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weirdmarioenemies · 1 year ago

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I am going to rank even more of the Super Mario Galaxies and none of you can stop me

Yeah! There's a lot of these things!

Welcome to part 3/6 of me ranking all of the Super Mario Galaxies! Today we're gonna start tackling the A-tier galaxies, and since this is the biggest tier, we're splitting it into two parts, with one half this week and the other half the next! If you missed the previous posts, here's the low tiers, and here's the B-tiers!

I feel obligated to remind everyone this series is happening Every Sunday until we run out of galaxies to talk about, and also that the opinions in this post are my own and do not necessarily reflect my employer or coworkers. Spikey cried when I put Gold Leaf Galaxy in the B-tier. I'm sorry, Spikey. I didn't mean it personally, I swear!

Per usual, rankings begin below the cut!

50. Bowser's Star Reactor

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: A

This is just a really solid Bowser Galaxy, you know? I think what makes this one stand out to me is just how well I feel it takes advantage of Super Mario Galaxy's game mechanics. The beginning segment with the winding multicolor path around a Black Hole always stood out to me as a really memorable sequence, and this is actually the first Galaxy we're covering that utilizes Gravity Walls! Yippee! I like Gravity Walls a lot. Makes for memorable 2D platforming sections. Expect to see more of them in this tier.

I think the atmosphere in this Galaxy is pretty top-notch. Something all the Bowser Galaxies have in this game that I really, really like is the crumbling staircase you have to jump up as you approach Bowser, especially with how the stairs are just a little too big to walk, and especially with the optional health upgrades you can grab at the expense of your time. Really good sequence. I think for being the first Bowser Galaxy in these games, it stands out to me a bit more in this galaxy in particular. First impressions can be important, people!

That being said, I will be upfront and say I might've overrated this one a little bit when making the list. But give me a break! There's 91 of these things! Do you think I'm gonna have an easy time putting each and every one in the exact correct place? My gut told me this belongs in A-tier, and by the time I was re-assessing it, the B-tier post was already on the blog. But I'll also say that if my gut told me this belongs in A-tier, then that probably says this galaxy is doing something right.

49. Rolling Coaster Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

You know, it's weird that for being such an Iconic Mario Location, Rainbow Road pretty much never shows up in the mainline games. There's usually some sort of Star World or Special Zone, but rarely are they actually Rainbow Road Like The One From Mario Kart.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is one of the rare exceptions, though, bringing us Rainbow Road in the form of a Star Ball level! Personally, I like this a bit more as a final, challenging version of the minigame more than Rolling Gizmo Galaxy, because it leans a bit harder into what makes these levels fun. Not only are you going to be building momentum, it's almost essential that you keep that momentum to make some of these really sharp turns! Plus it also offers more challenging side paths For Super Players, which happen to be where the Comet Medal goes because of course it is.

On the subject of the Comet Medal: the Purple Coin star here is BRUTAL and I'm not sure whether I like it or not, but I think it makes sense for it to be given this is one of the last galaxies in the game. You're given a little leeway, but not much, since you have to grab 100 and there's 110 coins total! It's really difficult, and sometimes frustrating because of the control scheme (there's a reason this is towards the bottom of A-tier), but I don't know if I'd say it's unfair, and otherwise this galaxy gives me a lot to like.

48. Honeybloom Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Now this is what I'm talking about! A galaxy that takes advantages of the Bee Mushroom's mechanics while also having a solid identity of its own beyond "Honeyhive but different", I like it!

I think it was a really smart idea to make a 2D platforming level with the Bee Mushroom. Its mechanics work surprisingly well in 2D, and it serves as a nice way to familiarize the player with the Bee Mushroom before letting them use it in 3D a bit later on. I do think the powerup is better suited to 3D gameplay, but Honeybloom Galaxy is a fun change of pace I can always appreciate.

Lots of fun segments here, too! I especially love the segment with all the Spindleburrs and Trapdragons at the end (both enemies I feel like this blog should cover at some point if we haven't already). Creates this fun feeling of urgency. The bits where you bounce around on the giant grapes are also pretty good, and a fun way to show off the Bee Mushroom's flight mechanics.

Shoutout to the one mission in this galaxy where you just wall jump for a minute to grab a star. I think it's one of the easiest missions in the entire series but it is funny so it's okay.

I only realized in hindsight that I never made a "Bee-Tier" joke for Honeyhop Galaxy or Gold Leaf Galaxy so uhhhh Hey, what's this Galaxy doing here? It clearly belongs in Bee-Tier!

There. Nailed it. (I stand by it being an A-Tier galaxy don't worry)

47. Throwback Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

waow... so freaken retro...

I know I've been a bit harsh on recycled content, and trust me, I'll go ahead and say that's probably why this one didn't land highter, but I also feel like a one-to-one remake of a mission from Super Mario 64 has a bit of a different vibe, you know? Feels less like filler, more like a fun homage to a previous game. Helps that Whomp's Fortress is just a really good level in general, that fits pretty well in this game. Something like Bob-omb Battlefield might have been more iconic, but Whomp's Fortress was already basically a floating planet! It fits right in!

Though that raises an important question, are Throwback Galaxy and Whomp's Fortress one and the same? People have always asked what the paintings in Super Mario 64 represent like, in-universe, if they're paintings of real locations that warp you to those places, or if the worlds only exist in the context of the paintings, which transport you to a sort of fantasy land... Is the painting of Whomp's Fortress a portal to a far-away galaxy? Or is Mario set in an infinite universe where this sort of oddity is merely inevitable? These are the questions that keep us Weird Mario Scholars up at night.

I think the new additions to Throwback are really neat too, the new-and-improved Whomp King boss fight is such a fun way to make a fight that's both familiar and fresh, and the second mission with the Silver Stars manages to create a fun new experience in this familiar location. It's not like they just ported over Whomp's Fortress and called it a day, the extra level of care put into Throwback Galaxy ends up elevating it quite a bit, to me.

46. Sky Station Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

We're halfway through the rankings! Are you enjoying this? You're probably enjoying this if you bothered to read this far. But if you're not... please find something better to do with your time! Life is better when you're doing things you actually enjoy doing! Mod Hooligon's Tip!

What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, Super Mario Galaxies. This is the first galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and it's a pretty good one. It's no Good Egg Galaxy, but I still enjoy it, I think it's solid as an introduction to the game's mechanics with some memorable segments, like those asteroids with the weird gravity, the rolling stone platforms around the cylindrical planet, and the part where you get to destroy all the Banzai Bills with a star. It also has the boss fight against Peewee Piranha! Which First Boss Piranha Plant is your favorite? Petey Piranha vs. Dino Piranha vs. Peewee Piranha Splatfest, coming soon!

This galaxy's music from the first mission is like, the main theme of Super Mario Galaxy 2, but honestly I like the music in the second mission way more. Feels grander and more cohesive to me. Actually, the second mission feels more cohesive in general... Really leans into that "Sky Station" theme. I like it!

45. Spin-Dig Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Lots of the early-game galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy 2 are dedicated to introducing the game's new power-ups, and Spin-Dig Galaxy is one of such galaxies, built around the Spin Drill. Here's a Joke for you: Why did the Mario use the Spin Drill to dig through a planetoid? To get to the other side! Yeah, I don't get it either.

The Spin Drill might not be the strongest addition of Galaxy 2's new power-ups due to its limited moveset (dig hole), but it does do a pretty good job taking advantage of these games' existing gravity mechanics, which Spin-Dig Galaxy is more than happy to lean into. It makes for fun tests of your spacial awareness, building puzzles around having you figure out where you'll end up after tunneling straight through each planet's surface, (though the game usually has some well-placed dirt blocks or craters to help you figure it out). Unlike Earth, there's no water here so the answer will never be "The Ocean".

The missions here are pretty solid too. Digga-Leg is no Megaleg, but still makes for a fun boss built around using your drill at the right place with the right timing, and I like the Silver Star mission here quite a bit, where they're all buried underground on a large, rectangular planet. Consistently fun all around!

44. Yoshi Star Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Yoshi! Everyone loves Yoshi except for the people who don't. But I'm not "people who don't" so needless to say, I like his galaxy. Yoshi is one of the big New Features in Galaxy 2, so it makes sense they'd design one of the first galaxies in the game around showing him off.

And to that extent, I think they do a pretty good job! The first planet is one of the bigger planets in Galaxy 2, and it has all the stuff you need to get acquainted with Yoshi. Lots of fruits and enemies to eat, mud that slows down Mario but not Yoshi, a Smeech (so you know that there's enemies that specifically target Yoshi), etc. I feel like I'm saying Yoshi a lot in this section. Almost as much as The Dinosaur Himself. Yoshi Yoshi.

Anything not shown off in the first planet is generally explored in the rest of the galaxy, like enemies that Yoshi needs to pull back to eat, those weird flower things you lick to gain height, and enemies you can fire back as projectiles. They don't show off the Yoshi Power-ups here, but those get their own galaxies generally.

Really, I appreciate Yoshi Star for balancing being a good tutorial, while also still just being plain fun if you're already familiar with the game. It plays a really nice balancing act of showing off all the intricacies of Yoshi's moveset without being too handholdy, meaning it accomplishes all of its goals without ever feeling like a drag on replays.

43. Haunty Halls Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

There are g-g-g-ghosts in this g-g-g-galaxy, and I gotta say, I think that's g-g-g-great! I'll stop now. Haunty Halls is a galaxy that sorta ends up living in the shadow of the Cooler Ghost Galaxies, because there's a few of them and the others get really good, but it's still a pretty great time in its own right. What can I say? "Ghost" as it turns out is just a really solid theme to build a galaxy around.

Compared to the other ghost galaxies, Haunty Halls is a bit more linear, which I think knocks it down a little in my book, but it's not like the galaxy doesn't take advantage of that fact. The galaxy has some nice platforming challenges along moving floors, where you have to keep on pace with the path and avoid hitting the dark matter walls, and when you're being chased by Big Boos or Cosmic Clones, it means there's not a lot of room to hide, which lets this galaxy keep up the tension a bit.

This is also the introduction of the Bulb Berry and not the introduction of Mattermouths, both facts you would be familiar with if you read the last post. Everything I said about the Bulb Berry there still applies here, though as its introduction, this one tends to be a bit more forgiving. There's Bulb Berries all over the place in that mansion! That being said, I still appreciate the optional question mark blocks you can try and hit while worrying about the timer. Fun optional challenges like that are always appreciated here!

42. Battle Belt Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

I'm realizing how much of this post has been dedicated to Super Mario Galaxy 2. As I mentioned, this game is remarkably consistent. Most of its galaxies cluster around the A-tier. In general, compared to the first game's bigger missions, they tend to be a bit less elaborate and more linear, but as a result they also tend to get the most out of their concepts when compared to the smaller ones. Battle Belt is a really good example of this design philosophy, I think. It's simple, it's straightforward, it has an idea and is determined to COMMIT to it.

Battle Belt Galaxy serves as a tour of the game's various Weird Mario Enemies, giving each enemy their own planetoid, and leaving it to you to figure out how to defeat them. It sticks to that concept pretty much to the very end, only maybe deviating for the secret Fire Gobblegut boss fight, and even then, that's still a new spin on a familiar foe so it doesn't really feel out of place here. On one hand, you could argue that Battle Belt feels a bit repetitive because of this, and to some extent it is, but the enemies and their respective planets are varied enough that it rarely ends up feeling dull to me.

I also appreciate how this galaxy is so late in the game. It's not the hardest galaxy in Galaxy 2, but it ends up feeling a bit like a pop quiz, testing your familiarity with each enemy and if you remember how to defeat each one. And on that note, I really love that this galaxy gets a Daredevil Comet. That's usually reserved for boss fights, but using it for a fight against several small foes makes it feel a lot more unique.

41. Shiverburn Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Admittedly, this galaxy kinda always struck me as "Freezeflame Galaxy's less cool younger brother", but I don't know if that's really fair to Shiverburn. I mean, it's not an inaccurate statement of what this galaxy is, but I think it makes this galaxy sound a lot weaker than it actually is, because it certainly brings some fun new ideas to the table even with the shared theme, and unlike Freezeflame, which sort of saves the "Hot and Cold Collide" theme for the final mission, called "Hot and Cold Collide," Shiverburn gives you that theme right out the gate. I appreciate that!

It leads to some fun segments like at the beginning, where you have to carefully traverse around a lava pool before freezing it, turning the whole thing into a skating rink, or the segment where flaming meteors create pools of lava in the ice. I kinda wish the Ice Flower was in this game, I think this galaxy could make good use of it, though we do get the Cloud Flower, which I won't complain about. It gets used for maybe the toughest Green Star in the entire game.

I also really like the Prince Pikante boss fight, which does a lot better as a twist on King Kaliente's fight than the King Kaliente rematch in the first game. The icy floor makes for a unique boss arena, since you're gonna be spinning to deflect the coconuts, which puts you in Ice Skating mode, which is a bit more mobile but also more difficult to control, which makes the fact you're fighting an octopus in a speedy tank that creates lava pools all the more hectic and enjoyable.

And because I feel inclined to mention them, this is the home of the Hell Valley Sky Trees. Apparently they're named after a place in Japan called Hell Valley, which has hot springs surrounded by snow. Neat!

40. Beat Block Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Now THIS is how you do an uncomplicated one-off gimmick galaxy! The first game kinda struggled with these, but I feel the sequel generally fares a lot better in this regard, with more unique gimmicks and more elaborate layouts.

Beat Blocks (also known as Beep Blocks in later installments) are such a fun level gimmick. So fun we apparently have a post on them, but don't ask me where it came from. You can ask me where Beat Blocks come from though, because they come from here! And I think they're a pretty fun gimmick! This is a galaxy that really makes you get in the groove of the music, alternating where the solid ground is every couple measures. As you'd probably expect from a galaxy like this, it slowly becomes more and more elaborate, making the non-Beat Block ground more and more sparse until you're collecting Silver Stars on a pyramid made entirely out of Beat Blocks with no other ground to stand on.

Did Beep Block Skyway in 3D World kinda eat this galaxy's lunch with a cooler take on the same gimmick? Yeah, but all great gimmicks gotta start somewhere. We needed Beat Block Galaxy to run so Beep Block Skyway could run but like, really really fast.

It kinda bothers me that the Comet mission is called "Silver Stars in Double Time" when the Beat Blocks are actually moving four times faster, with only a single beat between alternations instead of two measures. It's a good mission I'm just bothered by the name.

39. Fleet Glide Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Oh yeah this one's BAD ASS!

So much so that I had to drop a PG-rated swear to talk about it! Fleet Glide Galaxy seems to exist to fill the niche that the Trial Galaxies did in the first game, providing a difficult version of an earlier-introduced motion control minigame not for the faint of heart. It even follows the same naming convention in Japanese, being called "Challenge Glider Galaxy"! Neato!

Fleet Glide Galaxy is pretty difficult, but in a way I like, where it feels like a solid test of what you've learned earlier. Lots of narrow obstacles to weave between, enemies like Magmarrghs, Thwomps, and Undergrunt Gunners blocking your way, and much like Wild Glide Galaxy, an optional challenge of gliding through five rings to grab this galaxy's Comet Medal. The whole thing also takes place on a BATTLESTATION ROCKETSHIP, which feels like a pretty wild departure from the serene jungle scenery of the Wild Glide Galaxy.

In particular I love the bit at the end, where you have to make a mad dash for the escape before a large garage door closes in on you, all while narrowly dodging several tall pillars scattered throughout the room. Really, this one mostly made it so high on account of just how cool it feels to play through it. I can sort of give or take gliding with Fluzzard, but it's hard for me to play through Fleet Glide Galaxy without feeling a bit of an endorphin rush.

38. Fluffy Bluff Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

That's right! It's another Early-Game Super Mario Galaxy 2 Galaxy That Introduces A New Power-Up! As I said, there's a few of them. But Fluffy Bluff Galaxy gets a bit of an edge to me, since it introduces the Cloud Flower, which is such a great power-up, I think. Like I've mentioned before how much of a delight I think it is, but the mix of being able to create new platforms at will and the floatier physics makes for some really fun platforming.

Really, Fluffy Bluff Galaxy has a few things going for it. It's the first appearance of the Cloud Flowers, the first appearance of Whittles, the first appearance of The Chimp, lots of Super Mario Galaxy 2 hallmarks make their debut here. Let's be honest with ourselves: Super Mario Galaxy wouldn't be half the game it is if it didn't have a cool monkey wearing sunglasses that challenges you to... challenges.

Fluffy Bluff Galaxy, as you can probably expect, is on the easier side, but takes solid advantage of its new power-up, and is also just like, a really nice Environment. It feels a little more elaborate than a lot of places in Galaxy 2, and I'm chalking it up to the mountains. They're just a little extra set dressing that makes this place feel a lot more Robust to me.

37. Rolling Masterpiece Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Here we have what I consider the best of the Star Ball galaxies*, Rolling Masterpiece Galaxy! Is it worthy of the title of Masterpiece? Maybe not quite, but it's still really good. So good I moved it up like ten spots in the process of writing this post! Whenever I go to Rolling Masterpiece, I have a ball!

Rolling Masterpiece ends up feeling like the best of these missions to me, mostly in part to its fun and varied obstacles that take full advantage of the Star Ball's mechanics, and honestly it brings a lot of new things to the table too. Like, writing this made me realize this is the only Star Ball galaxy that has you rolling around a sphere. Feels weird they only did that once, given "running around spheres" is like, one of the main things Super Mario Galaxy does.

Rolling Masterpiece has a lot of fun taking mechanics from other galaxies, but recontextualizing them by using them in a Star Ball mission. Stuff like the Space Junk assembly blocks, the Flipswitches, and the wooden blocks being cut apart by saws aren't unique to this galaxy, but end up making really interesting obstacles here, and I think it helps to use mechanics the players are already familiar with so they have some idea of how to approach them. And even if you want something wholly original, you have the Silver Chomp grudge match at the end to look forward to.

*There is one more galaxy that uses the Star Ball that we haven't talked about yet, but it's not really a "Star Ball" galaxy. It'll be a while before we get to it.

36. Flip-Swap Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: A

Wrapping up today's list, we have another relatively simple galaxy built around a really solid gimmick that would continue to make regular appearances in the 3D Place Games. The sequel's Hungry Luma galaxies generally fare much better than the first game's.

The Red-and-Blue Flip-Swap Tiles are such a cool gimmick. The spin mechanic is so integral to Super Mario Galaxy's level design, that building a level around having to be more careful about where and when you use it ends up feeling brilliant, especially with how it escalates over time. Sure, you might want to spin jump over those electric fences, but be careful, or else you'll be taking the ground out from under you!

As the galaxy goes on, it continues to get better than better, particularly towards the end, which has a memorable segment where Chomps will appear out of portals, alternating between the red and blue tiles, making you time out which path is safer at which moment, and the end sequence, where there's tiles placed far enough apart that you instinctively want to spin jump, but doing so is a bad idea. They did such a good job designing this galaxy around its central gimmick, and I love it for that.

And unlike Beat Block, I think I do generally like this one more than its successors, even if Cakewalk Flip is the absolute funniest stage to do multiplayer on in 3D World. I also like how this galaxy allows for the optional challenge of beating it with only the red or blue tiles active! I've never tried it myself, but I know both are possible, which is really cool.

In conclusion:

And that marks it for today's post! Once again feel free to give your thoughts, as to where you agree and/or disagree! Sorry to that one person that wanted me to put both gliding galaxies in F-Tier. I like Fleet Glide Galaxy too much to do that, I hope you understand.

Next week, we'll cover the rest of the A-Tiers! I'll make sure to link it here when it goes live! Prob... probably.

(EDIT: It took two weeks but here you go!)

#mod hooligon #super mario galaxy #super mario galaxy 2

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