Ranking Mario Games Based on How Strange Our Tastes Are
To celebrate Mario Day, the GAMINGbible team wanted to make a basic list that pulled together the best Mario game of all time. However, it turns out we all have very strange opinions, so we couldn't just say 'Super Mario Galaxy is the best Mario game of all time' like every other list in existence. Even if it's true. Instead, we've ranked the team's very strange choices, based on exactly HOW strange and unheard of they are.
4. Rich: Super Mario World
Being an 80s child, I have an affinity for 2D games over modern 3D worlds. That not only includes the likes of the Super Mario Series, but also Sonic the Hedgehog, Metroid, Street Fighter and Streets of Rage.
There’s just something so nostalgic about old-school games that it’s a love that will never die. Which is why, as much as Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey, I’d pick a 2D offering any day of the week. It’s one of the main reasons why I instantly warmed to 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Nintendo Switch.
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However, for my favourite game in this series, I’m taking it way back on the Super Nintendo with Super Mario World, originally released in 1990. This is a true timeless classic in every sense of the word, and even when being played over 35 years later, it’s still probably better than most 2D platformers today.
The gameplay is still fun, it’s challenging, it looks gorgeous, its sprite soundtrack is music to my ears, and it was our introduction to the lovable Yoshi, one of the most popular characters in the series. That being said, as much as we all love Yoshi, we’ve probably all made him jump off a cliff in Super Mario World, right?
If, for whatever reason, you’ve never played Super Mario World, you might be pleased to know that it’s included in all tiers of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service. Seriously, you need to play or revisit this game today, especially on Mar10 Day!
3. Kate - Super Mario 3D World
I could so easily have said that Super Mario Odyssey is my favourite title in the franchise, but I confess that I have a soft spot for Super Mario 3D World. It’s not a fondness that’s founded in nostalgia. I didn’t have a Wii U, so it’s not until the game launched on Nintendo Switch bundled with Bowser’s Fury that I actually checked it out.
There’s just a wonderful balance on display in Super Mario 3D World. It clearly planted the seeds of what Super Mario Odyssey ultimately became, introducing the general format and mechanics of that later title. Yet Super Mario 3D World isn’t as convoluted in its structure. It offers a wide array of power-ups and biomes, yet presented in a pleasing linear fashion which is the ultimate way to unwind for someone like me who doesn’t always want too large of a world to explore. I really could have sold my fondness with two words though, Cat Mario.
2. Olly - Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
It's very funny to me that my favourite Mario game is the one not actually made by Nintendo, but it's true. Sure, I love Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but none of these games compare to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
I find a lot of Mario games to be quite fast-paced, stressful affairs. Super Mario Bros. is an exercise in timing and precision, something that is also translated to the 3D games. Mario Kart is about luck and skill when on the road, while the Mario sports games only really appeal to fans of that particular sport. Again, I enjoy most of these, but I have to say that I prefer something a little more slower, calmer, and stress-free. That’s where Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle comes into play.
I'm an XCOM veteran, so being able to play a colourful Mario-themed tactics game seemed like a dream come true. On the surface, it's extremely simple, a more watered-down adaptation of the tactics genre's more intricate features. Obviously, this was done to appeal to Mario's younger fanbase, but I think it works well in its favour in offering a more accessible entry to the genre.
The game is a series of simply grid-based levels, where your party of three must dispatch ever-increasing groups of enemies in turn-based tactical gameplay. 0%, 50%, 100%, these numbers will come back to haunt me as I seem to miss every shot I take, as is usually the case with this genre. Still, I can’t help but find it extremely endearing, a nice break from the usual Mario-style gameplay that Nintendo puts into its own games.
It’s extremely disappointing that Mario + Rabbids probably won’t get a third entry. As far as I know, the first game did quite well for Ubisoft, but its sequel, Sparks of Hope (which is fine, even if it does cut out some of the difficulty of its predecessor) underperformed. I hope we eventually get a successor, as the franchise deserves a third entry to close out the trilogy.
1. Sara - Super Mario Bros. 35
If you told me ten years ago that the definitive Mario experience would be a live Battle Royale experience where 34 ghostly Mario’s chase me down in a brutal race to the flag, I’d honestly believe you. Mario 35 absolutely rocks - it’s got the competitive edge I need in a platformer, with all the charm and style of the mainline games.
For those who don’t know, Super Mario Bros. 35 was a 2020 online multiplayer battle royale, where you’d try and outspeed the other Mario’s to the flag. You could send enemies to knock out your opponents, and extend the timer by defeating them and completing levels.
The perpetual, Sisyphean nightmare of running through the Mushroom Kingdom, unable to escape the echoes of yourself, really appeals to me. It’s rhythmic violence, it’s bullet hell chaos, it’s everything I want in a game. Tetris 99, a similar concept, just doesn’t scratch the same itch for me.
Sadly, the servers were taken offline after the 35th Mario anniversary on April 1, 2021. I need it to come back.
Topics: Mario