Mario Galaxy's Comet Observatory just got a playable UE5 remake

VTuber and 3D artist Kitsune Fuzzy has released a downloadable Unreal Engine 5 remake of the Comet Observatory from Super Mario Galaxy. The project reimagines the 2007 Wii hub world with modern rendering techniques like Lumen global illumination and Nanite virtual geometry, and it is available for free right now.

The release follows a showcase video posted earlier this week. According to the creator, the project was originally built strictly as a visual environment for a YouTube video. Making it an interactive space where players can walk around as Mario was an afterthought.

Stripped of Nintendo audio

Nintendo aggressively protects its intellectual property, and fan projects usually have a short lifespan on the internet. The company has a long history of issuing takedown notices for everything from full remakes like AM2R to simple PC ports of older titles. To minimize the risk of a DMCA strike, Kitsune Fuzzy deliberately excluded all original audio from the download.

The demo does not include any of Charles Martinet's voice clips for Mario, nor does it use Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo's original waltz soundtrack. The silence makes exploring the space feel a bit eerie, but it is a practical compromise to keep the download link alive.

The creator also warns that the demo is exceptionally heavy on hardware. Because it was designed as a quick visual showcase rather than a commercial game, optimization was not a priority. It demands a powerful GPU to run smoothly. The download does include a few quality presets and framerate limiters to help lower-end computers survive the experience, but you should expect some stuttering.

Six domes and a beacon

The Comet Observatory is the central hub of the original Super Mario Galaxy. Piloted by Rosalina and populated by star-like creatures called Lumas, the station acts as the gateway to the game's various gravity-bending levels. Players unlock six distinct domes (the Terrace, Fountain, Kitchen, Bedroom, Engine Room, and Garden) as they collect Grand Stars. These stars also restore power to the station's central beacon. The beacon changes its color and brightness over the course of the campaign.

It remains one of the most atmospheric locations in the franchise. The observatory later appeared as a retro track in Mario Kart 7 and was a key location in Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. Seeing it rendered with modern lighting highlights just how strong Nintendo's original art direction was back in 2007. The Wii hardware could only output at 480p, but the underlying design scales beautifully to 4K.

This is the second major Super Mario Galaxy environment to get the Unreal Engine 5 treatment recently. In July 2025, YouTuber Syrus212 released a playable UE5 remake of the Gateway Galaxy, though that version retained the original Nintendo audio.

With Nintendo's Switch successor officially supporting Unreal Engine 5, these fan projects offer a rough preview of what a modern 3D Mario game could look like on current hardware. Until Nintendo actually shows us its next console, I will gladly accept melting my PC graphics card to look at high-resolution Lumas as a decent substitute.