The Super Mario Galaxy Movie may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but I’ll give it one thing: It will leave you hungry to play some video games. Illumination’s animated sequel is less a coherent film and more a colorful museum cataloging Nintendo history. Whether you’re an adult who has been playing the series for decades or a kid learning about the series’ origins through the silver screen, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is best approached as a gateway to Nintendo’s games.
If you’ve just watched the movie and are eager to trace its references back to their source, these five classics are your best starting point. Each one contains all the visual splendor of the movie, but in delightful digital playgrounds. It’s safer (and less annoying) to run around there instead of in your local movie theater.
1
Super Mario Galaxy
OK, you probably didn’t need me to tell you this. Naturally, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie pulls a lot of inspiration from Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel. If you just enjoyed seeing Mario and the gang on an interstellar adventure, the Nintendo Wii game and its excellent sequel capture that same spirit. The references go far beyond that central motif, though. (Galaxy wasn’t even the first game to take Mario to outer space!) Galaxy was the game that introduced Rosalina, who is voiced by Brie Larson in the film, to the Mario universe. Rosalina has since become a mainstay character in the series, so the Galaxy games are a great way to learn more about the princess. Plenty of other movie Easter eggs will make a lot more sense once you play the games, so make sure to dig into their Nintendo Switch rereleases, which were released as a two-pack remaster back in October.
2
Super Mario Bros. 2
If you’re a younger viewer, there were probably a few characters in the film that you’ve never seen before. For instance, who the heck are Wart and Mouser? To get that answer, you’ll have to jump into Super Mario Bros. 2, one of the series’ most unusual mainline games. Long story short: Nintendo’s first stab at a Super Mario Bros. sequel was deemed too hard for Western audiences, so the company transformed a different game, Doki Doki Panic, into a Mario follow-up. As strange as that decision was, it established the idea that a Mario game doesn’t have to be one specific thing. The Mario universe is creatively malleable, and you can see that philosophy on display in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as it hops around disparate set pieces. Plus, you’ll get to see the first appearance of Birdo in Super Mario Bros. 2, and everyone loves Birdo.
3
Super Mario Sunshine
The most polarizing game in the series’ 3D canon, Super Mario Sunshine plays a surprisingly big part in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. That’s thanks to the movie’s villain, the mischievous Bowser Jr., who made his first appearance in the GameCube platformer. But I’d also argue that Super Mario Sunshine paved the way for the film adaptations in a more fundamental way: It was the first Mario platformer to really go all in on narrative and characterization, something that was previously only done in the series’ RPG spinoffs. There’s a coherent story with a good bit of mystery behind it! Characters talk in full sentences! Bowser Jr. has actual motivations as a bad guy! Sunshine showed that it was possible to tell a story between platforming set pieces, something that the movies have tried to run with. (Though Sunshine’s story is more substantial than anything we’ve gotten in the films so far.)
4
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Of all the new characters that appear in the film, Yoshi is the biggest addition to the cast. Mario’s dino pal has gone from being a trusty mount to a character all his own, so it was only right for him to get his moment on the big screen. You can play as Yoshi in more games than I can count, but his best (and most movie-relevant) moment is in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. That’s the game where he got elevated from sidekick to starring role, showing that the Mushroom Kingdom is bigger than Mario. Without that success story, who knows if we would have seen so many other side-characters get their shine in later games?
5
Star Fox 64
Mario isn’t the only Nintendo franchise featured in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Star Fox also gets some surprising representation, as Glen Powell voices Fox McCloud. It’s a weird inclusion for younger audiences considering that the most recent Star Fox game is technically Star Fox 2, a canceled Super NES game that was only released to the public in 2017. While you wait for the series’ rumored new game, the best (or at least easiest) way to learn about the character is through Star Fox 64, which is available on Nintendo Switch Online. It’s a fantastic on-rails space shooter, but also just a great example of how much mileage Nintendo gets out of great character design. The most iconic moments (“Do a barrel roll!”) happen in codec calls in the corner of the screen. That’s why Nintendo’s franchises are so ripe for adaptation, even if The Super Mario Galaxy Movie isn’t exactly high art.
