Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are two of the greatest games ever made. 

It’s taken 15 years but Nintendo is finally offering them as part of a bundle.

Yes, it’s $89.95 on the Australian eShop. Outrageously, they’re available separately for $59.95! That’s a lot of money for any 15-year-old game, even ones as good as Super Mario Galaxy. 

But with a 4K touch-up, new storybook pages and a Super Mario Galaxy movie on the way, it’s a price that I – and many other Nintendo fans – will happily pay. 

If you’ve never touched either of these games before, you won’t be disappointed. 

And if you’ve bought them before, this is the definitive way to replay them. 

I don’t need to “review” the quality of these games. They’re both sitting at a 97 on Metacritic. They are as close to perfect as two video games can be. 

“Mario in space” is selling these games short.

The way Nintendo plays with gravity across a seemingly endless supply of creative worlds, backed up by the company’s first – and arguably best – orchestral score, is an experience every gamer should have.

So what’s new in this bundle?

Having just played Super Mario Galaxy in Nintendo’s 35th anniversary bundle, I jumped straight into Super Mario Galaxy 2. 

After 50+ hours in Hollow Knight SIlksong, Mario felt like a truck at first blush. 

His moveset is jarringly limited compared to Super Mario Odyssey and Nintendo’s recent hit Donkey Kong Bananza, and it will take a few levels to get used to. 

Initially, I picked up my Pro Controller to play but moving both hands around to collect star bits felt unnatural and I quickly swapped to the Joy Cons to more closely mimic the Wii. 

Pointer controls are a massive part of Galaxy 2. Eating enemies and shooting them back out as Yoshi relies on it. More demanding platforming sections also demand a level of speed and accuracy as you fling Mario into the air with floating flowers. 

The Switch 2 gyro controls hold up pretty well but your pointer will drift occasionally. It’s hard to say why because at times it works flawlessly and at others my cursor would be floating off toward the right of the screen. 

Thankfully, it’s very easy to reset it back to the middle of the screen with a tap of the right shoulder button. I’ve gotten into the habit of hitting it every time I want to use the cursor now. I don’t find it too annoying, but I’m sure others may feel differently. 

If you’re playing handheld, the touch screen works as your pointer. It’s super accurate but you’ll have to remove your hand from the controller to do so. 

As for the graphics, it’s a mixed bag. 

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has never looked sharper. A few textures have changed to meet a 4K standard but you won’t notice unless you’re doing a side-by-side comparison with the original Wii game.

Overall, it’s an excellent upgrade and the fact that levels and character models hold up on screen 15 years later is testament to excellent art design. However, part of me wishes Nintendo invested a little more. 

Some character models (Toad especially) look very jagged in 4K. 

The fur effects which were perfectly blurred at 480p on the Wii are a little too sharp in 4K. 

Lighting effects on some objects could also use a Metroid Prime: Remastered-level overhaul. Instead of being “lit”, some 3D elements are noticeably shaded in different colour gradients but – at 4K – there’s a noticeable line that separates the levels like rings on an elevation map. 

None of these will affect the fun you have playing this game. Far from it. This is still the prettiest Super Mario Galaxy 2 has ever looked.

I’ve been waiting for an excuse to replay Super Mario Galaxy 2 and on Nintendo Switch 2 it is better than ever. 

These 15-year-old masterpieces hold up remarkably in 2025 and it’s crazy how well they compare against titles like Astro Bot which, in my review, I basically called it Super Mario Galaxy 3.

With The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on the way, here’s hoping Nintendo rips off that band-aid and gives us a true sequel before too long.

Nintendo provided 9news.com.au with an early copy of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Nintendo Switch 2 for the purpose of this review.