Ranking Every Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy is a 12, rapidly-approaching-13 year old game. When it was originally released, it received tons upon tons of critical acclaim, eventually spurring the release of a sequel. And now, Super Mario Galaxy is back in the public consciousness again thanks to the release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection of some of Mario’s finest 3-dimensional adventures.
The thing is…I didn’t have a blog when I first played Super Mario Galaxy in the late 2000s. But now that I have the new collection of games, and a blog, I can conclusively determine the best (and the worst) levels in the game.
For the purpose of consistency, I’ll be using the list of galaxies from Super Mario Wiki. Here’s the link to that article. I don’t exactly have any criteria for judging the quality of each galaxy, so this is going to be a subjective list. Just trust in my ability to know good level design when I see it.
And I guess, in the immortal words of Mario, let’s-a-go! We have a lot of work to do.
42: Drip Drop Galaxy
If there’s a common theme connecting Super Mario Galaxy’s worst levels, it’s that they don’t need to exist. Why do we have to deal with this when there’s already an entire other galaxy focused on fighting an underwater boss? This could easily be consolidated with Bonefin Galaxy to create a single galaxy with two stars.
41: Bowser’s Star Reactor
For me, there’s literally nothing memorable about this stage. Everything this level does is actually done better by other Bowser and Bowser Jr. levels. I have no other comments.
40: Boo’s Boneyard Galaxy
Maybe it’s just me, but this level seems excessively difficult and extremely out-of-place. Something about descending fast as a Boo in this level is just impossible for me to do. And again, why isn’t this a star in Deep Dark or Ghostly Galaxies? Don’t tell me both of those galaxies are already full — Dusty Dune got seven missions, so one of them can too.
39: Matter Splatter Galaxy
As much of a nice idea as this is, it really feels like a Galaxy 2 concept that didn’t get fully fleshed out. There’s so much that can be done here that just doesn’t get touched. Imagine something like Flash Black from Galaxy 2, or those levels that use Yoshi and the Glow Fruit. That’s what this could have been! But it isn’t, and that’s all there is to it.
38: Loopdeeloop Galaxy
This level is the worst of the worst when it comes to motion-control gimmicks. For one, key turn motions aren’t very comfortable to me. And there’s just something about the ray surfing levels that stresses me out. I know I can slow down, but that doesn’t increase my confidence in the game’s ability to steer me correctly.
37: Honeyclimb Galaxy
I hate to sound like a broken record, but again: put this in Honeyhive or Gold Leaf Galaxies. This has no reason to exist as its own thing. It’s doesn’t matter that this level is actually pretty fun to play. It’s this low because people at Nintendo apparently thought they could get away with turning individual stars into entire galaxies.
36: Bowser Jr.’s Lava Reactor
It should really be an insult to Bowser’s Star Reactor that a boss refight is this far above it. If it weren’t for the increased difficulty of the sinking platforms, this would easily take the #41 spot. I mean, I don’t love a lot of these galaxies down here, but at least they aren’t copy-pasted from other places!
35: Loopdeeswoop Galaxy
Contrary to some people, I think the increased difficulty of the Trial Galaxies means that they should be higher than their standard counterparts. And even though Loopdeeswoop is the upgraded version, it still does kind of suck to play. Same complaints about key turn controls and stressful steering, only this time with narrower paths!
34: Rolling Green Galaxy
Then there’s the second kind of motion control level, ball rolling. This is a little more entertaining for me than ray surfing, so it gets to go a little higher. But only a little bit. It’s still not great.
33: Snow Cap Galaxy
If you ask most people, they’d say this is one of the absolute worst levels in the entire game. I wouldn’t go that far, but this is still no joy to play through. It’s only doing so well in my ranking here because it has one or two unique ideas. Since it’s about catching bunnies, maybe make it a third star in the Gateway? Also, you can trap the bunnies in the two holes on either end of the planet and easily catch them.
32: Bowser’s Dark Matter Plant
This level is very memorable for its goopy floors and gravity sliding block challenge, but that’s about all I can say for it. I really wish both of those concepts appeared way more often in the game, because I enjoy them both, but the fact that they’re only here makes this level look more like an outlier than a trendsetter.
31: Buoy Base Galaxy
Look. When I was writing this review, I didn’t consider music. Even if I had considered music, I don’t like the Buoy Base music. And other than that song, this level has very little going for it. But, I mean, hey — there’s a Poké Ball here! Right? Anyway, Space Storm Galaxy in Galaxy 2 does it better, end of sentence.
30: Rolling Gizmo Galaxy
Rolling Gizmo Galaxy is sort of the Platonic ideal of motion control levels. It takes the premise of ball rolling and expands on it in nice ways, making for a stressful but satisfying playing experience. There are definitely people who complain about aspects of this level (especially that final die you have to navigate onto), but this has always been an enjoyable enough experience for me.
29: Bonefin Galaxy
Otherwise known as “the better underwater shell-throwing enemy-defeating galaxy.” I’d much rather fight Kingfin than three random eels, and I’m assuming you would too. Now that I’m thinking about it…why not combine this, Drip Drop, and Buoy Base to make a standard-size galaxy? Just throwing that out there. Although…maybe it’d be too much water in a single level. But perhaps that’s just what we need? Well, anyway, good job Bonefin Galaxy, number 29.
28: Sweet Sweet Galaxy
After I ranked all these levels, I took a little look around for other peoples’ opinions on the galaxies, and I was shocked! It seems like this is quite a divisive level. And it’s not really ranked too high on my own list, but I appreciate the aesthetic they’re going for. Who doesn’t want to live in a world made of cake, cookies, and chocolate? And also…is this the inspiration for Sweet Sweet Canyon?
27: Bigmouth Galaxy
Bigmouth Galaxy only gets to be this high up for two reasons. One: the amazing shape of the main planet. It’s a big fish…and you walk into its mouth! And two: I really love the idea of a golden chest that can only be opened using the special golden shell. I should also acknowledge the sequence break that lets you skip collecting the star chips, although I wasn’t aware of it when I played the game or made my ranking.
26: Battlerock Galaxy
Or as I like to call it: “Lame Dreadnought.” This is the first of the game’s main 15 galaxies to show up on the list. It’s a decent enough galaxy, but there’s just nothing too memorable to me about it. Topmaniac is absolutely the standout here, and he’s not even unique to this galaxy!
25: Dreadnought Galaxy
Or as I like to call it: “Cool Battlerock.” It really does just take everything that Battlerock Galaxy did and executes it better. It also has Topmaniac, and let’s not forget to mention those amazing pointy-spire looking things. Add onto that a much more difficult, but enjoyable (and trolling) Purple Coin mission and you end up with a galaxy I could get behind.
24: Bowser Jr.’s Airship Armada
As far as Bowser/Bowser Jr. fights go, this is one of the more interesting ones. For once in this game, we actually get to fight Jr. directly, rather than take out a big minion. And it’s just so fun to use the cannons that appear in this galaxy. The platform ride you can see in the image has always given me some trouble, but it’s nothing too bad. All in all, a very fun and solid boss level.
23: Gateway Galaxy
For me, this galaxy basically has to come in somewhere in the middle. It’s an interesting place, and I like that it makes an appearance in Mario Galaxy’s 100% cutscene, but there’s not much else going for it. It’s really just the galaxy that introduces you to the basic concepts of the game, like gravity and black holes and spinning.
22: Bowser Jr.’s Robot Reactor
This galaxy is a lot of fun for me, but not necessarily for the reasons you’d think. There’s a glitch that allows you to access the Megaleg planet without using a launch star, and then you can climb all over Megaleg without it activating. I mean, it’s still a fun boss fight, it’s just that I have more fun doing other things here.
21: Ghostly Galaxy
For me, a lot of the quality of Ghostly Galaxy derives from the quality of the Bouldergeist fight. The other levels in this galaxy are definitely fun, and you get to meet Luigi and all, but it’s nothing compared to this boss fight.
And fun fact I just saw: the first four notes in Ghostly Galaxy’s music, that repeat throughout the level, are D-E-A-D. That’s really cool.
20: Beach Bowl Galaxy
This galaxy always comes as a relaxing surprise to me. Just when the levels are starting to get more difficult, there’s this wonderful little water planet full of penguins to explore. Even though the second mission is absolutely pitiful in terms of content, other missions like the Cyclone Stone and Purple Coins make up for it. This might be my ideal Super Mario Galaxy vacation destination.
19: Toy Time Galaxy
This is another one of those galaxies that everyone seems to love, and I just don’t get it. Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser isn’t that great of a mission. The Spring Mushroom is okay, but not fantastic. Truly, this galaxy’s stand-out mission is Luigi’s Purple Coins. Maybe that’s why it appears as a galaxy of its own in Galaxy 2.
18: Sand Spiral Galaxy
This galaxy is an absolute blast to play through, but it ends so soon! I would have loved to see an entire set of missions based around navigating using one of two available power-ups. This level is all about “Bee vs. Boo”, but what about Fire or Ice? Spring or Bee? Flight or invincibility? And really, this picture doesn’t get across how beautiful the moon at the end of the level is. So. Glowy. Absolutely a top 10 galaxy…if only it were longer.
17: Dusty Dune Galaxy
I’ve been conflicted for a while on where to put this galaxy. If you ask me what I think about Dusty Dune, I would initially say that I don’t like it at all, but that’s not really true. I don’t like Dusty Dune Galaxy when I’m actively thinking about it. But when I get into the missions, and stop thinking about the fact that I hate this galaxy, it turns out I have a pretty good time! But then my mind wanders and I remember I’m in Dusty Dune Galaxy.
16: Deep Dark Galaxy
It’s always an exciting feeling to be making progress in your game, and Deep Dark Galaxy is great for that feeling. It’s the first galaxy in the final dome in the game, and it definitely feels like it. With missions like Ghost Ship Daredevil Run and Plunder the Purple Coins, this is always an exciting, challenging galaxy to dig into.
15: Flipswitch Galaxy
You know those “oddly satisfying” videos all over YouTube? Yeah, this is like one of those, but in video game form. Yes, I know it’s only one planet. Yes, I know it’s way too short of a level. I don’t care. I love this.
14: Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor
The final boss level! Some people would want this to be higher on the list, but it’s not that amazing. Looking back on it, it would have been really cool if each planet in this galaxy represented a previous Bowser/Bowser Jr. stage, but I don’t mind too much.
13: Good Egg Galaxy
As the first main galaxy in the game, Good Egg has to be a real hit of a level, and it absolutely is. Dino Piranha is fun, King Kaliente is fun, the purple coins are fun! It’s a fun place. But there's more fun to be had in the galaxies coming up.
12: Space Junk Galaxy
Space Junk is widely praised for being Super Mario Galaxy’s most chill location, and I definitely agree with that. But other than a nice atmosphere and unique music, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot going for it. Space Junk isn’t your average Super Mario Galaxy level, but it is your standard level that’s just pretty good and gets the job done.
11: Bubble Breeze Galaxy
Well this shouldn’t be a controversial pick…
A lot of people claim that they don’t like bubble levels because they’re difficult to control. I just don’t understand where that comes from. Personally, I’ve never had a single issue with navigating these levels — not when I played it on Wii and not when I played it on Switch. This would be much higher if there weren’t a skip you could do to avoid half of the entire galaxy.
10: Gusty Garden Galaxy
Again, a galaxy that would rank high in a music ranking, but that’s not what I’m doing. And actually, I prefer the Major Burrows boss fight music to the main theme of this galaxy. It’s a very well planned-out and executed galaxy, which explains why it gets referenced so heavily in future games. But it’s not the best galaxy in the game, and not even the best in its dome.
9: Sling Pod Galaxy
In a lot of these descriptions, I advocate for a smaller galaxy to get lumped into a bigger one. I’m going to change that up here — Space Junk Galaxy needs to get shoved into this stage. Sling Pod Galaxy is more fun to play than a lot of Space Junk’s missions. It’s also fantastic for gathering Star Bits. It’s just better in every way, even despite its lack of missions.
8: Hurry-Scurry Galaxy
I will fight you. There’s something very satisfying to me about going to this galaxy and trying to destroy every last shrinking platform before collecting the star. You run around, and long jump, and get to play on this really fun planet! It’s highly satisfying to do, and I will defend it to my final breath. This is a good level.
7: Bubble Blast Galaxy
This is just another wonderful bubble stage, what can I say? It’s a bit more challenging than Bubble Breeze, which is nice, and there’s no major sequence break, which is also nice. I love the idea of assembling a launch star by beating five different, smaller challenges.
6: Grand Finale Galaxy
I’m absolutely shocked that anyone would rank this anywhere close to the bottom of the list. There are people who say things like “this has a lot of wasted potential", but clearly they’ve never collected all the game’s 242 possible stars. This galaxy is a fantastic example of a satisfying payoff for 100%ing a game. If you’ve never gotten here by yourself, you can’t know the immense satisfaction of returning to the Star Festival and getting that final star.
5: Gold Leaf Galaxy
A lot of peoples’ main complaint with this galaxy it that it’s a rip-off of Honeyhive Galaxy. I disagree. I mean, have you even looked at this place? It has such unique missions. That’s not to mention that you get to work with Bee Mario or Luigi, and the presence of cataquacks, one of the cutest creatures this game has to offer. You might call it repetitive, but this is an experience I’d be happy to have any day of the week.
4: Sea Slide Galaxy
This level is one of my absolute favorites for the same reason some people hate it — it’s very spread-out and can be slow to navigate. I don’t see those as issues at all! This galaxy’s purple coin mission is quite relaxing, since you just get to hang out and walk around and collect coins. And I shouldn’t forget to mention that Sea Slide contains a replica of Hurry-Scurry Galaxy’s planet, which instantly makes it a classic to me.
3: Melty Molten Galaxy
If you’re looking for a challenge, Melty Molten Galaxy is your go-to option. Of course, I have to mention the highly stressful Lava Spire Daredevil Run. But that’s not all…you can get stressed out by Fiery Dino Piranha, the purple coin mission, or even just fighting the standard Li’l Cinders that seem to be everywhere in this galaxy. It’s a high-risk galaxy with some very satisfying stars, if you can take the heat and beat the mission.
2: Honeyhive Galaxy
Well, Gold Leaf Galaxy was number five, so it probably makes sense to see this here. How can you outrank the OG?
This level introduces the Bee Mushroom and the Queen Bee, two iconic bee-related things from this game. And I’m not considering music, but still — this music is absolutely amazing, especially the version of it when you fight Bugaboom. And then there’s the part where you get to knock Luigi out of a tree…basically, it’s all legendary.
1: Freezeflame Galaxy
This is Super Mario Galaxy’s best galaxy, no questions asked. Not only is a fantastic example of the fire/ice level that appears throughout the Mario series, it’s has some of the best missions in the entire game. Some people would get annoyed by having to climb the mountain or collect the purple coins, but I’m certainly not. This is always a serene, calm experience, and it feels so good to get those final few coins, especially if you do things perfectly and jump off the peak for those last two. Who wouldn’t be in love with this level?
Thanks for looking at all that ranting/praise/excitement. But that’s not all I wrote for you! As I was coming up with my list, I kept wondering how other people felt about these galaxies.
I ended up collecting quite a few peoples’ rankings, and I’m going to analyze them over on my Patreon page. What makes a Super Mario Galaxy galaxy awesome? Do they have purple coin missions? What dome are they in? And other questions — all answered over there. Feel free to go check that out and let me know what you think.
I also have some thanks to give out before I’m done here. All the screenshots in this article were taken using the fantastic noclip.website, a tool that allows you to control the camera and fly around a multitude of classic games. They’re got Super Mario Galaxy, but there are literally dozens of other games that you can explore. I highly encourage you to take a look at that, seeing as I tend to lost hours of my time just looking around on there.
And now, I think that’s all. I’ll see you back here next week!
