Super Mario Galaxy

Beautiful planets, stars, and asteroids spin and blink in the sky. Each astral body has its own distinct style and theme. You hop in a star-powered canon and fly through space to the next galaxy and to your next adventure

Super Mario Galaxy is a 3d platforming game that brings a very familiar plumber protagonist, Mario, traveling through space to collect stars to save the princess. However, this game is very different than most Mario games. For one, it's in 3D, which was very amazing at the time, but more importantly, the sheer vastness and uniqueness of the worlds astounded players and critics alike.

And frankly, it exploded my young brain when it came out in 2007.

In Super Mario Galaxy, players can travel to different galaxies through space and freely walk around the planets within them. Each planet hosts a variety of different enemies and friends to meet.

Super Mario Galaxy is one of my favorite games of all time, but ironically, I never fully played through it myself. At the time, I shared a Wii with both my older brothers and, as the youngest brother, I got to watch them play. (Younger siblings most likely can relate!) As unfortunate as that was for me, there was some light at the end of the tunnel. The game actually had a feature where the second player could use a Wii remote and collect little pieces of stars and fling them at enemy Goombas. So, that’s what I did. I collected stars, shot some goombas, and watched my brothers play this amazing game.

While that may seem tedious, not playing the game actually got me to appreciate it more. I got to see every part of the different planets Mario traveled to. I got to listen to each song as my brothers tried and failed countless levels. And through this, I learned that there is so much more to a game than just the gameplay. I saw the art, creativity, and passion that went into making games, and I fell in love.

The picture on the right is of Mario in the Honey Bee Galaxy. Here, can get a new powerup that lets him turn into a bee. The picture on the right is of the spacejunk galaxy. This crazy galaxy is hectic and is filled with trash that is hard to navigate.

This would lead me to develop an interest in world design and soundtracks. And now, here I am, a “Computer Science (Games)” major at USC. (The “Games” part is very important to me)

The unique landscapes and beautiful soundtrack of Super Mario Galaxy showed me the creativity behind games and inspired me to work to create them myself. If I actually played the game like my brothers, I wouldn't have developed such a love for the other aspects that go into a game, and for that, I think Super Mario Galaxy will always hold a special place in my heart.