Super Mario Galaxy 2



A direct sequel (, depending on your interpretation) to the original Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was released in 2010, three years after its well-loved predecessor. Like the previous game, Mario goes into space once again on a quest to rescue Princess Peach from a building-sized Bowser, who once again plans on creating an evil galactic empire at the center of the universe. Riding on a spaceship-planetoid built in Mario's likeness, Mario must once again save the universe. Also, Mario's brother Luigi and their buddy Yoshi tag along for the ride.

Like Super Mario Galaxy, this sequel features both 2D and 3D platforming, as well as gravity-related challenges as the mustached one careens through the cosmos. It's much more challenging than the original; Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that the game is geared toward players who felt the first game lacked challenge.

This game features examples of:
"Bowser: I'M HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!"
 * Abnormal Ammo / Edible Ammunition: Star Bits, which can either be fired at enemies to stun them, or at Lumas to feed them.
 * Yoshi can turn several enemies into this, like Spinies or Bullet Bills.
 * Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: The final part of the final boss takes place in, apparently,, which has an enormous vortex that is constantly Sucking-In Lines.
 * And Your Reward Is Clothes: The Banktoad gets new clothes/items when you give him enough Star Bits. A shield and spear, a pickaxe, etc. Interestingly, though, he reverts to previous appearances if your "balance" dips back below what it took to get him them.
 * Anticlimax Boss: If you're skilled enough to make it to Bowser, you will likely beat him in less than 30 seconds. (Granted, that's not exactly unusual for a Mario game.)
 * Anti-Frustration Features: The Cosmic Guide feature.
 * Most speedrun challenges take out all the checkpoints. However, the developers decided the last Bowser level is just too long and kept one checkpoint. This doubles as Suspicious Videogame Generosity overlapping with Continuing Is Painful, however, as if you die after the checkpoint, you start back at the checkpoint with a mere 30 seconds on the clock. A good player can reach the checkpoint with nearly twice that much time left, making the level much more manageable.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Poor Bowser. "My powers... gone... My empire... shrinking... "
 * Ascended Extra:
 * The Toad Brigade still mostly goofs off, and they don't appear quite as many times, but this time around you can get letters from more than just the princess, and one of the Toads even starts a Star Bit bank. Plus unlike before,.
 * There are now 120 Green Power Stars; in the first game, there were only three.
 * Attack Its Weak Point: Bowser Jr. is kind enough to tell you Gobblegut's weak point - the red bulging areas on his body. Regarding the Pupdozers in Flipsville Galaxy: "The soft bellies look so squishy!"
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Bowser spends 95% of the game at a size comparable to his Giant Bowser battles in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
 * Attack of the Town Festival: The game begins once more with the onset of the Star Festival, and is once more interrupted by Bowser. Only this time, he's huge.
 * Badass: The Gearmo who punches Chomps. From a certain perspective, it looks like he just stands there and lets them roll into him. Which is even more Badass. Also, Mario himself, who.
 * Badass Mustache: The Bob-Omb Buddies in Throwback Galaxy regard Mario's stache as this.
 * Band Land: Cloudy Court Galaxy briefly mixes this with Bubbly Clouds. Bouncy drums and ground-poundable cymbals make up one small section, placing them alongside ridable clouds and windmills.
 * Batman Can Breathe in Space: Most all of the cast has no problem breathing. Interestingly, though, both Mario and Luigi eventually run out of air underwater.
 * Battle Tops: The topmen.
 * Blackout Basement: Flash Black Galaxy.
 * Bonus Stage: In almost every stage, there are pads that you can stand on that will warp you to a planetoid filled with enemies, coins, and Star Bits. Defeating all the enemies in the time limit will give you three 1-Up Mushrooms. You have to grab them before time runs out, though, otherwise it's all for naught. This also applies to all of the Hungry Luma Galaxies, and.
 * Book Ends:
 * Same example as last time, condensed into one level: Also, because, while Peewee Piranha is the first.
 * To even more of a ludicrous extent, Dino Piranha being the first game's first boss with.
 * Grandmaster Galaxy counts as well: The music for Sky Station Galaxy (the first level in the game) is reused for the second portion of the last level (but not the last star), while the music for Good Egg Galaxy (the first level in the first Galaxy) is reused for the second portion of the last star.
 * Boss Only Level: Boss Blitz Galaxy.
 * Boss Rush: Again, Boss Blitz Galaxy in the Special World has one of these against five of the first game's bosses. Specifically, in that order.
 * Brutal Bonus Level:, and especially.
 * Bubbly Clouds: Fluffy Bluff and Cloudy Court Galaxy most prominently, but pretty much any level in which Cloud Mario appears qualifies.
 * But Thou Must!:
 * Early on, when Mario is asked if he's trying to save Peach, the possible responses are "That's right," and "Yes".
 * Also done with The Chimp in one of the galaxies where you have to score 10,000 points to get his star. No matter how many times you say no, he'll keep asking you to take his challenge until you say yes.
 * Call Back: In the third Bowser Jr. level, you come across the destroyed body of Megahammer, the boss you fought in the second Bowser Jr. level.
 * Camera Screw: Occasionally rears its head - see Fake Difficulty below. is a notable example; amusing since Super Mario 64 was infamous for its Camera Screw.
 * Canon Immigrant: The Grand Paragoombas that show up in the Supermassive Galaxy first appeared in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon.
 * Captain Obvious: Bowser, early on.

"Bowser: I'M HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!"
 * Many of the signs and NPC dialogue, such as a sign that tells you not to fall into a lake of purple liquid that has skull signs sticking up out of it, or a Luma fifteen times bigger than Mario who tells you everything is big in the Supermassive Galaxy.
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Polari, The Spooky Speedster, Guppy, Topmaniac, Tarantox, Kamella, Kingfin, and Megaleg are the only characters from the first game that do not appear in the sequel. Especially if you consider what happeened at the end of the first...
 * Colour-Coded Timestop
 * Convection, Schmonvection: In one mission in Freezy Flake Galaxy, there is a pool of lava with snow-covered islands. You can even roll big snowballs over the lava for a temporary bridge.
 * Cool Starship: Starship Mario.
 * Cosmetic Award: If you get every single star in the game, . Also, if you max out your Star Bits on hand (as opposed to in the bank, which has a proper reward), then
 * Creative Closing Credits:.
 * Damn You, Muscle Memory!: The Star Spin. The control itself is unchanged, but several new levels and features seem designed specifically to punish those who are too reliant on it -- notably, the platforms in the Flip-Swap Galaxy and the limited-use Cloud Flower. The latter is particularly nasty in Shiverburn's, where you have to grab a Cloud Flower in the first section and reach the third section without taking a hit and retaining at least one cloud, meaning negotiating a moving-platform lava-planet mostly without the spin jump.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: The Cosmic Guide.
 * Demoted to Extra:
 * The Boo Mushroom shows up once in the entire game. It doesn't even get a second appearance via Prankster Comets or Green Stars. The same can be said for the Spring Mushroom (which appears in only one galaxy for a grand total of two missions, one of which is a Green Star), but that's more forgivable. Luckily, the Fire Flower and the Rainbow Star, both of which are series staples, did not receive the same treatment.
 * The Bee Mushroom has significantly fewer appearances in this game as well, and is only in two galaxies. Pull Stars are also much rarer compared to the first game.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything:
 * If you're playing as Luigi and read one of Peach's letters, it's still addressed to Mario. The Mailtoad remarks, "I'm sure she just made a mistake!"
 * If you lose enough lives to activate the Cosmic Guide but refuse to use it, when you finish the level, Lubba will give you a little pep talk for going the extra mile.
 * Digging to China: The purpose of the Spin Drill power-up.
 * Disney Villain Death: Subverted.
 * Doing It for the Art: Practically the reason this game was made in the first place, since the developers had so many great ideas that they couldn't put into the original.
 * Down the Drain: Slimy Spring Galaxy.
 * The Dragon: Bowser, Jr., who holds half of the Grand Stars for Bowser.
 * Drop the Hammer: Megahammer.
 * Dummied Out:
 * Flying Mario and Ice Mario from the first game, only accessible via hacking. While the latter transformation files have to be imported from the first opus, the former is still fully functional. However, putting via a level editor the ice flower and/or the flying star, it freezes the game.
 * Many unused interactions in-game: The circular beam disappears into the ground while in Ghost Mario form, for example.
 * Easter Egg: The smokestack on top of Starship Mario actually serves as an alternate entrance to the ship's engine room, similar to a Warp Pipe.
 * Eggshell Clothing: Peewee Piranha.
 * Empathic Environment: Yoshi Star Galaxy does this in its second mission, Spiny Control.
 * Escort Mission: It seems that Goombas and Topmen are like pets for Gearmos. However, the little monster will likely get crushed under a boulder or fall to its death before you can lure it near its new owner. Also done with Chomps and their obstacle-filled paths.
 * Eternal Engine: Chompworks Galaxy and Fleet Glide Galaxy
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys: The Chimp. Subverted, because while he does give you stars, you have to earn them through difficult challenges.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: The main game mechanic after jumping. Twisty Trials Galaxy might rather be considered Everything's Worse With Spinning.
 * Excuse Plot: A return to the franchise's classic plot, because Miyamoto thought that the previous game had too much story.
 * Extended Gameplay: Beating the final boss unlocks . Beating that, and getting all the other stars, unlocks . Getting those unlocks . Beating that and getting its Comet Medal and will unlock . You finish the final boss 2/5 of the way through the game, and even earlier if you didn't get all the stars up to that point.
 * Face Ship: Trope Namer; Starship Mario is a planetoid-spaceship that is made in Mario's likeness.
 * Fake Difficulty: Present in most of the Green Star missions. Some of the green stars are located out in space, and due to the occasional bad camera angle, it's next to impossible to gauge with any degree of certainty exactly where you need to aim your jumps. Flipsville Galaxy's third star is one of the best examples.
 * Fake Longevity: The green stars enabled Nintendo to double the length of the game without having to create any new levels.
 * Fast Tunnelling: The drill.
 * Feed It a Bomb: You kill Squizzard by hurling fireballs into his mouth.
 * Fertile Feet: On one planet in Supermassive Galaxy, flowers spring up everywhere Mario/Luigi steps. The goal is to cover the entire planet in foliage.
 * Fission Mailed: Losing The Chimp's challenge in Fluffy Bluff Galaxy, results in the screen blacking out, you losing a life, then the screen comes back and asks if you don't think you can beat his challenge. The only way to leave is by Game Over or choosing to leave during the challenge
 * Floating Water: Cosmic Cove Galaxy provides a truly bizarre example; see Mind Screw.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Averted in the playable credits:
 * Gravity Screw: A major part of the game in general, and the entire shtick of the Rightside Down, Upside Dizzy, and Flipsville galaxies.
 * A God Am I: Bowser's goal, though he doesn't state it directly, much like the last game. However, he takes it a step further, as instead of using the Grand Stars to power up reactors, he eats them to power himself up.
 * Green Hill Zone: Yoshi Star Galaxy, with a couple Prehistoria elements.
 * Guide Dang It: A few of the secret missions. For instance: to get the Hidden Star in Boo Moon Galaxy, you have to . While you may catch a glimpse of it, there's absolutely nothing to tip you off that you need to do this.
 * The locations of many of the green stars fall under this as well.
 * Especially in Bowser Jr.'s Boom Bunker and Fleet Glide Galaxy.
 * Exactly how to unlock the
 * However, he only says that it does something when
 * Hailfire Peaks: Several galaxies:
 * Shiverburn Galaxy, like Freezeflame in the first game, combines Lethal Lava Land with Slippy-Slidey Ice World.
 * Chompworks Galaxy and Fleet Glide combines Eternal Engine with Lethal Lava Land.
 * Cosmic Cove Galaxy turns Under the Sea into Slippy-Slidey Ice World at the press of a button.
 * Fluffy Bluff Galaxy combines Green Hill Zone with Bubbly Clouds.
 * Heli Critter: Choppahs; a type of enemy that looks like a green parrot-like plant and flies by using four spinning blades around its neck.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: Giga Lakitu and Megahammer are both defeated by launching their projectiles (Spinies and Bullet Bills, respectively) back at them with Yoshi. A similar method is used to defeat Prince Pikante (with coconuts as the projectile of choice), but without Yoshi.
 * Hornet Hole: The Honeybloom and Honeyhop galaxies.
 * Hub Level: Starship Mario. It functions more as a sandbox or training room where you can practice your moves and power-ups, and get basic gameplay advice.
 * Idle Animation: If Mario/Luigi stays in place long enough, he'll yawn, sit down, and take a nap. After a while, he'll lie back and continue sleeping.
 * Improvised Platform: Courtesy of the Cloud Cap.
 * In Case of Boss Fight Break Glass: All of the robot bosses.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: The Toads are fond of these.
 * "I'm on cloud control! Ha ha! Get it? Instead of "crowd," I said... Aww, never mind. Wow, tough galaxy". Becomes a Stealth Pun when you realize that the galaxy which he's in when he says this is a tough galaxy indeed.
 * Lubba has indulged in this as well. "Nice spaceship, yeah? More like a faceship, har har!"
 * Infinite One Ups: We'll wait.
 * Informed Ability: The Chimp's gaming skills. In his challenges, you're supposedly beating the high scores that he set, but you never actually see him do this.
 * Also, the Toad Captain is apparently able to wall-jump (which is how he got so high in the Fluffy Bluff Galaxy).
 * Instant Win Condition: The green stars take this to the extreme. Most of them require you to actually leap to your death. As long as you can manage to collide with the star along the way, you're golden.
 * Interface Screw: The boss of the first star in Spin-Dig Galaxy, unlike the rest of either game, is not controlled relative to Mario, but by turning the stick to where you want Mario to go.
 * Interface Spoiler: Players who have all 120 stars may find it odd that according to the World Map, they are still missing a galaxy in World S. Guess what happens later.
 * Plus the casino room on Starship Mario seems to be too big for just one die.
 * Invincible Minor Minion: The Cosmic Clones.
 * It's Up to You: A more standard subversion than the original's Double Subversion by having the option to switch out Mario with Luigi, as well as adding an orange Luma into the Co-Star mode (in the first game, it was only the second player's cursor that affected the gameplay).
 * I Was Told There Would Be Cake: Much like Super Mario 64, Mario is lured to the castle by the promise of sharing cake with Peach.
 * Bowser wants Peach to make him a galaxy-sized cake.
 * Kaizo Trap: Via a glitch, you can die (and get a Game Over) during the credits!
 * In the, even if you've killed the Boomerang Bros and made the power star/launch star appear, you can still be killed if there's a stray boomerang still on the screen.
 * Kill It with Fire: See Feed It a Bomb.
 * King Mook: Giga Lakitu, Glamdozer, and Whomp King.
 * Large and In Charge: Lubba, the biggest and fattest Luma, is the leader of the bunch. Not to mention Bowser and the various king mooks.
 * Large Ham: Bowser, in more ways than one
 * Large and In Charge: Lubba, the biggest and fattest Luma, is the leader of the bunch. Not to mention Bowser and the various king mooks.
 * Large Ham: Bowser, in more ways than one

"..."Dang it!" (BOOM)"
 * Last Lousy Star: And how! And even before, there may be a few Green Stars that are rather tricky to get, such as the third one in Shiverburn or the first one in Stone Cyclone.
 * Lethal Lava Land: The Melty Monster Galaxy is the most prominent example, but several galaxies have elements of it, including all of the Bowser levels. Shiverburn is one of these until you hit a switch and turn it into Slippy-Slidey Ice World.
 * Level Ate: Sweet Mystery Galaxy.
 * Levels Take Flight: The Sand Bird from Super Mario Sunshine returns in the Slipsand Galaxy.
 * Lighter and Softer: Compared to the first game, literally. Every point in the first game where there was a dark starry sky, there is now a blue sky with clouds in the sequel, even on the cover art. Also, Bowser's first attack is much more nonsensical (growing himself giant) instead of Blitzkrieging Toad Town.
 * Luck-Based Mission: Boss Blitz Galaxy Speed Run. The fourth boss,, has a random attack pattern (Only one attack summons the you need to defeat him). If you're unlucky, you'll run out of time. So yet again, a normally reasonable to beat boss makes the level much, much harder for the Prankster Star.
 * Macro Zone: The Supermassive Galaxy is a more traditional example, similar to Giant Land.
 * Major Injury Underreaction: The 's last words, as he crumbles and dies:

""It makes me so mad! We build your houses, your castles, your... Arrrgh! I'm tired of this speech!""
 * Mercy Mode: The Cosmic Guide becomes available for some stages if you die too many times. It is similar to the Super Guide from New Super Mario Bros Wii in this regard. However, any stars you get will be bronze instead, preventing you from unlocking the until you get it legit.
 * Mickey Mousing: In certain areas, the environment changes in direct response to the music. For instance, in Beat Block Galaxy, the yellow and green blocks alternate being solid in time with the beat, and in Upside Dizzy Galaxy, the gravity changes its orientation in sync with the beat.
 * Mind Screw: Cosmic Cove has square blocks of water in the middle of space. And they move. And you swim in them. And when you poke your head out of the water you get air... in space?
 * It's a Mario game.
 * Wait, so,  So did it really happen? Wait, it had to have happened, the baby Luma still has his hat! …So how was she narrating?
 * Rosalina's pretty much God, she's ascended above minor things like restarting the universe.
 * Mirror Match: The Cosmic Clones follow your exact route and actions through any level they appear in, at least until you finish.
 * This gets really annoying really fast in some levels.
 * Mission Pack Sequel: Was originally intended to be one, but after the game went through a bit more development, it ended up being made up of mostly new concepts.
 * Mook Maker: The Magikoopas can summon Goombas.
 * And Flame Bits.
 * Musical Gameplay: In several galaxies, notably the Grandmaster Galaxy, when you step on a blue ? switch turning it into a yellow ! switch, a musical note plays which harmonizes with the BGM.
 * Musical Nod: Several. Notable examples:
 * Hightail Falls Galaxy = Super Mario World Athletic theme
 * Haunted Halls Galaxy = Super Mario World Ghost House theme
 * Throwback Galaxy = Super Mario 64 main theme
 * Slider = Super Mario 64 Slider theme
 * Supermassive Galaxy = Toy Time Galaxy = Super Mario Bros main theme
 * Space Storm Galaxy's second mission uses the Buoy Base music from the first game.
 * features three of the most popular pieces from the first game: Gusty Garden, Good Egg, and Bowser's Galaxy Reactor.
 * Mutually Exclusive Powerups: What's more, powerups are mutually exclusive with Yoshi (easiest to see on Starship Mario).
 * Mythology Gag: An infinite lives trick involves repeatedly bouncing on the shell of a giant Koopa Troopa in Supermassive Galaxy. This is an allusion to the level it's based on, Big Island/Giant Land from Super Mario Bros 3, where an identical infinite lives trick was possible.
 * World S is an allusion to the Special World from Super Mario World. This is backed up by the fact that the name for World S is "Here We Go!", which is also the official name for the main theme of Super Mario World.
 * Narrator:
 * Nice Hat: The bros' caps change while under the effect of the different power-ups. Cloud Mario (or Luigi) gets an especially nice willowy turban.
 * Nintendo Hard: Most of the game isn't impossible to get through, but many levels and challenges towards the end get quite difficult and are guaranteed to make you lose a handful of lives. World S pushes this even further with, for one example, one level having Thwomps and rolling stone blocks move at inhumane speeds that it's hard to physically run fast enough to get by and not get crushed. Several switches in the level can slow down time for a while, but pray that it doesn't run out when getting by the instant stone crushers. All this was most likely a response to fans who complained that the first game was cakewalk and gave no challenge.
 * Thankfully, most (all except Twisty Trials Galaxy, Boss Blitz Galaxy and ) of the galaxies in World S have Cosmic Guides in them.
 * Non-Indicative Name: The Chimp, despite his name, is not a chimp. His name is possibly a pun on the word "champ", as he considers himself a champion game player.
 * Noob Bridge: A lot of people forget or never learn the long jump when playing the first Super Mario Galaxy. This is due to it never being mentioned in-game (but it is in the manual) and never required to finish the game. The long jump became required in SMG 2 starting in World 4, and these gamers got stuck; some have even accused people who use the long jump on Youtube videos of hacking.
 * Nostalgia Level: The Throwback Galaxy is based on Whomp's Fortress from Super Mario 64 (complete with a remix of the stage music).
 * The prologue level is based on New Super Mario Bros Wii.
 * The Twisty Trials Galaxy is based on
 * Starshine Beach is a direct nod to Super Mario Sunshine, complete with Piantas.
 * The Rolling Coaster Galaxy evokes both Super Mario 64s Rainbow Ride and Mario Karts Rainbow Road.
 * Supermassive Galaxy is a nod toward Giant Land from Super Mario Bros 3 and/or Tiny-Huge Island from Super Mario 64.
 * Boss Blitz Galaxy is simply a marathon of boss battles from the first Super Mario Galaxy.
 * The Stone Cyclone Galaxy is a reference to the Cyclone Stone from Beach Bowl Galaxy in the first game, and Mario Squared Galaxy is a reference to a part of the Toy Time Galaxy from the first game. The mission "Luigi's Purple Coins" also appears in both games, with the exact same name and premise in both, though the second game ups the difficulty.
 * The Chimp's Stomp Challenge in Fluffy Bluff Galaxy and it's successor, The Chimp's Score Challenge in Honeyhop Galaxy, are minigames based around Scoring Points from doing Goomba Stomps. The scoring is reminiscent of the 2D games, with consecutive stomps gaining extra points and 9 or more stomps in a row resulting in an extra life.
 * Not Quite Flight: Fluzzard.
 * Old Save Bonus: All the star bits you bank are accessible to other save files on the disc.
 * Ominous Latin Chanting: Like the first game, Bowser's battles, but best of all... remixes it into the Super Mario 64 Bowser's Road theme. How to make good music better? Change it so half of it chants the tune in pseudo Latin.
 * To those of us who speak Latin, it's worth noting that, as in the first game, this is of the "only reminds you of ominous Latin chanting" variety.
 * One-Hit Kill: Getting crushed by the Thwomps, Tox Boxes, Whomps, Rhomps, etc; falling in toxic water and dark matter. In Daredevil Comets and the Fluzzard missions, anything can kill you in one hit.
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder: If a Prankster Comet shows up and makes a mission with the word "Daredevil" in it, that's you.
 * 108: Exactly how many standard Power Stars are in the first six worlds.
 * Orchestral Bombing: Mahito Yokota once again provides his musical flair for the Bowser battles. Also, Gobblegut is the first non-Bowser boss that has orchestral music accompanying his battle.
 * Our Monsters Are Weird: The Mario series is known for having some pretty odd monsters, but Squizzard is just... what.
 * Oxygenated Underwater Bubbles: As in Super Mario 64.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Some levels have flip-flopping gimmicks where the gravity or platforms change after a few seconds, which syncs up perfectly with the background music.
 * Palmtree Panic: Starshine Beach Galaxy.
 * Perpetual Molt: Fluzzard when he's flying.
 * Pivotal Boss: Subverted by the Boomsday Machine, as it becomes mobile once you get two hits on it. Megahammer and Squizzard are straight uses of the trope, though.
 * Platform Hell: The final Power Star mission, First, you have to swing Yoshi through a minefield, where even one mistimed jump can result in getting blown up, while also having to dodge the Choppahs and Bullet Bills. Then, you get a board of blue switches you have to activate while avoiding a Sentry Beam's lasers. After that, you have to use the Cloud Suit and navigate through a sidescrolling maze of electric fences. Then you have to go through a segment where all the ground is either green tiles that disappear when you step on them, or flip-flop tiles that switch positions whenever you shake the Wiimote. In this area, you also have to dodge lasers from spiky robots, and later on, Octurrets appear and start shooting at you, though thankfully, these can be killed by knocking a coconut back at them with a spin attack...but that flips the panels! (Not to mention that slowing down for even a second only makes it easier for the robots to kill you.) Then, you have to get through a section of moving electric fences using Pull Stars, the former of which move back and forth so quickly that you barely even have time to get past. Finally, you jump across a field of spinning platforms that try to flip you off (the platforms!!) while dodging Hammer Bros, after which point you have to fight three Boomerang Bros at once. And if this sounds like it's just regular Nintendo Hard, keep this in mind; You only have one hitpoint, and there are no checkpoints, meaning that the slightest slip-up will send you all the way back to the Yoshi section.
 * Post End Game Content: combined with Double Unlock the Green Star Challenge, as you need the 120 stars to start it plus ending the game.
 * Power-Up Food: Yoshi can ingest Dash Peppers, Blimp Fruits, and Bulb Berries to help along the way.
 * Powerup Mount: Yoshi.
 * Rolling Attack: Stone Mario has this.
 * Rule of Cool:
 * Save Game Limits: You can only have three save files, as opposed to the original's six. And you can't copy to another file, again, unlike the original game. This is likely due to the Star Bits banking system. (See Old Save Bonus)
 * Scarf of Asskicking: Cloud Mario's cloud scarf.
 * Scenery as You Go: Bulb Yoshi to an extent.
 * Scenery Porn: This game looks every bit as good as the last one did, possibly even better. To cite some examples: the lush foliage and waterfalls in the mountain pass in Wild Glide Galaxy, the cascading lava in Melty Monster Galaxy, and the gorgeous sunrise at the end of Slimy Spring Galaxy.
 * Schizophrenic Difficulty: World 6 features some Breather Levels and a large Difficulty Spike. On the one hand, Slimy Spring Galaxy and Throwback Galaxy are relatively easy (though this may be justified in the latter's case, given its Nostalgia Level status). On the other hand... Clockwork Ruins is likely the longest mission in the game, the second level of Melty Monster has been known to drive players up a wall, and Battle Belt features a bossfight against Fiery Gobblegut. And finally, reaching the Final Boss requires 70 stars, so if you've skipped most of the optional missions, you'll need to go back and finish them.
 * Also, Some in difficult late-game levels are incredibly easy to get, while some near the beginning of the game will make you weep.
 * Self-Imposed Challenge: Beating most of the.
 * Playing the game with two players but with one controlling the nunchuck and the other controlling the Wii Mote. Requires a lot of co-ordination.
 * Sequel Difficulty Spike
 * She's a Man In Japan: Lubba is actually dubbed a female in the German version of the game.
 * Shifting Sand Land: Slipsand Galaxy.
 * Skewed Priorities: One of the reasons Bowser kidnaps Peach is so she can make him a cake.
 * Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Freezy Flake Galaxy. Shiverburn Galaxy's hot side turns into this, as does the underwater Cosmic Cove Galaxy, when you press a certain switch.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: is already hard, but at the point where it really starts getting sadistic, it plays music from
 * Space Does Not Work That Way / Art Major Physics: All of the examples from the first game are still present in this one.
 * Space Zone: Technically the entire game, but Space Storm Galaxy is a classic example.
 * Speed Run: Some prankster comets will impose a speed challenge on you in order to snag a star and it will cost you a life should the clock run out.
 * There are two types of speed runs in this game: One's a Timed Mission and usually has a added gimmick, the other has you start out with a very tiny time limit which you have to increase by collecting clocks throughout the level.
 * Also, rather than saving best coin scores as in previous 3D Mario games, this game saves your best time to each star.
 * Spikes of Doom: Seen in Clockwork Ruins and Flip-Out Galaxy.
 * Spinning Out of Here: You activate teleport pads by spinning on them.
 * Stealth Pun: The mission "Bugaboom's Back" obviously refers to the fact that Bugaboom was in the first Super Mario Galaxy, but then you remember that Bugaboom's weak spot... is his back.
 * There's also the name of Honeybloom Galaxy's "Bumble Beginnings" mission. Beside the obvious "humble beginnings" pun, it's also the first time you use the Bee Suit.
 * The Spin-Dig and Flash Black galaxies are subtle puns on the terms "shindig" and "flashback", respectively.
 * There's also the Super Massive Galaxy. In real life, the term does exist, and the meaning is almost the same even, with the exception that while the galaxy itself is much bigger, the things within it are not.
 * Stylistic Suck: Squizzard's choppy animation.
 * Stop Helping Me!: Every time you get a game over, and sometimes at other points in the game, Lubba will suggest that you take a break. This was probably meant to be an Anti Frustration Feature, but it's more annoying than anything else.
 * Since it comes after a game over, the message seems threatening if anything.
 * Tactical Suicide Boss: Bowser attacks by summoning meteorites and punching very, very hard. Said punch is strong enough to both imbue the meteorites with energy and toss them right back out of the planet's crust. You then have to kick said meteorites back at him. If he didn't do any of this, he'd be invincible.
 * Just like King Kaliente in the first game, Prince Pikante mixes up his fireballs with coconuts which you can whack back at him. Again, if he'd just stick to fireballs, you wouldn't be able to beat him.
 * Temple of Doom: Clockwork Ruins Galaxy.
 * That's No Planet:  is actually a planet Mario was traversing on just before the battle with it.
 * This Is a Drill: The Spin Drill power-up, used for burrowing through soft earth on some planets.
 * Timed Mission: The speed run comets, some of the purple coin levels, and several mini-games. Thankfully, in this game, the clock does stop once you complete your objective (assuming it's something other than simply reaching the star), giving you all the time you need to grab the star. (This was not the case in the first game.) Good thing, too, because the clock is much less generous in this game than it was in the first.
 * Time Limit Boss: The speedy comet versions of Gobblegut and the entire Boss Blitz Galaxy.
 * Truck Driver's Gear Change: Almost all of the returning music from the first game has been shifted up or down one tone, depending on the track.
 * Under the Sea: Cosmic Cove and Slimy Spring Galaxy, and parts of Starshine Beach.
 * Unwinnable: Averted fortunately for the main game, but not so much with Green Stars missions.
 * The third green star in Shiverburn Galaxy requires the Cloud Flower, and is found on the third planet; however, the Cloud Flower is only found on the first planet. If you lose your clouds on the second or third planet before reaching the star, it becomes impossible to get, and you have to start the level over from the beginning.
 * In one mission, you have to lead a Goomba over to a Gearmo to receive a star (see Escort Mission). Unlike the Topmen in a similar mission, the Goombas don't respawn if they get killed, so if you run out of Goombas, it's back to the beginning of the level with you.
 * The third green star in Spin-Dig Galaxy requires you to drill through the dirt at such an angle that when you emerge from the dirt, your inertia thrusts you right into the star. If you miss it, you can't backflip or spin jump to the star since you're holding the drill, and there's no way to put it down... unless you take a hit from the Digga, in which case you'll lose the drill and you can backflip and spin into the star. However, if you miss the star and kill the Digga by landing on top of it, then the star becomes unreachable and you have to start over.
 * Actually, though you can't backflip with the drill, you can still side-somersault. Not many seem to know this, and you can simply side-somersault towards the wall, wall-jump off of it and get the star.
 * Any of the green stars in the Wild Glide and Fleet Glide Galaxies (both of which are Fluzzard levels) can potentially become this. If you miss them on the way (which is far too easily done given the controls), then you have no choice but to start the level over.
 * Variable Mix: As in all Mario games where he's ridable, getting on Yoshi adds bongo drums to whatever music is playing at the time.
 * Verbal Tic: The Jibberjays have a habit, habit of repeating words twice, twice.
 * As in the first game, the rabbits have one too, boiyoing!
 * The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: World 6 gets a special mention for being represented by
 * Violation of Common Sense: Most of the green stars require you to commit suicide to obtain them. Hope you don't miss.
 * Viral Marketing: Signal transmissions. No direct ad pitch presented, simply gameplay footage.
 * Voice Grunting
 * Wake Up Call Boss: Gobblegut, the last boss of World 1.
 * Walk On Water: Running variation -- Yoshi, after eating a Dash Pepper.
 * Warmup Boss: Peewee Piranha.
 * Wasted Song: The final boss theme is one of the most epic and amazing pieces ever composed in Nintendo history. If you know what you're doing, though, the final phase of the battle against Bowser won't last longer than a minute, not even long enough for the song to reach the halfway point.
 * Squizzard's theme also qualifies, since you're going to be spending the entire battle with the Fire Flower powerup. At least the remix of the Fire Flower tune is catchy enough to make up for this.
 * Weird Moon: In Boo Moon Galaxy, there is a literally waned crescent moon. Mario has to carefully tilt it in order to get the five star fragments that take him to the next planet.
 * Welcome to Corneria: Subverted. If you get defeated by the Whomp King, subsequent fights will have him say:
 * Welcome to Corneria: Subverted. If you get defeated by the Whomp King, subsequent fights will have him say:


 * What Happened to the Mouse?:
 * Wide Open Sandbox: The green stars can be taken in absolutely any order you want.
 * World Map: The first 3-D Mario game to (mostly) abandon the hub system and return to the world map from the classic games (and New Super Mario Bros) for stage selection.
 * X-Ray Sparks: While still present, unlike the previous game, Mario will not die as a skeleton if he is killed by a shock.
 * You No Take Candle: The Whittles speak in a very simple, direct manner without any articles.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: