Astro Botis a game about a little guy who loves to run and jump. Its campaign — if you can call something this story light and aesthetically varied a campaign — is split up into galaxies, each with several planets. In a whole lot of ways, it’s Sony’s answer toSuper Mario Galaxy. The main difference I can see is that in under a week I rolled credits on Astro Bot, while it’s been 17 years and I still haven’t finished Mario’s quest through the cosmos.
Giving Super Mario Galaxy Its Space
Mario has been, like, my favorite guy since I first played my sister’s copy of Super Mario Land on her originalGame Boy, and despite the hardware being the size of a mid-sized sedan, I was still charmed by the plumber. When I eventually rented a copy ofSuper Mario 64, though, I became a fan for life.
As a 3D Mario fan, I’m always excited for the next new game (and the wait forOdyssey2 has gone on way, way too long).Super Mario Sunshineis the game that defined my experience with the GameCube,Super Mario 3D Worldis a rock solid and criminally underrated platformer, Super Mario Odyssey is the best platformer of the last decade, and Bowser’s Fury would be a masterpiece if it were ten hours longer. There are few purer distillations of gaming joy than 3D Mario games, and I love them dearly.
Despite that enthusiasm, I never owned either of the Wii games. I rented Super Mario Galaxy and played a bit back in the day, but completely skipped over Galaxy 2. For some reason, the vibes of Galaxy just never clicked for me in the same way that 64 and Sunshine did. 64 offered a wide array of worlds. I didn’t love the aesthetics of all of them but the ones that did connect — Bob-omb Battlefield, Whomp’s Fortress, The Princess' Secret Slide, Tiny-Huge Island — connected in a big way. And I love Sunshine’s environments from start to finish. Visiting Isle Delfino, or any of the locations accessible via its paint puddle portals, feels like a vacation.
Sunshine Is Better Than Space
By contrast, every level in Super Mario Galaxy is surrounded by the cold vacuum of space. They’re all vibrant and colorful, but the oceanic void that extends outward from each planet makes each level feel less like a world, and more like a collection of geometry.
At least, that’s how Super Mario Galaxy has struck me in the times I’ve started it in the past. I know the running and jumping still feel great, I know that it’s a beloved game, but it just hasn’t grabbed me on an aesthetic level. Still, everyone who loves platformers loves Galaxy. I don’t know anyone who’s played the game who doesn’t appreciate what it’s doing.
I should really play it. I have a half-finished save file on my Switch right now. I was one of the lucky ones who purchased Super Mario 3D All-Stars in the months-long window that it was available for purchase. Artificial scarcity got the best of me, but I’m glad it did, because that collection allowed me to finally finish Sunshine after two decades. Maybe Astro Bot, the Super Mario Galaxy 3 that never was, is the key to pushing me to finally finish that other 3D Mario masterwork. Of course, I should probably get the platinum before I make any big decisions.
