There’s no need to beat around the bush. Video games would not be the cultural mammoth we know them as today without the famous Super Mario. That’s what makes celebrating our favorite cartoon plumber and all of his friends on any chance we get so vital and, honestly, a little reflective.
Annually, March 10 has slowly come to be known as “Mario Day” because of its visual similarity to the word “Mario.” And that got us thinking about a proper way to celebrate the most influential franchise in video game history. Hmm. What could possibly fit here? Oh, right! You bet your bottom dollar I’ve broken out a ranking of the best Mario games in this series’s illustrious history.
If any part of the below ranking irks or bothers you, well, dearest reader, I can’t be blamed for clearly having the best taste in 2D and 3D platformers.
All images courtesy of Nintendo.
An innovative role-playing game centered around everyone’s beloved cartoon plumber, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has a lot of heart. While it’s a significant stretch from the usual Mario platforming formula, it’s also likely the funniest and best-written game of the series. Who knew these games could surprise with amazing scripts, too?
Once derided for an unforgiving camera and bizarre gameplay mechanics, Super Mario Sunshine has become something of a cult classic. It’s one of the more colorful games in the series, and while it doesn’t stray too far from the formula, it’s still quite mesmerizing to effectively give Mario a super-powered water gun to properly traverse Isle Delfino.
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to create your own challenging and engaging Mario level? Super Mario Maker afforded fans that opportunity by effectively giving them every tool they needed to build worlds from scratch. If you understood the mechanics of the franchise, you could probably create your own personal touchstone of a level.
A Switch rerelease of Super Mario 3D World with the open-world Bowser’s Fury was one of the more ingenious things Nintendo has done in recent memory. On the one hand, you get a delightful game with a perfect mix of 2D and 3D elements. On the other, you get an open-world taste of what might be the franchise’s future down the line. Neither disappoints. Both feel like Nintendo is outdoing itself.
The game that flipped 3D platforming on its head and practically spearheaded the genre, Super Mario 64, remains a stone-cold all-timer. Even nearly three decades later, it’s still so easy to boot up the old Nintendo 64 and find every star around the campus of Princess Peach’s castle. There is nothing like it in the video game pantheon.
2D Mario games are what used to set the pace for this legendary franchise before the expansive 3D games took precedence. But with roughly a decade between new and full-fledged 2D entries, Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a welcome step forward. The “Wonder” element in almost every level remains one of the more delightfully chaotic mechanics I can remember in a Mario entry.
1990, Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment System
Back in the day, every 2D Mario game felt revolutionary. Super Mario Bros. 3 was no different. Between its sheer depth and challenging gameplay that just pushed the boundaries to “unforgiving,” there are few side-scrolling video game experiences that can match this masterpiece.
The Nintendo Wii is one of the most successful video game consoles ever made. (Check the sales numbers!) And no game quite utilized its power and motion-control design like Super Mario Galaxy. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 4-5 different levels that are some of the best in franchise history in this game alone. The last thing anyone wanted to do was disappoint Rosalina.
The game that started it all had to be somewhere near the top of this list. Heck, Super Mario Bros. is arguably the most important video game of all time. While the game feels a little simplistic by today’s standards, this medium likely does not grow into an all-encompassing force of culture without it. Even if you don’t actively play video games, you are more than likely well-aware of this first entry. It is that foundational.
I’m aware this can seem like recency bias, but anyone arguing against Super Mario Odyssey’s merits on that basis is flat-out ignoring reality. Seven years after its release (which is also a long time!), it is still mind-boggling to consider this masterpiece’s volume of ambition, color, creativity, whimsy, and thoughtfulness. Everything is considered. Everything is included. Nothing feels like empty calories in game design. It should be on the shortlist of any conversation for one of the greatest games ever made.
Everything about Super Mario World was stunning for its time. The graphics. The audio. The expansive 2D world. The nonlinear platforming. The incredible replay value. It is essentially flawless and still holds up perfectly to this day. It was not the first Mario game, but it stands out as the quintessential entry in the greatest video game franchise ever. It is what I would first recommend to anyone jumping into video games for the first time.
