Sky Station Galaxy

Sky Station Galaxy is a galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2. The level is the introductory stage of the game, taking place before Mario lands on Starship Mario. Mario is launched into the galaxy from Peach's Castle. After flying through a series of clouds, Mario eventually lands on a disc-shaped planetoid. The galaxy introduces the player to the gravity-based gameplay and spherical planets of Super Mario Galaxy 2. This is one of the few galaxies in the game in which different background music is used for the first and second missions.



Planets
NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all names are unofficial.

Starting Planet


This is the starting planet for most missions in this galaxy. It is a round, small planet divided into two sides by a big white fence; a light side and a dark side (like the Starting Planet from the Good Egg Galaxy in the first game). On the light side, there are several bushes with Star Bits and Coins and several Goombas as enemies along with a big house that belongs to Yoshi. A note on the door asks Mario to come around back. Also on the top side of the planet are two Warp Pipes, one green and one orange. The orange one will lead Mario into a cage with a 1-Up Mushroom while the green one will lead him to the darker side of the planet.

The darker side is mainly a ring of dirt with numerous crystals and Goombas all around. In the middle of the ring is a giant mound of dirt with a crystal on top which, when broken, reveals a hole leading back to the top of Yoshi's House. In the second mission of the galaxy, there are also Small Chomps rolling in circles around the darker side of the planet.

Green Hill Planet
The Green Hill Planet is a large planet covered in grass. It is home to many Octoombas. The planet has one path going through it which a Luma leads Mario through. There are, however, outcroppings with different things such as an Octoomba, a ? Coin and a teleporter which are just off of the path. Yellow platforms which rise into the air and then disappear are introduced on this planet; they will reappear at the bottom again after they have disappeared. At the end of the planet, the Luma that was leading the player will turn into a Launch Star and sends them to the Miniature Planets.

Miniature Planets
The Miniature Planets are three spherical planets floating together. The first planet has several coins and is covered in grass and flowers. The second is covered in gray sand and has a Sling Star which sends the player in a figure 8 pattern around the Miniature Planets. There is another Sling Star along the path of the first sling star and if Mario spins while in the range of the second sling star, he will get a ? Coin. However, if he misses it, he will land on the third Miniature Planet and not be able to come back, unless he performs a backflip from the bottom of the planet and then spins. The third miniature planet is covered in dirt with a few rocks and coins and a Launch Star to the Cylindrical Planet.

Cylindrical Planet
The Cylindrical Planet is a grass-covered area surrounded by four black holes and has train-like platforms encircling it. The path is littered with mud that will slow the player down and has several Paragoombas all along. The beginning of the planet has a Checkpoint Flag and then leads down a path to a large moving stone platform going around the circle of the planet. It is possible to get a 1-Up Mushroom by staying on this platform all the way around. When the player gets off, they will have to make it through a few more Paragoombas before reaching the next moving stone platform which, if they stay on it, gives them a Comet Medal. The player will then be able to travel through a final stretch of Paragoombas and get to a Luma which will become a Launch Star to the Sided Planet.

During the speed run, the Paragoombas are replaced by the more aggressive Octoombas.

Two-Sided Planet
This planet has a flat shape with a light side and a dark side. Both sides have a set of steps; the steps on the dark side are made of stone and the ground is brown. There is an Octoomba guarding a Life Mushroom and a checkpoint flag which the player can touch. The steps on the lighter side are covered in grass and there are Octoombas on each step along with a couple of coins for the player to get. There is a Launch Star at the top which leads to the Peewee Piranha Planet.

Peewee Piranha Planet
The Peewee Piranha Planet is a brown planet with several crystals that contain coins strewn around it. It is similar to the Dino Geo Planet from the Good Egg Galaxy in the first game. However, instead of Dino Piranha, Peewee Piranha is battled here. Peewee is in a gigantic egg on the planet when the player lands there and must defeat it.

Sky Fleet Ship
The Sky Fleet Ship appears in the second mission and it is a cylindrical, transparent planet. The interior of the ship has several platforms, similar to the Pill Planet in the first game. The ship has a conical nose with a propeller at the tip. Banzai Bill Cannons launch Banzai Bills toward the player as they travel across the planet's glassy outside. A Rainbow Star is on the surface of the ship. Inside, there is platforming to be done and there is a warp pad and Launch Star inside.

In the first trailer of the game, this planet had a lighter coloration.

Flipswitch Fleet Planet
This planet is covered with Flipswitch Panels. Here, the player must activate all Flipswitch Panels while avoiding Banzai Bills being shot out of the cannon. This will cause the second section to appear. In the second section, Cosmic Clones will appear and chase the player as they activate the next set of Flipswitch Panels. Once all the Flipswitch Panels have been activated, the Cosmic Clones will disappear and the Launch Star to the next planet is revealed.

Grass Fleet Planet
There are three more Banzai Bill Cannons on this planet, and mud that makes the player slower if they traverse over it. There is a long platform on one side, and at the end of it is a Prickly Piranha Plant that the player has to defeat in order to get a key to open a cage containing a Power Star.

Green Star 1
The first Green Star is found during the Peewee Piranha's Temper Tantrum mission. This Green Star is located on the Starting Planet. The player should circle around Yoshi's House until they spot it. It is suspended in mid-air so the player will either have to backflip, Double Jump, or Wall Jump to reach it.

Alternatively, the player can jump into the green pipe to the bottom side of the planet, destroy the crystal, and jump into the hole and exit out on top of Yoshi's House. From there they can walk off the edge to retrieve the Star.
 * Planets Visited

Green Star 2
The second Green Star is located near the Green Hill Planet, in the abyss beyond the Launch Star. It is placed just before the Launch Star, over the fence of the platform. The player has to simply leap over the fence and land on the Green Star to collect it.
 * Planets Visited

Green Star 3
The player will redo the Storming the Sky Fleet mission. The last Green Star is located on the Sky Fleet Ship over the teleporter near the end of the planet. The player must either do a backwards somersault off the teleporter and do a wall jump, or stand on the last rotating platform and jump onto the star.
 * Planets Visited

Prima Official Game Guide description

 * "Sky Station Galaxy is composed of several small planetoids and a massive battle station. Most planets are host to some nasty little characters. It's also a great place to get used to using Launch Stars and learning how gravity holds you to planetoids in some situations but not in others. General rule: If the planet edge is round, you can walk around to the other side of the planet. If it is a squared edge, you'll fall into space."

Other appearances
The Sky Station appears in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games as the location of the Dream Spacewalk event. The starting planet, the sided planet, and the mine cart planet appear, as well as miniature planets. It has a changed name of "Synchro Battle Galaxy." Peewee Piranha's boss planet also appears here as a planet for Dino Piranha.

Music
The music used for the first mission of this galaxy is a variation of the main theme of Super Mario Galaxy 2, "Theme of SMG2", which is not heard in-game but rather in the game's Nintendo Media Summit trailer and has been arranged in different styles many times throughout the game. Some of these instances include the title screen of the game, while gliding with Fluzzard in the Wild Glide Galaxy, the main theme in the Freezy Flake Galaxy, secret Chance Cube areas hidden in many galaxies and on Starship Mario, and part of the ending credits of the game. It was also used in the E3 2009 trailer of the game. The music used for the second mission is also used when Starship Mario moves to a new world for the first time.

The theme can also be heard in later games. A portion of it is arranged and used in Cloudtop Cruise's music in Mario Kart 8. The original music along with "Theme of SMG2" can also be played on the Mario Galaxy stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and on any Super Mario stage except Mario Kart-themed stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Trivia

 * According to the 2010 Tips and Tricks book, the Comet Medal was mistakenly on a rotating platform in the Sky Fleet Ship during the second mission.