Super Mario overtakes GTA and Zelda to become third best game of all time

Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and several other critically-acclaimed masterpieces have been unexpectedly overtaken in 2026, by Super Mario of all things.

Now there’s no denying that Nintendo’s poster boy has had an enormous impact on the video game industry. Mario is ‘Mr Video Game’ for a lot of people and new games in his franchise generally perform very well in the charts.

That’s not to say the Italian plumber isn’t in good company though, as Metacritic’s Best Games of All Time list is teeming with must-play titles. Over the weekend however, one of Mario’s best games cheekily jumped up that list.

The game in question is Super Mario Galaxy 2, which launched on the Nintendo Wii back in 2010 and was later re-released for the Nintendo Switch/Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025.

It’s a phenomenal game, and while it was much more linear compared to the first game it’s still adored by fans.

Red Dead Redemption, Zelda, Halo and more all-time great games have been dethroned

Before the weekend it had a rating of 97 which placed it alongside the likes of GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Halo: Combat Evolved, and Baldur’s Gate 3 to name a handful.

Since then it’s randomly increased to 98, pushing into third place just behind SoulCalibur and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

It’s not that much of an upset as, again, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is fantastic, but it’s still a surprise to see it beat most Grand Theft Auto games. The only GTA it’s tied with is Grand Theft Auto IV.

The one game it’s not on par with is Ocarina of Time. The Nintendo 64 game still holds the top spot with a rating of 99, but 2026 has two games that could give it a run for its money.

Grand Theft Auto VI could be a contender of course, but the other comes from Nintendo’s own backyard, the Ocarina of Time remake launching on the Nintendo Switch 2 later this year.

With competition like that on the horizon we'd be surprised if Super Mario Galaxy 2 is third place for long.

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Is Super Mario Galaxy 3 Nintendo’s ace in the hole?

The Nintendo Switch 2 has some fantastic first-party games at the moment and plenty more are on the way, but the one thing it doesn’t have is its own 3D Super Mario platformer.

One leak suggested the next game would be called Super Mario Titans, but many quickly dismissed it as fake.

Now gamers are starting to wonder whether Nintendo has already told us what the next game will be, a third entry in the Super Mario Galaxy series.

It’d make sense given the re-releases last year, and the success from the Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Nintendo has even been dropping some Galaxy-themed updates for its other Mario games, adding further credibility to the rumours.

Another Nintendo Direct is expected sometime around September so we’ll hopefully know more then.