How to Play Super Mario Galaxy in Two-Player Co-Star Mode

Make sure both controllers are synced. You can check this by pressing the home button (with the blue house) on one of the remotes. A screen comes up with the battery levels for the synced remotes. If two battery meters are lit up, you have two controllers synced.

Decide who will be player one (P1) and who will be player two (P2). In the co-star mode, P2 plays a guiding role by collecting star bits and stopping enemies, and can make Mario jump. Therefore, it's best to have the more inexperienced player as P1 and the more advanced player as P2.

Start the game. On the main Wii menu, choose the disc channel with the P1 controller. When the game-preview screen comes up, click on the "Start" button. Once the game-title screen comes up, press the "A" and "B" button together.

Choose your file. Either create a new save file or choose a previously saved game. Once you have chosen your file, click on the "Play This File" button.

Begin cooperative play. Once the game starts, there will be two star pointers on the screen. Player one controls the blue P1 star, while player 2 controls the yellow P2 star.

Perfect the teamwork. Player 2 collects star bits by pointing to them and shoots them by pressing the "B" button. She stops enemies or makes Mario jump by pointing to them and pressing the "A" button. If she points at Mario and presses "A" while he's in midair, it makes Mario spin. If both players point at Mario and press "A" at the same, Mario does an especially high jump. All of these powers, used correctly, can help pass through the levels of Mario much more easily than working alone.