Super Mario Galaxy 2 coin farming guide
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is inherently more of a grind than its predecessor. Both games require collecting 9,999 Star Bits for true 100% completion, but only Super Mario Galaxy 2 requires collecting 9,999 coins – its predecessor doesn’t keep score of your total collected coins. Coins are generally much more difficult to farm than Star Bits because if you lose a life during a level, you lose all of your collected coins up until that point (whereas you keep your Star Bits). Fortunately, there’s a very easy coin farming method in Super Mario Galaxy 2 that will get you well over 500 coins within a matter of minutes. Just don’t lose a life!
Coin farming method
One reason this coin farming method is so easy is because you can access it in the first hour of gameplay – not that you’ll need to so soon! This method takes place on the first star of the Fluffy Bluff Galaxy, and you’ll need to be playing as Mario and specifically not Luigi.
From the entrance to the galaxy, head to the big tree and check behind it for a pipe. Inside, there’s a coin game you can play. Run around and collect all these coins, and when you do, you’ll also be rewarded with a whole bunch of Star Bits. Afterwards, return to the main part of the galaxy and grab the Cloud Flower. There should be a trail of coins leading upward – follow it, and create some cloud platforms until you can jump to the top of the nearby tree. Use the Sling Star, and there will be another coin game on top of the cloud. Once you’ve collected these, you should have around 120 coins. There are more coins scattered throughout that you can get from defeating enemies, but it might be faster to just play the coin games. As soon as you’re done, long jump toward the platform with the Piranha Plants and then watch the Hint TV’s cutscene. This TV doesn’t appear if you’re doing a Green Star mission, nor does it appear if you’re playing as Luigi. When the cutscene is done, all of the coin games will have respawned, which will let you repeat this whole process and collect another 120 coins in just a few minutes.
Once you think you have enough coins, finish the star as normal and you’ll add them all to your total! You can technically stay within the level for as long as you want, but it’s probably best to get the star and save your progress every once in a while. The first star is very easy, but there’s always a small chance you’ll accidentally ground pound instead of long jump and then lose everything. It’s always best to be careful!
Once you have 9,999 coins, you will unlock a ghost in every galaxy. This ghost appears in the form of Luigi, and he will take a pre-planned route through each course. It’s not very helpful once you’ve hit 9,999 coins, though.
