They're watching you...
All spoilers are UNMARKED per wiki policy. Read at your own risk! You Have Been Warned.- The black holes, much like in the first game, can be found in many places just waiting to suck either Mario or Luigi (with Yoshi in some stages) in if they fall off within range. The sounds
they produce don't help matters at all. - This game introduces the Cosmic Clones, shadowy dopplegangers of Mario or Luigi with glowing yellow eyes who mimic every movement and cause damage on contact, suddenly appearing from nowhere with a high-pitched cackle and vanishing with a pained scream when the conditions are met to defeat them (usually doing something to make the level's Star appear). They'll likely only seem like a minor nuisance the first time you come across them, but in more restrictive spaces and when they spawn in large numbers, it's easy for just one brush with them to lead into either being dogpiled or knocked to your doom. The game also features Clone Comets, which force Mario or Luigi to go through an entire level while being pursued by them, and which often feature a menacing theme with a startling intro that combines the underground theme with the original ground theme.
- Bear in mind it also isn't so much as hinted how or why these things exist, and the fact that there's an entire comet type that causes them to appear seems to imply they have no affiliation with Bowser and are simply created by some kind of mysterious force that naturally exists within the galaxies.
- Digga-Leg is essentially a smaller version of the first game's Megaleg boss, sharing several of the same menacing qualities such as its gas mask-like face. Compared to its big brother, it's far less imposing in size and can't crush Mario or Luigi instantly, but it still dwarfs the Mario bros., has red eyes and emits smoke from its "mask" on top of being far more mobile than Megaleg, being able to leap off-screen. It also has to be fought under the conditions of a Daredevil Comet.
- Mattermouths, new enemies to the series, appear as large and disembodied Dry Bones heads surrounded by dark purple aura that somehow consume matter itself, eating through parts of levels and leave gaping holes behind them. They can't be defeated or harmed, and the only thing Mario can do to them is stomp on them to make them eat in the opposite direction. The trails they leave behind have a similar appearance to Dark Matter in the first game, which combined with their names implies they're made from Dark Matter.
- Sorbetti, the boss of Freezy Flake Galaxy, a giant spiky grinning snowball creature with a freaky clownish face that produces almost nothing but shrill giggles. It's big enough that Mario actually walks around on its body before launching to the arena planet, and in the fight it constantly rolls after Mario or Luigi, only stopping when it hits him, which causes it to laugh before rolling at him from the opposite direction. After two hits, both it and the music will stop abruptly before starting up again at a faster pace as Sorbetti begins furiously rolling after the plumber, all the while sporting a terrifying grimace and making constant maniacal grunting sounds. It's difficult to outrun the thing even with the snow structures and trees which slow it down, and even then it mows through them relatively effortlessly.
- Speaking of Sorbetti, the planet leading up to it is quite a spooky area. It's engulfed in a planet-wide blizzard which very suddenly kicks in as it's approached, and it obscures much of Mario's surroundings, leaving the entire place floating in a misty white void one has to near-blindly jump into to find certain secrets. It also uses a pretty mysterious and lonely theme that provides a major contrast with the galaxy's usual upbeat tune and atmosphere.
- Speaking of Sorbetti, the planet leading up to it is quite a spooky area. It's engulfed in a planet-wide blizzard which very suddenly kicks in as it's approached, and it obscures much of Mario's surroundings, leaving the entire place floating in a misty white void one has to near-blindly jump into to find certain secrets. It also uses a pretty mysterious and lonely theme
- Haunty Halls Galaxy is a delightful little place which features pathways that move between ghostly portals, forcing Mario to hurry along rapidly-moving platforms fading in and out of existence, and the first mission has an entire area where Yoshi's Bulb Berry power-up is needed to traverse - get knocked off of Yoshi, and the entire level will vanish, leaving the plumber to fall to his doom in the endless abyss. It's worth mentioning that the level also features the aforementioned Mattermouths, as well as ghostly Octoombas that are bigger than Mario or Luigi.
- The game's main ghost-themed galaxies continue to make use of the ominous background featuring ghostly faces floating towards a light used in much of Super Mario Galaxy's, but now they also include a very menacing remix of Super Mario World's already creepy Ghost House theme, which sounds even more oppressive with the higher quality instruments than it did on the SNES.
- There's also the giant Boo and its lackeys which will suddenly appear behind Mario or Luigi and give chase. Thankfully, they don't appear in the Prankster Comet mission... because the comet mission for this galaxy is a Clone Comet, and Cosmic Clones will give chase throughout the entire level instead. Have fun!
- The game's main ghost-themed galaxies continue to make use of the ominous background featuring ghostly faces floating towards a light used in much of Super Mario Galaxy's, but now they also include a very menacing remix
- The slide segment of Slipsand Galaxy features Rhomps, giant rolling stone enemies which roll towards Mario from behind and need to be avoided. They're very comparable to Spindels from 64, except unlike them and their toothy grin, Rhomps only have an emotionless, unchanging smiley face carved into them, something which presents a bit of an unnerving contrast with the fact they instantly flatten and kill Mario or Luigi on contact.
- Shiverburn Galaxy appears to take place in some kind of canyon, as the level is surrounded by two enormous rock structures that tower over it. If you change the camera to first-person mode and look toward the cliffs above you, you can see three shadowy alien figures (pictured above), watching you. No matter where you are in the galaxy, they will always be there, and they will always be watching. Not once is their existence so much as hinted to in the game itself, and even to this day, absolutely no official reference has ever been made to the figures or their presence. The eerily tranquil music used for the galaxy really doesn't help matters either. The skybox implies that the cliff background is very far away, suggesting that these figures are somewhere between the size of a large hill to mountain-sized.
- Flash Black Galaxy is a nyctophobe's worst nightmare - a near pitch-black stage which is only briefly illuminated by flashes of light that occur in time with beats in the music, which is it's a same ominous, panicky remix of the underground theme for some previous beat-based levels, but this beat in that level is a bit quiet. The level itself takes Mario or Luigi through a tall vertical house area and a maze-like series of rocky platforms above a gigantic dark pit, with the background appearing to be a dark, possibly vast nighttime forest with the silhouette of a large broken windmill-like structure looming in the distance.
- If you fail too many times in a level, a Cosmic variant of Rosalina called the Cosmic Spirit will appear. She asks if you need any help getting the Power Star, and if you say yes, the Cosmic Spirit will turn into a cosmic ball and control Mario or Luigi's brain, as you can see them reacting to the control. You can even see the wisp of the Cosmic Spirit flying around Mario's head during the Cosmic guide, and if you listen closely, you can hear the sound effects of the Spirit.
- Boss Blitz Galaxy, a Boss Rush against five of the first game's bosses, features a quiet but truly urgent-sounding track that lends the stage a frighteningly lonely atmosphere and gives the periods before each fight an incredibly prominent sense of danger. None of this is helped by the galaxy's background, a near pitch-black expanse of space lit up only by one giant distant white star that stands in sharp contrast to both games' largely colorful takes on cosmic backdrops, or the fact that the stage includes the likes of Bouldergeist, a boss who already provides the image for the first game's Nightmare Fuel page.
- Even worse? You have to go through it again under the conditions of a Speedy Comet, making the music's urgent feel even more apparent than before. Good luck!
