How many stars are there in Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Question

I've read in reviews of Super Mario Galaxy 2 that it has 240 stars. Are there really 240 unique stars? Or is it like the first Super Mario Galaxy, where you get 120 stars, then have the option to play the whole game again as Luigi and collect the same 120 stars again?

I'm around 105 stars, and it's looking like most of the galaxies have been marked "complete," so I don't see where all these stars are going to come from (if they are indeed unique).

Answer 1

There are a total of 242 stars:

• 120 standard Gold stars, consisting of:
  • 56 Power stars (the normal ones)
  • 6 Grand Stars (at the end of each world)
  • 17 Hidden Stars (in 17 different galaxies)
  • 29 Comet Stars (in 29 different galaxies)
  • 6 Additional Normal Stars after beating the game for the first time.
  • 6 Additional Comet Stars after beating the game for the first time.
• 120 Green Stars which appear after you collected the first 120 yellow stars and have beaten the game again (2 or 3 per galaxy, 18 per world, except for the very last world, which has 12)
• 2 additional Gold stars after you have collected all the previous 240 stars. (1 Power Star, 1 Comet Star, which also requires 9999 Starbits)

The only way to get all Comet Stars, is to collect all Comet Coins, which are found on the first level of each galaxy, including the very last one!

Note that it is possible to get Bronze Stars instead of Gold Stars if you use the Cosmic Guide available (after dying a couple of times) on certain levels (available in every galaxy, but not every level). While these Bronze Stars allow you to continue to move on, the do not count with respect to unlocking certain secrets.

Answer 2

There are 120 yellow stars.

You might not have access to all the secret stars yet - check for "?" on the map.

Also by collecting comet medals you unlock the Prankster comet stars, so you might have some of those still to find, and there might more than one per Galaxy.

Spoiler Alert

_{After getting all 120 yellow stars you get to find another 120 green stars.}

^{There are also 2 additional gold stars available after you've collected all the previous 240.}

Answer 3

There are 242 stars in total: 120 standard yellow stars, 120 green stars which appear after you have collected the first 120 yellow stars and completed the game, and two additional yellow stars which are available after you have collected the first 240 stars.