How The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Pays Tribute to the Last Mario Game You Would Expect

April 5, 2026, 7:30pm

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is full of Easter eggs from throughout the Mario franchise, including one scene that pays tribute to a game you would never expect. The Super Mario Bros. Movie set the tone for how Nintendo’s video game movie series would work, with it taking fairly simplistic Mario stories and packing them full of layers of fan service. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie takes things even further, referencing even more obscure pieces of Mario media than its predecessor.

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This time, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie takes Mario and the core cast of characters out of the Mushroom Kingdom and into space. As they chase after Bowser Jr., they run into all kinds of Nintendo characters, such as Wart, Fox McCloud, the Pikmin, ROB, and more. While these interactions are all fun, one of the film’s best moments of fan service actually has to do with Bowser Jr.

Bowser Jr.’s Mario & Peach Trap Is An Homage To Super Mario Maker

Later in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Mario and Peach are trapped by Bowser Jr., with the duo having to use their platforming skills to escape. Bowser Jr. is able to make traps and platforming challenges appear at will, with the heroes dodging spikes, fire, and more. While the action-packed scene is a ton of fun in its own right, there is an extra layer of fun for fans of Mario‘s 2D games.

While Bowser Jr. is placing traps, the film shows that he is utilizing a level-making platform that looks shockingly similar to the gameplay of Super Mario Maker. The first Super Mario Maker game was released on the Wii U in 2015, with a 3DS version being released in 2016 and a sequel titled Super Mario Maker 2 coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019. In these games, players are given access to all kinds of 2D Mario assets, allowing them to create their own levels and upload them online for other players to enjoy.

Much like the user interface in the Super Mario Maker video game, Bowser Jr. is able to drag and drop items on a grid before they pop onto the actual level. On top of that, the screen that is shown when Jr. is designing the levels shows a mix of different art styles from throughout Mario‘s history, with it using the 8-bit character sprites from Super Mario Bros., and the block and item designs from Super Mario World.

Although the sequence goes by fast, it is easily the movie series’s biggest and best reference to the Wii U’s iconic Mario game. Super Mario Maker was a hit with Mario fans and with an audience beyond that, which is why it is deserving of a sequence as fun as the Mario and Peach escape scene.

This Mario Galaxy Gag Proves That Mario Maker Is The Future Of 2D Mario

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie references basically every game from Mario‘s history, but this specific sequence cements a truth about Super Mario Maker that many fans are coming to realize. The Super Mario series started out as a 2D platformer, and while Mario has expanded into a variety of other genres, this is still what he’s most associated with. Even after Mario had made the jump to 3D platforming on the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube, fans missed 2D Mario so much that it returned on the Nintendo DS with New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. was received well at first, but things quickly went downhill. Subsequent entries like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U were received poorly, with some fans criticizing the series for being too bland. Nintendo knew that it had to revitalize 2D Mario after tainting the brand, so it took a big swing with Super Mario Maker. The game brought back every 2D Mario aesthetic and moved away from the bland label by allowing users to create literally whatever they want.

Super Mario Maker seemed like the evolution of 2D Mario, as fans were creating new levels at a speed that Nintendo could ever match. So, Nintendo evolved by creating a new iteration of 2D Mario in the form of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. This game was a great next step for 2D Mario. However, it was barely referenced in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, showing that it doesn’t have the cultural staying power of Super Mario Maker. The level-creating series is iconic, as proven by its influence on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

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