Mario titles are replete with hidden gems, including some that may have been overlooked for years. Among these, the Super Mario Galaxy series features a curious quirk: both games keep their credits perpetually loaded in memory during gameplay. According to Mario trivia aficionado Supper Mario Broth on Bluesky, referencing insights from HEYimHeroic, “In the Super Mario Galaxy games, the staff credits text is always loaded into RAM despite not being needed until the ending. While horribly inefficient, this is inadvertently heartwarming as the games appear to honor their creators by keeping them in memory at all times.”
For the original Super Mario Galaxy, the entire game’s text is constantly stored in memory, which explains why the credits are included. However, this results in approximately “4,643 lines of text” taking up about “1/400 of the RAM at all times, which could be utilized for one or two additional objects,” as noted by Mario Broth.
Efficient Text Management in Super Mario Galaxy 2
In the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, the text is organized more efficiently, with separate files designated for each in-game galaxy. Nevertheless, as Mario Broth points out, “the credits are still always loaded.” This peculiar approach reflects a level of commitment to attributing credit that today’s Nintendo might not endorse—although it’s more connected to programming quirks than an intentional effort to memorialize the creators.
These titles represent some of the finest entries in the Mario franchise.