Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D action-adventure platform game for the Wii, first released in Japan on November 1, 2007. It is the eleventh entry in the Super Mario series, the third 3D platformer, and the first of what would be recognized in retrospect as the "course clear-style" games of the series. In this game, the player controls Mario in outer space, moving across spherical planetoids with their own centers of gravity. The levels are more linear than those found in its 3D predecessors Super Mario 64 (1996) and Super Mario Sunshine (2002). Similar to prior games, Mario collects Power Stars to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, who is trying to establish his own galaxy at the center of the universe. Mario is aided by Luigi, a brigade of Toads, star-shaped creatures called Lumas, and a mysterious woman named Rosalina. The save data description for the game is "Launch into a cosmic adventure!"

Upon its release, Super Mario Galaxy was met with critical acclaim and commercial success. It received various awards and accolades, including from the, the , and the. It has sold 12.8 million copies, making it the ninth-best-selling Wii game. It was rereleased in 2011 under the Nintendo Selects branding for having sold so well. It is one of the few Wii titles to have been ported to the console in 2018. A port of the game with upscaled graphics was included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars alongside Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine on September 18, 2020, to correspond with the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (1985). After its original release, a dedicated sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, was developed and released for the Wii on May 22, 2010.

Super Mario Galaxy has gone on to be considered one of the and a masterpiece.

Story
From the instruction booklet Every hundred years, a huge comet flies by in the skies above the Mushroom Kingdom. One year, that comet filled the entire sky, and from it fell a stream of shooting stars. The Toads scooped up the Star Bits and brought them to the castle, where they were reborn as a great Power Star. It was a happy time in the Mushroom Kingdom. Then one night Mario received a letter...

Dear Mario, I'll be waiting for you at the castle on the night of the Star Festival. There's something I'd like to give you. From Peach

With invitation in hand, Mario headed off to the castle just as the Star Festival was getting into full swing. Surrounded by Toads gleefully trying to catch falling Star Bits, Mario was looking forward to the night's festivities.

But then, something happened... Every century, on the eve of the Star Festival, a comet passes over the Mushroom Kingdom and causes stars to fall to the planet below. Princess Peach invites Mario to her castle to join in the festivities and receive a special gift. As Mario arrives in the Castle Gardens, Bowser suddenly attacks the Toads with his airships and encases them in crystals. He "invites" Peach to the creation of his brand new galaxy and uses a UFO to lift the castle off the ground and carry it to the center of the universe, taking her and two Toads with it. Mario manages to reach the castle just before it is taken into outer space, but before he can get to Peach, Kamek suddenly appears and casts a spell at him, knocking him off the castle and deep into space. An apricot-colored Luma, whom Peach was carrying before her abduction, flees to look for Mario before Kamek uses another spell to warp the castle away.

Mario is awoken by the apricot-colored Luma on a small, grassy planet. Here, he meets other Lumas and Rosalina, a mysterious woman who acts as the protector of the galaxies and the mother of the Lumas. She tells Mario that her ship, the Comet Observatory, had its Power Stars stolen by Bowser. Without them, the Comet Observatory is unable to move through space. Rosalina asks him to reclaim her Power Stars and offers to help rescue Peach and defeat Bowser in exchange. To help him on his quest, Rosalina gives Mario the apricot-colored Luma, who grants Mario the ability to spin and travel through space. Together, they travel to various galaxies in opened domes to obtain Power Stars. Once a mission is completed in one galaxy, Mario collects a Power Star and unlocks the next mission. Most domes contain five galaxies. Once Mario has collected enough Power Stars, the next galaxy in the current dome is an enemy base, where the Grand Stars, which are larger and more powerful versions of Power Stars, would be in the possession of either Bowser or Bowser Jr.. Rescuing a Grand Star unlocks the next dome, and when enough Power Stars are collected, the Comet Observatory is able to take Mario to the center of the universe.

After arriving at and traversing through Bowser's brand new galaxy, Mario defeats him, retrieves the last Grand Star, and rescues Peach. Just as they are about to leave, however, a large sun in Bowser's near-complete galaxy undergoes a supernova and becomes a supermassive black hole, which begins pulling in everything in sight. The Lumas from the Comet Observatory, including the apricot-colored Luma, throw themselves into the black hole in order to neutralize it, and it soon evaporates in a massive explosion. Mario appears in front of Rosalina, who saves him from the cataclysm and tells him that this is not the end, but a new beginning for the universe, which repeats its cycle indefinitely and slightly different across each repetition.

Mario later awakens in the Mushroom Kingdom near Peach's Castle, where he witnesses the various friends and foes he met throughout his adventure celebrating together. He then notices Bowser and Peach lying next to him as they begin to stir. When he looks into the sky, he notices a newborn galaxy and hears Rosalina's words echoing in his mind. Mario stands up and exclaims, "Welcome! Welcome new galaxy!" as the camera pans out into space, revealing the reconstructed universe. After 120 Power Stars have been collected, a special cutscene plays after the staff roll: Rosalina thanks the player and says, "I will watch over you from beyond the stars," before flying off with the Comet Observatory. Alone in the rubble left by the supermassive black hole, an apricot-colored Luma appears behind a decrepit starship. This alludes to the idea of how the universe repeats itself. The events of the past will carry out anew, with the lost apricot Luma searching for its mother.

Gameplay
The player controls Mario, who platforms mainly on spherical planetoids, and he completes levels by collecting Power Stars. His jumping actions allow him to hop between platforms and stomp enemies. Most enemies that cannot be stomped on can be taken out or dazed with a spin, a move new to the series. Rather than performed with button inputs, shaking the Wii Remote makes Mario spin. In addition to taking out enemies, spinning makes Mario engage switches, parry certain attacks, skate on ice, throw held objects, and perform an extra small jump in the air. Several actions in Super Mario Galaxy are not strictly tied to button inputs and are instead performed by shaking, tilting, or rotating the remote. The game's camera organically pans across levels, but the player can manually angle it with. Pressing centers the camera behind Mario and pressing  enters a first-person perspective.

There are scenarios in the game that change what button inputs do. In some missions, Mario rides on top of a Rolling Ball, surfs on the back of a manta ray, or travels through the air in a giant bubble. Power-ups change his appearance and give him a unique set of abilities in place of his usual ones (see below). While in water, Mario can swim. Pressing makes him dive. Pressing makes Mario perform a breaststroke, propelling him forward. Pointing the Wii Remote at the screen makes an on-screen reticle appear called the Star Pointer. It gives the player a way to engage with the game that is not tied to Mario. Passively moving the Star Pointer over Star Bits, small colorful objects, automatically collects them. Pressing fires a Star Bit from the pointer. There are non-playable characters called Hungry Lumas that transform into new levels when shot at with Star Bits - their source of food. Most enemies become dazed when shot by a Star Bit. Mario kicks a stunned enemy just by making contact with it, defeating it and releasing collectible Star Bits.

Mario's health is represented by a three-segemented life meter. Receiving damage removes one section, and losing all makes him lose a life. Collecting a Life Mushroom replenishes any lost health and adds a second health meter, giving Mario a total of six bars. If Mario is reduced to three bars again, the second meter permanently disappears and the effect of the Life Mushroom is lost. He does not take damage by falling from high areas, a departure from proceeding 3D games. While underwater, he gains an air meter that decreases and starts to deplete Mario's normal life meter when it hits zero.

Most levels are clusters of small planetary bodies with their own centers of gravity, causing Mario to organically bend around them as he moves or jumps. Not all planetary bodies are spherical, but they at least have rounded edges to compliment the concept. Planets with sharp edges only have one gravitational plane, like the courses in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. Mario will fall and lose a life if he jumps off the edges of these planets. Some planetoids are so close to each other that Mario can simply jump between them, but others are very distant. In most cases, he can reach them by using Launch Stars, yellow objects that fire Mario through the sky. The levels in the game can be accessed by domes scattered across the Comet Observatory, the game's hub world. For more detail on level structure, galaxies, and the hub, see "Locations" below.

Co-Star Mode
The game has a multiplayer mode called Co-Star Mode. Connecting a second Wii Remote allows another player (P2) to join in and assist the first one (P1) by controlling a second Star Pointer. There are a number of actions that are available only to the second player. When Co-Star Mode is active, "1P " appears below Player 1's Star Pointer, and "2P " appears below Player 2's Star Pointer to help differentiate between them. Like the first player, P2 can collect Star Bits and fire them at enemies to briefly stun them. When P2 directs their Star Pointer at Mario and presses, he performs a unique action called the Co-Star Super Jump. Combining both jump techniques can make Mario jump higher than when controlled with only one controller. This works in midair, but it can be done only once before the player touches a horizontal surface.

Luigi
Completing "The Fate of the Universe" after 120 Power Stars have been collected allows the player to replay the entire game as Mario's brother, Luigi, who otherwise appears as a non-playable character that assists Mario. Luigi can jump higher than him but has worse traction, making him skid. He also runs slightly faster than Mario but takes longer to reach top speed. Luigi loses air faster while underwater and loses a chunk of air every time he spins underwater. Cosmic Luigi, one of the rival characters, is more challenging than Cosmic Mario, and Luigi receives twenty 1-Up Mushrooms from Princess Peach instead of Mario's usual five (although if Luigi's life counter is too high, he only receives five). Outside of these changes, the storyline is almost completely unchanged and even includes the original NPC Luigi, who will now react with confusion at seeing a copy of himself. When the player collect 120 Power Stars and replays "The Fate of the Universe", Grand Finale Galaxy becomes available for both Mario and Luigi, allowing the 121st Power Star to be collected by each of them.

This mode is referred to by Rosalina as "another world". In the Japanese version, she describes it as the world where Mario may come across his alternate self who is not him.

Controls
When playing on a Wii or Wii U console by oneself (P1), the game requires one to use the Wii Remote attached to the Nunchuk. If the player attempts to access the game without the Nunchuk attached, it will prompt the player to do so before proceeding. One will not be able to access the rest of the game unless they do so. In Co-Star Mode, the second player (P2) is not required to have the Nunchuk attached to their Wii Remote but it still must be held vertically.

The controller for the has a more conventional layout, cannot display a pointer on screen, and lacks the same motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii Remote. To compensate, actions that originally involved shaking the Wii Remote are performed by pressing the X button. Actions involving the Star Pointer are instead performed with the right analog stick. In Co-Star Mode, both analog sticks can be used to control the Star Pointer. The original tilt controls in the game is also replaced by the regular left analog stick control.

For the control scheme of the iteration included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Nintendo Switch systems, click here.

Setting
Super Mario Galaxy is set in outer space. With the exception of Grand Finale Galaxy, which is Princess Peach's Castle Gardens in the Mushroom Kingdom, all levels, which are referred to in the game as "galaxies", are staged on worlds far removed from Mario's home planet. This is the first entry in the series to explicitly include an outer space setting since Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) and the first time it has been realized by Nintendo EAD, the studio responsible for most of the proceeding Super Mario games. A galaxy is an isolated cluster of small planets and other planetary bodies. Some are shaped like spheres, but many are not. Most planets have their own gravitational pull, which prevents Mario from falling down bottomless pits and enables him to return to his starting position as long as he keeps moving forward. Mario's movement, physics, and trajectory bend organically around a planet's shape. Because they have their own pull and are usually close to each other, most planets can be directly traveled between just by jumping. More distant planets can be reached via objects called Launch Stars and Pull Stars. Not all planets have their own unique gravity: some are shaped like the more traditional courses of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. These planets have only one gravitational plane, which is communicated by sharp edges and steep drops along their sides. Planets that have their own gravity, even if they are not spheres, have rounded edges. Some planets are on two-dimensional planes and Mario's movement options are restricted accordingly (i.e. when Mario is on a 2D side-scrolling plane, the player cannot tilt down towards the z-axis to make him fall off the side).

The theme of space is communicated in various ways throughout Super Mario Galaxy. Many galaxies include distant asteroid belts or views of massive, unreachable planets orbiting suns that peak over their horizons. Depending on the distance from the game's camera, the light from a visible sun retracts, mimicking the behavior of real sunlight. The skyboxes of the galaxies feature nebulas, auroras, and starry skies. Three-dimensional objects, including Mario himself, exhibit a soft glow in certain positions as if struck by the light from distant stars. In many galaxies, black holes are present in place of bottomless pits. Super Mario Galaxy includes some motifs associated with science fiction, such as humanoid robots, fortified battle facilities, UFOs, and starships. Much of the game's setting includes whimsical, tranquil, and surreal elements comparable to those found in children's books. Locations are reached via a palace-like starship called the Comet Observatory, the game's. It is overseen by a princess named Rosalina and is a nursery for spacefaring star children called Lumas. In lieu of aliens, the people found living in the galaxies include Star Bunnies, Honeybees, and penguins. Star Bits, small collectibles that fall from the sky like shooting stars, resemble and can be fed to the Lumas. There are planets and entire galaxies that look like desserts.

According to director Yoshiaki Koizumi, the primary goal behind Super Mario Galaxy was to create a Super Mario game with spherical worlds. It was thought that these worlds would make it less likely for players to get disoriented or have to reposition the camera. These were issues he observed during the development of Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), and Super Mario Sunshine that prevented complete immersion and intimidated inexperienced players. The decision to stage the game in outer space was made because the development team thought that the spherical worlds would most intuitively make sense as planets. In 2017, a figure was released by Nintendo that conveys that Super Mario Galaxy is structurally viewed as a different type of 3D Super Mario game from its immediate predecessors – the "sandbox-style" games Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. Nintendo aligns it with the succeeding games Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), Super Mario 3D Land (2011), and Super Mario 3D World (2013) as a more linear, "course clear-style" game. However, many of the levels in Super Mario Galaxy are structured similarly to the ones in its predecessors, particularly in the robust six-mission galaxies and the large planets that do not have their own centers of gravity. The principals of the "sandbox-style" games derive from hakoniwa, or "box gardens", and Koizumi directly cites them as an influence behind the worlds in Super Mario Galaxy as well.

Galaxies
Galaxies are accessed inside of domes on the Comet Observatory. They are spatially distributed across the hub, similar to the access points for levels in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. However, with the exception of the Garden, each dome contains a set of five different galaxies instead of just one dedicated course. Domes are unlocked unilaterally as the player completes certain criteria. These make the domes analogous to the worlds of the 2D Super Mario games like Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988). However, as in its 3D predecessors, the player is not restricted to linear course progression in Super Mario Galaxy.

Each galaxy contains objectives referred to as missions. Completing a mission has Mario acquire one of the galaxy's Power Stars, the same tokens used in Super Mario 64 for unlocking levels. One mission correlates with one Power Star. The start of each mission has a brief cinematic preview of the galaxy that hints at the location of the Power Star, as was similarly done in Super Mario Sunshine. Once a specified number of Power Stars has been accumulated, a new galaxy becomes unlockable at the player's discretion. Only half of the Power Stars in the game are required for progression. The minimum number of Power Stars needed to access the game's final level is 60 out of the game's total of 120. Consequently, completing as many missions as possible within one dome can result in all of the galaxies within the next dome being immediately unlockable upon entry.

At the center of every dome is a Pull Star that, upon being entered, brings Mario to an interactive selection screen of all the dome's galaxies, which all orbit around the Pull Star (the ; see right). The display is directly comparable to models of solar systems, with each galaxy following a circular trajectory around the Pull Star. The distance of these orbital lines from the Pull Star has a positive correlation with the number of Power Stars required to unlock the galaxies and a negative correlation with the number of missions available within them. As such, the galaxies closest to the origin typically have the greatest number of missions and require the lowest number of Power Stars to unlock, while the galaxies furthest from the origin contain the fewest missions and require the highest number of Power Stars to unlock. Using the Terrace as an example, a dome contains three different types of galaxies:
 * "Robust galaxies" that contain at least six missions. They either feature a high number of visitable planets or a small selection of large ones to explore. The missions build off of each other environmentally or narratively, meaning that the events that occur in one mission foreshadow the events of the subsequent mission. Two or more of the six missions typically involve a boss battle. Most domes contain two or three of these galaxies, and they are all listed together on the first page of the in-game Star List. They are the only galaxies orbited by Prankster Comets. The robust galaxies of the Terrace are Good Egg Galaxy and Honeyhive Galaxy.
 * "Mystery galaxies" that each contain one mission. Before being unlocked, they are represented by course preview models shaped like ? Blocks. These galaxies are highly distinctive in theme and mission. Some of them entail minigames like ray surfing or ball rolling. Others are athletic obstacle courses. Mystery galaxies usually require completing a certain mission in another galaxy in addition to accumulating a specific number of Power Stars to unlock. Each dome contains one or two mystery galaxies. In the Terrace, they are Loopdeeloop Galaxy and Flipswitch Galaxy.
 * "Boss galaxies" that each contain one mission. They feature linear obstacle courses that lead to a boss battle. Half of them involve Bowser Jr., either directly or as the inciter for another boss (such as Megaleg or King Kaliente) to face Mario. The other half feature Bowser himself. With the exception of the Garden, each dome contains one boss galaxy and it is always on the dome's outermost ring. These galaxies have the highest or second-highest Power Star threshold, and completing the mission in these galaxies is a criterion needed to unlock a subsequent dome and is required for game progression. The preview model in orbit resembles a bust of Bowser's head with glowing eyes. The boss galaxy in the Terrace is Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor.

Certain galaxies can be accessed outside of the domes. With the exception of Gateway Galaxy, these ones can also be categorized as mystery or boss galaxies. Most of them are unlocked by feeding Hungry Lumas a requested number of Star Bits. These Lumas appear on the Comet Observatory once certain criteria are met within the dome galaxies (as seen in the chart below). There is a Hungry Luma associated with every dome, essentially functioning as an extra level for each one. A tiny house called the Gate rests on a grassy platform orbiting the observatory. It grants Mario access to Gateway Galaxy. This galaxy is the first level of the game, but it can only be revisited via the Gate once "King Kaliente's Spicy Return" is completed. Though it is not a dome, there is a Hungry Luma associated with it as well. A planetoid called the Planet of Trials orbits the observatory and has three galaxies of its own. It becomes reachable once all three of the secret Green Power Stars have been collected. A Launch Star leading to Grand Finale Galaxy appears here after the player has collected 120 Power Stars as both Mario and Luigi. Bowser's Galaxy Reactor is only reachable by speaking to Rosalina after 60 Power Stars have been collected.

Mario encounters his brother in four galaxies: Good Egg Galaxy, Honeyhive Galaxy, Battlerock Galaxy, and Ghostly Galaxy. In Ghostly Galaxy, Luigi is at the end of the mission "Luigi and the Haunted Mansion" and gives Mario a Power Star when reached. After Luigi is rescued, he appears in the observatory and offers to help Mario collect Power Stars. Whenever Luigi visits a galaxy, he gets stuck and sends a letter to Mario asking for help, with each letter including a picture that hints at his location. Finding him within a galaxy awards Mario with a secret Power Star.

There are 42 dedicated galaxies in the game. Of this total, 15 are robust galaxies, 20 are mystery galaxies, and 6 are boss galaxies. If the Comet Observatory, its library, and its domes are considered individual levels, then the true total number is 50. Some galaxies have tiny otherworldly subareas reached via pipes that contain an interactive side objective. If each of these areas were to be considered levels as well, then the true number is even higher. The chart below lists the galaxies of the game roughly as they are listed on the Star List. Each galaxy is given a brief description, an in-game screenshot, and a list of their missions. There is a legend at the bottom of the chart detailing what the symbols used in it represent.

Prankster Comets
Prankster Comets are objects that interfere with a galaxy by either altering its attributes or giving it a new one. All 30 of the Comet Stars are obtained by completing special missions in the robust galaxies, namely speed runs, in which the Power Star must be reached within a given time limit; "daredevil" runs, in which Mario is defeated if he takes a single hit; races against Cosmic Mario; and missions in which the speed of enemies and obstacles is doubled. These only appear after the corresponding normal mission (e.g. Ghostly Galaxy's "Beware of Bouldergeist") is completed, either immediately or at a later point in the game. In some cases, such as in Space Junk Galaxy, all normal missions within a galaxy must first be completed before a comet can appear. Prankster Comets appear and disappear every other time a mission is completed, meaning that if a mission is completed while a Prankster Comet is active, all Prankster Comets disappear until a second mission is beaten. There are two Prankster Comets in each of the 15 robust galaxies: one of the comet types just described, plus a Purple Comet where Mario must collect 100 Purple Coins. These comets only begin to appear after "The Fate of the Universe" is completed at least once. The location and selection of Prankster Comets that appear can be manipulated by feeding Comet Tico 20 Star Bits.

The Comet Observatory
The Comet Observatory is the hub world of the game. It is a bridge between domes and serves as a place for the player to rest in between missions. It is a sprawling structure similar to a palace, with a tall central spire and ornamental architecture. These attributes visually make it reminiscent of Princess Peach's Castle, the hub of Super Mario 64. The core of the observatory is a comet called the beacon that is fueled by Power Stars. The beacon is what allows the Comet Observatory to travel through space, but it remains in orbit around Mario's home planet throughout most of the game. The observatory has two extraplanetary satellites: the Planet of Trials and a grassy platform that holds the Gate. The platform is directly anchored to the observatory via Warp Pads, unlike the Planet of Trials.

Including Gateway Galaxy, there are nine galaxies that can be directly accessed from the Comet Observatory, six of which come from the Hungry Lumas affiliated with each dome. Unlike the hub worlds of Super Mario Galaxy's predecessors, there are no hidden Power Stars directly found on the observatory, though accessing the Planet of Trials, entering the Gate, and the arrival of Hungry Lumas are framed similarly. Five 1-Up Mushrooms are hidden in the observatory. Most of the observatory is obscured by darkness when Mario first arrives due to the abduction of its Power Stars, leaving the Terrace as the only accessible room. As Mario collects Power Stars, energy is restored to the observatory and new areas become lit to convey that they are now accessible. Throughout the Comet Observatory are several Warp Pads, which can be used to quickly reach adjacent locations on the hub. A Red Star appears above the Bedroom once Mario completes "Gateway's Purple Coins". Touching it transforms him into Flying Mario and allows him to freely soar through the skies of the observatory. Mario cannot take damage while on the observatory and is safely returned to solid ground if he falls off its edge.

The Comet Observatory is a nursery ground for Lumas, who are cared for by Rosalina and treated as if they were her children. As light is restored to the observatory, more and more Lumas appear. The Comet Observatory was built by Rosalina during her childhood with an apricot-colored Luma. Over time, as more Lumas arrived and needed care, she expanded its size. The Comet Observatory visits Mario's home world once every hundred years, which is celebrated in the Mushroom Kingdom as the Star Festival. When the beacon is at its maximum size, Rosalina can make the observatory fold into the shape of a rocket ship and soar through the space like a comet. The domes are framed as an extension of the observatory that provide a view of the cosmos. Each one is themed around rooms in a house, such as a bedroom, kitchen, and so on. There are two locations similar in concept that are not domes on the observatory: the garage and the library. The garage is framed as an intergalactic repair shop that starships can dock to. This is where the Toad Brigade and Luigi establish themselves once "Bee Mario Takes Flight" and "Luigi and the Haunted Mansion", respectively, are completed.

The library is a closed off space behind the beacon that becomes accessible once "The Fiery Stronghold" is completed. Although it is entered like a dome, the library does not contain any galaxies or tangible incentives for visiting it, and as such, the player is never required to enter it. This is where Rosalina reads a storybook to the Lumas. New chapters become available as Mario collects more Power Stars. The book details her personal backstory, the history of the Comet Observatory, and provides insight into the past of the apricot-colored Luma that travels with Mario. This part of the game was created by Yoshiaki Koizumi and included at the discretion of Shigeru Miyamoto. Rosalina's Story is noted for its heartfelt and melancholy elements. The illustrations on the pages have been likened to .

Non-playable characters
With the exception of Princess Peach, Toads, and penguins, all of the characters encountered by the player are completely new to the Super Mario franchise. Most characters are met within galaxies, although Rosalina, the Toad Brigade, and the Lumas are found on the Comet Observatory. In addition to the characters listed below, Yoshi has a cameo in Space Junk Galaxy and can be set as the file select icon for the player's saved file. Miis can also be set as the file select icon, marking their first appearance in a Super Mario game.

Enemies and obstacles
Roughly ninety enemies are in Super Mario Galaxy. Including bosses and obstacles, there are over one hundred. Most enemies Mario defeats drop coins if stomped on or Star Bits if spun into. If an enemy is actively tracking Mario, it usually stop briefly after successfully causing damage, allowing the player time to recover before responding. Some enemies, such as Piranha Plants, laugh at Mario when they successfully land a hit.

About fifty of the enemies and varieties in Super Mario Galaxy are wholly new to the series. Some of them are incorporated into subsequent Super Mario games or have inspired staple elements. Notable groups include: octopus creatures called Electrogoombas, of which several varieties fire rocks; mechanical, spinning enemies called Topmen; and stationary enemies that discharge rings of electricity called Beamers. Though some enemies look like robots, there are no enemies visually comparable to the typical alien designs found in science fiction. Some of the new enemies are derivative of creatures that appeared in earlier Super Mario games in both design and behavior, with a particular focus on Super Mario 64. Some of them even resemble recurring enemies in The Legend of Zelda series, such as bats (which resemble Keeses) and the Electrogoombas (which resemble Octoroks). The Japanese name for Rocto directly derives from the name "Octorok".

Super Mario Galaxy makes use of the Super Mario series' back catalog of enemies. This game represents the first instance that some of these enemies were ever integrated into a 3D platformer. There are enemies in Super Mario Galaxy that, with the exception of re-releases or remakes, never appeared outside of their debut titles. The enemies that are incorporated contrast greatly with the ones in the previous 3D Super Mario game, a title that made a conservative use of past enemies and introduced ones that largely never appeared again.

Bosses
Bosses are listed in the order that they are first encountered.

Items
Collectibles, pickups, and launchable objects.

Power-ups
Items that transform Mario's appearance and give him unique abilities.

Music
The majority of the music in Super Mario Galaxy was composed and arranged by Mahito Yokota, who penned the entirety of the soundtrack for Nintendo EAD Tokyo's first title, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004). Longtime series composer Koji Kondo contributed four tracks himself and mentored Yokota in developing a sound appropriate for the title. It is the first Super Mario game to feature a fully orchestrated soundtrack. The game's performed at the Sound Inn Studios in  and consisted of roughly fifty members dubbed the "Mario Galaxy Orchestra". Koji Haishima, who had conducted pieces from Square Enix's ' series and Capcom's ' series, served as conductor. Some of the pieces are orchestral arrangements of Kondo's compositions from Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario 64.

Yokota was professionally trained in orchestral composition and championed the use of an orchestra to producer Shigeru Miyamoto during the game's development. He was met with reluctance due to the anticipated expenses and the thought that it would detract from the player's immersion, which is why live instrumentation had seen only occasional use in prior Nintendo games. It was ultimately decided that a live orchestra would be appropriate for Super Mario Galaxy after Yokota spent three months trying to develop the best sound with little success. Based on the music of prior titles in the series, Yokota's first attempts derived from and. Though approved by director Yoshiaki Koizumi, Kondo was displeased. When Yokota presented his work to him, he said, "Yokota-san, if somewhere in your mind you have an image that Mario is cute, please get rid of it... Mario is cool." This experience and the strenuous three months of work briefly made Yokota consider leaving the project. A musical direction was definitively established when Yokota presented Miyamoto with three pieces – one orchestral, one a mix of orchestral and pop, and one entirely pop – and asked which he felt was the best style for Super Mario Galaxy. Miyamoto chose the fully orchestrated one, remarking that it sounded "the most space-like". This piece, titled "Egg Planet", was penned by Koji Kondo. It accompanied the game's debut trailer during E3 2006 and is incorporated as the level theme for Good Egg Galaxy in the final product. Miyamoto's preference for it is what allowed Yokota to find his sound.

Mahito Yokota composed roughly thirty pieces for Super Mario Galaxy and oversaw their recording at Sound Inn. Unlike most orchestras, a metronome was used during recording sessions that was set to a tempo adjacent to Mario's running speed. He did this because he did not want the music to sound like a passive background element – he wanted it to sound like an organic part of the game. Another major way this was accomplished was with the music itself being an influenceable element. For example, there are three variations of "Rosalina in the Observatory", the that plays on the Comet Observatory. The first variation is what plays in the earliest portion of the game, when many areas are inaccessible and the observatory is largely cast in shadow. This variation is simplistic in orchestration. As the player accumulates more Power Stars and more areas on the Comet Observatory become accessible to the player, the variation that plays is progressively more richly orchestrated. Within the levels themselves, unique sound effects and musical queues correlate with the actions performed by the player in real-time. Sound director Masafumi Kawamura established this by building on what he had integrated in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003) and Jungle Beat, which comparably included instances where the player's actions would influence the music in limited, context-specific instances. In Super Mario Galaxy, the player can influence sound throughout the majority of the game. It was accomplished by synchronizing a stream of the raw recording data from the orchestra with data. This effect enhances the player's sense of rhythm and immersion within the game world.

On January 31, 2008, two soundtracks were made available in Japan through Club Nintendo. One is a standard edition with 28 tracks on a single disc. The other is a "platinum edition" that has 81 tracks across two discs. The platinum edition was released in Europe on the same date. The standard edition eventually saw a localized release in the United States on October 23, 2011 through its inclusion in a Wii console bundle. The platinum edition would not become available in the US until the release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars on September 18, 2020. Select pieces from Super Mario Galaxy are included in Super Mario History 1985-2010 Sound Track CD, Nintendo Sound Selection: Endings & Credits, and The 30th Anniversary Super Mario Bros. Music. Music from Super Mario Galaxy has been rearranged and incorporated into succeeding video games by Nintendo, including Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 (2014), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014), Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014), Super Mario Odyssey (2017), and Super Mario Maker 2 (2019). Film composer incorporated select compositions into melodies he penned for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Music from Super Mario Galaxy has been performed live in concert by the, the , and the.

Staff
Super Mario Galaxy was developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo, a development team established in 2003 that previously developed Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. It is smaller than the Kyoto branch of the same name that developed the majority of the previous Super Mario games and consists of younger, less experienced staff.

Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto conceived of the game and served as one of its producers. Yoshiaki Koizumi, a friend and protégé of Miyamoto who has been involved with the series since Super Mario 64, served as director. This represents the first time he would serve as the sole director of a Super Mario game, after having co-directed Super Mario Sunshine with Kenta Usui. He previously directed Jungle Beat and believed that that game's development allowed the staff of Nintendo EAD Tokyo to get familiar enough with each other to confidently pursue a game as complex as Super Mario Galaxy.

This is the first Super Mario game to feature Bowser's current voice actor, Kenny James.

The staff credits in the Nvidia Shield TV version shows three people in charge of Chinese localization as well as an "iQue testing group". It is possible that the game was fully translated for the iQue Wii release before the console was canceled.

1997-2004: Super Mario 128 and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat


Super Mario Galaxy was developed as a respond to the oversights of 3D game design established by Super Mario 64. That game was one of the first 3D titles ever published and has had a significant foundational influence in how 3D games are made, not just at Nintendo but throughout the entire industry. Despite its influence, there was a feeling amongst some of Nintendo's staff that it caused a divide between people that did not exist during the 2D era of video games. While some people enjoy playing 3D games, there are some who feel that they are too difficult. Yoshiaki Koizumi, who was one of the assistant directors on Super Mario 64, attributes this to overcorrection of the game's controls. He considers the three biggest hurdles in developing a comfortable 3D control interface to be: depth misperception; the ease with which a player can get lost; and motion sickness. The solutions created to mitigate these problems, most significantly camera controls, resulted in systems that were too cumbersome or at least intimidating for players.

After Super Mario 64 was released, Shigeru Miyamoto assembled a team within Nintendo EAD to develop a successor tentatively titled Super Mario 128 that would address this problem in its decade-long development. At, it was presented to the public as a for the Nintendo GameCube. Directed by Koizumi, it has the player control 128 Marios on a saucer-shaped platform that dynamically changes shape over the course of the demo. This iteration of Mario 128 was never released as a full game and parts of it were foundational for other titles such as Pikmin (2001), but Miyamoto did extrapolate the idea of having Mario run around "spherical worlds" from the demo. It was believed that this concept would resolve many of the problems with previous 3D games in deemphasizing the need to control the camera and decreasing the likelihood of the player getting lost. When shared with Koizumi, he agreed this had the potential to become a full game, but was technically near-impossible.

While Super Mario 128 continued to be worked on intermittently, Nintendo published Super Mario Sunshine in 2002 for the GameCube. It was the first entry in the Super Mario series released since Super Mario 64 and shares some elements with it. However, Super Mario Sunshine was assertedly unrelated to Super Mario 128 and was best viewed as a revisitation of Super Mario 64, not a proper successor. Koizumi was one of the co-directors on Super Mario Sunshine and this would be the last 3D-related project he was involved with for several years. He oversaw the integration of a camera system in the game that, in his view, only exasperated the problems of 3D game controls. He came to the perspective that it was too difficult to produce the "perfect 3D control environment" where it was fun to play but not needlessly stressful for the player.

Koizumi's next project was at the newly-formed branch Nintendo EAD Tokyo where he directed Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a 2D action-adventure platformer released in 2004 for the GameCube. The player controls Donkey Kong with the DK Bongos, a controller with fewer input options than the conventional GameCube controller. The experience of directing Jungle Beat made Koizumi realize that one could create a robust action game with only a few button inputs required of the player. They had established what Koizumi calls "contextual binding", where available player actions would be changed depending on context, resulting in more diverse ways of play without increasing the number of buttons. Koizumi also observed that an exaggerated presentation delights bystanders that were not directly playing the game, allowing more people to gain from the experience than just the player. These were concepts he brought to Miyamoto, who was having consistent difficulty working on Super Mario 128 as its sole director. In 2003, before they had started development on Jungle Beat, a staff member expressed interest in making the next Super Mario game. The experience of working together as a team for Jungle Beat made Koizumi realize that this was something they could do. They had the technical skill needed to succeed the struggling Super Mario 128 project and bring Miyamoto's spherical world concept to fruition.

2005-2007: Super Mario Revolution


In 2005, Koizumi prepared an outline for "Super Mario Revolution" for the GameCube's successor, the Wii. Adapted from the Super Mario 128 demo and building on what EAD Tokyo had accomplished with Jungle Beat, the core concept of "Super Mario Revolution" was for it to be a 3D action platformer with Mario running around spherical worlds. These worlds would have their own centers of gravity that prevent Mario from falling off the edge. There would be few walls or ceilings on the worlds to obstruct Mario's path. If he kept moving forward in one direction, he would return to his starting position. This would mitigate the chances of the player becoming lost. After the project was greenlit by Nintendo's executives, Koizumi spent three months creating a small prototype with several other EAD Tokyo employees to present to Miyamoto for his feedback. The prototype was set in space because it was believed that most players would interpret the spherical worlds as small planets. This set a precedent where Miyamoto would be the first one to all of the game's builds. A system was eventually set up that allowed the staff to send him a build from the Tokyo studio to his office in Kyoto as soon as it was finished. In the last few months of development, Miyamoto made frequent in-person visits to EAD Tokyo.

Development progressed with the involvement of more staff. It succeeded the indefinitely-stalled Super Mario 128 project and was recognized as the "true" successor to Super Mario 64 by Miyamoto during development. At some point it was renamed Super Mario Galaxy to reflect the game's outer space setting. An important tenet that informed development was to prioritize what Koizumi refers to as "ease of play" - to make the control system as unobtrusive to the player as possible. The number of button inputs required by the player was kept to a minimum. The spin move was added to supplement jumping actions, which Koizumi believes can be imprecise in a 3D environment. Originally they made it so that Mario could spin indefinitely by shaking the Wii Remote, but Miyamoto had them integrate a delay after the spin to make the game more challenging. Employing contextual binding resulted in the development of scenarios within the game that change what button inputs do, such as in the rolling ball levels, ray surfing, and controlling power-ups. Pointer controls were thoroughly integrated into Super Mario Galaxy to supplement or even replace traditional button inputs, as the team felt they were more intuitive. To keep the player from "thinking about the camera", another tenet of development, EAD Tokyo developed a new camera system called the "planet camera". It gently follows Mario as he runs across a spherical world without sudden jerks or obscuring his positioning. It requires no input from the player. This element of the game was very important to the staff because they did not want any players to experience motion sickness. To ensure the game was comfortable to play, they heavily relied on the feedback of playtesters, something that was also employed extensively during Jungle Beat's development.

In concert with Nintendo's goal of making the Wii appeal to demographics beyond their core consumers, the team wanted Super Mario Galaxy to appeal to people who do not play video games. One of the ways they did this was by integrating a cooperative multiplayer mode called Co-Star Mode. One player controls Mario and a pointer (P1) while a second player only has a pointer (P2). It was seen as a good way for family and friends to play together even if one of them was inexperienced with games. Co-producer Takao Shimizu originally envisioned pointer controls being the same for both players, but Miyamoto had them restrict some actions to P2. This completely changed the balance of the game. For example, they originally allowed P1 to hold moving obstacles in place with the pointer. Staff felt that restricting this action to P2 improved the game's flow. The desire to engage non-players also informed  Super Mario Galaxy's theatrical cutscenes and lively character animations. This made the game fun for bystanders to watch.

There were concentrated efforts to make the game easily accessible for beginners, such as with the integration of Bee Mario. Believing that one of the joys of a Super Mario game was simply moving around, Koizumi oversaw the integration of areas without enemies or objectives. The earliest builds of the game were too easy, however. Miyamoto reminded staff that it was important for a game to feel challenging to play, otherwise the player might feel disengaged. Measures were subsequently taken to ensure the game was still healthily challenging, such as by reducing the life meter from eight bars (as was done in Super Mario 64 and Sunshine) to three. Coins were made rarer, health-restoring items.

EAD Tokyo was pressured to finish the game close to the Wii's launch, as several executives were disappointed by Super Mario Sunshine not being a GameCube launch title and thought that an earlier release could have helped the console's commercial performance. When Super Mario Galaxy was first shown off to the public during, Miyamoto stated it would release within six months of the Wii's launch. However, EAD Tokyo felt it was more important to make a game they were really happy with, resulting in it launching eleven months after the Wii.

Pre-release and unused content
When first showcased at, Toads with star-shaped spots appeared in the game that provided the player hints and could transform into rabbits. Lumas serve this role in the final game. Rosalina was originally conceived as "related" to Princess Peach and had a similar design reflecting this. Bonefin Galaxy was intended to be much darker, as was Deep Dark Galaxy. These were changed in the interest of playability. Guppy was first envisioned as a friendly character and had a design comparable to the Dolphins from Super Mario World (1990). Artwork of Sea Slide Galaxy and Beach Bowl Galaxy suggests that they were conceived as a single galaxy, with Beach Bowl's main planet in the center of Sea Slide's ring. A piece of concept art titled "Fortress" is very memorable to the staff since it was one of the first drawings made during development. The planet shown in the art is not in the final game but it has some similarities to Good Egg Galaxy, Beach Bowl Galaxy, and Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor. The development team wanted to incorporate Yoshi and he appears in the 2005 "Super Mario Revolution" proposal documents, but he is relegated to cameos in the final release.

Floating Toad
To perform this glitch, the player should go to the level "Tarantox's Tangled Web". Mario should go to the final planet where Tarantox is fought and launch the green Toad onto the platform. Then, the player should jump into the sling pod and launch Mario onto the same platform so it breaks. If the player looks at Toad closely, he can be seen floating.

Out of bounds in Freezeflame Galaxy
To perform this glitch the player should go to the Freezeflame Galaxy's mission "Hot and Cold Collide". Mario should reach the second planet and triple-jump in the walkway between the sides of the planet. The player should use the slope-climbing glitch to reach the top of the planet. When the player walks on the planet, random textures of ice water will appear. The planet surface will also appear in the wrong spot or be invisible.

Trading cards
Trading cards were developed by EnterPlay to correspond with the release of Super Mario Galaxy. Each pack (called Fun Paks) contained two regular cards, a trivia card, a standee, and a temporary tattoo.

Buzz Aldrin promotional event
To correspond with its release in the United States, Nintendo of America hosted an event in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 3, 2007 where someone dressed as Mario entered the G-Force One with former astronaut. It was coordinated with the, who owns the aircraft. Footage of the experience was aired on. Patches labeled "Super Mario Galaxy Flight Team" were created for the suits worn by Aldrin and the assisting crew.

Press Start 2008 concert
On September 14, 2008, hosted the concert  at Bunkamura Orchard Hall. It is an intercompany celebration of video game music. One of Nintendo's contributions to the setlist was "Super Mario Galaxy 2008", a medley of the game's music arranged by Mahito Yokota and conducted by Taizo Takemoto. Koji Kondo and Yokota attended the event as guests. A recording of this piece is featured on a compact disc included with the Super Mario 25th Anniversary Commemorative Book published in 2010.

Super Mario-kun adaptation
The events of the game are adapted in three volumes of the manga Super Mario-kun. The first volume, 38, was published October 28, 2008 and follows the conclusion of a story arc based on Super Paper Mario (2007). It sees Mario becoming demoralized after failing to rescue Princess Peach during the Star Festival, but his confidence is restored by Rosalina and the Lumas. He travels across various galaxies alongside them and other characters from Super Mario Galaxy. In vol. 39, published March 27, 2009, Mario plays with most of the game's power-ups and rescues Luigi. The arc concludes in vol. 40, published November 27, 2009, and is followed by a storyline adapted from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009).

Reception
Super Mario Galaxy has been met with universal acclaim, receiving a score of 97.64% from 78 reviews, making it the highest rated game on the website, while scoring a 97/100 on, as of March 2019 the sixth-highest score on the latter website.

 has given Super Mario Galaxy a score of 38/40.  gave the game 97%. It was called the best game of the decade and praised for having excellent graphics, sound and gameplay as well as a mixture of new and classic features.

Awards and recognition
Super Mario Galaxy is regarded as 2007's "Game of the Year" by editing staff of ', ', , and ''Yahoo! Games''.

In 2007, the game won an award for "Best Audio Design" from . In February 2008, the game received the "Adventure Game of the Year" award from the at the.

In 2009, the game won "Best Game" at the. That same year, Guinness World Records ranked Super Mario Galaxy 29th in their list of top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy.

The game placed 51st in the 200th Issue of GameInformer's "Top 200 Games of All Time". Nintendo Power ranked it as best Super Mario mainstream title in its May 2012 issue, as well as the third-best game ever released on a Nintendo console in its final issue.

In Japan, a 2021 poll conducted by with over 50,000 participants found Super Mario Galaxy amongst the top 100 video games of all time, ranked number 56 out of 100.

Sales
Super Mario Galaxy has been a commercial success, selling 350,000 units in Japan within its first few weeks of sale. In the United States, the game sold 500,000 units within its first week of release, earning it the highest first-week sales for a Super Mario game in the country at the time. Super Mario Galaxy is the 8th best-selling game for the Wii, selling 12.72 million copies worldwide as of September 2017. As of September 30, 2021, it sold 12.80 million copies worldwide.

Controversy
Super Mario Galaxy was the first Super Mario game to be officially localized to French for Quebec; that market had previously received Super Mario titles in English rather than French. This followed a deal between the and the video game industry to have every game available for that region in French by 2009. In the Quebec localization, NPCs (particularly the Lumas and the Toad Brigade) make heavy use of accents and slang. This localization choice sparked a minor controversy, with representatives of the Office québécois de la langue française and the criticizing it for promoting poor literacy to children. A Nintendo representative responded that the localization was made with "localizing for the market" in mind, as the Quebec market made up 25% of sales for Nintendo of Canada at the time.

Following the negative reception to the localizations of Super Mario Galaxy and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (which featured a similarly Joual-heavy localization), later Canadian French localizations would be written in (with the exception of the similarly-localized Paper Mario: Sticker Star).

Legacy
Rosalina was proposed as a new playable character in the earliest phases of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U during 2012, explicitly with the desire to replicate the of Super Mario Galaxy in her aerial movements.

The game has been cited as a source of inspiration for ' (2014), ' (2019),  (2021), and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (2022).

Wii U eShop
The game was added to the Wii U eShop in late 2015 and early 2016, five months after its sequel was released on the console. It remained available for purchase on the eShop until its closure on March 27, 2023. It was the seventh Wii game distributed on the eShop and one of the 35 overall to ever be released. The game was not ported or uniquely modified for this release. Rather, the Wii U is backwards compatible with nearly all Wii software (including the physical discs) and console peripherals. A Wii game can be played directly on the console by accessing the Wii Menu through the Wii U Menu. Save data from the original Wii console can be transferred to the Wii U system. When booting up a Wii game purchased on the Wii U eShop, it runs as if the game's disc was inserted into the console, loads it through the Wii Menu, and accesses the same save data (if it exists) on the console. The Wii U GamePad can be used to pause the game and return to the Wii U Menu, but it otherwise can only be controlled with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

Nvidia Shield TV
Super Mario Galaxy was ported to the microconsole and digitally distributed on March 22, 2018, exclusively in China. It was the first of six Wii games to be made available on the Nvidia Shield TV. It remained available for download until late 2021, when all Wii games were removed from the Shield. The game was to the console, enabling it to run at. Sprites and textures were upscaled to match the higher-definition display. Inputs have been modified for the more conventional Shield controller, which cannot track motion like the the Wii Remote can (see above). Unused assets present in the data of the Wii release were removed. The game was officially localized into Chinese (Simplified Chinese) by iQue. As the Shield does not support Miis, they are not available for save file icons in this version of Super Mario Galaxy. The copyright information displays "© 2007-2008 Nintendo". It was unknown what 2008 means in this context, but it possibly refers to the year Super Mario Galaxy was planned for release on the iQue Wii before the console failed to make its way into the Chinese market.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars
In correspondence with the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., Nintendo released Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Nintendo Switch on September 18, 2020 worldwide. It is a compilation that includes upscaled versions of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine in addition to Super Mario Galaxy. This version of the game is comparable to the Nvidia Shield TV release and they share similar revisions, though it does not include the Chinese localization. It only offers menu translation for the Chinese-speaking audience. This is reportedly due to the translation not being fully owned by Nintendo. Like the Shield version, Miis cannot be chosen as save icons even though the Switch has an integrated Mii creation tool. The compilation had a limited physical release at retail outlets and was available to download on the Switch's eShop until March 31, 2021. The official description of Super Mario Galaxy in the compilation is as follows: It's the night of the Star Festival, and Star Bits are falling from the sky! As everyone celebrates, Bowser suddenly appears and lifts the castle—and Princess Peach—into space, leaving Mario stranded in orbit! It's here that Mario meets a curious star child, Luma, and a mysterious woman in blue...This game introduced new ways to control Mario, like pointing and shaking the Wii Remote, as he explores miniature planets with fun forms of gravity.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: Fire Mario appears. One side of a planet looks like Small Mario's sprite while the other resembles Small Luigi's. The backgrounds of several galaxies are based on the sprites in this game. "Super Mario 2007" is an arrangement of "Ground Theme". "Space Athletic" is an arrangement of "Underground Theme". "Cosmic Comet" incorporates both pieces. Collecting trailing Notes sometimes plays the "Underground Theme" or "Underwater Theme".
 * The Legend of Zelda: Electrogoombas and Roctos resemble Octoroks. Bats resemble Keeses.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: Luigi jumps higher and has worse traction than Mario.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Luigi scuttles his legs when he performs a Triple Jump.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Airships appear. Montys behave like the Rocky Wrench enemy. "Blue Sky Athletic" and "Airship Armada" are arrangements of "Athletic Theme" and "Airship Theme", respectively.
 * Super Mario World: Yoshi makes several cameos. Magikoopas, Mecha-Bowsers, Torpedo Teds, and Urchins appear. A planet is shaped like a Yoshi's Egg.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: The Magikoopa in the opening cutscene is localized in English as "Kamek". The "Rainbow Mario" theme is an arrangement of "Powerful Infant".
 * Super Mario 64: Princess Peach invites Mario to her castle at the beginning of the game. Levels are completed by collecting Power Stars. Rabbits, a manta ray, penguins, Tox Boxes, and Bomps appear. "The Fiery Stronghold" is an arrangement of "Koopa's Road". After the credits, an ending screen is displayed where Mario says "Thank you so much for playing my game!"
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Ice bats resemble Ice Keeses.
 * Paper Mario: Bowser abducts Princess Peach by pulling her castle into the sky. A race of celestial star children have a prominent role in the story.
 * Luigi's Mansion: "Luigi and the Haunted Mansion" spoofs and subverts this title, with Mario rescuing Luigi from a powerful ghost.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: The same "Z"s appear above Mario's head while he sleeps. Cataquacks and Pokey Heads appear. A variant of the Plurp enemy called Cluckboom is introduced. Fire Shooters and Water Shooters resemble FLUDD. The first boss resembles Petey Piranha. The goal in ray surfing is shaped like a Shine Sprite.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: Several Toads in the prologue resemble Toadette.
 * Super Mario 64 DS: Silver Stars appear.
 * Donkey Kong Jungle Beat: Banandelions appear.

References in later media

 * Mario Kart Wii: Rosalina is a playable character and is easier to unlock if the player has Super Mario Galaxy save data on their system. Star Bits surround Rainbow Road, and "Egg Planet" is incorporated as a countermelody to the course's theme music. Spiky Topmen appear as bosses in multiple online tournaments. The countdown sequence for ray surfing and Bob-omb Blasting was repurposed for the sequence for starting races and battles in this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: Bowser can use a rolling move similar to one he can perform during "The Fate of the Universe".
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii): Both the Individual and Team versions of Dream Ski Jumping take place in the Good Egg Galaxy. Several music tracks from Super Mario Galaxy are available in the in-game shop.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: During the credits, Princess Peach can be heard reading a version of the letter she sends to Mario at the beginning of Super Mario Galaxy. Clampys return in this game.
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2: A dedicated sequel with many shared elements.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: An arrangement of "Waltz of the Boos" is used for this game's Ghost Houses.
 * Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii): Dream Spacewalk takes place in Synchro Battle Galaxy, a location partially based on Good Egg Galaxy. The event also features sound effects from Super Mario Galaxy and characters can spin. Dream Hurdles takes place in the Battlerock Galaxy. Rearrangements of the music pieces "Dino Piranha", "Battlerock Galaxy", and "Purple Comet" appear in the game. A Mii outfit based on Bee Mario can be unlocked in the game, and Mario's special dash has also been updated to resemble the spin.
 * Mario Kart 7: Queen Bee can be unlocked as a playable character. The Comet Observatory, Gateway Galaxy's starting planet, a Starshroom, and several domes appear in the background of Rosalina's Ice World.
 * Mario Party 9: "Enter Bowser Jr.!" was rearranged for some of the minigames with Bowser Jr.
 * Mario Tennis Open: A Luma can be unlocked as a playable character. Galaxy Arena is based on this game, with "Rosalina in the Observatory" rearranged for the court's background music. "Egg Planet" was remixed for the music in Galaxy Rally, itself influenced by Super Mario Galaxy. The Comet Observatory appears in the background of the title screen.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star: "Waltz of the Boos" was arranged for part of the Enigmansion's background music. Another, big-band-styled version plays when the Boos escape from the Book of Sealing.
 * Mario Party: Island Tour: Rocket Road is based on this game and "Egg Planet" is incorporated into the the board's background music. Rosalina and Lumas appear in the background. The minigame Gyro for the Gold plays very similarly to the Rolling Ball.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Rosalina and the Toad Brigade Captain appear as playable characters. Rosalina's unique attack is the spin. Electrogoombas, Lumas, and the Comet Observatory appear in Super Galaxy, itself based on Super Mario Galaxy. Star Bits appear in the background of World Star. The original "Rosalina in the Observatory" plays in World Crown. "Champion Road" is an arrangement of "Gusty Garden Galaxy". "Captain Toad Goes Forth" is an elaboration on "The Toad Brigade".
 * Mario Golf: World Tour: Rosalina is a DLC character. Mario's Star uses elements from Super Mario Galaxy. "The Honeyhive" was rearranged for the background music of Wiggler Park.
 * Mario Kart 8: The airline company Galaxy Air uses a Luma as its mascot. "Gusty Garden Galaxy" was rearranged for a portion of "Cloudtop Cruise".
 * Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U: Rosalina & Luma appear as newcomers. In the Wii U version, Mario Galaxy is based on this game and resembles Gateway Galaxy's starting planet. Trophies of Apricot Luma, The Toad Brigade, Bee Mario, Boo Mario, Spring Mario, and Rainbow Mario appear in the game. There is a Trophy Box dedicated to this game. "Rosalina in the Observatory / Luma's Theme" and "Egg Planet" are rearrangements of the original game's music.
 * Mario Party 10: An arrangement of "Rosalina in the Observatory" titled "Rosalina's Theme" can be heard when Rosalina's amiibo is being controlled in amiibo Party.
 * Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition: Rosalina, Bee Mario, and Boo Mario appear as Helpers for the player's team. "Gusty Garden Galaxy" music is used in the game's credits.
 * Super Mario Maker: The victory and death themes from Super Mario Galaxy are used when the Rosalina costume completes a level or loses a life, respectively.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: An arrangement of "Rosalina in the Observatory" is available as a track.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: "Gusty Garden Galaxy" is one of the songs in the Rhythm Recital mode for this game.
 * Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: Bee Mushrooms can be found on tubes of honey. Peach shouting for Mario from this game can be heard whenever she is defeated in battle.
 * Super Mario Odyssey: An 8-bit sprite of Rosalina appears in Dark Side and Darker Side. "The Odyssey: Power Up!" is an arrangement of the fanfare that plays when Mario collects a new power-up. The regional coins in the Moon Kingdom are shaped like Star Bits. There is a musical Easter egg on the pause menu where when pausing and selecting options, a simple arrangement of "Rosalina in the Observatory" can be heard.
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: With the exception of trophies, all of the elements related to Super Mario Galaxy from Smash 4 - including Rosalina & Luma - return. They have a revised Final Smash that uses the Grand Star. Boo Mario, Luma, Hungry Luma, and Queen Bee appears as spirits and use their artwork from Super Mario Galaxy. Queen Bee runs a Dojo.
 * Super Mario Maker 2: The Wii sound effect causes "Gusty Garden Galaxy" music to play on a level.
 * Mario Kart Tour: Ice Mario is a playable driver. Wii Rainbow Road and 3DS Rosalina's Ice World return as classic courses.
 * Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: Rabbid Rosalina is a playable character. The antagonist Cursa possesses Rosalina herself for most of the game. Sparks are part Luma. An arrangement of "Rosalina in the Observatory" plays when Rabbid Rosalina obtains a Purified Darkmess Energy Crystal. A music box rendition of the main melody's first three notes also plays when Rabbid Rosalina uses her Ennui move. An arrangement of the theme also plays when Rabbid Rosalina is introduced in the game's cinematic trailer.
 * The Super Mario Bros. Movie: A Lumalee and bats are in the movie. "The Toad Brigade" is incorporated into "Strange New World". The piece overall is associated with Toad. An arrangement of "Gusty Garden Galaxy" plays in the credits.

Trivia

 * Coincidentally, the title "Super Mario Galaxy" was first mentioned in a fan letter written to Nintendo Power in 1991. The letter details a fantasy game console called the "Raw Power System" that would come bundled with a game named "Super Mario Galaxy", otherwise known as "Super Mario Bros. 24".
 * An automated phone message sent to people who preordered the game at stated Super Mario Galaxy is a Mature-rated game.
 * The galaxy image in the Super Mario Galaxy wordmark derives from this photograph of the.
 * Super Mario Galaxy is an established model in for studies investigating how consistent engagement with interactive stimuli affects  in elderly people.
 * This game does not have a Dutch localization. Despite this, one single message in the game was translated, being the prompt to insert the Nunchuk into the Wii Remote.