The Quiet Sadness of Mario Galaxy 

When I was a kid I used to wait for Mario to lay down on the bed in the observatory before quitting the game

“When you only realize you’re smiling, because you feel it slowly fading from your face” W o a h

“We didn't realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” -Winnie the Pooh

I still can’t get through Rosalina’s full backstory without crying and feeling a wave of utter depression. This game…is a lot more than a game to me.

Mario Galaxy’s atmosphere is like knowing you can’t go home because it doesn’t exist anymore

”Super Mario Galaxy uses the coldness of the cosmos to make the space we do have that much warmer, that much more delicate.”

I want to share my perspective: I could talk about this game for way too long, so I'll only focus on the main aspect I see. Every single time space is mentioned in reality, it is either followed by scientific discovery or cosmic horror. Either it is cool but pragmatic stuff or full on nihilistic dread. But by combining it with the vital element of a childish, friendly platformer, something else emerges, something new. No longer do you need to worry about lack of atmosphere, cold, extreme radiation, tiny piercing high-speed pebbles or BOILING BLOOD. You can just explore and enjoy it to your hearts content without any real danger. And suddenly space no longer is like the inside of a volcano or the deep sea, deadly and scary, but rather vast, quiet, mysterious and beautiful. Space Junk Galaxy being the prime example. It is almost like making peace with and befriending a former enemy. It is not an empty hell, it is nature. It becomes its own special biome, like forests, deserts, mountains. The game even goes so far as to frame space not as a scary monster, but an innocent victim, tormented by Bowser's tyranny. A crying interstellar ecosystem. All those strange worlds are no longer real-life hazards, but friends in need. The universe becomes one giant family. A place where everyone is meant to be and to live peacefully with each other. After all, the ending and Mario/Luigi's final words before the credits did not come out of nowhere. Hardly anyone is gonna see this comment by now... Edit: Well, given the replies you see down there, I suppose my judgement above was premature. Edit-Edit: I'm going to get replies to this comment for the rest of my life, aren't I?😆

videogames are really art and more people should recognize this

"You know those times when you realize when you've been smiling, because you feel it slowly fade from your face?" - I've seen some good lines, but this has quickly become one of my favorite

"Because... Because..." "She's sleeping under the tree on the hill!" When I was younger, I didn't understand that that was a euphemism for the fact that her mother is dead, and she's buried under that tree. Now, twelve years on, I just did. And now I'm crying.

I feel like I’m growing up too fast, and I’ve been struggling with nostalgia and my past, and what’s in store for the future, and this video sums up my feelings. It just hits different. Thanks, man.

I feel like Japanese media is really good at conveying these emotions. I always feel the same way after a Ghibli movie. I don't know how to describe it any way except for a happy sadness. It's been a wonderful story and adventure but it has to end no matter how much I want more of it. I don't know why this isn't done more in media in America, I think our collective culture is just really uncomfortable with endings

I'm sorry but my mom didn't sign the permission slip for this feels trip.

"It's that sadness at the end of a birthday party or coming home after a vacation, there's a moment happiness leaves you" Damn. I felt that.

This doesn’t even feel like a game anymore, it feels like it opens a door in your mind that you couldn’t find the key for

In mario galaxy 2, there’s this giant cave level i think about a lot. Right at the beginning, you fly into this giant, unending cave. You never see the beginning of the cave, so the thought of a giant, galaxy sized cavern has always unnerved me.

A fun fact is Rosalina’s story was snuck in without Miyamoto knowing as well.

when I was a kid I never realized how good of a game this actually was. It was just so relaxing to play. I really wanna get my Wii now and play the game again just to escape everything

I one time played Gusty Garden galaxy in my high school band because it was one of my favorite songs on the last day of school. My teacher printed out all the sheet music for all the sections. We even brought the orchestra in for one last huzzah. And I didn’t know I would, but I started crying from how beautiful it was. How much nostalgia was placed in the sound track was stunning. Mario Galaxy, to this day, is my favorite work of art.

I can never hear the Library's theme or Rosalina's story without utterly breaking down. I'm in tears writing this. This game does an inconceivably good job of delivering you a dose of totally gut wrenching emotion but with the most gentle, tender touch.

”Quiet Sadness” Me: remembers the incredibly sad music that plays during the Rosalina story time scenes

It's like something Bob Ross said, "You can't know happiness without knowing a little bit of sorrow." EDIT: "If you have light on light, you have nothing. If you have dark on dark, you basically have nothing. Y'know, it's a lot like life, you have to have a little sadness in order to know when the good times roll. I'm waiting on the good times now."

Super Mario Galaxy is a game that feels so much like home to me. It breaks my heart knowing that we‘ll probably never get another part of it.

When you said, "and the game just does this", and at 47 seconds it zoomed out and showed the tiny cheerful planet Mario was on and the dark, somber, expansive planet in the background, I got it. From another Mario video I watched, I'm sure the point of that scene was just what you also described: the Devs letting their young audience know that there is no need to fear the vastness of the task before them - the game will guide them and see them through, one step at a time. But of course this visual they used to communicate that can be taken in deeper, unintended ways. Parental Care: The imagery can remind the player of the care their parents gave them. When we were newcomers to this planet, we too needed guidance and protection and reassurance, and a safe place to go home to. Escapism and Nostalgia: We are growing up or have grown up into a potentially cold, empty, lonely world; certainly an adult world. The imagery in this scene mirrors our view of the game and its associated memories: a small, carefree, dreamy haven from the harsher realities we now face. Love in the midst of a dreadful expanse: Childhood memories and wonderful games might not be the only things we can hold on to to deal with reality. We can find love in family, friends, or romance. An ambitious man who never made it very far complains of the problems and strife in the world today, and bemoans the fact that he's too small and insignificant to make a difference. His wife reassures him, "But you mean the world to me." Alone An old, musty planet with weary people Marching incessantly about their business Trying to acquire more. At the store two people yelled at each other Because they were both so important. Above us, you tell me, the leaders are ruining everything. It's a funny thing that we will die before this hopeless world ends. But I love you softly.

I remember this quote from a Guinness World record book “It’s a shame they don’t make games like this anymore, except at Nintendo, where they do”

I feel like I wanna cry when people talk about super Mario galaxy. I wish I appreciated it more when I played it

10:15 That's why I love Captain Toad and the toad brigade so much. As lonely as SMG is, it was nice to have a small rag tag team of mushroom men to explore the cosmos with you. Not to sideline the other npcs, like Rosalina and the Lumas, but I guess I like the toad brigade more because they were more of a comic relief. Relief in what was otherwise a lonely, solemn game. I'm glad that the team behind the 3d Mario games are giving Captain Toad so much spotlight. He even got his own game for some reason! And I know it sounds weird to like a toad npc, considering how overused they are (looking at you, Paper Mario), but I guess that's just my weird opinion.

the quiet sadness of hearing bing bing, wahoo, yippee! every 8 seconds

I remember the moment when I realized what Rosalina meant when she said her mom was asleep under the tree... I think that was the day I grew up. Super Mario Galaxy, in my opinion, is a game with one of the most masterful grasps of atmosphere in any game ever. Not just Mario. Any game.

I think, if anything, this proves how powerful character development can be. Rosalina takes shape as an actual character. Not only that, but in such a powerful context, molded from the Galaxy's Quiet Sadness.

WAHOO!

I used to get a feeling while playing this game. I don't know how to describe it. It was a feeling of loneliness, but also openness and infinite possibility. It was associated most strongly with the background of so many galaxies, the one with a star rising over a huge blue planet. It's very much a "The Little Prince" feeling, which makes your video description fit very well. Occasionally, for a moment, I'll feel it again, and this video did that. Thank you

“Give me a break, those levels had identical gravity”

Did anyone else used to go to their favourite level even though it’s been completed, and just played through it slowly and for fun

This is the most beautiful mario video I've ever seen It's not a theory or a prediction It's not a rant addressing Nintendos copyright stakes It's not a review about how great it is It's not a review about how bad it is It's a nice and calm video that even got a little tears out of me.

“Mario has gotta save Princess Peach, and he’s going to. Don’t worry. But if it takes a little while, that’s okay.” I’ve felt like my life is going nowhere for a while now, and I think this is something I really needed to hear. Thank you so much.

i guess thats why i loved marios, *deep breathe" "Yeah...." he says after each star in this game

It’s 3 years after you posted this, but I wanted you to know this is the first video I’ve seen that’s been able to express how I feel about this game. Thank you so much ❤️

the quiet sadness of YAHOO WA WA WAHOO!!! YIPPEE!!! bwomp bing bing YAHAAA

I feel like this is a Koizumi thing. Majora's Mask also has some beautiful melancholic but gentle moments. The kids on the Grassy Playfield inside the Moon really stuck with me.

I feel like Galaxy 1 better captured the whole “sad spacey” feel compared to 2, even if 2’s really good.

I love when Mario Galaxy's music gets all reflective and despite the fact you're literally only ever in space the entire game it still feels like this impossible to reach infinity in every direction. Space is right there but you're still standing on something. If there was a level that had no matter in it besides you at all and it's just moving through the void to find the star it would be called one of the greatest game moments ever.

To be honest, this is still one of my all time favorite Mario video essays. Like, ever. God, Super Mario Galaxy is such a masterpiece...

My parents: Video game is not an art Me: *shows this game*

Looks like someone's listened to '90 Minutes of Relaxing Super Mario Galaxy Music'

3:58 “You know those times when you only know you’ve been smiling because you feel it slowly fade from your face?” That is gonna stick with me

every 6 month or so, i come back to that video and cry when he talks about the garden and i really don't understand why. this video is a fucking masterpiece as is that game.

"You know those times when you realize when you've been smiling, because you feel it slowly fade from your face?" Man, I wish I used this as my senior yearbook quote instead of freaking Winnie the Pooh.

I've always felt that Mario Galaxy was special. Even the fact that Rosalina refers to Peach as Mario's special one adds a smidge of emotion to the whole journey.

somehow im so connected to this game, remembering the shiny and smooth edges of the star, with the nubs on the end. I dont know why that memory was so significant, i mean the only memories i have of this game were watching my sister play as I tried using the unplugged controller. Its almost like I sub consciously chose to remember this piece of art.

I noticed this sadness too because I often think of the loneliness of the real universe myself. Just an endless, lonely, dark void. Christianity also talks about 'outer darkness', which supports this concept. That regardless of how joyful a place may be, once you step out, there's only loneliness and nothingness in all directions, and it just goes on and on forever. Yes we know the universe is a lonely place once you leave our bustling planet, but we've become so used to this idea that it no longer affects us. In contrast, SMG's worlds are so colorful, so ideal, so cheerful, that it much more sharply contrasts with the empty blue void of the game's universe. That all this color and cheerfulness sits in an endless sea of nothingness and loneliness. Having no one with you as you traverse through the game only helps instill the loneliness as well.

You sound like a man with some sort of philosophical degree and some serious nostalgia

Melancholy: the happiness of being sad.

This is still the best in the series. I wish they would make something like this again The atmosphere, the music, the dark themes, bowsers rise in power, etc. Just such a masterpiece

WHOO… WAHA… _UMPH_

Friend, I want you to know this made me tear up. This was one of the last games I played as a child, as both my parents became sick right after it's release, and died within a few years. I forgot how... Important this game is to me. I look at my general outlook on life and... Your description of this game, the message it sends is how I see the world we live in. I didn't have a way to put it into words until your video though. Thank you.

I just cried over a game I haven’t played since I was ten...

You know, this video is oddly comforting. Like whenever I'm sad, I can watch this. And somehow, I feel better. It's weird, but I like it. It feels good.

This game took loneliness on a another level.....

"It's not sadness. It's just the moment you realise happiness leaves you" I don't do this often, but if this video is just as good as all your others thats a sub from me

"Man, isn't Super Mario Galaxy just pure joy all the way through?" "Well yes, but actually no."

This was incredibly powerful. It’s honestly making me think about my perspective on life as a whole

What gets me most are the giant star shapes on the underside of the planet next to the comet observatory. It’s so ambiguous what exactly they are. Are they cities? Massive superstructures? Some kind of luminescent scar on the surface of the planet? Whatever they are, they’re impossibly big, and intentionally placed. It’s surreal to just stand there and think that there’s some entity within the universe of the game capable of placing structures of that scale.

6:10 There's a Japanese term for this very feeling! "Mono no aware", the pathos of things. It's the acknowledgment of the impermanence of all things in life, and a sense of sensitivity towards it.

The second game also has this at the end of one of the last levels. Right after a long time diving with a Koopa shell and fighting to get as many air bubbles as possible so you don't drown... you find a small garden. There's no music, just you, a Toad, and the sunset. I think this is the last regular level before the final fight against Bowser. It's like the calm before the storm.

This will probably get buried in the comments somewhere, but Mario Galaxy means so much to me because of its theme of impermanence, kind of like what the video grazes over. It really helps me accept my nihilistic views that life is ultimately meaningless. Whenever I feel depressed I come back and I play the music from this game, because it reminds me that ultimately, nothing is permanent, and in a way that is really beautiful. The depression I'm dealing with will pass. It takes the pressure off of me when I feel like everything is hopeless and I cant shake the stress, because ultimately, none of it will matter in the wider scheme of things, so I can accept that I have no obligation to do anything for the time being except to just take in the world around me. Whatever I'm going through, it will get better. There will be more pain and more joy to come, but for right now, I can just remember a happier time, when I used to play this game with my brother, and I still had that childlike, wonder-filled view on the world. I love this game

YA! HA! WAHOO

“Mario has gotta save Princess Peach, and he’s going to. Don’t worry. But if it takes a little while, that’s okay.” Thank you. So much for this one line. As someone who’s mental state is at a low, as it has been for a few years, this one line managed to make me tear up. It made me feel at peace, like I don’t have to endlessly push myself to be happy and that I don’t have to improve right away. It takes time. I don’t need to do that right now. It felt comfortable to hear this, so thank you. (Dear God I’m going on a tangent fjcndnd)

doctor: you have 11 minutes and 17 seconds to live me: i know what i’m gonna watch

Wow. Just wow. Your video was so well made... well done. I can't express enough how much you made me so happy today. I'm literally crying now over this. We need more people like you on RU-vid. You even made me want to pull out my old Wii and play again.

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woohoo! Weehee! Wee!

This game feels like an on-going reminder to humanity as a whole that it is okay to morn the loss of love, but to also understand that it doesn't end there.

"She is sleeping under the tree on the hill" Wow. That... Hit me way harder than I expected. I am not the sentimental type, especially when it comes to films or books or games. But that pure, inherently childish innocence, confronting such a depressing event made me tear up a bit. Truly beatiful.

"but I know she's not there! I knew all along that she wasn't out there in the sky! Because...... Because..... She's sleeping under the tree on the hill.... One of the saddest Mario stories I ever heard damn

Watching this 3 years later I feel the same about this game it’s literally the best Mario game ever. The music just makes everything a reality. I really want a Galaxy 3

"There are black people." - Alex YIIK

"Maybe Mario could use a power-up to fly outside the atmosphere of the ship. Maybe he could hop these small rocks and wonder out into the garden. But... why would he want to? We've got everything we need right here." Wow. Just... wow.

I can't stop watching this video. As a kid, I grew up with Super Mario Galaxy and played it almost every night before bed. I remember asking my mom and dad if I could stay up late and play it because I didn't want to put it down. I was so in love with Galaxy as a child and I never understood why till I watched this. He takes what I love about the game and put it into words that are so descriptive and attention grabbing, just as the game is. I don't think there is any way to truly describe the feeling of how I felt playing this game though. Maybe there is no need to put it into words though, maybe just the feeling of thinking of those times and those moments is enough.

I have watched this video multiple times now and I keep coming back to it. Absolutely love the way you have put this together! It feels like a small movie!

This has got to be one of the most emotional videos I have ever layed my upon. Thinking back to all the good times I had playing this game, I really miss those great and wonderful times. thanks for making this video, and thanks for bringing back the nostalgia I had, once before.

after my grandad died when i read the whole rosalina story it somehow reminded me of him and the music combined just made me cry. whenever i hear the song luma i only think of one person: my grandad who i allways visited, he couldnt speak do to some brain damage in the area that lets him pronounce words but he could still whistle so if i can remember we used to whistle together and he showed me through his heart how to be a kind and happy soul. and that is why i love super mario galaxy, because its not only a piece of my childhood but it reminds me of grandad even when i have moved on after 9 years of his passing, as long as i remember my childhood ill remember my grandad. i dont care if this comment gets likes or not, i just wanted to express my feelings about this game and its true beauty: a link to ones inner child, to ones past

the garden always felt very weirdly solemn and beautiful to me because it’s filled with some of the hardest levels. I’d sit there, cold knuckles tight on the nunchuk, a fever in my head, fighting through the Dreadnought Galaxy whose scale, danger and name made me fear it more than just the set of platforming challenges would otherwise. I’d finally escape the horrible ship laying at the end of the universe, and be thrown back to safety, thrown back to.... a garden. A quiet garden that shelters you from the horrors beyond, like the sandbar before a dropoff, like the edge of your blanket before the cold air, like the sunset before the night. Maybe I’m just waxing poetic, but the garden never felt quite warm to me, just a little cold

To me, Mario Galaxy’s quiet sadness was always a deep sadness gripped tightly by a loneliness unable to be rid of. You can try as you might to fly to every single planet there is, but there is not a planet in the world you could travel to where you’ll feel full. It is just lonely. Sitting there in the vastness of space. It really hurts, especially when you come to really connect with these characters through all their adventures.

thank u so much for this video, makes me happy and cry at the same time. I always come back here after some time

When someone says “it’s just a video game”, no it’s not. It’s a work of art.

"Haven't you played enough video games Jacob?" This fucking freaked me out when I heard it, I thought this man was directly speaking to me. Jesus Christ.

this is the first game is ever played on a console. safe to say this game changed my life, and when it got released on the Nintendo Switch i cried and ran to my mom to show her, and she cried with me. that's how much i love this game, how much it means to me. it's a masterpiece

Even after 3 years, I still come back to this video. Totally inspires me to create every time. I feel so bitter-sweetly happy after watching, and it's just so peaceful. Like everything is just...quiet for once. I always loved Super Mario Galaxy, and this perfectly articulates why in ways I never even thought of. Thank you.

“Mario has gotta save Princess Peach, and he’s going to. Don’t worry. But if it takes a little while, that’s okay.” As someone struggling with ADHD, this line stuck with me more than anything else. Part of ADHD is executive dysfunction; a trouble with changing tasks, or getting them started. So when I'm sitting at my desk for an hour, frustrated to tears because I can't. get. to. work. or failing thanks to careless mistakes my brain is too distracted to pay attention to, It's pretty easy to start feeling like I shouldn't be trying to do things at all. Yet that small idea saves me quite often - I am going to get the work done, no worries. But if it takes a little while to do it, that's okay. I guess it's my own idea of perseverance; one where I am allowed to get frustrated, take breaks, and give it more than one go. Fall seven times, stand up eight - but it's okay if you need to stay on the floor for a little bit to catch your breath again.

9:55 Him jumping on the goomba and collecting the coin lines up perfectly with te song.

One of your videos was going to make me cry eventually. I'm glad it was this one.

I got goosebumps multiple times watching this. From the music, to the scenery, to the nostalgia we all feel seeing all of it

I... don't quite know how to describe what I just felt. This is not a just a video, it's an experience. A tragic, fun, nostalgic experience. It lets you look back at when you were an overexcited kid playing the game level after level, the good times, the bad times and the surprising or fun times. I cried over this video and the memories of this game and I'm proud of it. The use of the music is amazing, I smiled so much, sometimes you forget how often you don't smile truly, I've enjoyed this video and it is one of the best ones I've seen. Everyone should take a small break every now and then, just thinking or even simply taking a few deep breaths while sitting or laying down. I absolutely felt that rant about not being able to play tbh, it's just like that sometime. Lastly, Rosalina's story had me tearing up, as a kid I never truly understood the meaning of all of it. But now I understand and feel the pain for Rosalina. The garden is a big surprise, very strange at first but it's the first time when playing that game I stopped and took time to think about it all. If you took the time to read all this, Thank you. Have a nice day and enjoy yourself. Take time to reflect on yourself. And most importantly, never forget what is important to you.

I didn't realize what sleeping under a tree meant until now, god I thought she had runaway and her mother was back at earth just waiting for her :/

I think that you did a great job touching on such a specific feeling many of us felt playing this game when we were younger. I think that your writing on this is great, with very intentional word count, and visuals that always support your narration’s points Great job

Super mario galaxy is such a contemplative game, I've never felt like this with any other videogame. The way all the scenaries are so beautiful and just waiting to have a story there. The lonely ones were my favorite, that shark cave, the space junk galaxy. I used to zoom in on the water or on the other textures and scenaries and just stay there, contemplating, listening to the soundtrack.

"Its okay, breathe" *ad*

Theres Mario 64: Lonely and dreamlike. Every room, every level looks like a liminal space. Almost unsettling. Definately a fun experience, no doubt, but the whole game has the weird, eerie vibe to it that I can't quite explain. Then on the opposite end of the spectrum, Mario Galaxy: Lighthearted, maximalist, and cinematic. Not afraid to zoom out and exhale, either. But then, theres the outlier. Mario Sunshine: "I'm a chuckster!"

The closest any Mario game has ever come to replicating the feeling Galaxy gave me constantly was the very very end of Mario Odyssey. When you've done everything, got all moons, finished the extra challenge, and you have a long contemplative climb up while Cappy ruminates on the fact that you've done it all, and you don't have to play anymore. ...Galaxy gave me that feeling *constantly* tho. Of "aw damn, this is a finite positive experience, I'm actively realizing it as it happens"

I'd honestly do anything to go back in time and play this game for the first time as a kid. The amount of happiness this game brought me is hard to put into words...I just want a mario galaxy 3 😢