It has been an insanely long time since I played either entry in the Super Mario Galaxy franchise. I finished both games on the Nintendo Wii when I was much younger, and I had always looked on both games very fondly. I’ve always wanted to revisit them, but actually doing so proved difficult because the Wii I grew up with is put away in a box somewhere in my parents’ basement. So yes, when I saw both of these classics were getting Nintendo Switch 2 releases, I got very excited. And the moment I saw their codes appear in my inbox, I began to froth at the mouth.
Nintendo has been on fire over the last fifteen years. They have made games that will be seen as timeless classics decades from now. But that isn’t new for Nintendo… they’ve been doing that for a very long time. Even after smash successes like Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Odyssey, Metroid Dread, etc., it wouldn’t be a shocker if your favourite Nintendo game to this day is either of the Galaxy games.
Every Super Mario offshoot franchise has its fans, but I don’t think any of them come close to how rabid the Galaxy fans are. People have been begging Nintendo for a new game, as well as any acknowledgement of the series that isn’t named Rosalina. Many fans on the internet even swear that both Galaxy games have the best OSTs across any Mario-related series. In fact, sometimes when I’m stressed out, I will listen to Mario Galaxy OST compilations on YouTube to bring me back to earth (pun intended). Thankfully, both of the game’s OSTs are entirely available from the main menu. You can listen to any song in any order as much as you like. What’s really great about this collection being released is that it finally allows these all-timers to be playable for a modern audience on a modern console.
The caveat, however, is that you gotta pay modern prices to get your hands on these. Here in Canada, this collection is a staggering $99.99, and knowing how Nintendo typically handles their prices, that isn’t going to be discounted any time soon. After tax, you’re paying almost $60 per game, which feels quite steep, given that these are older games being brought onto a modern console. Nintendo stated during its media tour for the Switch 2 that its pricing is decided on a case-by-case basis. They want the games that require the most work to cost more than those made by a small team on a low budget. So a lot of others and I on the internet are pretty perplexed by this game being sold at a premium price. Sure, the games are first-party Nintendo releases and were made in-house, but they already made the money back years ago. Personally, I think these games should be completely free to own if you purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership, but that’s just me.
I was initially pretty confused about how the game would even play on a handheld. The original releases relied heavily on the Wii Sensor Bar to get perfect motion controls to interact with collectibles and to attach yourself to stars that would launch you onto other planets. Obviously, they had to make it so both games could be played entirely with the Joy-Con attached to the Switch/Switch 2. They made it so the onscreen cursor would be controlled through gyro aiming. It’s a pretty ingenious way to make it work, and it does the job. Holding the Switch 2 in your hands and gently pointing it in different directions does let you get pretty precise about where you want to aim. What’s frustrating, though, is that every 10 or so seconds, you need to press the right bumper to adjust where the middle of the screen is. I thought maybe the issue was the fact that the Joy-Con was attached, so I took them off and found the exact same issue. Gyro aiming isn’t perfect, but I do think it’s been done WAY better in other games. I’m not too sure what happened here. I do think the Nintendo Wii nailed motion controls with the sensor bar, and it’s hard to compete with perfection.
While the games might not play quite the way I wish they would, they do look better than the original games ever could. Galaxy 1+2 got a makeover with some higher resolution textures as well as upscaling to 4k. The colours explode on both the Switch 2’s screen as well as my TV’s screen, and details are more vibrant and detail-y than ever. Unfortunately, the cutscenes are rendered at 1080p and are noticeably of lower quality than the actual gameplay itself, so the game has weird peaks and valleys in its looks, but when it shines, it shines.
There’s also some new story content in the form of storybooks. There are these small sections that give a little more backstory and shed some light on some of the less talked-about parts of the plots previously, but they are pretty minor additions. There aren’t any major plot points or revelations that are only learned through these sections – but they are cute! They’re also making the storybook a real-life physical thing you can buy. So if you want to spend your money on that, you totally can!
It feels weird writing about these games. Everybody already has an opinion on both of these classics, and they are, without a doubt, positive. Trying to tell somebody that these games are great feels a little redundant in 2025, whether or not you’ve actually played them is another thing. I think these are absolute must-play games. If you are a gamer and you never got around to these, then you gotta fix that. If you’re like me and you’ve been wanting a way to replay these, then it’s a no-brainer for me. I think you should have these games in your collection. While I don’t think this is the perfect re-release these games deserve, I do think it’s the best and easiest way to play these in modern times, and frankly, I think that alone makes them worth the money. Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 are more than worth your time. They are games that stand amongst Nintendo’s best. They really, truly are… out of this world.
