Super Mario 3D All-Stars: How to get all stars in Super Mario Galaxy
Nintendo is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. by bringing three of the best games from the series to Nintendo Switch with Super Mario 3D All-Stars. While the games span three console generations, all of them share the basic mechanic of having Mario jump around collecting things so he can save Princess Peach. In Super Mario Galaxy, you'll be gathering 60 Stars so you can reach the center of the universe and confront Bowser, but there are 120 Stars that completionists will want to pursue.
Those stars are scattered on planets throughout numerous galaxies, so we've put together a guide to where to find each of them. We've divided it up by observatory and galaxy to make it easier to navigate.
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Terrace Observatory
Once you fly to the Comet Observatory, the Terrace will light up and be open for you to visit. All of its Power Stars have been stolen, and you'll need to travel to various galaxies to recover them and gain access to other areas and in turn more galaxies. The Terrace is found inside the green-roofed building to the left of Rosalina.
Good Egg Galaxy
Once you step onto the Terrace, a blue Luma will transform into a Pull Star. You'll see all the galaxies that can be visited from the Terrace and the number of stars required to access them but for now, your only choice is to travel to the Good Egg Galaxy. Here's how to find all the stars there.
Dino Piranha
You'll earn your first star by winning a boss fight against an angry fusion of a dinosaur and a piranha plant. Damaging him requires spinning near the bulb coming out of his tail, which causes it to slam into his head. Circle around him to avoid getting hit yourself. You'll need to hit him three times to win.
A Snack of Cosmic Proportions
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Find all the star pieces on the galaxy's seventh planet to create Pull Stars, which you can lock onto to float upwards. Keep doing this until you hit the Power Star, which will take you back home.
King Kaliente's Battle Fleet
Wait for King Kaliente to shoot coconuts at you, then spin to send them flying back at him. The boss will release the Power Star after you've hit him in the head three times. The first coconut will hit him the first time you spin it, but the next two will require some volleying.
Dino Piranha Speed Run
You'll have just four minutes to get to and defeat the Dino Piranha again. Run to the underside of the planet and climb the tower to reach the Launch Star. Talk to the Luma who will create a Sling Star so you can reach it. Get to the next planet and gather up five Star Chips. Three will be within sight when you land and two will be on the other side of the planed in the path of a Chain Chomp. Grab them all, then enter the launch star.
Kill the Piranha Plant closest to your landing spot to spawn a vine to get to the next planet. Run along the path avoiding Chain Chomps and pits. Hit a green bulb into the purple Piranha Plant at the end of the path to spawn a vine you can climb to another planet.
Climb to the top of the structure there and the Spin attack the glass to uncover a Launch Star. That will take you to the Dino Piranha, which you defeat the same way you did to get your first star.
Luigi on the Roof
You'll receive a letter from Luigi letting you know he found a Star but can't get back home. It contains a picture showing him on top of the house at the beginning of the Good Egg Galaxy. Choose the first Star, the Dino Piranha planet.
Walk to the bottom of the planet and you'll find a red Warp Pipe tucked between two trees. It will take you to an underground area where you can grab a ? coin and music notes then travel down another Warp Pipe to reach the house. Talk to Luigi and he'll give you the star.
Purple Coin Omelet
In all the Purple Coin Challenges you have to collect 100 purple coins. For this one you'll find 15 on the planet you land on and then break a crystal to access a Launch Star. Use it to grab 10 coins in the area and then reach another Launch Star for another 10 coins.
You're going to repeat this process launching in and out of space and onto planets until you've collected everything. After gathering your last 10 in space, you'll land on a planet right next to the Power Star.
Honeyhive Galaxy
After defeating King Kaliente, you'll return to the observatory and can set out to your second galaxy. This is also the first one where you'll be using one of the game's special costumes; Mario must don a bee suit. Here's the buzz on where to find all the Honeyhive stars.
Bee Mario Takes Flight
Use your bee suit on Planet Three to latch onto the queen bee's fur and find the five-star shards that are making her itchy. They'll make a Launch Star appear behind her. Take it to the top of a tree in Planet One, the central area of the Honeyhive Galaxy.
There you'll meet the Toad Brigade, a group of five Toads that will help you throughout the game. Talk to their captain and he'll give you a Power Star which will send you back to the Observatory.
Trouble on the Tower
Kill the Mandibugs on the observatory deck of Planet One, then ground pound a red switch to turn on a windmill. You can ride it to the observatory where you'll need to fight a stronger Mandibug. The star will be yours once you ground pound it twice.
Big Bad Bugaboom
You'll need to face off against the Bugaboom, an enormous Mandibug. You'll need to ground pound it when it charges you, but the boss makes things more complicated by flying around in the second phase of the fight. You can get above it by spinning around a flower, which will whip you into the air. Then ground pound again.
The Bugaboom will speed up and spew bombs onto the ground. Stay safe by clinging onto a cluster of honey, waiting for your moment to hop off and ground pound it again. Defeat the boss and get the Power Star.
Honeyhive Cosmic Mario Race
You'll race Shadow Mario for the Star, following a course marked by giant arrow signs. Don't worry if he gets ahead of you; you'll have moments to catch up.
Take the path and go right when it splits, heading towards the waterfall. Jump towards the tunnel, grab the ledge, and head for the tree stump. Slide down, do some platform jumps, and avoid the honey which will slow you down. If you don't miss any of the jumps, you should be able to get the Star before Shadow Mario.
Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom
Return to the Honeyhive Galaxy, put on your Bee Suit. Fly to the high ledge to the left of the waterfall where Luigi is stuck in a tree. Jump to him to get the Star.
The Honeyhive's Purple Coins
The objective here is to gather the 100 purple coins. They're a bit more scattered this time around, so here's where you can find them all.
- There will be 10 coins where you land.
- Look left of where you land. You'll spot a tiny ledge with a single purple coin on it. Grab it!
- Follow the path to the right and nab another where boulders are falling off.
- Stay on the path until you spot a grey boulder. You'll need to pound it to sprout a vine. Don't climb yet! Keep walking and grab a swing and use it to get a coin above you.
- Next, do some ledge climbing and wall jumps to pick up more coins until you get to where the boulders emerge. Some more coins are lining a pond.
- Jump to the waterfall and ground pound the gray blocks until another coin appears. Jump up to the ledge with the waterfall to grab two more coins near Warp Pipe.
- Collect more coins as you follow the ledges while desperately trying not to fall.
- Turn around when you hit the dead end, running back to the Warp Pipe. There are two coins just over the cliff ledge.
- Use the Pipe; it will take you to a cliff where you can climb the vine that you spawned from the boulder. When you land, head left and collect three more coins on the edge of a tree. Head back to the boulder and use the trampoline to propel yourself into another coin.
- Grab more coins around the vine and on the path around the giant tree. Take the brown ramp to collect five more coins on your way to a small stump with a switch you can ground pound to deploy a bridge.
- Cross it and flip another switch then climb the wall collectin four more coins.
- Jump to a coin on the left cliff edge, then fall onto the brick blocks below you. They each have a coin. Then fall to the tunnel and go down it to collect three more coins.
- Hop into a stump and collect five more as you slide.
- Use the Warp Pipe at the bottom. Go back to where the red switch was and the jump into the pool nearby to nab another coin.
- There are two more coins hidden behind a spire near the pond.
- Follow the ledge and you'll find three more coins, then cross the bridge that the red switch created and jump to the top of the wall.
- Gather the three coins around the pond and jump onto the cliff edge to get another one. Then jump to the opposite ledge where you'll find three more coins at the edge.
- Jump back onto the first edge and you'll see five more coins on a ledge below you.
- From the bottom left corner of the ledge, you can backflip to a higher ledge behind the waterfall to get your last five coins.
The Star will appear right where you started the challenge, so just fall down into the pool where the waterfall empties and jump down.
Loopdeloop Galaxy
This planet will teach you to ray surf, coasting along while trying to avoid flying off the edge of the track and dying. Try to grab the 1-Up near the start of the track for some protection. Your penguin coach will award you with a Power Star if you can finish the race in under 90 seconds.
Flipswitch Galaxy
You'll need to turn all blue flipswitches on the planet yellow to get the star. Start by walking over all the switches you have access to then jump on a platform to take you to more. Watch out for the electrical pulses that periodically come from a machine.
Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor
Use a Launch Star to get you to the second planet where you'll fight Megaleg. Climb up his legs and avoid Bullet Bills to defeat it. You'll need to get a Bill to lock on to you so it will destroy the grating around the Star. That will cause another gate and a bunch more Bills to spawn. This gate rotates, so you'll need to time things right to get a Bill to blow through it so you can get past and grab your prize.
Samantha Nelson writes about gaming and electronics for iMore, Windows Central and Android Central while also covering nerd culture for publications including IGN and Polygon. She loves superheroes, RPGs, cooking, and spending time outside with her dog. You can follow her on Twitter @samanthanelson1.