Why are the Galaxy games so insanely overrated?

The Galaxy games are better than all of these games.

It was the exact opposite for me, while the first levels were kind of meh...by the third or fourth galaxy i was hooked with the game, the artstyle, the beautiful music, the gameplay, i was loving everything about that game, i was having so much fun with it...it was probably the first time in many, many years that i had so much "childish" fun with a game, just pure fun like i used to have with games like SMB3 and Super Mario World, and no game since then have made me felt the same, 3D World, Bayonetta 2, Bit Trip Runner and Rayman Legends were pretty close, but nowhere near the feeling i had with Super Mario Galaxy, not even SMG2 which it is an objectively better game, but it wasn't as magic to me as the first one.

This.

You're trying too hard, TC. You've got to be a bit more subtle to make this sort of thing work.

If the Mario Galaxy games were any other IP they would still be celebrated for being excellent games, Mario adds an element sure because the character is endearing, the music is iconic, and the tropes have some value to an older seasoned audience, but the actual game design would still be praised as something incredible. How do I know this, because game reviewers like the one that reviewed Super Mario Galaxy here said so in their own words "When all is said and done, the thing that really makes Super Mario Galaxy such a standout game isn't the fact that it's another Mario game, but the fact that it doesn't even need to be a Mario game to be successful. Sure, it's got all the nostalgic flavor Mario fans would want, with the updated soundtrack, familiar foes, and various other Mario-related bric-a-brac scattered throughout the adventure, but the game never leans on these nostalgic aspects as a crutch. It instead puts the whole of its focus on its gameplay design, and with good reason. You could probably swap in just about any other characters from practically any other franchise, and this would still be a phenomenally fun game. That it layers all these memorable characters and components on top of that phenomenal design just makes it all the sweeter. If ever there were a must-own Wii game, Super Mario Galaxy is it."

And while there is a degree of truth to Hyrule Warriors getting a bump because of the IP, it's batting a 76 on metacritic. Which in a real medium with actual harsh critics would be one thing, but it's a point away from being mixed territory. It wasn't enough of a bump for it to be celebrated as some classic, where as the Galaxy games from design standpoint absolutely are classics.

I don't know about all that. Now we're getting into loony bin territory.

Recently replayed SMB3 and there's a lotta bullshit in that game. Repetitive levels out the wazoo, and of course the bosses are uninteresting throughout. I mean it's unfair to hold such a classic to modern standards but it's been outclassed by future Mario games by now. Same with Super Mario World.

@princeofshapeir: to be fair one of the levels in galaxy 1 was a recycled version of the bee level

Despite Hyrule Warriors being a skin of Dynasty Warriors, I found the gameplay more satisfying than Skyward Sword.

There's just something exact about the 2D Mario games. Galaxy is great, but it lacks the emphasis on real 3D platforming. I assume it was done because of the very high difficulty of 64 and Sunshine.

The Galaxy games have some odd geometry areas where there's not much to do. The level design in every other mario game is incredibly precise.

Nice troll I guess... but I figured I would just crush whatever tiny argument you had. Im gonna address each paragraph:

- Haven't played 3D world, can't comment

- Im not even going to touch this paragraph

- SMG1/2 have a different design to them. They both are effectively the same - get enough stars and you unlock the next little area. The difference is SMG1/2 cuts the crap and gets you straight into the actual levels of the game. SM64 had two advantages - secret stars, and the creative ways to make the levels different depending on how you enter the paintings. Both these advantages are offset due to the sheer amount of levels in the SMG games (there were 15 in SM64, 42 in SMG1, 49 in SMG2)

- Except the 3D mario games have been proven to just sell less than the 2D ones, which is why the 2D games are so formulaic and the 3D ones often step outside the comfort zone a bit. Take a look at this graph, created by gamespot:

Take note of where the top sales are. Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario World, Super Mario land, Super Mario Bros 3... wait, there is a pattern here! THEY ARE ALL 2D MARIO GAMES! And even though a 3D mario game (SM64) is next, look at the big gap in sales - 18 million for SMB3 against 11.89 million for SM64. If Nintendo REALLY wanted to play it safe, why make a 3D game? The 2D games are the ones that sell.

- The very first level takes place IN THE FREAKIN MUSHROOM KINGDOM. So that is where that is. And we are in space because Bowser decided to take Peach into space to show her his brand new galaxy, and unless Mario had a plan to just twiddle his thumbs and pray Bowser would come back to the same damn planet, let alone the same damn galaxy, going into space was kinda his only option.

- Still can't comment on 3D world, but if the last paragraph is any indication, its got more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese.

- Tell me these games are average when every critic ever stops awarding a perfect/close to perfect score for SMG1/2 and SM3DW. 100% positive critic reviews and 90.7% positive user reviews (SMG1) is not "average"

Ditto.

I do give the TC an A for effort.

@lavenders2001 said:

Nice troll I guess... but I figured I would just crush whatever tiny argument you had. Im gonna address each paragraph:

@DarthaPerkinjan said:

This also includes the overrated super linear tunnel simulator been there done that 3D World

They've always come across to me as a collection of small 3D minigames. Of course nothing that you couldnt make in Little Big Planet 3.

Even the overworld is a dated 25 year old design. Mario 64 had the genius and originality to make the castle as the base, as well as the extremely cool feature of jumping into paintings to enter each door. In Galaxy and 3D World its back to clicking on chibi icons of the next level - basically what it was like 25 years old. No originality or fun.

3D World and the Galaxy games are the epitome of safe Nintendo, and a clear guide to everything that is wrong with the company. However since so many lap up these stale games up by the truckload and praise them as premium gaming, you will continue to get rehashed generic Mario titles.

Galaxy: Why are we in space - where is the Mushroom Kingdom

3D World: This is suppose to be the Mushroom Kingdom, but why does it not feel like another world, but rather disjointed?

These games are average at best

- Haven't played 3D world, can't comment

- Im not even going to touch this paragraph

- SMG1/2 have a different design to them. They both are effectively the same - get enough stars and you unlock the next little area. The difference is SMG1/2 cuts the crap and gets you straight into the actual levels of the game. SM64 had two advantages - secret stars, and the creative ways to make the levels different depending on how you enter the paintings. Both these advantages are offset due to the sheer amount of levels in the SMG games (there were 15 in SM64, 42 in SMG1, 49 in SMG2)

- Except the 3D mario games have been proven to just sell less than the 2D ones, which is why the 2D games are so formulaic and the 3D ones often step outside the comfort zone a bit. Take a look at this graph, created by gamespot:

Take note of where the top sales are. Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario World, Super Mario land, Super Mario Bros 3... wait, there is a pattern here! THEY ARE ALL 2D MARIO GAMES! And even though a 3D mario game (SM64) is next, look at the big gap in sales - 18 million for SMB3 against 11.89 million for SM64. If Nintendo REALLY wanted to play it safe, why make a 3D game? The 2D games are the ones that sell.

- The very first level takes place IN THE FREAKIN MUSHROOM KINGDOM. So that is where that is. And we are in space because Bowser decided to take Peach into space to show her his brand new galaxy, and unless Mario had a plan to just twiddle his thumbs and pray Bowser would come back to the same damn planet, let alone the same damn galaxy, going into space was kinda his only option.

- Still can't comment on 3D world, but if the last paragraph is any indication, its got more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese.

- Tell me these games are average when every critic ever stops awarding a perfect/close to perfect score for SMG1/2 and SM3DW. 100% positive critic reviews and 90.7% positive user reviews (SMG1) is not "average"

I was about to post the same thing.

The hell you say?

Oh right, I forgot that you were illiterate

Oh now come on sweetheart...don't be like that.

2d ones? Because those new smb games do more aping of Mario World and Mario 3 than actually adding in new shit. They don't outclass shit.

"lotta bullshit" for all of Galaxy's ideas, there were plenty of filler levels based around motion controls that weren't fun like rolling around a ball or those stupid bird levels, manta ray levels not withstanding because those are fun and shitty people don't like those. And boss fights aren't exactly a highlight of the original Galaxy, 2 did them better, but one was a total pushover in that regard.

Zelda combat has always been bad in 3d. There hasn't actually been a Zelda game with good combat, so anything being better than Skyward Sword isn't impressive. Likewise Dynasty Warriors sucks, you can do way better beat-em ups. Zelda isn't always a combat heavy series though it is more prominent than say Metroid, but Dynasty Warriors is nothing but its shitty combat.

@lavenders2001 said:

Nice troll I guess... but I figured I would just crush whatever tiny argument you had. Im gonna address each paragraph:

@DarthaPerkinjan said:

This also includes the overrated super linear tunnel simulator been there done that 3D World

They've always come across to me as a collection of small 3D minigames. Of course nothing that you couldnt make in Little Big Planet 3.

Even the overworld is a dated 25 year old design. Mario 64 had the genius and originality to make the castle as the base, as well as the extremely cool feature of jumping into paintings to enter each door. In Galaxy and 3D World its back to clicking on chibi icons of the next level - basically what it was like 25 years old. No originality or fun.

3D World and the Galaxy games are the epitome of safe Nintendo, and a clear guide to everything that is wrong with the company. However since so many lap up these stale games up by the truckload and praise them as premium gaming, you will continue to get rehashed generic Mario titles.

Galaxy: Why are we in space - where is the Mushroom Kingdom

3D World: This is suppose to be the Mushroom Kingdom, but why does it not feel like another world, but rather disjointed?

These games are average at best

- Haven't played 3D world, can't comment

- Im not even going to touch this paragraph

- SMG1/2 have a different design to them. They both are effectively the same - get enough stars and you unlock the next little area. The difference is SMG1/2 cuts the crap and gets you straight into the actual levels of the game. SM64 had two advantages - secret stars, and the creative ways to make the levels different depending on how you enter the paintings. Both these advantages are offset due to the sheer amount of levels in the SMG games (there were 15 in SM64, 42 in SMG1, 49 in SMG2)

- Except the 3D mario games have been proven to just sell less than the 2D ones, which is why the 2D games are so formulaic and the 3D ones often step outside the comfort zone a bit. Take a look at this graph, created by gamespot:

Take note of where the top sales are. Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario World, Super Mario land, Super Mario Bros 3... wait, there is a pattern here! THEY ARE ALL 2D MARIO GAMES! And even though a 3D mario game (SM64) is next, look at the big gap in sales - 18 million for SMB3 against 11.89 million for SM64. If Nintendo REALLY wanted to play it safe, why make a 3D game? The 2D games are the ones that sell.

- The very first level takes place IN THE FREAKIN MUSHROOM KINGDOM. So that is where that is. And we are in space because Bowser decided to take Peach into space to show her his brand new galaxy, and unless Mario had a plan to just twiddle his thumbs and pray Bowser would come back to the same damn planet, let alone the same damn galaxy, going into space was kinda his only option.

- Still can't comment on 3D world, but if the last paragraph is any indication, its got more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese.

- Tell me these games are average when every critic ever stops awarding a perfect/close to perfect score for SMG1/2 and SM3DW. 100% positive critic reviews and 90.7% positive user reviews (SMG1) is not "average"

Look I can't help but feel the games are being overrated because people like Mario. The galaxy games might be, well, they ARE extremely solid in terms of gameplay, but it doesnt feel new at all. Its like all Nintendo has to do is make a 3D platformer with solid gameplay with Mario and people will throw wreaths at them.

The Galaxy games feeling smaller then Mario 64 is a big deal to me, because Mario 64 is 20 years old and Im tired of so this trend of Japanese games becoming more and more linear.

If you look at Super Mario 1,2,3,World, and 64, they all took place in the Mushroom Kingdom - so why leave?

I think the best way to explain it is how I felt after beating 3D World. It felt like I just completed a series of clever 'minigame' levels - and thats it. Its starting to come back to me now - for example, in 3D World's Desertland, only 2 of the 5/6 levels are actually desert themed. I think thats part of the reason why I never really felt like I was in the Mushroom Kingdom - it didnt do good enough of a job of establishing each world.

All Im saying is if these games are Game of the Year Contenders, then gaming is in real bad shape. Because they are not pushing the boundaries at all. At all.

- Overrated because people like Mario... isn't that a contradiction? If people like Mario doesn't that mean he should be rated high? Yeah, the galaxy games are extremely solid in terms of gameplay, and also its full orchestral soundtrack, and crisp graphics and probably its design as well. Everything in that game is good, as constantly proclaimed by critics and players alike. Regardless, aren't the core gamers the one crying "Its all about the gameplay!" and then when a game with "extremely solid gameplay" comes along we just say its average?

Nintendo can get away with making a solid 3D Mario game and make money, but I think that is partially a testament to how wide reaching these games are. The average audience simply does not care about metacritic scores, or game design elements, or anything else really for that matter. They just see Mario on the box and that is all they need to know. The game could probably be a steaming turd in terms of gameplay and stuff and it would sell, but Nintendo usually put in a bit more effort than that; I am pretty sure every single game in that graph is highly rated and regarded as a good/great/excellent game.

- Mario 64 is linear. It has the illusion of being open ended, but it really isn't. You can't access a lot of the stuff in the game without a certain amount of stars, and even then you have to do the levels in each painting in order, 1 by 1. The advantage is that you can choose which painting you want to do first, and if you get bored or stuck, you can go to one of the other 1 or 2 paintings current available to you. Galaxy takes this approach as well - requiring stars to advance, and usually giving you two galaxies at all times to choose from. It is a bit more linear than SM64, but SM64 was never open ended to being with.

- Because you are the one complaining about everything feeling the same? What, so you want the game to take place in the same location for every game but you want each game to be different and new? There is more to Mario and its locations than just "Mushroom Kingdom".

- Again, never played 3D world, so don't know if you are actually right on that one, but is this all you can come up with? The world building in a Mario game wasn't basically spot on? Well I guess that explains why the game lost 1 point on some review sites. I disagree with the minigame levels though, because fundametnally the game isn't a bunch of minigames since they all share the same key mechanics. The game is still a platformer throughout, Mario still has the same moves throughout (and his various powerups that can alter these in some way) and the objective is still always the same every level - get to the flag at the end of the level. The minigame feel comes from the variety of enemies and obstacles throughout, and the interactions they can have with the powerups - and having lots of variety is not a bad thing

- You say this like it is a bad thing. Good games are good games, and the best games often come from good games. A game does not need to push the boundaries to be the best game - I mean in what way did GTAV advance the open world genre? Orcarina of Time is just another Zelda game, yet it is considered a timeless classic. Super Mario Galaxy is really just another 3D Mario game, but all these games have one thing in common - they are fun. Many game of the year winners are often carefully constructed pieces of entertainment - one could analyze SMG1/2 or even SM3DW in terms of various game elements like game design, soundtrack, graphics, fun factor or anything else like that, and you would probably find a lot more good than bad, regardless of how much of that goodness may have originated from something else. Originality is only one element to consider here, and even then the overall worth of a game is not just the sum of its parts. This is why I think your argument is flawed - you say the games are overrated because they lack originality, but then you disregard almost every other element of the game. So I now I will ask, in what ways are the following elements in the games you have mentioned overrated?:

* Sound design and Soundtrack

* Graphics and aesthetics

* Gameplay, game design and overall fun factor (this often encompasses smaller categories like pacing, variety and mechanics)

* Overall Quality

That's all bollocks dude. The levels are wide open and let you go in any direction, you can do most of the stars in any order, and you regularly can move between all the levels you've unlocked. I had all the levels opened and played before I managed to complete the 1st one. How the hell is that linear?

Eh, i thought those were pretty enjoyable, nothing extraordinary, but simple fun.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the spring power up. That is the single reason why i can't rank the Galaxy games a perfect score personally. I absolutely hated the living Hell out of that frustrating unresponsive piece a shit of a power up, but at least it doesn't overstay its welcome.

I almost feel sorry for OP, almost.

I think the spring is fine, it's one of those powerups that takes more power away than it gives to the player but the levels it's designed for are at least pretty good.

The complaints I have with the Galaxy games are: 1) removing Mario's movement options (i.e. taking out diving). They had a perfect movement concept in Super Mario 64 that just needed tightening in future games. Sunshine kind of goes in that direction but they undermine everything by adding FLUDD and overpowering Mario. The ideal 3D Mario game would need to have Super Mario 64's movement options and Galaxy's tight platforming level design with modern-day Nintendo polish, but with Super Mario 3D World completely axing Mario's movement I don't see that ever happening.

2) Ball rolling isn't very fun because gyroscope controls are inherently devoid of feedback. These sections would be much, much better if you could control the ball with the analog stick. The Galaxy games are among the biggest arguments for the Wii Remote's existence--but only because the IR pointer is put to extremely good use (see: Yoshi in Galaxy 2). Almost all motion controls outside of the pointer are gimmicky and awkward to control, including spinning, which would be better off bound to a button.

Other than that I think both games have much tighter level design overall than any other Mario game, and I value level design in a platformer above all else.

I agree with OP, Super Mario Galaxy games are a POS.

Mediocre 5/10 titles at best with average gameplay.

I could never get into galaxy 2, and I'm not sure why either because I love platformers and the variety in levels was fantastic.

Maybe it's because everything felt like a bunch of random levels with no cohesiveness to them.

Please !

I only played SMG2 and was bored from the beginning. I love Super Mario World and think it is way more fun.

This children is why cows are bad people.

Nintendo should just release all of its games on the PC i.e. Linux, Windows, Mac OS. FFS, I want to play Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 on my beastly PC. Stop with that proprietary console crap. Nobody cares about them. I want the games.

Galaxy 1&2 are great games. Overrated? Yes. A lot. They're still better than 3D World, though, which felt like a more fleshed out 3D Land. With not so fun multi-player. Nothing has still come close to the greatness of Mario 64, imo, when it comes to 3D Marios.

You too ? good to know I wasn´t the only one.

@Caseytappy said:

Please !

LOL sleeper hold move.

I would bite and take the bait, but not today.

2/10

Simple reason is Galaxy pushed the boundaries with gravity and spherical while still making it feel like a Mario game which is AAA status.

Cool, man. Galaxy 1 and 2 kick ass. They're among Nintendo's best work.

Had a good laugh, thanks TC.

I feel like the first Galaxy game was overrated because it felt like the developers played it safe with the new gravity concepts. Super Mario Galaxy 2, however, is the single most creative and varied 3D platformer ever made. The developers just let loose with that game. It deserves every praise it gets.

P.S. That comment about LittleBigPlanet? WTF?

I simply don't like 3d mario games. The 2d one are amazing though