SUPER MARIO GALAXY
Next on our list is Super Mario Galaxy, the major 3D Mario entry for the Nintendo Wii, to be followed not long after by a sequel. Super Mario Galaxy is notable for its incredible level design and its physics engine that pushes the limit of almost anything that had ever been designed before. The game follows Mario as he traverses the cosmos with the help of newcomer Rosalina and her Lumas in order to rescue Peach from Bowser. As such most of the levels are set out in the middle of space, opening the games up for ridiculous levels of creativity in regards to their design.
First up, we have our characters. Mario and Luigi both return, alongside Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina, a space princess who travels the galaxy and rules over a race of star beings called Lumas. A number of Toads also return, the main red-spotted Toad now taking up the mantle as their captain and leader. Finally, Bowser and his son Bowser Jr. return and act as the main villains of the game.
Mario acts as the protagonist of course, being able to do much of what he could do before, with all sorts of jumps and acrobatic moves and the like. However, with the introduction of the Lumas, they add new dimensions and gimmicks to his moveset (most of which will be likely worked into a moveset for Rosalina and the Lumas, much as they are in Smash already, having Rosalina act as the representative of the game's gimmicks much like F.L.U.D.D. from the last game). The abilities they give include the ability to shoot star bits at enemies from above, spin (which comes in really handy in this game), and give him access to warp stars and pull stars which allow him to get from place to place. He also has a number of power-ups in this game, which include:
1. Bee Suit: he can fly around, climb on honey, and stand on things like flowers and clouds that he couldn't stand on before.
2. Boo Mushroom: he becomes a Boo, which allows him to float around, turn intangible and pass through walls.
3. Ice Flower: which allows him to skate across water and lava.
4. Fire Flower: which of course gives him the ability to throw fireballs.
5. Red Star: which allows him to fly.
6. Spring: which allows him to bounce around like a spring and jump really high.
Luigi also acts as an alternate playable character, specifically in the post game. Before that, he tends to visit various worlds and find stars for you. Another notable character is Cosmic Mario, a strange clone of Mario that likes to race you through certain levels.
Princess Peach once again acts as an NPC, held hostage by Bowser for the bulk of the game and not offering us much to work with. Rosalina also mainly acts as an NPC, acting as your guide throughout the game, while offering you the help of the Lumas. The Lumas, as covered before, offer up most of the game's gimmick for Mario's moveset, allowing him to spin while spitting star bits from above and becoming warp stars and pull stars for him to use to get around. They are also shown capable of eating large amounts of star bits, transforming into new planets and all sorts of things, and transforming into bunnies and hopping around for Mario to chase.
There are also a number of NPC races this time around, acting much as the Piantas and Nokis did in Sunshine. The Toads mainly act as NPCs, though they have a spaceship now, and the captain has a headlamp. From there, we also have Honeybees, Gearmos, and Penguins. The Honeybees presumably can do much of what Mario's bee suit can do, which surprisingly gives them a good amount of a headstart for playable. Gearmos are implied to be good at tech, but we never see it much. They do have big wrench things though. Penguins act pretty much the way they did in 64, being good at swimming and sliding around on the ice. The Honeybees have a queen who mostly just floats around and lets you crawl on her, while the penguins are also friends with a Manta Ray you can ride and an orca named Guppy who likes to challenge you to swimming speed tests.
Bowser and Bowser Jr. return with a great deal to add to their movesets. In battle, Bowser is shown capable of breathing both fireballs and meteors, punch in a spinning circular fashion, jump and make shockwaves much like 64, curl up into a boulder and roll around, and spin around inside of his shell. Outside of battle, he is shown to have an armada of airships at his disposal, including a flying saucer or too. Bowser Jr. is shown to have a mini airship of his own from which he can fire bullet bills and cannonballs. He also has a few Magikoopa directly under his command, as well as bosses such as Megaleg.
There are a number of bosses to contend with this time around. Dino Piranha, and Fiery Dino Piranha by extension, is basically Petey Piranha but with a dinosaur's body and a coconut for a tail that Mario can use as a weapon. King Kaliente is a giant octopus that lives in lava who can spit out coconuts and fireballs and make waves with his tentacles. Bugaboom is a giant Mandibug that flies around and slams on the ground. Megaleg is a giant robot that acts more as a stage than an enemy. Kamella is a large Magikoopa who can do mostly everything other Magikoopas do, including casting spells to summon enemies and items and teleporting. Tarantox is a spider-like enemy that crawls around on a web and spits acid. Topmaniac is a large Topman who spins around and juts out spikes. Bouldergeist is awesome, just putting that out there, a ghostly being made of rock who can thrust a large fist forward and slam his hand down, jut up a row of spikes from the ground, and summon up rocks to throw at Mario, sometimes spawning Bomb Boos. Major Burrows seems like a giant Monty Mole who can dig around in the ground before popping out and rampaging around the stage. Baron Brrr is a giant Ice Bubble who can toss out ice, freeze Mario, and slam down to make a shockwave. And finally, Bonefin is a large skeletal shark that mostly swims around and sends smaller drones to attack you.
We have a number of returning enemies, including Koopas, Goombas, Piranha Plants, Boos, Bloopers, Cheep Cheeps, Monty Moles, and many others, including offshoots. Koopas mostly just walk around and tuck into their shells, although their shells are frequently used to help Mario swim better and as projectiles. Their offshoots include Dry Bones, Magikoopas, and Mechakoopas. None are much different than previous incarnations. Dry Bones walk around and fall apart when stepped on. Magikoopas cast spells and teleport. Mechakoopas walk around, breathe fire, and explode on occasion. Goombas are still pretty basic, walking around and spinning like a top if hit. They also come in mini and giant sizes and have taken to headgear such as helmets and pumpkins. They also have a maybe cousin called the Electrogoomba (later called the Octoomba), which seems like an alien variant of them that can shoot projectiles from its mouth.
Piranha Plants chomp as usual, though they now come with a spiky variant. Boos still float around and hide when looked at, however, they now come with an exploding variant, the Bomb Boo, and can be swung around as a blunt weapon when Mario grabs onto their tongue. There is also a large Boo in this game who likes to race you. Bloopers and Cheep Cheeps mostly just float around in this game, while Clams open and close like they did before. Monty Moles are once again out here representing, popping out of holes and throwing wrenches like their cousins, the Rocky Wrenches, while also gaining new cousins in the Undergrunts who can dig around underground and pop up or drive a fixed artillery cannon that launches bubbles at their enemies.
Sadly, Wigglers still just walk around and charge when angry (if you can't tell, I'd really like to make Wiggler playable, but this is literally all it's giving me). Pokeys still mostly just stand around, slamming their head down when you get to close and have small single-head variants. Chain Chomps now roll around as giant balls. Thwomps rise up and slam down as always. Amps float around an electrocute you, Cataquacks throw you into the air, Bullet Bills and Torpedo Teds fire toward you, and Bats just swoop around.
New enemies include Mandibugs, large beetle-like insects with mandibles that like to charge toward you, and their tiny offshoots, the Flipbugs, who can fly. We also have Spoings and Spranglers, spider enemies that either jump high into the air and drop on you from the ceiling. Topmen and Topminis are mostly tops that spin around at you, while Sentry Beams fire lasers at you and Jump Beamers launch a cirle of laser at you. Ice Bubbles and Li'l Cinders are tiny rock things that spout ice and fire respectively. Urchins roll around at you and jut out spikes. Octopuses pop out of barrels and shoot coconuts at you. Crabbers mostly just scuttle around and attack with claws. Cluckbooms are chickens that float around and drop bombs, and Tweesters are literally living tornadoes. Slurples are little blue things that look like Slimes and attach themselves to you. Down underwater, we now have Gringills, the new Eel species to join the Unagi, and Jellyfish and Jammyfish, both basically jellyfish.
Stages are accessed through various points on the game's hubworld, Rosalina's Comet Observatory (which would be an excellent stage itself). On the observatory, you can access different worlds through the terrace, fountain, kitchen, bedroom, engine, and garden domes respectively, each one granting you access to two or three full-sized worlds with multiple stars to collect, one or two smaller worlds with only one star to collect, and a Bowser or Bowser Jr. boss world. For the purposes of keeping things simple, I will limit the stage selection to only the full-sized worlds and only one Bowser world representing the whole of them (most of them aren't all that different).
The main full-sized stages include: Good Egg Galaxy, a basic grassland type stage; Honeyhive Galaxy, our first introduction to the Honeybees; Space Junk Galaxy, a galaxy most made up of, well, junk; Battlerock Galaxy, a fully armed military fortress in space; Beach Bowl Galaxy, a beach level; Ghostly Galaxy, a haunted level; Gusty Garden Galaxy, a level that uses a heavy wind gimmick; Freezeflame Galaxy, a level based on a fire and ice gimmick; Gold Leaf Galaxy, a level that bears an eerie resemblance to Honeyhive Galaxy; Sea Slide Galaxy, another beach level; Toy Time Galaxy, a level made up of giant food and toys; Deep Dark Galaxy, another water level but with more of a creepy vibe this time; Dreadnought Galaxy, a giant battle station; and Melty Molten Galaxy, a lava level. All of these could work, given a focus on their most iconic sections.
Last but not least, we also have Toad Village from the beginning of the game and the Gateway Galaxy, the world you first find yourself on. Both are iconic in their own right, so can also be considered.
As far as items go, we have all of the powerups as listed above, plus the stars, the invincibility star, pull stars, warp stars, star bits, coins, and so much more.
Alright! Now, let's see what we've got!
Characters:
Mario: multiple different types of jumps and punches, wing cap, metal cap, pixel cap, ride on shell, fire from cannon, slide on belly, use F.L.U.D.D., spin, shoot starbits, warpstar, pull star, fly as a bee, cling to honey, pass through walls (Boo), skate across ice, throw fireballs, fly, invincibility, spring
F.L.U.D.D.: spray forward stream, jetpack hover, rocket nozzle, spin and spray, launch missiles, shoot bubbles
Peach: nothing, parasol, jet
Toad: nothing, give star, spaceship, headlamp
Toadsworth: nothing
Yoshi: hop around, flutter jump, egg, tongue, spray fruit juice
Rosalina: nothing
Luma: spit star bits, eat star bits, transform into warpstars, pull stars, planets, spin, and become bunnies
Bowser: tromp around, breathe fire, charge, tip stage, create shockwaves, hang out in hot tub, breathe meteors, spinning punch, curl into boulder, spin in shell, command airships
Bowser Jr.: transform, paintbrush, flying machine, shoot bullet bills, mini airship, cannonballs, magikoopas, Megaleg
Shadow Mario: run, jump, paint, paintbrush, tongue, fiery paint trail, command Mechabowser
Pianta: nothing
Noki: nothing, tuck in shell
Honeybee: fly, climb on honey, spear, butt bash
Goombas: walk around, spin like a top, minis, giants, helmet, pumpkin
Koopas: run away, pop from shell, race, Snooza Koopa, Electrokoopa, tuck into shell, used as projectile
Piranha Plant: sleep, bite, spit paint, bob around, spiky
Petey Piranha: fly with leaves, roar, spit goop, Piranhabons, create tornadoes
Boo: float around, Big Boo, turn into blocks, pass through walls, hide face, explode, swing around by tongue
King Boo: roulette wheel, slot machine, spit bubbles, fruit, enemies, Boos
Blooper: crawl around, surf, spit ink, swim
Gooper Blooper: slap tentacles, spray ink, spin and spray
Lakitu: float, drop Spinies, use camera
Shy Guy: Fly Guy, fire, Snufit float, fire pellets
Magikoopa: cast spell, summon shells, throw fireballs, teleport
Monty Mole: jump, throw rocks, drive tank, throw Bob-Ombs, fire Bullet Bills, pop up, throw wrench, dig in ground, fire bubbles
Bob-Omb: explode, fire cannons, pick up and throw (Big Bob-Omb)
Cheep Cheep: swim
<Tentative> Chain Chomp, Wiggler, Whomp, Strollin' Stu, Il Piantissimo, Gearmo, Penguin
Bosses:
Big Bob-Omb
King Whomp
Big Boo
Big Bully
Eyerok
Chill Bully
Gooper Blooper
Manta Ray
Wiggler
Dino Piranha
King Kaliente
Bugaboom
Megaleg
Tarantox
Topmaniac
Bouldergeist
Major Burrows
Baron Brrr
Bonefin
Stages:
Princess Peach's Castle (Melee)
Princess Peach's Castle (Inside)
Bob-Omb Battlefield
Whomp's Fortress
Jolly Roger Bay
Cool Cool Mountain
Big Boo's Haunt
Hazy Maze Cave
Lethal Lava Land
Shifting Sand Land
Dire Dire Docks
Snowman's Land
Wet-Dry World
Tall Tall Mountain
Tiny-Huge Island
Tick Tock Clock
Rainbow Ride
Bowser's World
Delfino Plaza
Bianco Hills
Ricco Harbor
Gelato Beach
Pinna Park
Sirena Beach
Noki Bay
Pianta Village
Corona Mountain
Toad Village
Gateway Galaxy
Comet Observatory
Good Egg Galaxy
Honeyhive Galaxy
Space Junk Galaxy
Battlerock Galaxy
Beach Bowl Galaxy
Ghostly Galaxy
Gusty Garden Galaxy
Freezeflame Galaxy
Gold Leaf Galaxy
Sea Slide Galaxy
Toy Time Galaxy
Deep Dark Galaxy
Dreadnought Galaxy
Melty Molten Galaxy
Bowser's Galaxy Reactor
Items:
Wing Cap
Metal Cap
Pixel Cap
Green Shell
Bob-Omb
Bullet Bill
Coin
Star
Box
F.L.U.D.D.
Shine Sprite
Fruit
Star Bits
Invincibility Star
Fire Flower
Ice Flower
Red Star
Bee Mushroom
Boo Mushroom
Spring Mushroom
Warp Star
Pull Star
Thanks for reading! Check us out next time for the game's sequel: Super Mario Galaxy 2!
