Super mario galaxy 121 stern: Grand Finale Galaxy — Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia

Grand Finale Galaxy — Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia

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Pictures to be sent to the Wii Message Board

The Grand Finale Galaxy is the final galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy. The level takes place in Castle Gardens (also called Toad Town in the guide by Prima Games) from the beginning of the game, with creatures from later parts of the game now attending the Star Festival, including Penguins, Bees, Gearmos, and Star Bunnies, the four major NPC types in the game. The galaxy is unlocked after all 120 Power Stars have been obtained with both Mario and Luigi, and is reached by talking to the fourth Green Luma on the Planet of Trials. This galaxy has the 121st Power Star for both Mario brothers. The Toad Brigade and their ship, the Starshroom, are found outside of the castle. This is the only galaxy not mentioned in the Super Mario Galaxy Prima Games guide. This galaxy also contains the only Purple Coin mission that does not have the words «Purple Coins» in the name. It is also one of the two galaxies to have a Purple Coin mission not triggered by a Prankster Comet, the other one being in the Gateway Galaxy.

After the player has collected all the Purple Coins, the Mailtoad will receive a message. If the player talks to him, he will send a congratulatory picture to the Wii Message Board. This picture differs depending on whether the player spoke to the Mailtoad as Mario or Luigi. If Mario speaks to him, the picture will show Mario and Peach standing on the Starting Planet of the Good Egg Galaxy with some Lumas, including the apricot Luma. If Luigi speaks to the Mailtoad, the picture will feature Luigi and Rosalina standing in front of Peach’s Castle with the Toad Brigade. The picture can also be sent to friends. In the Super Mario 3D All-Stars version of Super Mario Galaxy, the «Yes» and «No» prompts are removed and the two images obtained from him are automatically sent to the Nintendo Switch album if the player talks to him. Additionally, the message from the Super Mario Galaxy staff that was originally sent to the Wii Message Board is now read out by the Mailtoad in-game.^[1]

On the list of galaxies, this galaxy is simply called «Grand Finale«, lacking the «Galaxy» name at the end that all other galaxies on the list have.

Contents

• 1 Planets/Areas
  • 1.1 Star Festival (Starting Planet)
• 2 Mission
• 3 Names in other languages
• 4 Trivia
• 5 References

Planets/Areas[edit]

Star Festival (Starting Planet)[edit]

Toad Town and the exterior of Peach’s Castle are shown. The castle and the area around it is based on the design introduced in Super Mario 64, containing a large lake with a river flowing into it, but expanded to include a pathway to Toad Town. The path goes through the town and into the castle.

There is an invisible wall that stops the player from entering the castle itself and the lake. If the wall is bypassed by hacking, the castle and lake have no collision and will cause the player to fall and lose a life.

Mission[edit]

This galaxy contains only the following mission.

Level	Image	Overview
The Star Festival		This mission’s objective is to collect the 100 Purple Coins in Toad Town and the Castle Gardens.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	グランドフィナーレギャラクシー Gurando Fināre Gyarakushī	Grand Finale Galaxy
Chinese	欢乐团圆银河 Huānlè tuányuán yínhé	Happy Reunion Galaxy
French (NOA)	Galaxie de la Grande Finale	Grand Finale Galaxy
French (NOE)	Galaxie du grand final	Grand Finale Galaxy
German	Großes Finale-Galaxie	Grand Finale Galaxy
Italian	Galassia Gran Finale	Grand Finale Galaxy
Korean	그랜드 피날레 갤럭시 Geuraendeu Pinalle Gaelleoksi	Grand Finale Galaxy
Spanish	Galaxia Gran Final	Grand Finale Galaxy

• It is possible to take damage (and thus lose a life) in this galaxy. BeardBear. (September 19, 2020). Super Mario Galaxy (3D All-Stars) — Full Game 121 Stars Walkthrough (2 Players). Retrieved September 19, 2020.

[Edit] Super Mario Galaxy
Main characters	Mario • Luigi • Princess Peach • Rosalina • Bowser • Luma • Polari • Toad Brigade (Banktoad · Captain Toad · Hint Toad · Mailtoad · Yellow Toad)
Supporting characters	Coach • Comet Tico • Cosmic Mario • Guppy • Lumalee • Penguru • Queen Bee • Ray • Spooky Speedster
Species	Big Green Caterpillar • Board • Butterfly • Cataquack • Gearmo • Honeybee • Hungry Luma • Luma • Ocean Small Turtle • Penguin • Star Bunny • Toad
Bosses	Dino Piranha • King Kaliente • Mandibug Stack • Bugaboom • Megaleg • Kamella • Tarantox • Topmaniac • Bouldergeist • Major Burrows • Baron Brrr • Undergrunt Gunner • Mecha-Bowser • Kingfin • Fiery Dino Piranha • Bowser Jr. • Bowser
Items	1-Up Mushroom • ? Coin • Bee Mushroom • Boo Mushroom • Coin • Fire Flower • Grand Star • Green Star • Ice Flower • Life Mushroom • Note • Power Star • Purple Coin • Rainbow Star • Red Power Star • Red Star • Silver Star • Spring Mushroom • Star Bit • Star Chip
Objects	? Block • Airship • Arrow Switch • Assembly Block • Banandelion • Beacon • Blue switch • Bob-omb dispenser • Bolt Lift • Bowser Statue • Brick • Bubble • Bubbler • Cannon • Coconut • Coin Block • Conveyor Belt • Crate • Crystal • Empty Block • Flip Tile • Flipswitch Panel • Floaty Fluff • Gold Shell • Gold Treasure Box • Gravity field • Gravity spotlight • Green Shell • Ground Pound Switch • Honey wall • Key Door • Launch Star • Leaf pile • Lever Switch • Nail • Pole • Pull Star • Red Shell • Ring • Rock spire • Rolling Ball • Rubbery bulb • Semisolid Platform • Shock Wave Generator • Shrinking platform • Sling Pod • Sling Star • Snowman • Springboard • Sproutle Vine • Star Piece Cluster • Starshroom • Stone Wheel • Swing • Tornado • Trash • Treasure chest • UFO • Vine • Warp Pad • Warp Pipe • Watermelon • Wind
Enemies	Amp • Atomic Boo • Ball Beamer • Banzai Bill • Bat • Blooper • Bob-omb • Bomb Boo • Bomp • Bonefin • Boo • Bullet Bill • Cheep Cheep • Chomp • Clampy • Cluckboom • Crabber • Dry Bones • Electrogoomba • Flipbug • Gold Chomp • Goomba • Goombeetle • Grand Goomba • Gringill • Ground Urchin • Ice bat • Ice Bubble • Jam-o’-War • Jammyfish • Koopa Troopa • Lava Bubble • Li’l Cinder • Magikoopa • Mandibug • Mecha-Bowser • Micro Goomba • Mini Chomp • Monty • Octoguy • Piranha Plant • Pokey Head • Pokeynut • Pokeyplant • Pumpkinhead Goomba • Ring Beamer • Rocto • Sentry Beam • Sentry Garage • Slurple • Spiky Topman • Spiny Cheep-Cheep • Spiny Piranha Plant • Spoing • Sprangler • Spring Topman • Spring Vault • Thwomp • Topmini • Torpedo Ted • Tox Box • Tracks • Tweester • Undergrunt • Urchin • Wiggler • Zap Ball
Obstacles	Banzai Bill Cannon • Bill Blaster • Black hole • Bramble • Burner • Cannon • Cannonball • Dark matter • Electric rail • Eye Beamer • Fire Bar • Fire Shooter • Fireball • Freezing water • Giant prickly plant • Honey • Lava • Lava Geyser • Lava Steam • Meteor • Mikey Mine • Mud • Poison • Ruby Rock • Prickly plant • Quicksand • Spike Trap • Spring • Torpedo tube • Water Shooter • Whirlpool
Moves	Backward Somersault • Co-Star Super Jump • Crawl • Crouch • Dash • Double kick • Double Jump • Fly • Ground Pound • Long Jump • Jump • Side Somersault • Skate • Spin • Stomp • Swim • Triple Jump • Wall Jump
Minigames	Bob-omb Blasting • Ray surfing
Further info	Glitches • Life meter • Mario Galaxy Orchestra • Prankster Comet • Pre-release and unused content • Rosalina’s Story • Staff • Star Cursor • Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack • Trading cards

[Edit] Missions and galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy
Area	Main galaxies				Boss galaxies	Hungry Luma galaxies
Gate	Gateway Galaxy				—	Boo’s Boneyard Galaxy
	Grand Star Rescue Gateway’s Purple Coins				—	Racing the Spooky Speedster
Terrace	Good Egg Galaxy	Honeyhive Galaxy	Loopdeeloop Galaxy	Flipswitch Galaxy	Bowser Jr. ‘s Robot Reactor	Sweet Sweet Galaxy
	Dino Piranha A Snack of Cosmic Proportions King Kaliente’s Battle Fleet Dino Piranha Speed Run* Purple Coin Omelet* Luigi on the Roof	Bee Mario/Luigi Takes Flight Trouble on the Tower Big Bad Bugaboom Honeyhive Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* The Honeyhive’s Purple Coins* Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom	Surfing 101	Painting the Planet Yellow	Megaleg’s Moon	Rocky Road
Fountain	Space Junk Galaxy	Rolling Green Galaxy	Battlerock Galaxy	Hurry-Scurry Galaxy	Bowser’s Star Reactor	Sling Pod Galaxy
	Pull Star Path Kamella’s Airship Attack Tarantox’s Tangled Web Pull Star Path Speed Run* Purple Coin Spacewalk* Yoshi’s Unexpected Appearance	Rolling in the Clouds	Battlerock Barrage Breaking into the Battlerock Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe Topmaniac’s Daredevil Run* Purple Coins on the Battlerock* Battlerock’s Garbage Dump Luigi under the Saucer	Shrinking Satellite	The Fiery Stronghold	A Very Sticky Situation
Kitchen	Beach Bowl Galaxy	Bubble Breeze Galaxy	Ghostly Galaxy	Buoy Base Galaxy	Bowser Jr. ‘s Airship Armada	Drip Drop Galaxy
	Sunken Treasure Passing the Swim Test The Secret Undersea Cavern Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone* Beachcombing for Purple Coins* Wall Jumping up Waterfalls	Through the Poison Swamp	Luigi and the Haunted Mansion A Very Spooky Sprint Beware of Bouldergeist Bouldergeist’s Daredevil Run* Purple Coins in the Bone Pen* Matter Splatter Mansion	The Floating Fortress The Secret of Buoy Base	Sinking the Airships	Giant Eel Outbreak
Bedroom	Gusty Garden Galaxy	Freezeflame Galaxy	Dusty Dune Galaxy	Honeyclimb Galaxy	Bowser’s Dark Matter Plant	Bigmouth Galaxy
	Bunnies in the Wind The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows Gusty Garden’s Gravity Scramble Major Burrows’s Daredevil Run* Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube* The Golden Chomp	The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr Freezeflame’s Blistering Core Hot and Cold Collide Frosty Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* Purple Coins on the Summit* Conquering the Summit	Soaring on the Desert Winds Blasting through the Sand Sunbaked Sand Castle Sandblast Speed Run* Purple Coins in the Desert* Bullet Bill on Your Back Treasure of the Pyramid	Scaling the Sticky Wall	Darkness on the Horizon	Bigmouth’s Gold Bait
Engine Room	Gold Leaf Galaxy	Sea Slide Galaxy	Toy Time Galaxy	Bonefin Galaxy	Bowser Jr. ‘s Lava Reactor	Sand Spiral Galaxy
	Star Bunnies on the Hunt Cataquack to the Skies When It Rains, It Pours Cosmic Mario/Luigi Forest Race* Purple Coins in the Woods* The Bell on the Big Tree	Going after Guppy Faster Than a Speeding Penguin The Silver Stars of Sea Slide Underwater Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* Purple Coins by the Seaside* Hurry, He’s Hungry	Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser Mario/Luigi Meets Mario Bouncing Down Cake Lane Fast Foes of Toy Time* Luigi’s Purple Coins* The Flipswitch Chain	Kingfin’s Fearsome Waters	King Kaliente’s Spicy Return	Choosing a Favorite Snack
Garden	Deep Dark Galaxy	Dreadnought Galaxy	Matter Splatter Galaxy	Melty Molten Galaxy	—	Snow Cap Galaxy
	The Underground Ghost Ship Bubble Blastoff Guppy and the Underground Lake Ghost Ship Daredevil Run* Plunder the Purple Coins* Boo in a Box	Infiltrating the Dreadnought Dreadnought’s Colossal Cannons Revenge of the Topman Tribe Topman Tribe Speed Run* Battlestation’s Purple Coins* Dreadnought’s Garbage Dump	Watch Your Step	The Sinking Lava Spire Through the Meteor Storm Fiery Dino Piranha Lava Spire Daredevil Run* Red-Hot Purple Coins* Burning Tide	—	Star Bunnies in the Snow
Planet of Trials	Rolling Gizmo Galaxy	Loopdeeswoop Galaxy	Bubble Blast Galaxy	Grand Finale Galaxy	—	—
	Gizmos, Gears, and Gadgets	The Galaxy’s Greatest Wave	The Electric Labyrinth	The Star Festival	—	—
Center of the universe	—				Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor	—
	—				The Fate of the Universe	—
* Mission only available when a Prankster Comet is in orbit.

The Star Festival — Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

This article is about the mission in Super Mario Galaxy. For the event occurring in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, see Star Festival.

The Star Festival is the only mission of the Grand Finale Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy and the final mission of the game, named after the Star Festival from the same game. This mission can be done only if both Mario and Luigi have obtained 120 Power Stars. The mission’s objective is to collect 100 Purple Coins, and this Purple Coin mission does not have a time limit.

100 Purple Coins are scattered around Toad Town and the Castle Gardens. The mission has no obstacles or enemies (though the player can still die by standing in fire or drowning), so the player needs to simply collect all of the coins. Once they have all been collected, the Power Star will appear in front of the castle.

Planets visited[edit]

• Star Festival (Starting Planet)

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ようこそ！星くず祭へ Yōkoso! Hoshikuzu Matsuri e	Welcome! To the Stardust Festival
Chinese	欢迎参加星屑祭典！ Huānyíng cānjiā xīngxiè jìdiǎn ！	Welcome To the Star Fragment Festival!
French (NOE)	Bienvenue au festival des éclats d’étoiles
German	Willkommen zum Sternenstaubfest!
Italian	Questo è il Festival delle Stelle!	This is the star festival!
Korean	별 축제에 어서 오세요! Byeol chukje-e eoseo oseyo!	Welcome to the Star Festival!
Spanish (NOE)	¡Todos en el festival!	Everyone at the festival!

[Edit] Super Mario Galaxy
Main characters	Mario • Luigi • Princess Peach • Rosalina • Bowser • Luma • Polari • Toad Brigade (Banktoad · Captain Toad · Hint Toad · Mailtoad · Yellow Toad)
Supporting characters	Coach • Comet Tico • Cosmic Mario • Guppy • Lumalee • Penguru • Queen Bee • Ray • Spooky Speedster
Species	Big Green Caterpillar • Board • Butterfly • Cataquack • Gearmo • Honeybee • Hungry Luma • Luma • Ocean Small Turtle • Penguin • Star Bunny • Toad
Bosses	Dino Piranha • King Kaliente • Mandibug Stack • Bugaboom • Megaleg • Kamella • Tarantox • Topmaniac • Bouldergeist • Major Burrows • Baron Brrr • Undergrunt Gunner • Mecha-Bowser • Kingfin • Fiery Dino Piranha • Bowser Jr. • Bowser
Items	1-Up Mushroom • ? Coin • Bee Mushroom • Boo Mushroom • Coin • Fire Flower • Grand Star • Green Star • Ice Flower • Life Mushroom • Note • Power Star • Purple Coin • Rainbow Star • Red Power Star • Red Star • Silver Star • Spring Mushroom • Star Bit • Star Chip
Objects	? Block • Airship • Arrow Switch • Assembly Block • Banandelion • Beacon • Blue switch • Bob-omb dispenser • Bolt Lift • Bowser Statue • Brick • Bubble • Bubbler • Cannon • Coconut • Coin Block • Conveyor Belt • Crate • Crystal • Empty Block • Flip Tile • Flipswitch Panel • Floaty Fluff • Gold Shell • Gold Treasure Box • Gravity field • Gravity spotlight • Green Shell • Ground Pound Switch • Honey wall • Key Door • Launch Star • Leaf pile • Lever Switch • Nail • Pole • Pull Star • Red Shell • Ring • Rock spire • Rolling Ball • Rubbery bulb • Semisolid Platform • Shock Wave Generator • Shrinking platform • Sling Pod • Sling Star • Snowman • Springboard • Sproutle Vine • Star Piece Cluster • Starshroom • Stone Wheel • Swing • Tornado • Trash • Treasure chest • UFO • Vine • Warp Pad • Warp Pipe • Watermelon • Wind
Enemies	Amp • Atomic Boo • Ball Beamer • Banzai Bill • Bat • Blooper • Bob-omb • Bomb Boo • Bomp • Bonefin • Boo • Bullet Bill • Cheep Cheep • Chomp • Clampy • Cluckboom • Crabber • Dry Bones • Electrogoomba • Flipbug • Gold Chomp • Goomba • Goombeetle • Grand Goomba • Gringill • Ground Urchin • Ice bat • Ice Bubble • Jam-o’-War • Jammyfish • Koopa Troopa • Lava Bubble • Li’l Cinder • Magikoopa • Mandibug • Mecha-Bowser • Micro Goomba • Mini Chomp • Monty • Octoguy • Piranha Plant • Pokey Head • Pokeynut • Pokeyplant • Pumpkinhead Goomba • Ring Beamer • Rocto • Sentry Beam • Sentry Garage • Slurple • Spiky Topman • Spiny Cheep-Cheep • Spiny Piranha Plant • Spoing • Sprangler • Spring Topman • Spring Vault • Thwomp • Topmini • Torpedo Ted • Tox Box • Tracks • Tweester • Undergrunt • Urchin • Wiggler • Zap Ball
Obstacles	Banzai Bill Cannon • Bill Blaster • Black hole • Bramble • Burner • Cannon • Cannonball • Dark matter • Electric rail • Eye Beamer • Fire Bar • Fire Shooter • Fireball • Freezing water • Giant prickly plant • Honey • Lava • Lava Geyser • Lava Steam • Meteor • Mikey Mine • Mud • Poison • Ruby Rock • Prickly plant • Quicksand • Spike Trap • Spring • Torpedo tube • Water Shooter • Whirlpool
Moves	Backward Somersault • Co-Star Super Jump • Crawl • Crouch • Dash • Double kick • Double Jump • Fly • Ground Pound • Long Jump • Jump • Side Somersault • Skate • Spin • Stomp • Swim • Triple Jump • Wall Jump
Minigames	Bob-omb Blasting • Ray surfing
Further info	Glitches • Life meter • Mario Galaxy Orchestra • Prankster Comet • Pre-release and unused content • Rosalina’s Story • Staff • Star Cursor • Super Mario Galaxy Original Soundtrack • Trading cards

[Edit] Missions and galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy
Area	Main galaxies				Boss galaxies	Hungry Luma galaxies
Gate	Gateway Galaxy				—	Boo’s Boneyard Galaxy
	Grand Star Rescue Gateway’s Purple Coins				—	Racing the Spooky Speedster
Terrace	Good Egg Galaxy	Honeyhive Galaxy	Loopdeeloop Galaxy	Flipswitch Galaxy	Bowser Jr. ‘s Robot Reactor	Sweet Sweet Galaxy
	Dino Piranha A Snack of Cosmic Proportions King Kaliente’s Battle Fleet Dino Piranha Speed Run* Purple Coin Omelet* Luigi on the Roof	Bee Mario/Luigi Takes Flight Trouble on the Tower Big Bad Bugaboom Honeyhive Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* The Honeyhive’s Purple Coins* Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom	Surfing 101	Painting the Planet Yellow	Megaleg’s Moon	Rocky Road
Fountain	Space Junk Galaxy	Rolling Green Galaxy	Battlerock Galaxy	Hurry-Scurry Galaxy	Bowser’s Star Reactor	Sling Pod Galaxy
	Pull Star Path Kamella’s Airship Attack Tarantox’s Tangled Web Pull Star Path Speed Run* Purple Coin Spacewalk* Yoshi’s Unexpected Appearance	Rolling in the Clouds	Battlerock Barrage Breaking into the Battlerock Topmaniac and the Topman Tribe Topmaniac’s Daredevil Run* Purple Coins on the Battlerock* Battlerock’s Garbage Dump Luigi under the Saucer	Shrinking Satellite	The Fiery Stronghold	A Very Sticky Situation
Kitchen	Beach Bowl Galaxy	Bubble Breeze Galaxy	Ghostly Galaxy	Buoy Base Galaxy	Bowser Jr. ‘s Airship Armada	Drip Drop Galaxy
	Sunken Treasure Passing the Swim Test The Secret Undersea Cavern Fast Foes on the Cyclone Stone* Beachcombing for Purple Coins* Wall Jumping up Waterfalls	Through the Poison Swamp	Luigi and the Haunted Mansion A Very Spooky Sprint Beware of Bouldergeist Bouldergeist’s Daredevil Run* Purple Coins in the Bone Pen* Matter Splatter Mansion	The Floating Fortress The Secret of Buoy Base	Sinking the Airships	Giant Eel Outbreak
Bedroom	Gusty Garden Galaxy	Freezeflame Galaxy	Dusty Dune Galaxy	Honeyclimb Galaxy	Bowser’s Dark Matter Plant	Bigmouth Galaxy
	Bunnies in the Wind The Dirty Tricks of Major Burrows Gusty Garden’s Gravity Scramble Major Burrows’s Daredevil Run* Purple Coins on the Puzzle Cube* The Golden Chomp	The Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr Freezeflame’s Blistering Core Hot and Cold Collide Frosty Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* Purple Coins on the Summit* Conquering the Summit	Soaring on the Desert Winds Blasting through the Sand Sunbaked Sand Castle Sandblast Speed Run* Purple Coins in the Desert* Bullet Bill on Your Back Treasure of the Pyramid	Scaling the Sticky Wall	Darkness on the Horizon	Bigmouth’s Gold Bait
Engine Room	Gold Leaf Galaxy	Sea Slide Galaxy	Toy Time Galaxy	Bonefin Galaxy	Bowser Jr. ‘s Lava Reactor	Sand Spiral Galaxy
	Star Bunnies on the Hunt Cataquack to the Skies When It Rains, It Pours Cosmic Mario/Luigi Forest Race* Purple Coins in the Woods* The Bell on the Big Tree	Going after Guppy Faster Than a Speeding Penguin The Silver Stars of Sea Slide Underwater Cosmic Mario/Luigi Race* Purple Coins by the Seaside* Hurry, He’s Hungry	Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser Mario/Luigi Meets Mario Bouncing Down Cake Lane Fast Foes of Toy Time* Luigi’s Purple Coins* The Flipswitch Chain	Kingfin’s Fearsome Waters	King Kaliente’s Spicy Return	Choosing a Favorite Snack
Garden	Deep Dark Galaxy	Dreadnought Galaxy	Matter Splatter Galaxy	Melty Molten Galaxy	—	Snow Cap Galaxy
	The Underground Ghost Ship Bubble Blastoff Guppy and the Underground Lake Ghost Ship Daredevil Run* Plunder the Purple Coins* Boo in a Box	Infiltrating the Dreadnought Dreadnought’s Colossal Cannons Revenge of the Topman Tribe Topman Tribe Speed Run* Battlestation’s Purple Coins* Dreadnought’s Garbage Dump	Watch Your Step	The Sinking Lava Spire Through the Meteor Storm Fiery Dino Piranha Lava Spire Daredevil Run* Red-Hot Purple Coins* Burning Tide	—	Star Bunnies in the Snow
Planet of Trials	Rolling Gizmo Galaxy	Loopdeeswoop Galaxy	Bubble Blast Galaxy	Grand Finale Galaxy	—	—
	Gizmos, Gears, and Gadgets	The Galaxy’s Greatest Wave	The Electric Labyrinth	The Star Festival	—	—
Center of the universe	—				Bowser’s Galaxy Reactor	—
	—				The Fate of the Universe	—
* Mission only available when a Prankster Comet is in orbit.

Developer’s Library: The Four Pillars of Game Design in Super Mario 3D World

This time I want to talk about Mario 3D World, a game that is buzzing with ideas. It features conkdors and switch panels, double cherries and box bombs, ant soldiers and music blocks, gymnastic trapezes and piranha flowers. The game is replete with finds.

How did Nintendo manage to cram so many mechanics into one project without overloading the game and feeding the player with tutorials? The best answer to this question is Koichi Hayashida, one of the co-authors of 3D World. In the process of working on several games, he developed his own concept of level design, which allows you to come up with new ideas very quickly.

In essence, each level is a separate platform for demonstrating game design ideas. Each of them has its own mechanics. Within five minutes, it is shown, developed, changed, taught to the player and thrown out.

Condors

Each time it all starts with the fact that the main idea of ​​the level is demonstrated in a safe environment. Cakewalk Flip has panels that flip from one red side to the other blue side every time the player jumps. The first set of panels is on a low level, so if you fall, you won’t lose a life. After that, the idea is developed further. Very soon, there is no «airbag» under the player. And he has to deal with flipping panels as he climbs up the sheer wall.

Then comes the turn of the plot. From this moment until the very end of the level, we simultaneously jump on the flip panels and dodge the blast wave — it is sent by the enemies we met at the beginning.

And finally, we come to the end of the level. On the way to the finish flag, we have the opportunity, one by one, to demonstrate the skills we have acquired.

Cakewalk Flip

In an interview with Gamasutra, Hayashida revealed that he was inspired by a narrative structure called kishōtenketsu, which is used in four-line Chinese poems and four-frame Japanese comics. The structure looks like this: first, the viewer is presented with an idea, then it develops, then there is a plot twist that changes everything, and everything ends with a climax. Likewise, every level of Mario has the same interesting sequence—introduction, progression, twist, and climax. Stars or stamps to collect add to the level of difficulty. And Nintendo sometimes replaces the road to the finish flag with a boss fight, as, for example, in Bowser’s Highway Showdown, where the player is shown how to use exploding balls as preparation for the battle with Bowser.

Even in the boss fight, the mechanics from earlier levels may be needed again. If the player has already reached, for example, the Bowser Express, then from his previous experience he knows that the game has a swing with spikes, conkdors, bulls (bully, spherical blue creatures with horns — approx. App2Top) and soldiers — ants.

It’s interesting to see how the design of the Mario series changes from game to game. It begins to take shape in Super Mario Galaxy, which Hayashida worked on as Head of Level Design. But the galaxies in this game, for the most part, are a hodgepodge of different mechanics, and not a single consistent concept.

Super Mario Galaxy

Take Gutsy Garden Galaxy’s Bunnies, for example. This level is initially dedicated to floating islands — Floaty Fluffs, but then the focus shifts to beanstalks. And there is also a race with a rabbit. Don’t get me wrong — the game is ingenious in its unpredictability, and it has very different ways to interact with the 3D world. But it also does not always let the mechanics open up properly. And it’s not always possible to fully get used to it: sometimes the game stuffs you with several concepts at once at the same time — like in the Flipswitch galaxy. And at the same time, as in the Bubble Breeze galaxy, training is based on a standard tutorial.

In Mario Galaxy 2, which Hayashida directed as director, levels are more often built around a single concept, and a familiar narrative structure becomes visible to us. The Beat Blocks galaxy introduces the player to the core mechanics in a safe environment, then develops those mechanics throughout the level, and finally introduces the silver stars plot twist.

In Super Mario 3D Land, Hayashida promotes his philosophy much more consistently. World 2-2 is about folding panels, world 2-4 is about reversing platforms, 3-4 is about falling blocks, and so on.

Super Mario 3D Land

The 3D World philosophy is revealed in all its glory. It is also occasionally used in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. The mechanics are shown to the player in the same way, developed, and then changed. However, it is less consistently implemented, since the levels have a more open end.

In Mario games, the tutorial has been built into the gameplay before. In Super Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto had to find a way to explain to the player that mushrooms are good, and mushroom goombas is bad. So the first time the player releases the mushroom and tries to jump over it, they hit their head on the beam, bounce on the mushroom anyway and realize there’s nothing wrong with it.

And of course, it’s not the first time the Mario series has thrown ideas around for five minutes of fun.