Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2, An Uneasy Review

Reviewing Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 should be effortless to write. After all, we have two of the best Mario games from the Wii era on Switch consoles, looking better and slightly expanded. 100/100 rating, what's to complain about? And then you take a look at the price of this package.

Our practice at HCL is to always keep in mind how much a game costs and how much content (or fun) it brings for that price. However, we're not used to mentioning a game's price as a minus. We all have different perspectives on what's expensive, and game prices aren't fixed... except when it comes to Nintendo games.

In that context, it's almost impossible to review SMG+SMG2 without mentioning the price, which is 70 euros for both games, or 40 euros each. It's worth noting that in some stores (and in foreign regions) you can get it cheaper, but it's also 5 euros more expensive in some places. In any case, we know there won't be a discount before the Super Mario Galaxy film in spring 2026, if there will be one at all.

Instead of debating the package price of 65, 70, or 75 euros, let's examine how Nintendo justified the cost of remastering games from 15 to 18 years old.

If you are in the mood for something darker, check out our Dying Light: The Beast review!

What Made Super Mario Galaxy Great

If you haven't played the original Galaxy games, it's no secret that they're excellent 3D platformers. Galaxy 1&2 are among the highest-rated Wii games overall, and they served as an evolutionary step for the Super Mario series, leading to the phenomenal Super Mario Odyssey. For example, these games introduced the energy system with three hearts, and in SMG2, you can see Mario controlling his ship on the way from one location to another.

The original Galaxy was innovative for its time, with level design that allowed for various experiments that didn't have to fit into a broader thematic context. In Galaxy, almost every idea could be realized through its own level, where Mario could fly like a bee in one level and surf on a jellyfish in another. There was a lot of playing with gravity, and the whole thing was incredibly diverse. Anyone who says all Mario games are the same hasn't played Galaxy!

Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the type of sequel that expanded on the successful ideas of its predecessor. Yoshi joined Mario, and we got new power-up items and transformations, making the levels more dynamic and challenging. With this, Nintendo practically perfected the control scheme, which, like in Galaxy 1, allowed for co-op play. This was also one of the novelties in Mario games, and it later evolved into Odyssey.

The Pros and Cons of Motion Controls in Galaxy

When it comes to the remaster, let's start with the controls. Both Galaxy games used motion controls, and the remaster retained this control scheme. On the one hand, it's good that the game's specificity and "era spirit" were preserved. However, I must admit that forced motion controls aren't the most practical when playing in handheld mode, holding the console in your hands.

In those situations, the game relies on gyroscopic control, and you have to tilt the console in different directions to aim at what you need to collect or activate. You can also use touchscreen commands, which are even less practical.

However, I don't see this as an insurmountable problem – there's an option to play in tabletop mode, where motion controls work well. The recommendation is to use detached Joy-Con controllers, and to keep them well-charged, as it's easier to wave one hand. In any case, motion controls are unavoidable. While they may seem like an unnecessary gimmick from today's perspective, personally, I'm glad they kept them to a minimum while still preserving the specificity of that era of Super Mario games. 

The only thing I'm sorry about is that they didn't put more effort into camera control. I understand that the camera often needs to remain locked due to the specific level design. However, when we do have the option to control it, we're limited to rotating it to fixed angles, which feels outdated.

Minimal Additions, Maximum Charm Of The New Super Mario Galaxy Games

In terms of additional content, this Galaxy package brings minimal changes and bonuses. There's an added Assist Mode, an easy difficulty setting with double the energy, a feature that has been standard in Mario games for a while. You can listen to the soundtrack, but with certain limitations. Since SMG 1 and 2 are sold separately, the music is also separate, so you can't listen to music from one game in the other, even if both are installed. 

There's also a slightly expanded storyline in the form of a picture book slideshow. Still, we're talking about simple drawings without any voice acting, which someone could have made in a single afternoon, if not during a lunch break.

Visually, both games have been beautified with sharper and more detailed textures. This is actually a prettier version of the first SMG compared to the version available on Switch in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. Although these games are 15 years old, their visual style has aged well, and they still look great without too much makeup. 

With 1080p resolution on Switch 1 and 4K on Switch 2, Galaxy titles don't look like old Mario games – they're just as beautiful as newer ones. Especially when played on an OLED screen, you get a treatment that wasn't even possible 15+ years ago.

In Conclusion

And that's it – that's what the SMG + SMG 2 package offers. Two fantastic games, preserved in their original spirit, slightly beautified, and minimally expanded... at the price of an entirely new game. If you've previously purchased Super Mario 3D All-Stars, it's good that you can buy SMG2 separately, but the bad news is that you won't get any option to upgrade the first SMG to the newer version with 

Assist mode and higher-quality textures. And it's precisely in moves like these that the price of Super Mario Galaxy games for Switch feels unfair to existing Super Mario fans.

Not only did those remasters overhaul the graphics from the ground up and include three games, but they also cost 30 euros less than the SMG collection.

Of course, Super Mario Galaxy games are fantastic, but it's not great that Nintendo prices them as brand-new games with minimal effort. Even if the Switch is your first chance to play them, it's hard to shake off the feeling that buying this collection is funding someone's greed.

Rating: 7.8/10

The game gets this grade because, despite being fantastic 3D platformers with beautiful visuals and engaging gameplay, the price feels steep for what amounts to minimal updates and additions.

Recommended age: 8+

We recommend this game to kids aged eight and above, as the platforming and exploration elements are suitable for children of this age group, and the game's charm and challenge likely appeal to them.