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In my youth, I never owned Nintendo's Wii system. Sure, I tried Wii Sports along with several flagship titles when visiting family and friends back in that era, yet I lacked my personal Wii system, causing me to overlook several excellent installments in Nintendo’s iconic franchises.

One of those games was Super Mario Galaxy, together with its follow-up, was recently remastered and transferred to Nintendo's hybrid system. The original game got incorporated in 2020’s limited-edition collection Super Mario 3D All-Stars. I welcomed the chance to play what many consider one of the best Mario adventures created. I became immediately engrossed, while affirming that it lives up to almost twenty years of excitement. However, I also recognized how pleased I feel motion-sensing features mostly stayed as historical features.

Initiating Galactic Exploration

Following traditional Mario adventure, Super Mario Galaxy opens as Bowser nabbing the princess including her home. His fleet of cosmic vessels take her to the cosmos, throwing Mario into the galaxy in the process. The hero discovers adorable stellar beings known as Lumas as well as Rosalina on her cosmic observatory. She assigns Mario with finding stars to power her spacecraft so they can chase after Bowser, opening exploration opportunities to begin adventuring.

The game's jumping mechanics is a joy, needing just experiencing a few missions to understand why it’s held in such high regard. It seems recognizable for those who tried Mario's 3D adventures, and the controls are approachable and intuitive as Nintendo typically delivers.

Gravity-Defying Gameplay

As a space nerd, the environment perfectly matches my interests, permitting Super Mario Galaxy to have fun with physics. Round structures enable Mario to circle repeatedly around them similar to Goku pursuing Bubbles from classic anime. With nearby platforms, Mario can leap across being pulled via planetary attraction by neighboring objects. Additional areas appear as discs, typically including goodies on the underside, where you may not think to look.

Revisiting Beloved Personalities

What’s fun about experiencing this game following long gap is having already met familiar faces. I was unaware Rosalina originated within this title, nor that she served as the adoptive mother of the Lumas. Earlier in my gaming, to me she was just a standard member Mario Kart World character selection. Similarly with Penguins, with whom I liked swimming in initial coastal stage.

Motion Control Challenges

The only real drag during this adventure in 2025 involves motion features, employed for collecting, aiming, and shooting cosmic pieces, bright collectibles scattered around levels. Operating in mobile format required angling and turning the Switch around to aim, which feels a bit clunky. Gyroscopic elements appear frequently during certain jumping segments, requiring players to direct the star-shaped cursor toward structures to drag Mario toward them.

Levels that wholly require movement inputs work better when played with the Joy-Cons detached enhancing accuracy, such as the ray-riding stage in the beginning. I rarely become supportive of gyroscopic gameplay, and they remain notably effectively in Super Mario Galaxy. Thankfully, when acquiring adequate stars via alternative missions, these motion control ones might be entirely bypassed. I tried the level requiring Mario guiding a large sphere across a path filled with gaps, then quickly abandoned after one attempt.

Timeless Mario Excellence

Except for the awkward motion-based motion controls, there's virtually nothing to complain about in Super Mario Galaxy, and galactic environments provide enjoyment to explore. While impressive games including later releases launched later, Super Mario Galaxy stays among the finest and creative Mario adventures existing.