be rated higher just because it came first. It does have the edge with its story and hub world, though, if either of those are hugely important to the experience to you, I guess. But gameplay-wise Galaxy 2 is just better all around, I feel.
 
Truly a masterpiece. It felt big, really big in both atmosphere and playability. Even if I missed the 3D exploration levels of 64 and sunshine, it was, it is and it will be an absolute masterpiece.

I liked it more than galaxy 2, which was also a great game, but less "big" and less "galactic" than the original. 2 felt more like 3D world, just shorter levels like a traditional Mario.
 
I think that the first game is better for the overworld observatory, charming storybook, and being so new and fresh. But Galaxy 2 is pretty much equally as good with how much it builds on it and what it does with its ideas. To me, I like to treat them more as one game, kind of like an old-school main game + expansion. That way I can just say "Mario Galaxy + 2 is my favorite 3D Mario" and I don't have to choose between them :p
 
I can’t remember if it was this or Smash Bros Brawl but getting woken up out of a common cold forced nap by a pre-recorded message from Mario on behalf of GameStop informing me my when my copy could be picked up was one of the more surreal things that’s ever happened to me.

DistractedByPixels said:
Rosalina's storybook genuinely was touching to me. Don't laugh.
Click to expand...
Can’t laugh at that. I had a life altering event a couple years prior to the release and that whole bit was a gut punch at the time. Still kinda wondering what the story behind… the story… was. Usually Mario platforming games don't go for that level of levity.
 
2007 was a very memorable Christmas for me and this game was the crown jewel gift. The perfect game that came out at the right time in my life. I'll always have extremely fond memories of it.
 
Super Mario Galaxy is a magical game. Not the first game I remember being truly hyped for - that would be Super Smash Bros. Melee - but certainly the first one that came out while I was of age to use the internet for more than stuff like Neopets. I was able to follow the coverage intently from E3 to all the footage that came out right before release. I still intently remember watching uploads of the opening moments of the game and being in awe of what I was seeing. This wasn't the first time Bowser lifted Peach's Castle from the ground, it wasn't the first time Mario went to space, but it was treated with such gravitas, backed up by the Mario 3 airships (plus their iconic theme) making a grand return to the series, long before those elements would again become staples. I had my pre-order ready to go (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and I was counting down the days until November 12, 2007, the North American release date.

At the time, the game felt like a revelation. A Super Mario game at an intergalactic scale going to all sorts of interesting places. An primarily orchestral score that set a great balance between weird and wacky and wondrous, even downright melancholy at times. The use of Rosalina and her storybook backstory immediately gave her a humanity not seen in the Super Mario games before (or arguably since). In some regards, it truly is the total package.

That first playthrough, my first 100% clear of a game without a guide, has stuck with me for years. I had a routine back then - I would come home from school and finish my homework. Then, I would boot up my Wii, check the News Channel, and then jump right into some Super Mario Galaxy. Every new galaxy was a chance to see something I had never seen before. Every Power Star was an achievement. And slowly but surely I worked my way through to first beat the game and the final boss, then to 120 Stars...and once I unlocked Luigi, I did it all over again. I don't remember exactly how long it took - I think I finished the game both times by that Christmas, that's what the free time of a kid in grade school would get you. Besides Mario World on GBA, Galaxy was the Super Mario game of my childhood. It was a near perfect first play experience.

That being said, a little bit of the luster begins to come off when coming back to the game. Since 2007, I've done two 120 star playthroughs - one in 2017 before Odyssey, and one right at the end of 2020 into 2021 when 3D All-Stars came out. And I noticed similar problems crop up between the two plays. The game takes a bit too long to really get going. Mario's movement is perfectly functional, far from bad, but is stiffer and less inherently fun than the 3D Super Mario games before or after. They're best suited for the more linear levels, but Galaxy still has some more open or even sandbox like sections which aren't as engaging to explore as they are in other titles. The power up selection is also more fun in concept than in execution. Bee Mario has great honeycomb climbing sections but has a stiff flight that takes away Mario's normal movement options. Boo Mario is pretty underutilized in general - a super cute concept, but it's mostly a "float in the air freely" kinda ability. Spring Mario is surprisingly the most engaging because its movement actually feels kinda interesting, but I get that I'm in the minority on that one. And Flying Mario has that super cool red and black design but is also woefully underused. Galaxy hasn't quite figured itself out, mostly in comparison to the rest of its pedigree and in ways that aren't always super evident the first time through. Galaxy 2 is a sharper, more refined game, more confident in its linear direction and more engaging in its level design and power up utilization. But the original still has a strong place in my heart.
 
I was obsessed with this game. I was glued to any bit of footage in the lead up to launch. I didnt have a wii, so all i could do was watch every video review I could on launch day and get excited vicariously through everyone else getting to enjoy the game. Not that i was strapped for games in 07, i was enjoying the hell out of mass effect, bioshock, cod 4, and assassins creed on 360. But what i really wanted to play was super mario galaxy. Once i finally did pick up a wii many years later, around early 2011. galaxy 1 and 2 were the first two games I bought. I beat galaxy 1 with 100 percent completion, with both mario and luigi within two weeks of buying the system.
 
Like I said in the general discussion thread, give me Super Mario Galaxies Nintendo! Two of the most perfect games to have ever existed. It was Mario, it was fun, but it was also epic
 
Heron said:
The hype ahead of this game seemed impossible to live up to. I remember it and Spore were seen as THE revolutionary games that would be remembered for years. Galaxy delivered, Spore not so much.

There was some grumbling at the time that it didn't really use the wiimotes for more than waggle (meaning it's just a button press activated by random motion), but time has proven that it was Nintendo's less gimmicky games from that era that have stood the test of time. No one cares about that now.

The amount of levels, and new ideas in each level, and items, enemies, animations, content... it was all just mindblowing. They took the gravity mechanic and mined every single speck of gameplay and joy they could out of it. The fact that it has the only memorable / moving story in Mario history is just the cherry on top.

I will never, ever understand how people could rate the fun but derivative Galaxy 2 ahead of the original innovator itself.
Click to expand...
I still don’t think the ‘shake the Wiimote to get an attack to register when you are right next to the enemy’ was a very good idea (or the same for the ground-pound in DKC Returns), but it’s true that such elements have long since been simply remapped in ports and so you don’t hear much about it these days. I didn’t care at all that it didn’t use the wiimote for much more than that (player 2 could use a Wiimote as a pointer to grab collectibles if I recall), as the stuff it did do felt superfluous in a platformer where buttons were more precise anyway. Same goes for Zelda, where gyro archery was and still is amazing as it adds something over what a stick and buttons can do, but various other elements just felt like slower, less precise options that didn’t register 100% of the time. It was that whole experimental element where even Nintendo wasn’t quite sure what to do with the wiimote some of the time, before finally realising that some games didn’t need it at all.

Still, SMG was amazing. I absolutely loved it, hadn’t really gotten into 3D Mario before that, but the sense of scope and gravity felt like playing Mario World all over again, where I had no idea what was coming next.
 
Weird thing to focus on, but ''modern'' games that are so old at this point are always such a reality slap to the face in terms of mortality/ageing.
 
0
An absolutely stunning game: It was the highest rated game on Metacritic for the longest time, and it absolutely deserved every single glowing review.

It's a game that showcases the magic that can happen when instead of just following industry design trends, the developers instead focus on going into wonderful new territory. There are so many incredible levels that play like nothing else out there, and the general framing device of having planetoids and levels in space with crazy gravity is just... chef's kiss

If Mario 64 is the game that cemented a lot of the 3D design principles we take for granted today, then Galaxy is the Mario game that comes closest to being as revolutionary. The fact that fewer developers have taken inspiration from its free-wheeling approach to level design takes away nothing from how inventive and full of joy it is.
 
Why do these topics always go off JP release date? I was certain I wasn't playing Galaxy 15 years ago today, so I looked it up and sure enough it came out on the 12th in North America (though I actually played it on the 11th because GameStop broke the date).
 
GamerJM said:
Why do these topics always go off JP release date? I was certain I wasn't playing Galaxy 15 years ago today, so I looked it up and sure enough it came out on the 12th in North America (though I actually played it on the 11th because GameStop broke the date).
Click to expand...
Because being released in Japan means it was released. If you really wanted to, you could fly to Japan and buy the game and play it!
 
GamerJM said:
Why do these topics always go off JP release date? I was certain I wasn't playing Galaxy 15 years ago today, so I looked it up and sure enough it came out on the 12th in North America (though I actually played it on the 11th because GameStop broke the date).
Click to expand...
Is there any particular reason you feel we should be using the American date? Many users on this site aren't from America.

To just answer the question, it makes sense to go with the earliest release date since that's when it first came out. People were playing Galaxy 15 years ago, just not in the west.
 
Nintendo's finest platformer post-Yoshi's Island, and hasn't been bested since.

a full bowser's fury style game might do it though
 
0
SMG is the best platform ever made, I don’t think it will be dethroned in my lifetime (Unless Nintendo makes a SMG3 with 4 playable characters and more)
 
GamerJM said:
Why do these topics always go off JP release date? I was certain I wasn't playing Galaxy 15 years ago today, so I looked it up and sure enough it came out on the 12th in North America (though I actually played it on the 11th because GameStop broke the date).
Click to expand...
do you have hyperthymesia or was that just a gut feeling? obviously no need to respond especially if that's like a personal medical question lol but a ~two week period from 15 years ago is a pretty tight window to remember specific days from!
 
slide's said:
do you have hyperthymesia or was that just a gut feeling? obviously no need to respond especially if that's like a personal medical question lol but a ~two week period from 15 years ago is a pretty tight window to remember specific days from!
Click to expand...

I think I have hyperthymesia but I'm not sure. I didn't even know it was a thing until I started watching Tim Rogers' videos. I just thought I had a better memory about things that have happened to me than most people and if I have it I don't think I fully understand how "normal" people perceive memories. The way I experience it isn't as intense as Tim Rogers describes though.
 
slide's said:
do you have hyperthymesia or was that just a gut feeling? obviously no need to respond especially if that's like a personal medical question lol but a ~two week period from 15 years ago is a pretty tight window to remember specific days from!
Click to expand...
it's a bit more likely they remember it specifically wasn't halloween

edit: god damn it
 
0
One of my favorite games of all time. First time I played it it was magic, probably one of the best first impressions I ever had with a game because I couldn't put it down. It felt like the first masterpiece we had gotten from Mario since SM64 11 years prior so it felt like a grand return for the franchise.
 
I remember playing it and very quickly realizing: "This is what a 10/10 Nintendo game feels like". I didn't experience Mario 64 and OoT until years after they came out, but had read about the special feeling of playing them at launch.

Wii Sports was more revolutionary, but Galaxy was magical.
 
0
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top Bottom