User:Spencer PK/Prankster Comet Observatory
Recently, an excellent video titled "How the Mario Galaxy games unlock Comets" was uploaded to YouTube by user Super Hackio, which goes deeply into the mechanics of unlocking Prankster Comets in SMG and SMG2 using internal data. Basically everything this video goes over should be documented on this wiki, but it doesn't appear that this information is actually on the wiki. The idea of adding all this info reveals that there's a lot to talk about, and that it will also require many individual galaxy and mission articles to be updated.
Old intro
I wrote this at first for use as a new section at Talk:Prankster Comet, but the growing scope of what needs updating led to me realizing that it cannot be contained in just a talk page. This basically summarizes key points of Super Hackio's video.
- The Prankster Comet article may need to be completely reformatted. I think that maybe the "Types" header in the current article that lumps all SMG and SMG2 comets together should be split into two headers, something like "Prankster Comets in Super Mario Galaxy" and "Prankster Comets in Super Mario Galaxy 2" to give each game its own space to go into more detail. Each space can then go into the unlocking requirements and listing the types of Prankster Comets. It is difficult to read the current article if you only want SMG info because SMG2 is lumped in.
- In Super Mario Galaxy, each comet mission has a "comet base mission" as conjecturally named in the video. The comet base mission must be cleared before its related Prankster Comet can appear. This needs to be noted for every affected galaxy and mission.
- In Super Mario Galaxy 2, a comet mission cannot appear for a galaxy unless all the galaxy's "normal" stars are collected. Normal stars meaning not hidden, and technically not comet or not green stars.
- In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Prankster Comets (once unlocked) will not appear unless the galaxy's Comet Medal is obtained. In addition, each galaxy requires a specific number of Comet Medals collected overall before the comet can appear. A table of these requirements is shown and linked to in the description leading to Luma's Workshop, a wiki for modding the Galaxy games. Despite this table seeming like a recent development, the Super Mario Galaxy 2 PRIMA Official Game Guide, on page 21, has a table of all the Comet Medal requirements. This resource is NOT recent, which is funny and terrifying. These Comet Medal requirements need to be noted on the Prankster Comet page, the Comet Medal page, the galaxy's page, and the mission's page.
- In Super Mario Galaxy 2, some Prankster Comets can effectively be grouped into "Mimic" and "Purple". These Mimic and Purple categories are used to group them together for unlocking them. This means that all Cosmic Clone and Purple Coin comet mission articles need to note this unlock requirement.
- All Cosmic Clone comets cannot appear until after Cloudy Court's mission The Shadow Lining is cleared. The exception is Cloudy Court itself, because it unlocks Cosmic Clone comets.
- All Purple Coin comets cannot appear until after Puzzle Plank's mission Purple Coin Shadow Vault is cleared. The exception is Puzzle Plank itself, because it unlocks Purple Coin comets. This gets more complicated because Puzzle Plank's comet is treated as a Cosmic Clone comet, meaning to unlock Purple Coin missions, The Shadow Lining and Purple Coin Shadow Vault must be cleared.
- Mario Squared's mission Luigi's Purple Coin Chaos is in both the Cosmic Clone and Purple Coin categories.
- Regarding Super Mario Galaxy 2, the PRIMA guide, on page 21, actually mentions a lot of these unlock requirements like Super Hackio's video. There is an extra note in the PRIMA guide unmentioned in the video though: "Daredevil comets (complete a stage with only one life wedge) appear after two Comet Power Stars have been collected." This is actually misinformation. I started a new save, got Comet Medals in a way to make Spin-Dig's comet the one of the only ones I could get, and it was my first comet after getting my 4th World 3 star.
Scope
Oh no there's a lot to update. Making a list of all links that need updating is the best way to figure out the scope of this.
- Prankster Comet, and likely the notes about them at the Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 articles
Super Mario Galaxy content
- Comet Luma probably
- "Comet base mission" numbers were obtained from the Galaxy modding wiki Luma's Workshop Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable.
Terrace
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Fountain
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Kitchen
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Bedroom
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Engine Room
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Garden
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Super Mario Galaxy 2 content
"Mimic" and "Purple" groups
Mimic comets are ones that spawn Cosmic Clones. Purple comets are ones that involve collecting Purple Coins. All Cosmic Clone comets cannot spawn until Cloudy Court's The Shadow Lining is cleared. All Purple Coin comets cannot spawn until Puzzle Plank's Purple Coin Shadow Vault is cleared.
This data is sourced from using the Scenaristar tool to open the scenario files for SMG2 galaxies to see what comet type the mission is defined as internally.
Mimic includes...
- The Shadow Lining at Cloudy Court Galaxy (excluded from group to allow unlocking it)
- Purple Coin Shadow Vault at Puzzle Plank Galaxy (moved from Purple to Mimic to allow unlocking it)
- Spooky Cosmic Clone Chase at Haunty Halls Galaxy
- Cosmic Clones in the Chompworks at Chompworks Galaxy
- Luigi's Purple Coin Chaos at Mario Squared Galaxy (internally Purple, but is both Mimic and Purple for unlocking)
- Cosmic Clone Wall Jumpers at Flip-Out Galaxy
Purple includes...
- Purple Coin Shadow Vault at Puzzle Plank Galaxy (moved from Purple to Mimic to allow unlocking it, which means that The Shadow Lining is required for this)
- Purple Coin Flip 'n' Sprint at Flip-Swap Galaxy
- Tall Trunk's Purple Coin Slide at Tall Trunk Galaxy
- Purple Coin Spin Speed Run at Flipsville Galaxy
- Purple Coin Beach Dash at Starshine Beach Galaxy
- Bulb Berry's Purple Coin Glow at Sweet Mystery Galaxy
- The Adventure of the Purple Coins at Clockwork Ruins Galaxy
- Luigi's Purple Coin Chaos at Mario Squared Galaxy (internally Purple, but is both Mimic and Purple for unlocking)
- Purple Coins on the Rainbow Road at Rolling Coaster Galaxy
Comet Medal unlock table
Comet Medals are actually incredibly important?! And the SMG2 PRIMA Official Game Guide has a table of Comet Medal requirements sorted in the order the game seemingly tries to unlock Prankster Comets?![1] I was unaware that this game guide I've had for about 15 years just casually drops this info that was undocumented on the wiki this whole time. The guide isn't as detailed as the table below, only having the galaxy name and Comet Medals needed, but watching a 242 star speedrun and noting the Prankster Comet appearances reveals that comets attempt to unlock in a fixed order that is predictable, which matches PRIMA's sort order.
Actually...the PRIMA guide claims that Shiverburn Galaxy's comet needs 19 Comet Medals, but the internal data says it only needs 16.[2] This seems to be a case of PRIMA being given internal data, but then a transcription error happened.
Mockups for individual mission articles
SMG1 normal comet template
The mission can only be played if the appearances of Prankster Comets have been unlocked by collecting 13 Power Stars total,[note 1] the galaxy's NUMBER mission "MissionName" has been cleared,[3] and a TYPE Comet is in orbit. Clearing the mission causes the galaxy's TYPE Comet to stop appearing and grants the player the ability to replay the mission whenever desired.
SMG1 purple comet template (bad?)
I find this template to be a bit too information-dense, repeating information that would be better covered in the Prankster Comet article, and too much of a run-on sentence.
The mission can only be played if the appearances of the Purple Comet type of Prankster Comets has been unlocked by clearing Bowser's Galaxy Reactor's only mission "The Fate of the Universe" and Good Egg Galaxy's fifth mission "Purple Coin Omelet", the galaxy's NUMBER mission "MissionName" has been cleared,[4] and a Purple Comet is in orbit. Clearing the mission causes the galaxy's Purple Comet to stop appearing and grants the player the ability to replay the mission whenever desired.
SMG1 purple comet template (better?)
The player is only given the opportunity to play this mission once the Purple Comet type of Prankster Comets has been unlocked for all galaxies by clearing Bowser's Galaxy Reactor's only mission "The Fate of the Universe" and Good Egg Galaxy's fifth mission "Purple Coin Omelet". The mission can only be played if Purple Comets have been unlocked, the galaxy's NUMBER mission "MissionName" has been cleared,[5] and a Purple Comet is in orbit. Clearing the mission causes the galaxy's Purple Comet to stop appearing and grants the player the ability to replay the mission whenever desired.
Honeyhive Cosmic Mario Race
The mission can only be played if the appearances of Prankster Comets have been unlocked by collecting 13 Power Stars total, the galaxy's first mission "Bee Mario Takes Flight" has been cleared,[6] and a Cosmic Comet is in orbit. Clearing the mission causes the galaxy's Cosmic Comet to stop appearing and grants the player the ability to replay the mission whenever desired.
Purple Coins by the Seaside (bad?)
The mission can only be played if the appearances of the Purple Comet type of Prankster Comets has been unlocked by clearing Bowser's Galaxy Reactor's only mission "The Fate of the Universe" and Good Egg Galaxy's fifth mission "Purple Coin Omelet", the galaxy's third mission "The Silver Stars of Sea Slide" has been cleared,[7] and a Purple Comet is in orbit. Clearing the mission causes the galaxy's Purple Comet to stop appearing and grants the player the ability to replay the mission whenever desired.
Purple Coins by the Seaside (better?)
The player is only given the opportunity to play this mission once the Purple Comet type of Prankster Comets has been unlocked for all galaxies by clearing Bowser's Galaxy Reactor's only mission "The Fate of the Universe" and Good Egg Galaxy's fifth mission "Purple Coin Omelet". The mission can only be played if Purple Comets have been unlocked, the galaxy's third mission "The Silver Stars of Sea Slide" has been cleared,[8] and a Purple Comet is in orbit. Clearing the mission causes the galaxy's Purple Comet to stop appearing and grants the player the ability to replay the mission whenever desired.
SMG2 template
Problem: SMG2 comet requirements are so weirdly complex that just saying the requirements alone is misleading because of stuff like the "only 3 active comets per world at once" rule. Info would either be mass-repeated, or text pointing readers to go to the Prankster Comet page would be needed.
This mission is unlocked by the galaxy's Prankster Comet appearing; see the Prankster Comet article for more information about the exact mechanics of a Prankster Comet appearing.
Footnotes
- ^ Note: this would be redundant to include on every article because many galaxies are locked behind 13 Power Stars. I feel that this does not need to be mentioned and linking to Prankster Comet could work, but idk...
References
- ^ Browne, Catherine (May 23, 2010). Super Mario Galaxy 2 PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-307-46907-6. Page 21.
- ^ GalaxyDataTable. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable entry NormalCometGALAXYNAME defines condition 1 as NUMBER. This means that the normal comet for GALAXYNAME Galaxy will only appear after the NUMBER mission has been cleared. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable entry Coin100CometGALAXYNAME defines condition 1 as NUMBER. This means that the Purple Comet for GALAXYNAME Galaxy will only appear after the NUMBER mission has been cleared. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable entry Coin100CometGALAXYNAME defines condition 1 as NUMBER. This means that the Purple Comet for GALAXYNAME Galaxy will only appear after the NUMBER mission has been cleared. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable entry NormalCometHoneyBeeKingdomGalaxy defines condition 1 as 1. This means that the normal comet for Honeyhive Galaxy will only appear after the first mission has been cleared. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable entry Coin100CometOceanRingGalaxy defines condition 1 as 3. This means that the Purple Comet for Sea Slide Galaxy will only appear after the third mission has been cleared. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Progress checks § GameEventFlagTable entry Coin100CometOceanRingGalaxy defines condition 1 as 3. This means that the Purple Comet for Sea Slide Galaxy will only appear after the third mission has been cleared. Luma's Workshop (English). Retrieved September 29, 2025.
