Does the “wife” mode cooperative mechanic exist outside of Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Question

Forgive the potentially offensive name, but my wife lovingly dubbed the cooperative style of play in Super Mario Galaxy 2 "wife mode" for the following reasons:

• The secondary character cannot die
• The secondary character is genuinely useful, and can help the main character by paralyzing enemies (via hugging them)
• The secondary character can also play their own sort of side game, looking for powerups and coins while the main character is doing other things

Is this an unprecedented technique? Does it have a better name than "wife mode?"

Answer

A simple answer to your first question is no, it's not unprecedented. The first Super Mario Galaxy had a more limited version, and of course comments and answers have mentioned other games as well.

The last question's easy to answer: there's certainly a better name than "wife mode". Sexism is rampant in gaming, and while "wife mode" might be accurate in individual cases (as in your own: after all, it was your wife who used the name), as a general term, as you might suspect, it implies two assumptions that could be taught in Sexism 101:

• The person playing the secondary character is the wife (or girlfriend or whatever), because the primary gamer in the house is the man.
• The person playing the secondary character needs extra assistance (invulnerability, doesn't have to follow the plot), because that person is not an equally-skilled gamer, which is because that person is the wife.

Some women are not avid gamers, and some women are not skilled gamers ... but it has nothing to do with their gender, despite the existence of places in the gaming community where that idea is accepted as fact. So there's no reason to use a name for that mode that suggests it applies to only wives or only women.

There are plenty of gender-neutral terms we could use that would still be accurate. For example, the original Super Mario Galaxy calls it Co-Star Mode. I think that's actually a pretty good name: co-stars are not necessarily as important as stars in TV shows and movies, but they can contribute a lot on their own, and of course in the context of SMG, there's the Star pun (intended, I'm sure).

Assistant Mode, Helper Mode, those would work as well, and I'm sure there are more like that ... and none of them make assumptions about the person who'd be playing them.

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How many Stars do I need to complete the story?

Question

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, do I have to collect every star on every planet to complete the story portion of the game (I am not trying to collect everything, just what I need to progress)?

If not, what is the minimum amount of Stars that I need to complete the game - and by that I mean reaching the end of the story and (ostensibly) saving the princess?

Answer

As I recall, you need 70 stars in order to access Bowser's Galaxy Generator, the last boss stage. Mario Wiki seems to agree.

This is the same number of stars you seems to need in all newer 3D Mario games.

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How does Super Mario Galaxy 2 differ from Super Mario Galaxy?

Question

From reviews I still don't get if Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a must-have game if I have already played a lot of the first Super Mario Galaxy.

In what ways is it different from its predecessor, and how different is it?

Answer

In one sense it's "more of the same" in that you work your way through "worlds" and "galaxies" finding stars and beating sub bosses to rescue Peach from Bowser.

However, there are differences:

• the navigation between worlds and galaxies is different - you're travelling through them rather than visiting from a central hub.

• You get to play as Luigi during the main game, either as a suggestion on random levels or eventually by choice.

• Yoshi is available on some worlds.

• The worlds/galaxies are all new - though there is some "borrowing" from earlier games. See this question

• What happens (in terms of replayability) when you complete the game is different. See this question

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Have to buy Super Mario Galaxy 2 having played SMG1?

Question

I've played a lot SMG1. From reviews I still don't get if SMG2 is a must-have despite I have SMG1. How much is it different?

Answer

In one sense it's "more of the same" in that you work your way through "worlds" and "galaxies" finding stars and beating sub bosses to rescue Peach from Bowser.

However, there are differences:

• the navigation between worlds and galaxies is different - you're travelling through them rather than visiting from a central hub.

• You get to play as Lugi during the main game, either as a suggestion on random levels or eventually by choice.

• Yoshi is available on some worlds.

• The worlds/galaxies are all new - though there is some "borrowing" from earlier games. See this question

• What happens (in terms of replayability) when you complete the game is different. See this question

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How many stars are there in Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Question

I've read in reviews of Super Mario Galaxy 2 that it has 240 stars. Are there really 240 unique stars? Or is it like the first Super Mario Galaxy, where you get 120 stars, then have the option to play the whole game again as Luigi and collect the same 120 stars again.

I'm around 105 stars, and it's looking like most of the galaxies have been marked "complete," so I don't see where all these stars are going to come from (if they are indeed unique).

Answer

There are a total of 242 stars:

• 120 standard Gold stars, consisting of:
  • 56 Power stars (the normal ones)
  • 6 Grand Stars (at the end of each world)
  • 17 Hidden Stars (in 17 different galaxies)
  • 29 Comet Stars (in 29 different galaxies)
  • 6 Additional Normal Stars after beating the game for the first time.
  • 6 Additional Comet Stars after beating the game for the first time.
• 120 Green Stars which appear after you collected the first 120 yellow stars and have beaten the game again (2 or 3 per galaxy, 18 per world, except for the very last world, which has 12)
• 2 additional Gold stars after you have collected all the previous 240 stars. (1 Power Star, 1 Comet Star, which also requires 9999 Starbits)

The only way to get all Comet Stars, is to collect all Comet Coins, which are found on the first level of each galaxy, including the very last one!

Note that it is possible to get Bronze Stars instead of Gold Stars if you use the Cosmic Guide available (after dying a couple of times) on certain levels (available in every galaxy, but not every level). While these Bronze Stars allow you to continue to move on, the do not count with respect to unlocking certain secrets.

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What's the quickest way to get extra lives in Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Question

All 240 stars are mine! There is now just one galaxy left, the Grandmaster. On my first attempt, it gobbled up 30 lives like my kids eat ice cream. It wasn't pretty. Before I tackle it again, I'm going to need a lot o lives. What's the best way to get as many extra lives as possible in a short amount of time?

Answer

On Starship Mario (the hub world), near the right "ear" of the starship, there is a pipe with two Lumas in it.

The first offers you one chance cube for 30 star bits. The other offers you 5 chance cubes for 100 coins.

Each of these chance cubes has 1 star bit, 1-up, 3 1-up, and 5 1-up sides.

Needless to say, you can get anywhere from 0-25 1-ups for 100 coins.

Note: I'm not exactly sure when each of these Lumas appear, but neither are present at the beginning of the game. However, the requirements for reaching Grand Master Galaxy should cause both to appear.

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How do you defeat Bowser Jr. at the end of World 3?

Question

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, you have to fight Bowser Jr. who is in a giant robot suit sort of thing. You have Yoshi, and there are Bullet Bills flying at you. I've figured out that I have to get Yoshi to eat the Bullet Bills and spit them out at the blue domes on the front of the robot suit (twice on each side to fully destroy each one), but when it comes to hitting the one on the robot suit's back, Bowser Jr. turns around too quickly for me to be able to shoot him if Yoshi eats one of the Bullet Bills that come out of the robot suit's back.

Is there something I am missing here? I keep dying, and would love to be able to make it to the next world.

Answer

You have to use a launch star to quickly get behind Bowser Jr. with a bullet in Yoshi's mouth. After destroying the domes on the robot's chest, position Yoshi underneath the launch star. Eat a Bullet Bill, use the launch star to get behind the robot, and then shoot. You'll then have to get back to a launch star to repeat the process. I believe there are three available.

This YouTube video shows how it's done.

Good luck!

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Is there a point to collecting coins in Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Question

Is there a further benefit to gathering coins in Super Mario Galaxy 2 beyond getting an extra life for every 100 coins you gather? I know that in at least one level, you need coins to convince a Luma to transform, but that only takes the coins you gather in that level into account, not your total coin count throughout the game.

Answer

There is but one good reason to collect coins. Whenever you turn the game off, you lose all your extra Marios and are reduced to the default 4 lives. One of the Lumas down the pipe on Starship Mario will let you roll five Chance Cubes (for a possible total of 25 lives) for 100 coins.

This comes in especially handy at the very very end of the game when you get to the Grandmaster Galaxy. First-time players may well go through thirty or forty lives (or more) before they can claim the very last star of the game.

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What is the ending in Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Question

I've collected 241 stars in Super Mario Galaxy 2. I'm missing the last one, where you have to go through a very complex level without dying. I tried to beat this level for maybe 3-4 hours, but then decided it just wasn't worth it.

What would happen if I were patient enough to actually finish the game?

Answer

Rosalina will join your ship, and you also get a "Congratulations!" message from Nintendo sent to your inbox:

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Bronze Stars vs. Power Stars

Question

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, if you use the Cosmic Guide to finish a level, you are informed that you will receive a "Bronze Star" instead of a "Power Star". I assumed that meant that it wouldn't increase your total Star count, however, when I finished the level in question (Flip Swap Galaxy's Think Before You Shake level) using the Cosmic Guide (and thereby getting the Bronze Star), my Star count still went up.

Is there a benefit to getting the Power Stars over the Bronze Stars? Or can I essentially get the game to play itself (when available) with no real detriment?

Answer

After you get 120 Power Stars there's a whole other quest to go through — and it's way better than the second quest in SMG1. You won't ever get to see it, though, if you stay satisfied with those Bronze Stars.

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Point of collecting Coins in Super Mario Galaxy 2

Question

Is there a further benefit to gathering coins in Super Mario Galaxy 2 beyond getting an extra life for every 100 coins you gather? I know that in at least one level, you need coins to convince a Luma to transform, but that only takes the coins you gather in that level into account, not your total coin count throughout the game.

Answer

Excepting the occasional hungry-for-coins luma, there is no reason to go out of your way collecting coins in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Your coin collecting will never trigger stars, unless you're collecting purple coins to begin with, which are far from the average case.

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