The sequel to Super Mario Galaxy drops the hub world in favor of a more traditional map.
Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will feature a traditional world map instead of a 3D hub world. The concept of the hub world was first introduced in Super Mario 64, with Peach's Castle serving as the hub. In Super Mario Galaxy, Rosalina's Station was the hub world to many of its levels.
When asked about why Super Mario Galaxy 2 now features a traditional world map, Miyamoto explained that, "We want players to focus on the joy of the action instead of getting to each game course. We wanted to make it as accessible as possible and as easy as possible for the players. Also because we’re going to incorporate a number of different stars and conquering all the stars is going to be one of the most challenging missions for the player, we want them to understand as easy as possible where they should go next and which places they should go back to in order to get access to the remaining stars."
Miyamoto then compared the world map to the recent New Super Mario Bros. Wii, saying that "You can think of it in terms of something similar to Super Mario World or New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where you will have a rather convenient map to navigate."