Given the epic scope of the game and it being the first mainline Mario game to have a live orchestra backing its score, you can bet Galaxy's soundtrack is truly out of this world.
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- Bowser's battle theme
, and the final boss. Substantially more bombastic than previous incarnations, complete with a choir in the background that plays when you have Bowser vulnerable. - Gusty Garden Galaxy carries an air of adventure and excitement in its melodies and instruments, even as you begin your journey to save Peach and the galaxy from Bowser's tyranny. It proved to be so good, portions of its theme were incorporated as the theme of the entire Super Mario Galaxy series, and it's made appearances in several games since, just like the Super Mario Bros. 3 Athletic theme (which made an appearance in this game in a few side levels). How good is it? It's in contention for best song in the entire Mario series! Consider how many great songs the Mario Series has produced, and then consider how good this one has to be that a good chunk of fans think this is better than all of them! The song is so iconic that part of it was played during the credits to the Super Mario Bros. Movie - audiences around the world cheered when they heard it.
- The credits music drips with much relief and celebration over a successful journey to save Peach and the galaxy from Bowser's tyranny, topped off by a triumphant reprise of the game's main theme.
- In the same vein as the Gusty Garden Galaxy, the theme for the Good Egg Galaxy makes one feel like they're just beginning an epic journey.
- To the Gateway (Gateway Galaxy), which is the music you hear on your first spherical world - it's like a space lullaby. Simply beautiful.
- Comet in Orbit - feeling under pressure from that time limit or life bar? Don't worry, this music is guaranteed to make you sweat much, MUCH more.
- Toy Time Galaxy. Anyone who has heard the main Mario theme will recognise this instantly. And it's awesome. Nintendo even used it as the theme for the Super Mario 35th Anniversary Direct.
- Bowser's Galaxy Reactor was good music for the final stage, but Galaxy's remix of Koopa's Road from Mario 64 could have worked just as well.
- Buoy Base. Just... amazing. And then there's the underwater Variable Mix, setting the same militarized-yet-forgotten tone as the above-surface version, but with instrumentation fitting for leading underwater missiles into targets as your air supply slowly depletes. There's also a composite of the two versions, which sounds doubly awesome with a phrase of dramatic dissonance at one point.
- Dusty Dune Galaxy. Perfect desert-y theme for a Shifting Sand Land level. Also, the final part sounds familiar...
- Hell Prominence, a perfect fit for the amazing lava level that is Melty Molten Galaxy. This one opens with heavy percussion and horns, adds a bit of synth, and then hits a breakdown at 88 seconds in, bringing in a full set of strings to back the beat.
- Chase the Bunnies!, played at the Snow Cap Galaxy, packed with enough franticness to hurry you on in your side mission while still being catchy.
- Purple Coins, a wonderful track played during Purple Coin levels. Which is a good thing, as some of those missions have an insane difficulty level and would be completely intolerable otherwise. Bonus points for it being a Gusty Garden remix.
- There's also Space Junk Galaxy. A very peaceful, soothing track that's awesome in quite a different way. It's calming enough to make you want to drift off to a long, peaceful sleep.
- Battlerock Galaxy. The most insanely badass music in a Mario game ever, sounding like something out of a Space Opera. Militaristic drums, bright horns and tense strings give it a tense, yet triumphant feel.
- And Peaceful Stars, a more ambient, spacey variation of the same theme.
- Mixed together. What does this result in? A theme worthy of space itself and the war against Bowser.
- And Peaceful Stars
- Airship Armada. An incredible remix of the incredible airship theme from Super Mario Brothers 3. Also reused in Super Mario 3D Land.
- Attack of the Airships. is a powerful and frightening score for Bowser's initial attack. Might as well be titled "Bowser's March of the Koopalings".
- Kingfin and Bouldergeist. That is just insanely good, and really adds to the heart-pounding stress one might feel during a particular Daredevil Comet.
- The Comet Observatory, an elegant waltz befitting of the dignified Rosalina. What you don't get from the soundtrack version is that, much like the map screen music in Yoshi's Island, an extra line of instrumentation is added to it for each world that's opened up. By the end, it's a rather grand orchestral number.
- Heavy Metal Mecha-Bowser. Giant robot toy army of DOOM carrying a great riff to emphasize the strength of Bowser's army to an electronic marching symphony.
- The Flying Mario Theme. A soaring theme for soaring Mario.
- Luma has the feel of a lullaby from beyond the stars.
- Sacrifice, the theme that plays when the Lumas fly into the black hole and save the universe. The violins that play in this version of the song make it even more heartbreaking.
- Family, a quiet lullaby that can bring one to tears.
- Deep Dark Galaxy. Insanely creepy and oppressive with insanely dissonant harmonies to describe this spine-chilling galaxy. The result: insanely AWESOME eeriness.
- Ghostly Galaxy just screams eeriness, fitting for a spooky galaxy littered with Boos and haunted mansions. It was even reused in Super Mario 3D Land.
- Honeyhive Galaxy. Makes you look like if you were a bee pollinating flowers. The ''Galaxy 2'' version adds a broken trumpet and a flute.
- Bowser Jr's theme, which was reused for the Boomsday Machine battle in the sequel. Its bombastic, crazy instruments, rhythms and riffs are fitting for the surprisingly competent young guy in Bowser's army.
- Freezeflame Galaxy features two versions of the same music: one for the ice section with the instruments symbolising the fragility of ice, and the other for the lava section packing in arrangements to put emphasis on the scorching heat. It was also reused for the sequel's Shiverburn Galaxy level.
- Galaxy's remix of Super Mario Bros. 3's Overworld 2 packs in sweet instruments keeping the space theme of this game while preserving the jaunty melodies of the original. It is also reused in Super Mario 3D Land.
- The classic Underground theme is remixed into this mechanical-sounding theme for the Eternal Engine levels.
- Megaleg's theme. The music does an awesome job of highlighting the immensity of the boss and speeds up and becomes more industrial as you progress.
- Kamella's theme manages to sound both wacky and magical. Those streaming effects in the background really add to it.
- Pipe Interior, a beautifully ethereal and weird piece that is trying way too hard for the bonus room theme.
- The Star Festival is a great piece to start and end the game, boasting a soothing melody which matches the space theme of the game. It even aids in building up your excitement if you're heading to Peach's castle.
- The powerup themes are back! And while the two flowers and rainbow star's themes are faithful recreations of their original ones, albeit in a form that matches the "theme" of this game's soundtrack, the new Red Star theme is a grand orchestral piece that will make your first takeoff feel like an Epic Launch Sequence. And if you thought that it being temporary means accidentally hurling yourself into a black hole when it wears off, think again, as the final few seconds introduce an extra element that serves as hurry music, letting you know it's time to either land or find another Red Star.
- Suffice to say, the entire soundtrack is awesome. To help further demonstrate this, here's a symphonic suite composed of eight themes from the game, spanning a full fifteen minutes.
