12 best Super Mario games of all time

It is impossible to ignore the impact that Mario and his friends (and enemies) have had on the gaming zeitgeist. Mario has been featured in everything from movies to Lego sets, all stemming from a long series of fantastic games. Everything about these games is exceptional, from the music to the level design; they are overflowing with care and dedication. That said, some games are better than others. If you’re looking to play the best that Super Mario offers, we broke down the best of the best just for you.

12

Super Mario Bros. 2

Plenty of unique ideas

Release Date: 1988
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System & GameBoy Advance

One of the more curious games in the larger Mario library, Super Mario Bros. 2, technically isn’t a true Mario game. Originally, this game was a reskinned version of the Japanese title Yume Kojo Doki Doki Panic and was designed to give American players an easier experience when the gaming market was failing.

That game was modified into Super Mario Bros. 2 and pulled in a lot of the whimsy of the original title. Since the original game was designed to be a multiplayer experience, Super Mario Bros. 2 is the first game that allowed you to play as Princess Peach and Toad and introduced tons of familiar faces in the Shy Guys, Bob-omb, and Birdo. Super Mario Bros. 2 emphasizes vertical gameplay elements instead of horizontal, giving the game a unique feel like the other Mario games.

11

Super Mario 3D Land

A handheld wonder

Release Date: 2011
Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Easily the best mobile version of Mario’s adventures, Super Mario 3D Land shrunk down the classic Mario experience with delightful results. While it does everything well, it is fairly middle-of-the-road for a Mario game. Super Mario 3D Land was intended to showcase everything the 3DS had to offer, and it did so splendidly. The game introduced new power-ups like the Boomerang Suit while loving older power-ups like the Tanooki Tail, and it gave all these fun mechanics room to breathe and be explored by the player.

10

Super Mario Galaxy

Gravity is your friend

Release Date: 2007
Platform: Nintendo Wii

Super Mario Galaxy is an example of a game that can’t stop throwing new things in front of players. You’ve got Star Bits, Pull Stars, Lumas, Bee Mushrooms, spaceships, Boo Mushrooms, and a brand-new character in Rosalina who has since become a fan favorite. Super Mario Galaxy has many great ideas, like using special comets to change up level sequences, which makes it unique.

As fun and highly rated as Super Mario Galaxy, it is exceptionally linear. It only gives the illusion of a wider universe thanks to the vastness of space and the distance you need to cross to make it from planet to planet. That also means that the tiny planets and vast distances between walkable platforms or planets destroy any inertia you can build up while running through levels. So, while it may be ground-breaking, it still has some flaws that keep it from being higher on the list.

9

Super Mario Sunshine

An island vacation

Release Date: 2002
Platform: GameCube

An instance of Nintendo trying something entirely new with the established Mario franchise, Super Mario Sunshine took the plumber and Princess Peach to Isle Delfino for a much-needed vacation, only to be interrupted by Shadow Mario and Bowser Junior.

Super Mario Sunshine brought Professor E. Gadd from Luigi’s Mansion into the greater Mario universe with his invention, the F.L.U.D.D, a water pack that gives Mario the power to clean, float, rocket jump, and more. While Super Mario Sunshine had some issues with level design and a frustrating camera, there are still tons of colorful and tropical islands to enjoy. Perhaps what this game did best was tossing aside long-established Mario tradition by taking the little plumber and bringing him to a truly original environment.

8

Super Mario Galaxy 2

In space, no one can hear you ‘Wa-hoo!’

Release Date: 2010
Platform: Nintendo Wii

All the charm and energy of the first Super Mario Galaxy game got an upgrade, along with some quality-of-life improvements to help Super Mario Galaxy 2 pull ahead of other Mario games. The hubworld has taken a backseat in this game and is much easier to navigate, thanks to a map option, and you explore the universe in the amazingly punny ‘faceship,’ a ship in the shape of Mario’s face.

On the downside, some levels can feel disconnected, especially when they have very memorable designs and unique mechanics, only to never be seen again or underutilized in other levels. Super Mario Galaxy 2 does a great job at breaking up the levels a bit more, giving you more freedom in exploring the galaxy.

7

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

Getting the gang back together

Release Date: 2013 & 2021
Platform: Wii U & Nintendo Switch

The cast is back again for a new adventure through the Sprixie Kingdom. This game’s highlight is definitely the Super Bell power-up that transforms Mario into a cat, letting you climb up walls and swat enemies away with sharp claws.

Super Mario 3D World didn’t do anything particularly new or different (Super Bell excluded) from any other 3D Mario game, much like some of the best Legend of Zelda games. Still, it took an established formula and made it fun and unique again. Between the Captain Toad levels and the later addition of Bowser’s Fury, a separate campaign with Mario teaming up with Bowser Jr. to save his father, this Mario game is overflowing with things to enjoy.

6

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Course clear perfected

Release Date: 2023
Platform: Nintendo Switch

Mario games are generally categorized into two genres: course-clear games and sandbox exploration games. Super Mario Bros. Wonder falls into the course-clear category and is easily the best of them.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings together all the greatest things about Mario games: fun hats, quirky power-ups, tons of character options, multiplayer chaos, and some light RPG elements with the badge system. All this comes together to give a near-perfect 2D Mario experience. If anything holds Super Mario Bros. Wonder back, it’s that other 2D games have managed to perfect that side-scrolling experience years ago, and it lacks some of the depth of other 3D games.

5

Super Mario Bros. 3

All the world’s a stage

Release Date: 1988
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System & GameBoy Advance

Two brothers face off against seven children and their villainous father to save seven brand-new kingdoms in an adventure modeled after a stage play. Super Mario Bros. 3 transformed the games from a series of stages to a true adventure.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of Super Mario Bros. 3 is how it approached the game’s secrets. Players have tons of things to uncover on their own. Mario can fall behind white blocks in levels to go ‘behind’ the stage, discover warp whistles that take you to the final stage, and find coin-triggered White Mushroom houses with special power-ups.

It is hard to place some of the best entries in one of the longest-running gaming series in a way that places it in context with every other amazing game that Mario has to offer. Super Mario Bros. 3 is an exceptional game that is only beaten by other fantastic games that barely manage to edge it out thanks to advancements in technology and style.

4

Super Mario Bros.

First steps

Release Date: 1985
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System

The original Super Mario Bros. is a tale of overcoming insurmountable odds. Platformers were nothing new to gaming when Super Mario Bros. came around, but it perfected the art. Mario could travel through an entire level without the need for pesky loading screens. The controls were simple, and the game guided you through new mechanics as they came up.

Super Mario Bros. has one of the longest legacies in gaming, spawning a huge number of sequels and spinoffs from multiplayer party games to role-playing games and even a few stints at the Olympics. Koji Kondo’s legendary music, memorable enemy design, and unique power-ups to tie everything together make for a fantastic game even 40 years later. Super Mario Bros. barely shows its age, with a rather straightforward approach to level design that was considered groundbreaking at the time.

3

Super Mario 64

Venturing into three dimensions

Release Date: 1996
Platform: Nintendo 64

What hasn’t been said about Super Mario 64 by this point? When Super Mario 64 was in development, playing a game in a 3D space was barely a concept. Sure, others came before it, but Super Mario 64 came down with that Nintendo polish and pushed all those other games out.

Have you ever noticed that Mario leans into his runs? Or did you know that Mario could lose his hat in a few stages, causing him to suffer more damage from enemies? This game has so much to explore and discover; even the levels themselves have things to uncover, as the non-linear level design lets you play however you like.

2

Super Mario Odyssey

An epic adventure

Release Date: 2017
Platform: Nintendo Switch

There’s one thing that Super Mario Odyssey does so well: it gives off an incredible amount of charm. Mario’s hat gets its own personality when Cappy takes over the iconic red cap, giving Mario a whole new way to interact with the world around him.

That first time you take over, a surprisingly realistic T-Rex lets you know you’re in for a unique adventure. Between stacking Goombas, taking over other, taller humans, and collecting almost 1,000 moons, you have so much to discover in Super Mario Odyssey. It truly is one of the absolute best games on the Switch. Perhaps one of the biggest achievements of this game is that it truly feels like an advancement of Super Mario 64 by letting players truly explore huge landbox-style levels, securing it as one of the best Mario games ever made.

1

Super Mario World

Peak gaming experience that transcends time

Release Date: 1990
Platform: Super Nintendo & GameBoy Advance

Remember how good Super Mario Bros. 3 was? Well, what if it was even better? Super Mario World is one of the biggest achievements in gaming as a genre and easily one of the best games of all time. This epic adventure perfectly balances casual challenges and gaming nostalgia.

Exploration is the name of the game. With a whole new world to discover, secrets tucked away in all 96 levels, and so much charm in each level, it never gets tiring, even when you repeat the same stage multiple times. Super Mario World has some of the smoothest and most accurate gameplay on the Super Nintendo, setting the standard for excellence for platforms to this day.

Every entry is a gem

Picking the best Mario game is hard, incredibly hard. Sometimes, the difference between two games is as small as a power-up or a little extra polish on a stage or two. Some amazing games in the greater Mario universe could be contenders against these core Mario games. That said, all the games here are near perfect and have remained spectacular experiences years later, both for a replay and for the first time. There is possibly no “best” place to dive right in, though Super Mario World would be my pick.