The Quiet Sadness of Mario Galaxy

“Where are the people?” resumed the little prince at last. “It’s a little lonely in the desert…” “It is lonely when you’re among people, too,” said the snake.

Visual Media used: Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Odyssey, The Little Prince (2015)

Music used: Various tracks from Super Mario Galaxy, Excerpts from AJ DiSpirito’s Mario Galaxy Medley
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Script available for accessibility upon request

[kristiandamaso]

"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

[elid]

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

[fabi.]

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

[deltafrost]

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.

[Annihilasian]

"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.

[commediaDollArte]

"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.

[java]

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

[akuwaa_]

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

-Winnie the Pooh

[kaelanmarriner]

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

[Midnight-Starfish]

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

[DesignFrameCaseStudies]

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.

[nothinghere]

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?😆

[weirdchamp]

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

[delsinrowe]

”Quiet Sadness”

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

[fool]

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


W o a h

[epicgamner]

videogames are really art and more people should recognize this

[Skrighk]

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.

[starkeeper_youtube]

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.

[robertcardosodefreitas]

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.

[thatsleepybirb]

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