I loved Super Mario Galaxy even before Nintendo made it cool again by announcing that it's also the name of the next Super Mario movie. Nintendo's bringing these groundbreaking 3D platformers back to the Switch and Switch 2 this week, and I'm happy to say they're wonderful and look fantastic. But the bad news is you'll have to pay for them all over again.
There's no new Mario game on the Switch or Switch 2 this year, unless you count Mario Kart World. Instead, Nintendo's re-released the Galaxy games with 4K/1080p resolution (4K for Switch 2, 1080p for Switch) as a Mario stopgap that's also a way to finally play both of these again on current consoles.
Way back in CNET's past, I fell in love with Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Nintendo Wii. The 2010 game and the 2007 Galaxy original were brilliant new spins on platforming, rethinking controls for a totally new Wii Motion Remote. I forgot how weird those controls were, and are, until I started playing both games again on the Switch 2 this past week. I'm happy to say they're both well worth owning, though, and their unique controls have mostly come through intact with some slight adaptations.
The Joy-Cons can function as motion controls, similar to Wii remotes, and generally perform well for tasks such as waving and pointing at the TV when docked or tilting around for racing and diving in various game parts. Collecting sparkly star bits requires some waving around, and in general, these games are meant to be played on TV with the remotes detached, in-hand.
You can also do it handheld, but with some adjustments. Tapping on the screen is one way to do it, which gets really awkward. There are also motion controls that you can trigger, and then tilt the whole Switch like a giant Joy-Con, which is also weird. Nintendo went ambitious with these games and their control schemes in incredible 3D levels in ways that I don't think they've truly done since, and as a result, the Switch ports are sort of paying the price.
But there's one perfect way to play, and that's kickstand mode. With Joy-Cons detached and the Switch on a table, all the motion controls are available. On the Switch 2, it's a lovely way to play.
Level designs in these games are pretty incredible, even now. Nintendo
Learning to run and jump and sometimes wave controllers or tilt the Switch on levels that feel like gravity funhouses can be tricky, and sometimes the analog sticks would go funny and Mario wouldn't run the way I wanted. Overall, it takes a bit of finesse. Still, I am loving these games all over again, and they both look so good that I'd easily be convinced they were brand-new games. The only other downside, sometimes, is pacing. Talking to characters feels a bit too slow after playing dozens of hours of Donkey Kong Bananza, which finesses the quest-type interactions a lot more smoothly.
Should you buy these for $40 a pop separately, or $70 for both? Those are premium prices, similar to how Nintendo sold the remastered Metroid Prime. These games are just as good and just as worthy, and you can't buy them anywhere else. But I'd favor Galaxy 2 over Galaxy if I had to pick, especially since Galaxy 2 hasn't ever hit the Switch before.
Super Mario Galaxy previously came included on a now-discontinued Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation and mostly feels the same as that version, but with a resolution bump. My younger son played both versions and didn't see a difference. If you have that one, you don't need to upgrade.
What I really hope is Nintendo makes a Super Mario Galaxy 3. With the Galaxy movie coming, it would seem likely. The ideas in Galaxy still feel futuristic, even though they're well over 15 years old. The Switch's unique controls could inspire all-new interaction tricks, especially with mouse mode on Switch 2.
Odyssey is still a phenomenal Switch Mario game, and so is Super Mario Wonder. But both Galaxies are now going to share the stage too, and if you haven't ever played them, you really, really should.