Nintendo immediately announced that the Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 launching tomorrow as a remastered collection had split the gaming community into two equal factions. The announcement was carried simply with a “Tomorrow = launch. 🚀” and included the pre-order link, and the replies to this announcement tell a much more complicated story about player expectations, nostalgia, and ongoing debates that plague game pricing.
So, what does this release entail? Then again, according to Nintendo’s announcement, the super popular title tales have finally been taken away from the clutches of the Wii era: From what it seems, these are two games dressed as a single package – Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 – to be remastered for the Nintendo Switch as well as Switch 2 with additional big visual upgrades supporting native 4K resolution and HDR on Switch 2, and the bunch of smaller features like assist mode, amiibo support, and mouse support for player two. Ahem, this is where things will get a little tricky: Such a premium experience for $70 feels like a rip-off, and the crowd flat out refuses to buy into it.
Commenters went on an all-night rant on Nintendo’s Twitter account ranging from disbelief to pure and unmitigated rage. The Twitter user named Osmar Graner made a genuine declaration of joy in sharing, “I can’t wait!!!! My first time playing the games ❤️,” representing the batch of gamers who really never experienced these classics when they were originally released on the Wii. Meanwhile, James Fiero (SoftPlatypus23) came to the defense of his purchase with a rationale: “This game was rebuilt for the Switch 2 to display up to 4K resolution and better performance and quality. And finally, this was one of my favorite games of all time, so you better believe I’m going to play these games one more time.”
Any goodwill soon got trampled upon through pricing controversies. The people called Nintendo out, saying things along the lines of “Not for $70 #RetroForever” (User: CollarSolid) and, “Why are we paying $70 for Wii ROMs?” (User: Luffygearmonger). A stare-down price apparently is the major sore spot for many players who feel like charging full price for a modern game on remastered classics is just way too much.
The debate over whether this is a lazy port or a full-blown remaster grabbed increasing attention at one point. Toadstar0 entered the fray and corrected another user by saying, “Unchanged is incorrect, this is definitely a full-blown remaster,” later adding, “Definitely not a lazy port. They redid a handful of textures, UI elements, added assist mode, amiibo support, 4k and HDR support, and even mouse control support for player 2.” Yet even he admitted, “But yeah quite expensive,” showing that even those who knew the work put into the remake question the value proposition.
Some of the players just tried to see things rationally. User “awritingopinion” responded: “That’s okay. I still have my Wii, and can buy it from eBay at $40. For both. And the physical copies too. But ya’ll have fun.” And it opens an interesting conspiracy regarding modern game preservation: A lot of the players still have access to the original hardware and games, thus making the value calculation for remasters particularly tricky.
As most internet conversations, it took a couple of weird turns. “Nintendo switch 2 achievements please,” one demanded, to which another responded, “maybe you guys should search something called Emulation, it is legal!!” showing the probably most varied array of priorities and solutions for the players. And the conversation got dipped into some amount of console warfare while knocking other platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
Quite fascinating here is how this release sits right in the middle of the debate surrounding game preservation, pricing models, and what contemporary players view as “value.” Some seem ready to throw their cash at premium convenience of upgraded classics; others think these companies are just ripping off nostalgia.
Then there is the icing on top, the timing: With many players feeling the pinch of inflation and rising costs for just about everything, $70 for something many either own already or can get through older hardware opens up serious questions about accessibility and fair pricing. Anyway, pre-orders are definitely happening, and some users are even complaining about delayed delivery from retailers like Amazon.
The whole Super Mario Galaxy collection represents the good and bad aspects of modern gaming. With this, we finally have those well-loved classics nurtured under outright improvements and new features. We still simultaneously observe our ongoing tension between the players and corporate pricing schemes. Whether you’re stoked to relive the adventures through space or just plain frustrated by the asking price, one thing’s for sure: Nintendo really knows how to get the party started, and despite those poor online discussions, tomorrow’s launch will be unable to dodge another commercial victory.
The real test, however, needs to be once the players themselves actually take hold of these games: do they feel like the experience justifies their investment? Depending on which platform they play on, the Switch 2 version, bringing with it greatly enhanced visuals, might very well sway that answer quite a bit. For now, however, the Mario hype train is on full throttle, with many gamers already jumping aboard, price or no price.
