DISCLAIMER: The opinion expressed in this article does not reflect the entire opinion of the website, only the writer.

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are one of the most well received and greatly praised games for the Nintendo Wii, the games that pretty much critics and fans loved so much in fact that they are actually one of the all-time best reviewed games in gamerankings and metacritic, and for good reason ! in my opinion these games were really fun, enjoyable, it pretty much became one of my favorite games of not only in their respective years, but maybe in all of my time as a gamer ! but since these games have been both highly praised, there was one question that really had me stuck once the sequel came out... which one of these games are better ? which one of these is actually better than the other ? which one had left me a with better impression ? I've haven't seen someone make a decision about it, so in this article I’m going to look at both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 and see which one is better !

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Best Story

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In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario is invited to the centennial Star Festival by Princess Peach to celebrate the comet that passes overhead every one hundred years, but then when mario was getting closer to the castle, Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom with a surprise attack in a fleet of airships, then they summon a giant flying saucer, Peach's entire castle is removed from the ground and it is lifted into outer space (ok is it me, or am I getting a Paper Mario vibe from this ?), and then Mario gets thrown off to across the cosmos. Then he awakens on a small planet and later on he meets Rosalina and her companion stars, the Lumas, is a watcher of the stars, who uses the Comet Observatory to travel across the universe, however Rosalina wants Mario's help in order to go to a journey across the universe to reclaim the Power Stars that all have been stolen by Bowser and restore power to Rosalina's observatory in order to help him rescue Princess Peach.
The story in this game is really amazing ! it had a great beginning and an epic ending ! sure, the gameplay was the main focus of this game and there isn't a whole lot going on throughout the game, but hey it's a Mario game, and the gameplay was enjoyable enough so I didn't expected much.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Princess Peach invites Mario to share some cake at the Star Festival, a time when Star Bits rain down from the skies over the Mushroom Kingdom, however on his way, Mario finds a Luma, who immediately befriends him and grants him the ability to spin, shortly thereafter when Mario almost arrives at the castle Bowser, who has grown to an immense size (after swallowing Grand Stars... somehow), is there and attacks Princess Peach's castle, kidnaps the princess and escapes into outer space in order to recreate his empire at the center of the universe. After launching into outer space with the help of a Luma, Mario later on meets a crafty Luma mechanic called Lubba in a broken mobile planetoid ship piloted by other Lumas, and Mario accepts Lubba's help to retrieve the power stars in order to make the ship better, so Mario is given control of Starship Mario, which it has now transformed in the shape of his head, and goes into his mission to fly across the universe in pursuit of Bowser and the Princess and to help Lubba find the lost Lumas that were part of Bowser's evil scheme.
... Ok, I need to say this now, but this story wasn't very good to be honest, not only because the first one was better, but because this story is not that interesting, the beginning was ok, but the ending gave me the feeling that it lacked something, sure it was charming, but when you go from Super Mario Galaxy's story from this, I ended up being disappointed.

And another thing is that Super Mario Galaxy 2's story is exactly like the first game ! It's just the first game just with different side characters ! I really thought that the sequel's story could've been different or maybe even improved a little. The first game's story really left me with a great impression unlike the sequel, so that means the first game gets my vote !

WINNER:

Super Mario Galaxy

Best Gameplay

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Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D Platformer that only uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The main hub is the Comet Observatory in which contains six domes where they can provide some galaxies that you can enter and then select a mission in order to collect a Power Star, by either completing the mission or by defeating a boss. But one of the most unique gameplay mechanic this game has included a new physics system that makes each celestial object to have its own gravitational force, allowing you to completely circumnavigate rounded or irregular planetoids, walking sideways or upside down, there are still some areas where you can usually jump from one independent object and jump towards another one nearby, and there are also several areas in the game in which the movements are restricted to a 2D plane, which is reminiscent to the 2D Mario games. But not only that, there are also some new powerups other than the fire flower and the rainbow star, such as a bee, where you can fly for a limited time, a boo, where you can transform into a boo and be transparent, and others ! and finally there's also co-op multiplayer ! but sadly, it's just a second star pointer that can only gather Star Bits and shoot them at enemies, it can also make mario jump and stops some enemies by holding them with the A button...
The game is really fun ! each galaxy contains a number of planets and other space matter for the you to explore, so there's some variety in the game while you are progressing ! one of the things that I didn't liked though is the whole "Prankster Comets" concept, where every once in a while a comet is going to appear in a galaxy and if you enter that galaxy, you will see that this is the same level, but with a special challenge that you can earn an extra power star, like replay an episode within a varying time limit, complete the objective without being damaged once, etc. but the problem is that you don't know when the comets are going to appear, in which it can be annoying if you want to collect all of the stars, and the multiplayer was kind of disappointing, but as it is, the game is still really fun despite it's flaws !

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a 3D Platformer that only uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. it's pretty much like the first game, but this time with a whole new features ! instead of being in a Comet Observatory, you can choose a galaxy by being on a map select screen kind of like in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where you must collect a certain amount of power stars and star bits in order to go further in the map, there are also new galaxies, new powerups such as the Spin Drill, which allows you to burrow through some planets and emerge out the other side, Rock Mario, which allows you to smash through obstacles, such as boulders and enemies, and others, and let's not forget about the inclusion of Yoshi ! even though he's in some certain levels, yoshi changes the gameplay where your Star Pointer is replaced by a red dot which allows you to point at various objects and manipulate them with Yoshi's tongue meaning you can use his tongue to swing across gaps, pull levers, and swallow enemies. But not only that, he even has its own powerups ! like the Dash Pepper, that allows Yoshi to run quickly, giving him the ability to run up walls and run on water, and lastly to mention is the Cosmic Guide, similar to the New Super Mario Bros. Wii's "Super Guide" feature, the Cosmic Guide appears (in which it looks like Rosalina !) if you have failed during a level a certain number of times, and with this it can allow the game control Mario for you in order to complete the level, but the problem is you will only be awarded a Bronze Star, which means that you must complete the level without using the Cosmic Guide in order to earn a Golden Power Star.
This game is also fun, and there is some great variety of new concepts in the game that not only makes it different from the first game, but also improve it ! like for example whole Prankster Comets concept is still there, but instead of waiting for a comet, there are these coins called the Comet Medals where when you collect one, a comet will appear in a galaxy. The multiplayer is also kind of improved, this time the second player controls an orange Luma, it's still like the first game, but this time the second player can also can also physically attack enemies and collect items and power-ups.

Both games are fun in its own right, but Super Mario Galaxy 2 has some improvements over to the original, in which were a few flaws and it also included new things in the game as well, not to mention that the game is also harder than the first one, meaning it can appeal to everyone in which include casual gamers and hardcore gamers, and to me gameplay is best when it wants to appeal to everybody so my vote goes to Super Mario Galaxy 2 !

WINNER:

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Graphics

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This... is going to be difficult to do, both games do look similar when it comes to the graphics, so in order to determine the winner of this category, I’m going to have to go very deep into these games...

Ok so, in order to determine which one has better graphics, I've made a subcategory in order to determine each and every one of the details that these games have put together, in which they are:
Water - both of them look the same, but in the sequel I've noticed that the details were a little more improved due to how good looking they were.
Fire - the first game didn't looked too bad, but the sequel had more color and more vibrant.
Metal - the sequel actually had an improved lightning effect than the first one, just very slightly though.
Character Models - they look the same, sure, but in the sequel they've actually slightly improved the details and the lightning effect to them.
Background pictures - plenty of them were blue skies, but I thought that the sequel were prettier and cool looking
Lightning effect - again even though the first game had a few amazing ones, the sequel actually improved it by making it a little more frequent

Allright then ! so that means that the sequel gets this vote !

WINNER:

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Music and Sound

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Super Mario Galaxy's soundtrack, by Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo, mostly includes orchestral music and also remixed songs from other games such as Super Mario Bros. 3, the most favorite songs from the soundtrack according from a lot of people were Good Egg Galaxy, Gusty Garden Galaxy and Melty Molten Galaxy. However my personal favorite ones are Purple Comet, Rosalina's Comet Observatory and bunny chasing.

Super Mario Galaxy 2's soundtrack, by Mahito Yokota, Ryo Nagamatsu, and Koji Kondo, also includes mostly orchestral music but it also has some variety of songs in it as well, like one that song that sounds kind of country folk-ish, one that sounds like jazz, etc. but it does a good work at making them fit into a space style setting, the most favorite songs from the soundtrack according from a lot of people were Nostalgic Fortress and Puzzle Plank Galaxy, my personal favorites however are Bowser's Galaxy Generator, Final Boss Battle and Starship Mario 1.

Both of these soundtrack are amazing and memorable as well, I had a hard time picking my winner for this one, but the more I think about it, Super Mario Galaxy 2's soundtrack not only includes more really good songs, but there are also some songs from the first game as well ! so that means that Super Mario Galaxy 2's soundtrack gets my vote for having more good songs which are also from the first game !

WINNER:

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Presentation

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Super Mario Galaxy is set in an outer space environment, where it focuses on going from planet to planet with its own gravitational force, and some levels can change the tone of the game, but it still has that family friendly tone that the mario games are known for, and again it's still does a very good job at it. The way the Comet Observatory is presented is really great and maybe even beautiful, the way the Lumas are there and some of them moving around, the way the domes were presented, it felt like a unique experience that was relaxing and amazing. And as for replayability, you can collect all of the 120 stars that are in the game... but you can also collect 120 stars as luigi as well if you collected all of the stars as mario (and a secret level...) ! and maybe collect as many coins and star bits as you can in each level.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 setting and tones are also the same as with the first game, but without the Comet Observatory, instead it's the mario ship you're in, it's setting is pretty good though, with a calm and great environment with the characters that you can meet through the game in there and such, but the way you can use the ship is through a map select screen, instead of exploring the domes in the first game. As for the replayability, there's a lot to do ! there's 242 stars this time ! unlock a secret world by beating the game once and the green stars challenge if you complete the game but with 120 stars, and much more !

Super Mario Galaxy's presentation is actually better that the sequel, but the sequel has more content in terms of replayability, but if I had to pick just one of these, then I guess I'll have to go with the first game, since I feel like it left me with a great impression with its presentation when compared to the sequel, and don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the sequel, it's just that I liked the first game more, despite its lack of content when talking about replayability, so in the end, the first game gets my vote !

WINNER:

Super Mario Galaxy

Overall Best Game !
So we've reached the end of the category, which means it's time to count the total votes to decide which of these games are better ! And the winner is...


SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 !

Score:
Super Mario Galaxy - 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - 3

Even though Super Mario Galaxy did an amazing job at creating a good atmosphere and keeping a good tone and setting, Super Mario Galaxy 2 does a better job at having great gameplay and content that everyone can enjoy, an amazing and varied soundtrack and (very slightly) better graphics ! To be honest, I kind of feel bad for the first game to lose, but I guess I can give a lot of respect for the sequel too.

So what do you guys think ? Did you prefer the first game more ? or do you actually agree to my opinion ? Let me know in the comments !