What is Super Mario Galaxy?

It's a 3D Mario platformer for the Nintendo Wii built around spherical planets and gravity-swapping platforming, released in November 2007.

Where did Super Mario Galaxy come from?

Nintendo developed it under director Yoshiaki Koizumi and producers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takao Shimizu, first showing it at E3 2006.

What does Super Mario Galaxy mean?

The title refers to the game's space setting, where Mario travels between galaxies of small planetoids to recover Power Stars and rescue Princess Peach from Bowser.

How do you use Super Mario Galaxy?

You play the two Wii titles for the platforming itself, and the fandom mostly engages through Let's Plays, speedruns, Rosalina fan art, and comparisons with Super Mario 64.

Is Super Mario Galaxy still popular?

It's a classic entry in the Mario series with a lasting online fandom, backed by hundreds of thousands of Facebook likes and multi-million-view Let's Plays.

Super Mario Galaxy

2007video gameclassic

Published September 29, 2026

Super Mario Galaxy is Nintendo's 2007 Wii platformer where Mario chases Bowser across spherical planets to rescue Princess Peach. Its 97 Metacritic score and multi-million-copy sales fueled a lasting fandom that turned the game into a staple of Let's Play content for years afterward.

mario nintendo memes gaming lets play memes late 2000s memes

Overview

Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D Mario adventure built around spherical platforming, where Mario (and later Luigi) hops between tiny planets with their own gravity to collect Power Stars and chase down Bowser1. It introduced Rosalina and the Comet Observatory hub, and the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, added Yoshi and a stiffer difficulty curve that fans singled out as an improvement over the first game's easier pacing4.

As a fandom object, the series lives online through Let's Play series, sprite edits, music rips, and long-running discussions comparing the two Galaxy games to Super Mario 643. Urban Dictionary entries from fans praise the underwater controls, the Comet Observatory setting, and Rosalina specifically, giving a snapshot of how players talked about the game once it hit4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Nintendo Wii (game) / YouTube and Facebook (fandom spread)

Date

2007

Super Mario Galaxy was the first entry in the main Super Mario series developed for the Nintendo Wii, directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takao Shimizu1. Nintendo announced it at E3 2006 with a trailer showing the spherical-gravity gameplay, a system the team spent roughly three months prototyping before it worked2.

The game shipped worldwide in November 2007 and was followed by Super Mario Galaxy 2 in 2010, which reused the gravity mechanics while adding Yoshi power-ups and tougher late-game challenges like Bowser's Galaxy Generator4. Nintendo developed and published both titles; the online fandom and its memes formed later around fan channels and community pages rather than any single creator3.

How It Spread

Super Mario Galaxy launched in November 2007 to strong critical reception, and reviewers named it Game of the Year at multiple outlets that season3. Sales were heavy from the start, with hundreds of thousands of units moving in Japan during the first two weeks and multi-million lifetime sales across the Wii's run1.

Online, the fandom clustered on YouTube through long-form Let's Plays. Game Grumps' playthrough of the first game drew millions of views on its opening episode5, and YouTuber JoshJepson's series pulled hundreds of thousands of views on its own opener6. A dedicated Super Mario Galaxy Facebook page built up hundreds of thousands of likes as a hub for casual fans3.

The series stayed active in fan conversation through the 2010 sequel and later re-releases, with Urban Dictionary entries specifically calling out Yoshi additions, the Grand Finale Galaxy, and Bowser's harder final fight in Galaxy 2 as talking points4.

Timeline

2006

Nintendo reveals Super Mario Galaxy at E3 2006 with a trailer showcasing spherical-gravity platforming[2].

2007-11

Super Mario Galaxy launches on Wii in November 2007 and posts a 97 Metacritic average[1].

2010

Super Mario Galaxy 2 releases, adding Yoshi and tougher levels like Bowser's Galaxy Generator[4].

2014-01-27

Game Grumps uploads the first episode of their Super Mario Galaxy playthrough, which grows to over 3.5 million views[5].

2012

JoshJepson's Super Mario Galaxy Let's Play opener reaches hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube[6].

How to Use This Meme

Fandom activity around Super Mario Galaxy typically takes the form of Let's Play walkthroughs, speedrun clips, Rosalina fan art, and remixes of the orchestral soundtrack. Community posts often compare the two Galaxy games or rank them against Super Mario 64, and Urban Dictionary-style write-ups tend to pile on superlatives about the level design and underwater controls4.