The player character is controlled using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and completes missions, fights bosses, and reaches certain areas to collect Power Stars.

The concept of spherical platforms originated from Super Mario 128, a GameCube tech demo shown at Nintendo Space World in 2000.

The game was directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi and soundtrack was composed by Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo, using a symphony orchestra for the first time in the series.

[14] Early in the game, the player learns a new ability known as the "Spin" technique, which has appeared in varying forms throughout the Super Mario franchise.

Other Wii Remote functions are available for smaller quests, such as surfing aboard a manta ray or balancing atop a large ball and rolling it through an obstacle course.

Awakening on a small planet, Mario is introduced to Rosalina, a guardian of the cosmos and caretaker of the Luma and his brethren, who resides in a starship called the Comet Observatory.

Mario defeats Bowser and frees Peach, but one of the galaxy's planets collapses on itself, becoming a supermassive black hole that begins consuming the entire universe.

[22] To balance out the difficulty, Koizumi suggested that Mario's health meter should have a maximum capacity of three instead of eight, but at the same time more 1-Up Mushrooms and checkpoints would be placed in the game.

Retrospectively, Iwata added that decreasing the health meter to three from eight is "representative of the things that players do not notice that actually changes the gameplay dramatically".

[22] With the concept of gravity and spherical platforms being the central elements of gameplay, the development team drafted several ideas on how to implement them into the game.

[8] Futoshi Shirai, the game's level designer, stated that unlike Hayashida and Shimizu, he had a positive impression of the new gameplay elements.

Shirai said that the benefit of working with a spherical-shaped world was that they could design and discover new things, with Kenta Motokura, the game's artist, similarly stating that the player would be continuously enjoying their adventure by travelling to new planets.

[22] Iwata stated that when the first Super Mario game was released, there used to be "many more" people gathering around the television who would enjoy watching the gameplay experience.

[33] Latin American percussion instruments had already been featured in previous Super Mario installments, such as steelpans, bongo drums, and congas.

[34] For Super Mario Galaxy's theme, Yokota used Latin American instruments and a synthesiser to replicate the sounds featured in old science fiction films.

Kawamura decided to restrict Wii Remote sound effects to those triggered by Mario's actions, such as hitting an enemy, feeling that it better immersed the player.

Chris Scullion of the Official Nintendo Magazine asserted that the graphics pushed the Wii to its full potential, and stated that its visual effects and large playing areas would constantly astound the player.

[44] Computer and Video Games's Andrew Robinson opined that Nintendo favored gameplay over graphics, but thought Super Mario Galaxy "got both perfect".

[45] Margaret Robertson of Eurogamer called the visuals an "explosion of inventiveness", stating that the game's detail is only matched by its mission design ingenuity.

[50] Patrick Shaw from GamePro opined that the game takes full advantage of the Wii's capabilities, both in terms of presentation and control schemes.

[52] Alex Navarro of GameSpot commended the colourful and vibrant level details, animations and character designs, saying that "there simply isn't a better-looking Wii game available".

[53] Bryn Williams of GameSpy asserted that the game had the best visuals on the Wii, saying that the graphics "are out of this world" and that its wide range of colours produces "better-than-expected" texturing.

A reviewer from Famitsu commented on the game's tempo, believing it was "abnormally good" and that the different variations in level design and difficulty gradually "builds things up".

[49] A reviewer from Edge praised the game's use of the Wii Remote, stating the control schemes were more subtle and persuasive as opposed to the "vigorous literalism" of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

[44] Robinson similarly commended the gravity, saying that the different uses of the game's gravitational pulls allows the scale to grow to "genuinely draw-dropping proportions".

[51] Similarly, Hudak thought that the game was a reincarnation of Super Mario 64, whilst stating that the variety of gameplay had a "signature Miyamoto style".

[52] Navarro said that the level designs were "top flight in every regard" and also praised the game's introduction of suits, adding that they brought a "great dimension" to gameplay.

[53] Williams thought the game featured the best sound on the Wii, stating that original soundtrack would "go down in history" as Nintendo's best first-party effort.

[76] Super Mario Galaxy received Game of the Year 2007 awards from IGN,[61] GameSpot,[60] Nintendo Power,[62] Kotaku,[63] and Yahoo!

[86] Guinness World Records ranked Super Mario Galaxy 29th in their list of top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy.