The Wii U may not have been a hit, but the Super Mario title for a platform other than a Nintendo console or handheld. Super Mario Run will launch first on iPhone and iPad in December, before coming to Android in 2017. There's no word yet on whether the title may one day find its way to the 3DS.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, let's take a walk down memory lane and reminisce about Super Mario's greatest adventures. Since his debut in 1981's Donkey Kong, Mario has withstood the test of time with Nintendo's signature tight gameplay, adorable art style, and all-around jolly irreverence. Some of the games on this list are his best-known platforming titles, while others delve into Mario's side-jobs as a kart racer and RPG hero. Here are the 20 Best Super Mario Games Ever.
20. Mario Party
Before we begin, let us stress this point: Mario Party is not a good game. Even recent entries, which have significantly stripped down the board game elements, are absolutely terrible. With a single roll of the dice, a player in first place can have their fortunes reversed, and anyone with a bit of luck can steamroll their way to victory, regardless of skill level. It's sheer madness.
However, a four-player game of Mario Party is still a silly good time. With the right group of friends and an endless supply of candy and responsibly consumed beverages, it's hard to top the unadulterated fun of such a wild and mindless game. There are no less than a dozen Mario Party titles on every platform from the Nintendo 64 to the Wii U. Old school purists love the memorable stages from Mario Party 2, but we prefer the faster pace of Mario Party 9, in which all players travel the board together. Plus, it's the final entry in the series to date featuring Birdo as a playable character, and Birdo is our undisputed favorite character. They let that disgusting piece of trash Waluigi be playable in Mario Party 10, but not Birdo? WHY?
19. Super Mario Bros. 2
The original version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was considered to be too difficult for American players to enjoy, so they opted instead to refit a completely different game, Doki Doki Panic, and release it in the West as Super Mario Bros. 2. As a result, the gameplay of Mario 2 is vastly different from its predecessor. Enemies can no longer be defeated just by jumping on them; they must also be picked up and thrown into objects, and the level design is much more non-linear than the first game, with an unusual emphasis on vertical platforming.
Despite not beginning life as a "true" Mario title, Mario 2 did introduce many recurring elements into the franchise. Peach's floating ability made its debut in this title, as did enemies like Shy Guys and Bob-ombs. In addition, the Mario series' greatest recurring foe, Birdo, made her triumphant debut in this game. Ultimately, Mario 2 proved popular enough that it was eventually ported to Japan as Super Mario USA.
18. Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
The original version of Super Mario Bros. 2 eventually saw a release in the West as part of Super Mario All-Stars, a compilation which also included Mario Bros 1, 2, and 3, all with updated graphics and sound. Instead of its predecessor's two-player mode, The Lost Levels allowed players the choice of either Mario or Luigi, the latter of whom was differentiated by having a significantly higher jumping ability. However, this advantage was offset by giving the character's slippy movement physics.
The biggest difference in The Lost Levels was its difficulty. The original Super Mario Bros. may be a tough game by today's standards, but The Lost Levels is one of the most difficult platformers of all time, with jumps requiring nerves of steel to avoid plummeting into the abyss, tons of enemies who will kill you over and over again, and those endlessly annoying Poison Mushrooms. Truly elite gamers who have conquered The Lost Levels are few and far between, and are regarded as legendary heroes within the Mario community.
17. Super Mario Sunshine
Along with Mario Bros. 2 USA, Super Mario Sunshine is often dismissed by some fans for its drastic changes to the classic run-and-jump formula. Sunshine shifts the action to a beautiful tropical island covered in toxic sludge. Framed for the environmental disaster, Mario is enlisted to clean it up, with the aid of a unique device. Part water hose and part jetpack, the FLUDD, as it is called, is the love-it-or-hate-it element of Sunshine which defines the title and divides players to this day. Some players love cleaning up paint and using the various nozzles on the FLUDD to explore Isle Delfino's lovely landscapes, while others wish that the whole game were closer to the bonus stages in which the FLUDD is removed and Mario is forced to navigate tough-as-nails linear courses using nothing but his wits and jumping prowess.
It's telling that the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy, did away with the Fludd entirely and restricted the gimmicks to limited-use powerups. However, it's also telling for the quality of the Mario brand that, while often considered to be one of the weakest entries in the series, Mario Sunshine is still a tremendous game, full of intense platforming challenges, unique ideas, and some of the best boss battles in the whole franchise.
16. Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins
Mario's first handheld adventure was Super Mario Land, which, while a fun and solid Game Boy launch title, was held back by a short length (only twelve stages) and superfluous shooting levels which got in the way of the old-school platforming goodness. The sequel, 1992's Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, was bigger and better in every way.
Mario Land 2 featured over 30 courses, an overworld map, and graphics more in-line with the recently-released Super Mario World, which really pushed the limits of the types of visuals the Game Boy was capable of delivering. This game also marked the debut of Mario's rival/nemesis Wario, who has stolen Mario's castle while our hero was away in the first Mario Land title. Wario ultimately proved popular enough that the next game in the series, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, would drop Mario completely in favor of his greedy and slovenly counterpart (who may or may not be his biggest fan).
15. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
The Mario & Luigi series is a cute and quirky little RPG sub-series which, despite its fun mechanics and zany storylines, always seems to be stuck in the shadow of the Paper Mario games. Perhaps it's because the M&L games have only ever been on Nintendo's handhelds, while Paper Mario has seen the majority of its titles land on console.
However, even more than Paper Mario, the M&L titles are the heir apparent to the revered Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (more on that later), featuring the same mix of isometric platforming, comedic storytelling, and turn-based RPG combat, complete with timed-hits, lending the titles a light action element which is lacking in many menu-based RPGs.
If we had to pick a favorite M&L title, it would have to be Bowser's Inside Story, in which the brothers go on a Fantastic Voyage-style adventure inside the body of their greatest enemy, Bowser. It's absolutely ridiculous, but Bowser's innards are a great setting for M&L's sense of humor.
14. New Super Mario Bros. U
After Mario broke into the third dimension with 1996's Super Mario 64, some fans of his old-school 2D adventures felt a bit left behind. There were no original Mario titles for the Game Boy Advance, either; instead, the Mario Advance series consisted entirely of ports of NES and SNES titles.
Finally, in 2006, New Super Mario Bros. was released for the Nintendo DS. The game utilized 3D graphics, but the action was decidedly classic in nature, with Mario running from left to right on a quest to jump over pits and reach the end of each course. The game was a smash hit, and led to sequels on the Wii and 3DS.
Our favorite entry in the New series has to be New Super Mario Bros. U, which was a launch title for the ill-fated Wii U. While the graphics are not a huge leap over the Wii version, utilizing most of the same assets, the level design was tighter than ever, and the four player co-op, while as hectic as in Wii, can still be a boon, as long as everyone is on the same page and working together. Otherwise, brace for tons of Game Overs.
13. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
The first Paper Mario title, for Nintendo 64, started life as a sequel to Super Mario RPG before morphing into its own unique entity with a downright striking art style. Unfortunately, it came out in 2001, when the N64 was already well on its way out. However, it has since been re-released on the Wii Virtual Console, and is thus available for purchase to modern gamers.
The 2004 sequel, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, quickly became a cult classic and is fondly ed as one of the best Mario spin-offs around. Thanks to the power of the Gamecube, TYD looks phenomenal, even by today's standards, and the story still holds up after all these years thanks to compelling characters, snappy dialogue, and a surprisingly dark tone at times (for a Mario game, at least), which contrasts nicely with the colorful art style and more lighthearted elements.
Super Paper Mario would follow, abandoning the RPG genre in favor of a unique platformer with the ability to switch between 2D and 3D at will. It was a novel little title, but not quite what we were hoping for from the series.
12. Super Mario 3D Land
Super Mario 64's levels were akin to open-world sandboxes. Granted, Dry Dry Desert is a bit smaller than Red Dead Redemption, but the fact was that the game didn't hold the player's hand and tell them where to go; exploration was up to each individual person. For Mario's first adventure on the 3DS, Nintendo aimed to combine the 3D gameplay of Mario 64 with the linear course design of classic Mario side-scrollers (but Mario 3, in particular). This game is for players who love the 3D movement of more recent titles, but miss the straightforward platforming challenges of yesteryear.
Super Mario 3D Land features eight worlds full of intense moment-to-moment running and jumping. Upon clearing these worlds, eight "special" worlds are unlocked, as well as the ability to play as Luigi, before finally being allowed to play the brutally difficult S8-Crown level. That's a whole lot of gameplay, making Super Mario 3D Land quite possibly the biggest handheld Mario title yet.
11. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Released in 1995, near the end of the Super Nintendo's reign as the dominant console, Yoshi's Island's most immediately striking feature was its downright beautiful visuals, with an art style which seemed like it came straight from a coloring book, as well as limited 3D elements which were very impressive for the SNES.
A prequel to the whole series, Yoshi's Island introduced the world to Baby Mario, a nagging little brat whose irritating cries still haunt our dreams to this day. Being a baby, Mario is incapable of protecting himself, so it is up to Yoshi to carry the child to safety while also contending with Baby Bowser and Kamek the Magikoopa.
Many of Yoshi's abilities, such as egg-throwing and his earth-shaking ground pound, were first introduced here. Yoshi's Island was relatively easy compared to other Mario titles, but that was rectified in the arguably superior sequel, Yoshi's Island DS, released in 2006 for — you guessed it — the Nintendo DS. The title featured adorable versions of characters like Peach, Donkey Kong, and even Wario, each with their own unique abilities. Yoshi DS retained the endearingly cutesy art style of the original, which stood in stark contrast with the blisteringly difficulty level.