Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 finally made their way to the Switch, and they’ve never looked better. Before now, you could only play them on the old Wii or through the limited-time Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on Switch–which didn’t even include Galaxy 2. Now, both games are available on the regular Switch and Switch 2.
There are a lot of things to appreciate with the new remasters, and Digital Foundry took a deep dive into the biggest differences and the mild downgrades. The biggest difference is that the original Switch runs the games at up to 1080p, while the Switch 2 boosts the visuals all the way to 4K resolution, making everything look much sharper and cleaner, especially on modern TVs. You can check out the full breakdown below.
Basically, most of the menus, cutscenes, and controls are the same as the 2020 3D All-Stars version, including things like touchscreen and motion controls. The pre-rendered cutscenes still run at 1080p, even on Switch 2, and haven’t been upgraded to 4K. That’s a bit of a letdown, especially since those scenes also show some compression issues and color problems. Still, the improved resolution and sharper gameplay visuals on Switch 2 do a lot to make up for it. Shadows now show from farther away, and character models look better at a distance, too.
Another huge improvement are the new high-resolution textures. Nintendo updated nearly every surface in the game–grass, dirt, rocks, bricks, and even character clothing. These textures look much clearer and more detailed than on the original Wii. For example, Mario’s overalls now have visible stitching, and Peach’s eyes and eyelashes are more detailed. Some areas, like the hay in the Dino Piranha’s nest and the brick paths in Honeyhive Galaxy, show big upgrades while still keeping the original design.
There are a few small downsides. The cutscene videos still look a bit compressed, and color banding can sometimes be seen in skies or backgrounds. But overall, these new versions of Galaxy 1 and 2 look better than ever. The Switch 2 version especially benefits from the higher resolution and cleaner textures, though even the regular Switch version is a nice improvement over the old Wii release. While not a full remake, this remaster does a great job of polishing up two of Nintendo’s best platformers for a new generation.
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