As we have already seen in 1985s Super Mario Bros, the seemingly upbeat nature of the Mario universe shouldn't fool you into thinking that everything is hunky-dory. It may seem like the plumbers only concern is to evacuate crumbling catwalks, avoid extremely unintimidating turtles and in the case of Mario Galaxy 2 leap from one world to the next, but in reality there are darker things going on just beneath the surface. If you try to ignore all the spectacular levels and gameplay feats of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and remain observant you will see one of these dark secrets which seem to be so common in the Mario series. In the Shiverburn Galaxy level, if you switch to first-person view and look into the distance you can see mysterious, shadowy figures standing ominously on the edge of the galaxy. These mysterious beings who have never been explained are popularly known as The Shadow People of Hell Valley. The official name of the image in the games files is "HellValleySkyTree", leading some to speculate that they may just be trees. However, their eyes make it seem fairly evident that these extra-terrestrial lurkers are eerily observing Marios every move through their galaxy.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
