Galaxy 1 was the super-awesome epic Wii game that was supposed to make people buy the system. It had decent amount of effort put into its introduction, characters, and a tremendous amount of effort into the gameplay to make it feel like a full game.
Galaxy 2 on the other hand is the super-hyper-active child that just says, "K, you bought this game to play, now let me shoot you into the first level now." Galaxy 2 takes away all the filler Galaxy 1 had and just shoves you into gameplay bliss level after level without stopping.
They're both fantastic games, but I'd say I enjoyed Galaxy 2 more because of its awesomeness.
I found Galaxy 2 more enjoyable. Not to say G1 was bad, but G2 is just much better in my opinion. The soundtrack as you mentioned (who can HATE it?), the gameplay, the Prankster Comets, everything about it was just mind melting-ly awesome!
They're both very good games, but I think Galaxy 2 is a bit better than Galaxy 1, just because I enjoyed the levels more, the levels were tougher to beat, and I loved the game's music! They both could have had harder boss fights, though...
I prefer Galaxy 1 over Galaxy 2 because Galaxy 2 seemed too much like Galaxy 1, not including many more new ideas, so I think Galaxy 1 deserves for praise for this. They're both among the best Mario games ever made, it's just that Galaxy 2 could have been more innovative.
I prefered 1. I liked the hub world and it had more of a story. It was also longer I believe. 2 left me quite unsatisfied. I also prefered the music from 1 especially for the battles with bowser.
I think the second game might be better in an objective sense, but personally I found the first game had far more new ideas for me to get into. The second game seemed like a mere extension of the first.
Galaxy 2 just expanded on what made the first game fantastic. I was ecstatic when a sequel was announced, and it remains my favorite Wii game to date, and one of my top 5 favorite video games. It's platforming gold, and it's Mario at his best.
I honestly have not played either enough to form an accurate opinion... but my son on the other had has played both all the way through... so I asked him he liked 2 better.
The original Galaxy was definitely better than Galaxy 2. Galaxy 2 had tremendous potential, but then turned out to be Galaxy 1 with new levels and Yoshi. Galaxy 1 was far more innovative and a truly outstanding game. One for the ages, no doubt. The hub of Galaxy 1 - the Cosmic Observatory if my memory serves me well - was expansive and fun to explore. I thought Rosalina was a great, mysterious character (and a Princess Peach-esque fan-pleaser). The levels were loads of fun and the soundtrack was great.
I don't wish to dismiss how good of a game Galaxy 2 was, but it didn't live up to the expectations I had. The levels, although very fun, seemed a little too similar, with some exceptions. The hub was too small and no fun at all. I couldn't enjoy it nearly as much as Galaxy 1.
Honestly, I like Super Mario Galaxy over Super Mario Galaxy 2. There are quite a few reasons for this.
For starters, Super Mario 2 seems to be pretty much a copy-paste of Super Mario Galaxy. The music almost sounds as if it's the same songs in a different key, which doesn't sound all that great in my opinion.
Also, the plot is pretty much the exact same, save for the Rosellia sub-plot. Aside from that, it's the same "Bowser kidnaps Peach and wants to rule the Universe by creating his own galaxy."
The level design in Super Mario Galaxy made great use of the physics engine, with all the spherical planets that you could jump from one to another, especially at point blank, which was really fun and unique. The second game, however, had very flat, non-planetary looking levels in there. Seriously, though, based on what I've seen, there shouldn't be too much a difference between the second game and Super Mario 3D Land.
Don't get me wrong, both games were very fun, and I like both of them very much (well, I love the first one), but I prefer the first game in my opinion.
Well, I haven't finished Galaxy 2 yet, so I can't give a definitive opinion, but so far I think that I like the original Galaxy better. Galaxy 2 is good so far, but it seems like just an extension of the first -- nothing new and original. Plus so far I like the levels in the first Galaxy better. But they're both good games.
