Castle Gardens

The Castle Gardens is an area in Super Mario Galaxy and the first playable section of the game. It is a large plaza located directly outside Princess Peach's Castle and is the site of the Star Festival. It is innhabited by Toads and is lined with various buildings, lamposts with star-shaped lights and a fountain. The area is also decorated with blue flags depicting stars, which are hung from lampposts, and multicolor banners featuring pictures of Mushrooms, strung from the top of buildings to lampposts to treetops.

At the beginning of the game, Mario arrives at the Castle Gardens and can collect some of the Star Bits present in the area. Shortly after Mario's arrival, the Castle Gardens are attacked by Bowser and his Airship fleet, causing some of the Toads to flee in panic and others to be trapped in crystals. Mario goes to the castle to rescue Princess Peach, but she is abducted by Bowser and Mario is blasted by Kamek to the Gateway Galaxy. Following this, the Castle Gardens are inaccessible for the remainder of the main storyline.

Following the universe's near-destruction and rebirth by the Lumas, however, Mario, Bowser and Princess Peach, along with various other characters encountered during the game, awake in the Castle Gardens. The area is the setting of the final post-completion level, the Grand Finale Galaxy, which is unlocked by collecting all 120 Power Stars with both Mario and Luigi. The level consists of collecting the 100 Purple Coins scattered across the Castle Gardens to make the final Power Star appear.