User:Nintendo101

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phrog

Casual Nintendo historian. Otherwise an artist and a field ecologist. Bio degree. I've had an account here since 2012.

I wrote the character sections for Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario Odyssey. I contributed much of the article for Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine.

I have been a fan of Nintendo since a very young age. My first Mario games (and three of the first video games I ever owned) were Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, Super Mario 64 DS, and Mario Kart DS. These games were good company for a young kid who moved around a lot and had difficulty keeping long-lasting friends.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I sequentially played some of my favorite games in the Super Mario series to 100% completion. This includes, in order, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Super Mario Odyssey. It's been really fun! These are great games, and I always wanted to marathon a series like this before but never had the time. It has been interesting to see where the series began and where it has ended up. The design philosophies, the characters, the art directions, world building, level design, narrative, etc. All good stuff. It might be fun to write something about it some day.

My favorite video game character is Yoshi.

For assets I have uploaded to the wiki, I suggest viewing them here.

Sandbox for current project

Prerelease

  • Shiggy first mentions that there will definitely be a game for the Revolution during E3 2005 (I think - double check any earlier mentioning, maybe in Japan, though Ninty tends to do initial press announcements in English because their largest sale demographics are in the west)

Reception

  • warmly recieved, considered the best Mario game in years
  • People almost immediately entered the camp of this game being excellent, and folks seem to have largely stayed there over the years, if anything its reception has only gotten more positive
  • Not everyone loves Star Ball and ray surfing

Sales

  • 5th best selling console game (across all consoles) in 2007, but achieved greater lifetime sales than the other four in subsequent years (I think)

Awards and recognition

  • IGN, GameSpot, Kotaku, Yahoo! Games, EDGE
  • AIAS, BAFTA, GameInformer, Nintendo Power, TV Asahi
  • Guinness World Records is currently mentioned, but GWR is a for-profit organization, not a passive recorder of records and Nintendo could have bought that record for promotion. Hmmm...
  • I recall its success over Call of Duty 4 at BAFTA was framed by some as an "upset" or at least a surprise, based on then contemporary market trends for video games; look into that - is that just retrospective?
  • Has SMG won any more contemporary awards?

Controversy

  • The French thing - anything else out there? Maybe track down sources for Phantom Hourglass and Sticker Star

Themes

Super Mario Galaxy has been noted for its narrative themes, the very presence of which are often described as exceptional when compared to other titles in the Super Mario series.[1][2][3][4][5] The game explores themes of isolation, grief, found family, acceptance, and rebirth. This exploration is most prominent through the characterization of Rosalina and the contents of her storybook, an element of the game the player is not required to engage with for completion.[3]

The game invokes feelings of isolation through its outer space setting. Most galaxies are enveloped by vast, dark skies only pierced by stars and distant suns. There are story scenarios, missions, locations, and musical queues interlaced in the game that intentionally draw attention away from its more effusive, joyful elements to focus on the dispassionate coldness of space, amplifying Mario's relative insignificance to a vast, endless universe. Video essayist Jacob Geller notes that these conditions give the player a moment to decompress after action-orientated gameplay and foster contemplativeness. Such conditions are interpreted as existentialistic and sad,[2] but not dreadful.[3][5] Rather, Super Mario Galaxy gently conveys that there is some assurance and security in accepting the limited impact one has on the universe, and that it is okay to feel wary in the face of uncertainty. Grace Benfell of GameSpot describes the evoked feeling as an "existential, joyful melancholy."[4]



She further notes how the cold setting amplifies the perceived warmness and vitality of the worlds Mario can directly interact with, often lush with flora and lavishly colored.


Video essayist Jacob Geller noted that while most portions of the game are effusive, they are interlaced with scenarios that are quiet and gentle. These moments encourage the player to decompress and contemplate. Geller further observes how the cold vastness of the outer space setting amplifies the perceived warmness and vitality of the worlds Mario directly explores, especially the domestic Comet Observatory. GameSpot's Grace Benfell expressed similar sentiments and asserts the game provides players "an existential, joyful melancholy." The game more directly engages with isolation in Rosalina's Story, in which it is revealed that Rosalina's mother had died while she was a child.

Ciara Cremin of the University of Auckland adapted philosopher Gilles Deleuze's analysis of cinema to Super Mario Galaxy, providing a foundation for how video games can be studied as a discrete artform. She understands it to be a "masterpiece" of the form.

Legacy

  • heavily influenced subsequent 3D Super Mario games, especially SMG2, SM3DL, and SM3DW - but also SMO
  • Rosalina would be incorporated into subsequent ensemble/spinoff games, Nintendo's marketing, have a direct presence or homage in subsequent main series games, and would become a largely beloved character
  • Captain Toad would rise in prominence and be playable in his own title; distinguished from the Toad in coming years
  • Lumas and Toad Brigade would also become less frequent but consistent elements
  • Space-themed portions in subsequent ensemble/spinoff games would often incorporate allusions to SMG

Things to read

Notes and references

Notes


References

  1. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named wired
  2. ^ a b Lewell, James [Nitro Rad]. "Super Mario Galaxy - Nitro Rad." YouTube, 19 Jan. 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named quiet
  4. ^ a b Benfell, Grace. "Super Mario Galaxy Showed Us Something the Series Hadn’t Before, and Hasn’t Since." GameSpot, 12 Nov. 2022.
  5. ^ a b Webb, Sophie. "Super Mario Galaxy: In Space No-One Can Hear You Mamma Mia." Redbrick, University of Birmingham Guild of Students, 13 Nov. 2023.

Image references

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