Galaxy’s spirit of wild invention could finish there and you would hardly feel short-changed. The first few galaxies you visit lay out the game’s extraordinary ideas so cogently, develop them with such easy confidence, that you can see every consequence of these basic principles being stretched out for the rest of the game with the thorough professionalism Nintendo has become known for. But Mario games didn’t used to be like that; Nintendo didn’t used to do that. And Galaxy doesn’t go that way.

The ideas, jokes, twists, surprises, new games, rules and interactions simply never stop coming. In fact, they intensify into a ceaseless torrent of absurd details and insane conceptual leaps. ‘Matter-splatter’ stages reduce your grip on reality to shifting spotlights of solid matter in an ocean of void. Gravity traps and switches turn the most basic 2D and 3D Galaxy stages into head-spinning puzzles. Unexpected power-ups appear, from the ancient fire-flower to a skating ice-Mario and the hilariously slapstick spring. Like the well-publicized bee and boo suits, these are disposable toys rather than deep new mechanics in their own right, but frankly, after FLUDD, a concentration on Mario’s native abilities is welcome.

As hard as it can be to believe, it’s in its second half that Galaxy takes flight and shoots for the stars. Super Mario Sunshine lost sight of it, partly, but Mario has always been about creating a space where games can leave the real world behind, and explore their limitless potential for realizing the surreal and impossible. That has never been more true than it is of Super Mario Galaxy. It’s an overused phrase, but if this isn’t a riot of the imagination, then nothing is.

Structurally, it’s a little more conventional – 120 stars, split into six areas comprising several galaxies each, with the ‘final’ boss coming halfway through, is an entirely familiar arrangement. So is the now-unfashionable hub world, a space-faring observatory belonging to the enigmatic Princess Rosalina and her impossibly cute tribe of star-people, the Lumas. When you discover that major galaxies consist of only three star stages each, and that many of these are spun out with hidden stars, Luigi rescues and trickster comets, you begin to fear that Galaxy’s content is spread a little thin.

The reverse is true. Every inch of Galaxy’s galaxies is so dense, so rich, that a little recycling has to be excused. After all, it’s what has afforded Nintendo’s designers time to explore a vast number of one-off ideas in special galaxies scattered all around the game. These range from delightful novelties exploring diverse control systems – ray-surfing and ball-balancing and more – to focused platforming challenges of breathtaking intensity and scale, like the unforgettable Buoy Base Tower.

That’s before you even step beyond the design to consider the impeccable audiovisual polish. Excepting one or two drab areas, Galaxy is an extremely beautiful game; vivid colors edged in starlight, every surface finished with a candied sheen you can almost taste. Its soundtrack is simply one of the all-time greats, mixing electro breakdowns of Mario tunes past with thrilling, lyrical orchestral pieces and outlandish effects.

It’s all too much to take in; it’s more than you thought possible. Since the end of the N64 era, as Nintendo has explored new pastures and methodically tended old ones, it’s been easy to forget the times when every major release from the company felt like this. It’s a bravura piece of design that pulls off stunts no one else has even thought of, and makes it look easy. But its greatest surprise is a very simple one.

Super Mario Galaxy is a platform game, pure and simple. More so than Mario 64 is; more so than any truly 3D videogame ever made. For all its countless diversions and bizarre ideas, it keeps coming back to running, bouncing, scaling, exploring, teetering on the brink, taking your heart in your mouth and jumping off the edge of the world. For others, space is the final frontier, the furthest you can go; for Mario, it’s just like coming home.

Verdict: 10 / 10