Having just purchased a Nintendo 3DS, I’ve opted to catch up on the missing Mario games (After playing Zelda!) Since my history with the Italian plumber truly began way back with the original Mario Bros. (Not Super!) it’s only fitting I dedicate myself to these titles.
However, my expertise really lies in those older titles. Once Super Mario Sunshine came out, my interest waned but in the last 6 or 7 years, there have been some stellar Mario titles. I do dedicate myself to a new Mario whenever possible and today I “finished” Super Mario 3D Land. Four Stars means I got almost everything. Re-doing EVERY level with Luigi and getting gold flags on each…no thanks. Four stars is enough. In light of this, I wanted to see how far I really got in those titles from the last half a decade plus. Turns out there are a number of games and I’ve “completed” all of them to some extent. Let’s see! First – The titles! Three for the Wii, Two for both the Wii U and the 3DS.
2007 – Super Mario Galaxy (9.7)
2009 – New Super Mario Bros. Wii (8.9)
2010 – Super Mario Galaxy 2 (10)
2011 – Super Mario 3D Land (9.5)
2012 – New Super Mario Bros. 2 (8.5)
2012 – New Super Mario Bros. U (9.1)
2013 – Super Mario 3D World (9.6)
2017 – Super Mario Odyssey (10)
2023 – Super Mario Bros. Wonder (9/10)
The numbers that follow are IGN’s scores for each game. It’s evident Mario has not lost his touch. Anyway, let’s go title by title to see how much I’ve truly completed. Of course, it goes without saying I beat every game. Beyond that, however, varies by title.
Gold Crowns on all levels – 120 stars (out of 121)
After New Super Mario Bros. on the NDS, a game which I’m fairly certain I 100%ed but have since lost my save, Galaxy was part of the new phase of Mario. It was new, different and not entirely reliant on stupid motion controls. The game was brilliant, with some unique and curious spins on both the Mario world and physics. I loved it and my goal of getting everything was set. Seeing as how it was 8 years ago, I don’t remember specifics, but I do know that one of those final stages was a pain in the ass and getting that last star was a glorious achievement.
Looking back now, i see it was the first game that asked you to beat the entire game again using Luigi in order to unlock one final galaxy for one final star. While you don’t need to get everyone on those levels (to my knowledge), it doesn’t matter. That’s a lot of work for one final stage. Maybe when I was 13 I would’ve done that. Not now.
1 star out of 5
Missing:
Two star coins on Worlds 2 & 3
Four star coins on World 5
11 on World 8 (didn’t even play 8-7)
18 on World 9 (only beat (+ 3 coins) two levels)
I don’t recall when I stopped playing this. I know that World 9 got pretty damn hard! One star is pretty lame but I don’t see myself going back to this one any time soon.
Save-file requirements & my progress
Beat the game
- Beat every normal level
- Collect all 207 star coins in the first 8 worlds.
- Collect all 24 star coins in world 9.
- Beat every level, find every secret goal and use all of the warp cannons.
One Silver Crown (All 120 Normal Stars)(144/242 Stars)
Silver crowns on all levels (Worlds 1-6 plus World S)(120 Stars)
All Comet Medals
Gold crowns on some levels (= stars + green stars)
No Grandmaster Galaxy in World S
I felt SMG2 was superior to SMG. In fact, at the time, I claimed it was the 3rd-best Mario game ever! It was just that good, and IGN’s perfect 10 is something I fully agree with. After busting my ass to collect all 120 stars (AGAIN!), it was a shock to find out there were 120 more! I collected a few dozen of those but then stopped. Just looking at this stirs my completionist OCD. Did I stop because those green stars were too hard? Or did I just get burnout? I think it’s the latter. I suppose I could go back and try to get some. :)
4 Stars out of 5
I just finished this and felt pretty good about it. The game, while heralded as spectacular, was good. The first half was just a joke though. It was so easy, and as you can see from these stats, I’m a good player, but NOT a great player! Of those 392 lives lost, I easily lost 100 on three levels at the end of my journey. Yup. 100 lives. Three levels.
The second half of the game was great though, with some rigorously-challenging goals and the like. My four stars means I got all 293 star coins (plus some extras) by getting every star coin on every level in worlds 1-8 and Special worlds 1-8, then defeated Bowser again. Why not a fifth star? Yup, gotta beat every stage again as Luigi and get all golden flags. I don’t know which stages I got gold flags on (not without playing each stage and getting to the end). Redo the entire game again? Nope. I’m good. Four stars is solid!
Save-file requirements & my progress
Defeat Bowser in World 8’s second Castle
Clear all stages in the first 8 Worlds
Defeat Bowser again after Special World 8
Obtain all 285 Star Medals
- Clear all stages with Mario and Luigi + Golden Flagpole on all
After getting and beating SM3DL, I didn’t wait long to pick up New Super Mario Bros. 2. The reviews claimed it wasn’t as good as 3D Land but I much prefer the side-scrolling Mario games to the 3D ones. This title may have been a bit gimmicky and the Star World was a breeze compared to older titles, but I loved it all. It took me just over a week to burn through the entire lot, collecting all star coins, moon coins and getting max lives. It was fun but not overly challenging and it’s only my second true 100% in a recent Mario title.
Save-file requirements & my progress (won’t cross these out as I got them all!)
- Beat World 6-Castle
- Obtain every Star Coin
- Obtain all of World Star’s Moon Coins
- Complete every level
- Get the highest possible number of lives
While not final chronologically, this is the last game I played through and now I must wait for another Mario to dedicate myself to.
5 stars out of 5
This is the only true 100% game (now the second). All five stars means I beat every level with every star coin including all the Superstar Road stages (plus the final one) as well as catching Nabbit. I wrote about the final steps in this process (both here and here). There’s not much else to comment on. This was a fun, solid challenge that wasn’t bogged down in stupid requirements.
Save-file requirements & my progress
Beat Bowser in story mode
Unlock and beat every normal level
Get every star coin (normal levels)
All star coins on Superstar Road
Catch 7 Nabbits + all star coins on Superstar Road-9
2 stars out of 5
305 Stars out of 380
76 Stamps (out of 80)
I got every star, stamp and gold flag on worlds 1-6, Castle, Bowser and Star.
However, in World Mushroom, I’m missing two flags, five stars and a bunch in world Mushroom-Box (whatever).
World Flower is a mess, missing a bunch and never having beaten a few. World Flower-12 is the boss rush level and it’s not hard, I just haven’t ever managed to do it quickly enough. Timed stages are annoying. Due to this, I never saw World Crown. Oh well.
Stamps are a joke. I really have 76 out of 80. But then five more apparently come from beating every level with every character. Ahahaha. No.
Save-file star requirements & my progress…
Beat the final level in World 8
Collect all Green Stars in Worlds 1-8
- Collect all Stamps in Worlds 1-9 (there are none in 10-11)
- Get all Golden Flags in Worlds 1-11
- Beat worlds 1-11 with all characters for the final Stamps
As Odyssey was so vast, it changed how things were tallied and there’s no star notification or select-screen comprehensive list. Here’s my final numbers when I simply lost interest. Fantastic game – but more collectibles than I cared to pursue.
- 696 stars out of 880
- 48 out of 52 captures
- 28 out of 43 souvenirs
- 79 out of 82 songs
1 badge out of 6
Missing
Two final stages
Collect all stands
On every level in the game, including five special-world levels, I got every seed, pink coin and flagpole. Doing this unlocks one more level and getting everying on that stage unlocks one more.
I have completed neither of those final stages and do not intend to do so ever. Four of the game’s six badges rely on these two stages alone: all wonder seeds, pink coins and flagpoles. The final badge is only available after beating this stage as well.
Due to this, I miss out on four badges. It’s quite lame, IMO, and undermines what those badges/stars even represent. Thus, I solely have the badge for completing the game and that’s it. I sit at 96 of the 144 standees as well, and due to the random nature of regular pulls, the remaining 48 would cost 30 pink coins each: tallying a whopping 1,440 coins. All for an item that I can only use in multiplayer – which I can’t use because I don’t pay for the service.
All in all, a fun Mario game and one I completed in two weeks. While I rarely get 100%, I’m a bit miffed how it all played out. There were certainly some good levels, but others I was happy to complete with the age-old sentiment, “Good! Now I never have to play that stage again!”
Beat the game
- Collect all wonder seeds
- Collect all pink coins
- Hit the top of the flagpole on every stage
- Collect all badges
- Collect all standees
I realize I said that I gave up. Those damn chicken illuminati challenges just annoyed me. Well, the first one most of all. But it kept tugging at me to return – I knew I could do it!!! 
