Super Mario Galaxy 2 Is MIA, So Everybody's Sad

Reports surfaced earlier this year that Nintendo was planning to re-release or remaster a number of classic Mario games for Nintendo Switch. September marks the 35th anniversary of the Japanese release of the original Super Mario Bros. game, so Nintendo decided now was the right time to confirm the rumors. There's a ton coming both this month and beyond for Mario fans to look forward to, but for many, the biggest takeaway is what isn't included--namely, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Not only was it not featured in the collection Nintendo announced, but it was completely ignored in a montage of the entire series to date.

The headlining aspect of today's surprise Nintendo Direct is Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Nintendo Switch. This packages together a major Mario game from the Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii--Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy--with some improvements, like widescreen support and higher resolutions. It's something of a callback to the original Super Mario All-Stars, a SNES compilation of NES Mario games, and clearly isn't intended to compile together every single Mario game, or even the best ones (as Sunshine's detractors would no doubt point out).

And yet, it's hard not to feel a little disappointed by the absence of Super Mario Galaxy 2, which some would contend is the single best Mario game ever--it scored a rare 10 in our Super Mario Galaxy 2 review. It expanded on its already brilliant predecessor, introducing Yoshi and new power-ups like the Spin Drill, and consistently offering a delightfully varied experience from beginning to end. It's a phenomenal game and would have arguably been a superior inclusion to the first Galaxy, which has led to some consternation among its supporters on Twitter.

Will this outpouring of support for the game have any effect? Probably not, although we can still hope Nintendo eventually has plans to make Mario Galaxy 2 playable on Switch in some form. Nintendo is bringing another classic Mario game, Super Mario 3D World, to the system as a standalone release with new content in the form of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. It will also have cooperative play online.

And if not, maybe this collection can at least finally put to rest the question of whether Super Mario Sunshine is any good. But I doubt it.