BEcause the mario series is only so big for main 3-D titles All those were bundled with somthing. So their is the awser oh and a high number of mario spin offs

Nintendo should have their own game revieweres reviewing games and posting them on a Wii Channel so people who doesnt give a shit for looking for scores online, can easily notice which are the good games, it would be a great campaign against shovelware

Still... Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Wii Play where bundles even if the three of them were great games (for me at least) Mario Galaxy doesnt aim to the right audience that is all

2D mario platformers are more popular than 3D mario platformers

u can't beat a nation addiction
same thing that happen to the nokia 1100 (over 200 millions sold), motorola razr (over 75 million sold), iphone (17 million sold), nokia N95 (over 22 million sold), twitter, facebook, the macarena,porcine flu etc etc
once its get popular its confirmed to sell, but quality and quantity are not related.
as galaxy it sold what i should have but then it's not everybody type of game.
wii fit, people see it and the IN thing, gaming and doing "exercise".

1. This is the 2nd best selling game on the Wii that isn't bundled with anything.

2. It is not yet finished selling. By the end of this generation, it should be about close or equal with Super Mario 64's sales (11 million).

3. 3d platformers in general are harder for mainstream audiences to grasp. Despite that, this is the 2nd best selling 3d platformer right after Super Mario 64.

and SM64 was widely bundled, ive yet to see an SMG bundle.

1) bundled with the console, so of course it sold more, meta crtic means nothing in relation to sales.

2) bundled with a controller, and it is mildly entertianing. So, again, meta critic doesn't really mean much.

3) bundled with a balance board. Also a fitness product, which is a multi billion dollar industry. It makes exercising fun. Not only that, but reviewers hated the game and didn't review it from a real exercise standpoint. Some liked it, but either way, I wouldn't look at meta critic to tell me how good of a job it does getting my butt off the couch.

4) the first real game you listed that actually has a meta critic comparison to SMG. Honstly, this game is so much fun online you just keep wanting to come back to it for years later, sometimes even multiple times in a week for months on end. Sure, the critics didn't like it because the graphics weren't that great, and they didn't like the gimics like the bikes and the tricks. The game was easy to pick up and play, anyone can win, and lots of fun. This game will probably crack 25m units when all is said and done.

5) Yes, Galaxy was the highest rated game on Wii, but it also comes in as the 3rd best selling game besides Sports, Play, and Fit. Smash Bros. just edges it out and has a Meta Critic of 93, but also has the benefit of being multiplayer so it has a much higher chance of a friend coming over and playing, and then buying the game for themselves. In fact, Mario Galaxy is the highest rated single player game, and the highest selling single player game (excluding Fit since it has the benefit of being a fitness device) by ~1.2m units. If we go to the first non "GC port", non-bundled single player experience (Super Paper Mario) Galaxy is in the lead by 5.2m units. So, while Galaxy hasn't sold as much as the top 5 Wii games overall, it has sold better than any other similar game.

games like Mario Galaxy are too complex for casual gamers. The thing those first 4 have in common is that they are easy to pick up and play for anybody. They have a much bigger audience to appeal to. 2D marios are easier for people to understand and control, thus can hit a bigger market.

its quality over sales and mario galaxy so far is the best game this gen although i traded it in for i think mario kart cause galaxy was only 1 player game but nontheless it was the best and galaxy 2 looks even more promising

SMG was the best experience for me but I've played Wii Sports and Mario Kart far more than I played Galaxy.  The replay value of those games is through the roof, no reviewers could possibly appreciate the replay value of these games while rushing to get a review out.