Ranking The Super Mario Games From Worst To Best
The Super Mario titles from Nintendo are arguably the most influential and iconic games around. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably lying through their teeth.
Without the mind of Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto at the helm of these mothership games, there wouldn’t be a Nintendo at all in the late 80s and the 90s. In fact, Nintendo and Mario were the sole saviours of the video game industry; countless retrospectives have mentioned this, so there’s no history lesson needed here.
You also don’t need us to tell you that these games are important in shaping the future of game design and 2D/3D platforming. From the 2D platformer mascots like Sonic to even 3D platforming folks like Klonoa and Crash Bandicoot owe their very existence to the red-and-blue faux-Italian plumber.
What we will do instead is figure out the age-old question: Which mothership Mario game is the best? Which ones of these core Mario games deserve the top spot? Which Mario game in the core franchise is great and which ones are best left forgotten?
Before we start, we should define what a core Mario game is:
- A core Mario game is all about jumping and platforming. If the games don’t have these, it’s not on this list. So no SuperStar Saga and Hotel Mario nonsense here.
- It also needs to star Mario. This is why we’re not including Yoshi’s Island: it’s an amazing 2D platformer but its focus is on Yoshi, not the the red-hatted overalls-wearing plumber.
- There are 18 of these titles focused on platforming and level-advancing. Every other Mario game is either a spin-off or an expansion of sorts. We are not including those.
- We’re not going to include the Philips CDI Mario games. Be honest: would you really include them if you were writing this feature?
Another disclaimer: this list is coming from a guy who started out his 2D platforming days with Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, but has grown fond of the 2D Sonic The Hedgehog series. This distinction’s pretty important so that you know this feature is coming from a guy who isn’t a complete Nintendo fanboy/nutjob.
With that said, here are our picks from the bottom to the top.
18. Super Mario Bros. – The Lost Levels (Famicom)
Let’s start with the most unnecessary core game of the franchise. While not a bad game per se, the Lost Levels is a straight-up expansion featuring evil level design and insanely tough challenges. The game also introduces the purple mushroom which depowers you and kills you if you’re small Mario.
Nintendo released this as a separate game and labelled it as a sequel, but really it’s just Super Mario Bros. Plus and not so much an evolution for the series. It’s just an add-on marketed as a sequel that’s meant to challenge and test the patience of Mario fans. Stuff like this may be alright in the short term, but it’s not the game that will leave a lasting impression in Mario’s gaming culture.
17.Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo GameCube)
The dark horse of the Super Mario series, this 3D platformer gives Mario a water cannon to deal with baddies and a whole ton of skills to platform his way out of trouble. The game was rushed out to help bolster the lacklustre sales of the GameCube at the time, and it clearly shows.
While the game is interesting, perhaps the big reason why it didn’t do as well as its cousins is because of its complexity and its failure to make its goals and mechanics clearer. With a bit more polish, you’ll find a great game underneath its design quirks.
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