I missed out on the Super Mario Galaxy duology back when they originally dropped because the Wii was the console that my younger siblings claimed as their own, and if I'm being honest, high-school James considered Nintendo platforms to be little kiddie fare anyways. Now that I'm nearly twenty years older and (hopefully) wiser, I have been spending a lot of time lately getting back to those classic “kiddie” games that I turned my nose up at way back when, and - surprise, surprise - they're a lot of fun. Doubly so when you're an adult with two jobs and only a little bit of time to dedicate to the hobby. It's getting harder and harder to justify putting hundreds of hours into a single, massive, open-world game when I could check in with ol' Mario and pals and knock out a few Power Stars before bed.

The point is, when Nintendo announced that the Galaxy games were being released from the limited-time exclusive gulag so that late-comers like me could see what all of the fuss was about, I was very excited to take to the stars and rescue Princess Peach from whatever fresh scheme Bowser has cooked up. To my delight, these two games hold up very well, and both in their own unique ways. It's just a shame about the price, though…

We'll start with the first game. What I really loved about Super Mario Galaxy is the way that it really does feel like an epic space odyssey (not to be confused with the actual Super Mario Odyssey, mind you). The levels themselves are actually fairly linear, with each “galaxy” having several levels that consist of various planetoids and space capsules that combine in various orders depending on which star you are trying to nab. What makes these linear levels give the impression of such a grand adventure, though, is how the game presents Mario's journey alongside Princess Rosalina, the Toads, the Starmies, & etc. The hub-world of the Comet Observatory is packed with charm and detail that make it a perfect successor to Peach's Castle from the Super Mario 64 days, and it never gets old having Mario float up to the Launch Stars and blast off throughout the different levels. Something I've discovered about 3D Mario games is that they're just as much about their impeccable vibes as they are about the platforming itself. Super Mario Galaxy nails the vibes, with no small amount of help coming from the crisp, remastered visuals that look especially nice on the Switch 2.

That said, this is a Mario game, which means the platforming is important. Admittedly, it took me a while to get used to what the Galaxy games are trying to do. This wasn't just because the spherical, gravity-defying planetoid levels can be disorienting until your brain adjusts to the new schema. I started playing with my Pro Controller, and while it works just fine with both the manual and motion controls, something just felt off. Using the motion controls to shoot star fragments was clunky, and relying on the face buttons for Mario's jumping and “Wahoo!”-ing just didn't have the same snappiness and punch that I felt when I tried Odyssey for the first time.

That is when I decided to bite the bullet and use the Switch 2 Joy-Cons to emulate the original WiiMote+Nunchuck setup, and wouldn't you know it? Super Mario Galaxy feels almost perfect in this mode. Now, the original Switch has much less precise motion calibration than the Switch 2's updated Joy-Cons do, so I can't speak for anyone that will be playing this on the last-gen hardware, but the minute I let go of my preconceptions and embraced all of the remote waggling that Nintendo clearly designed this game around, I started having a blast. Sure, Mario Galaxy's levels are pretty straightforward, but I didn't mind because zipping through them just felt so right, finally.

I say “almost” up there because I did run into one annoying issue that persisted across my playthroughs: Fairly frequently, regardless of what control method I was using, Mario would get stuck in a perpetual circle run that could last for a few full seconds. A mild inconvenience, to be sure, but it's very frustrating when you're trying to navigate a precise set of moving platforms or finish a time-trial level. Also, while the Pro Controller presents a mild compromise in controls, playing in docked mode proved to be too unwieldy for me entirely.

If the dozens of hours and hundreds of stars in the first SMG aren't enough to sate your appetite, then the second game will surely leave you full to bursting with platforming goodness. I was shocked at how different this game is compared to the first, despite operating with the same engine and the same basic design principles. Through meticulous refinement of its level design and constant experimentation to see how far they can push Mario's platforming in this new Galaxy setting, the team at Nintendo created a sequel that feels exceptionally polished and satisfying. What's more, the difficulty and complexity of the levels in Galaxy 2 is a fair step up from the first game, which was enough to keep me engaged for hours all over again. I still haven't gotten every star in the first game, and I'm honestly not sure how soon I will attempt that challenge, but I could easily see myself going for full completion in Super Mario Galaxy 2 just because the constantly evolving platforming is so much fun to come back to.

Plus, SMG 2 brings Yoshi into the fold, and his presence alone is enough to make it my favorite of the duology. Yoshi's new jump and tongue mechanics provide the Galaxy formula another layer of depth to master, and gosh darn it, I love that little guy and the cute noises he makes when he devours the flesh and bones of his enemies.

I only have one real gripe about Super Mario Galaxy 2, specifically, and that is the way that it seriously strips down the epic, adventurous atmosphere that made the first game so memorable to a lapsed Mario fan like me. This is partially due to the exploration and level layout, which has taken on a much more old-school, Super Mario Bros. 3 approach. You move your Mario Ship around the map from point to point as you beat levels and get stars, which is totally fine, but nowhere near as engrossing as Mario's more immersive experiences in SMG 1. Also, the story itself is…well, there really isn't a story, this time. The whole adventure is presented as a bare-bones retelling/reboot of the first game's adventure, except with none of the gravitas or world-building that Princess Rosalina's presence added. I get that this was one of those “gameplay first” sequels that Nintendo loves to do, but would it have killed them to come up with something just a teensy bit more involved?

Outside of my nitpicks involving control glitches and the lacking presentation of SMG 2, I only have one other complaint I could issue towards this otherwise perfect collection: Its price. I know that Nintendo Tax is likely always going to be a burden that we have to bear, since we're lucky to get even 20% price cuts on first-party games that have been out for over a decade, but it still feels a bit stingy to sell this bundle at a full $60, especially since there isn't any new content to entice old fans who simply want to upgrade from their old Wii copies. It's a shame, too, because I could see these games creating an entirely new generation of Mario fans if you could nab them for maybe half that price. I've just spent a thousand words raving about how much I adored these titles, and I don't know if even I would spend that much money on them when there are new Hyrule Warriors and Metroid Prime games just weeks away from launching. Still, if you have been hankering to spend some time cruising the intergalactic highways and byways with Mario and Pals, these two games are essential experiences.