Chance Cube

A Chance Cube is an item that appears in the Wii game Super Mario Galaxy 2. They are found in numerous level of each galaxy and on Starship Mario. Chance Cubes are depicted as a cube with images of a 1-Up Mushroom, a Coin, a Star Bit, and an emblem of Bowser's face. When stationary, it just floats in place.

When Mario hits it, the cube flies back and land in a similar fashion to a Dice Block. Whatever image is face up determines what Mario will earn. However, even through what will appear is random, they are almost all good things. The exception is the Goomba, which will appear if the Bowser emblem is showing; but even then, it is not a total loss, for it will give a coin when stomped on or three Star Bits when stunned and kicked, which is worth more than just earning one star bit if it lands on a star bit.

If a 1-Up Mushroom is shown, Mario earns a 1-Up Mushroom. If a coin is depicted, Mario wins 10 coins. If a Star Bit is depicted, Mario earns a single Star Bit. However, if the Bowser emblem shows up, a Goomba appears. There is also Lumalee in Starship Mario found in a Warp Pipe next to the ship's "ear" once certain tasks are complete. This allows Mario to feed 30 Star Bits to the Luma to roll a Chance Cube that can give up to five 1-Up Mushrooms at once.

Later on, there is another cube that allows Mario to roll five for 100 coins for a chance to win up to 25 1-Up Mushrooms. The Chance Cubes on Starship Mario have no sides with a Bowser Emblem or a coin. There is a chance that the player either get a Star Bit, one, three or five 1-Up Mushrooms. The Co-Star Luma can also spin Chance Cubes. Rolling into one as Rock Mario, burning it with a fireball as Fire Mario, hitting it with a Double Kick, with shooting one with a Star Bit, also activates it. Riding Yoshi and doing a spin attack also activates the Chance Cube.

Trivia

 * While it is possible to use star bits in NTSC versions to activate Chance Cubes, it does not work in the PAL versions of the game.
 * When rolled, the player will hear a snare drum roll, ended by a cymbal crash once it has landed on an image. The longer it takes for the picture to reveal (an example such as when it's rolling down a big hill), the longer the snare drum roll sound will be, and later the cymbal crash is heard. But the faster it reveals, the shorter the sound, and the sooner the cymbal crash sound is heard. Sometimes a few snare drum beats can be heard when spinning multiple chance cubes, during the drum roll sound.
 * The Super Mario Galaxy 2 Prima Guide calls the Chance Cubes found in galaxies Lucky Cubes.