Super Mario World, very fun stuff.

1) Super Mario Galaxy
2) Super Mario World
3) Super Mario Sunshine
4) Super Mario 64
5) Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) [no, this is not a joke. ]

Regarding 3/4...I could go either way on those. Mario Sunshine has loooooads of flaws, but it's still lots of fun. Mario 64 is probably the better game, but its effing HORRIBLE camera controls knocks it down a notch. Especially now that we have 3D Mario games whose cameras don't make you want to bash your head through the TV.

I think Sunshine was a missed opportunity. FLUDD makes the game feel very unlike a Mario game. They could have launched a new franchise there that would have felt more fitting, but the rampant forces of mascot milking and sequelization are unstoppable in the video game industry.

I agree, it was a good game despite its flaws. Perhaps I rate it so lowly among Mario games because I don't think of it as a Mario game (in much the same way I don't think of Mario 2 [USA] as one), which is unfair, but hard to avoid when Nintendo insists on plastering Mario's plumbery face on every mother plumbing game.

I'm going to say Super Mario Land, because it always keeps me coming back just to hear the music.

I'd say that Mario 3, Mario 64, and Mario Galaxy were the landmarks in Mario's evolution. Each of those three left me feeling as if I was playing a Mario game for the first time; each managed to reinvent the series in such a way that it brought classic ideas into a new context.

Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64 were my favourites!

Mario kart overall. But if we are going with adventure mario, I'd have to say... Super Mario 64!

My top 3
1:Super Mario World (SNES) (Best Mario EVER!)
2:Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) (Even though I haven't played anything but the first level, you know the little green one with the bunnies?)
3:Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)

1 super mario galaxy
2 smb3
3 super mario land 2

donkey kong isnt an official mario game...mario was called jumpman, the game didn't have the word mario in it and mario games r based around bowser kidnapping peach not DK kidnapping pauline...

So by that definition Mario Land 2 isn't a Mario game, despite Mario being the main character, since Wario is the main boss? Interesting. And Jumpman is Mario according to Miyamoto. Think of Jumpman as his superhero name.

Paper Mario

16 bit version of Super Mario Bros. 3.

I can't decide with these three, but yeah...Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64 are mine.

SMB 2 is my favorite Mario game of all time, followed closely by Super Mario World. After that, I'd say Mario Galaxy.

Super Mario World will always been seen as the greatest Mario and LUIGI (Yeah thats right, Luigi too!) in my eyes.

SMW is my favourite, closely followed my SM3. I've enjoyed all of the Mario games to some extent, and thinking about this makes me want to go and play Galaxy again.
And regarding Sunshine, I thought it was great just for the fact I could ride Yoshi in 3D.

Super Mario World SNES

I just really wish that New Super Mario would have been a true sequel to World but it wasn't.

My top 5:

1 Super Mario Bros. 3
2 Super Mario World
3 New Super Mario Bros.
4 Super Mario Galaxy
5 Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins

Most under-rated Mario game: Super Mario Bros. 2 -- It's way better than the official sequel and was a stroke of genius from Nintendo of America to swap games.

Most over-rated Mario game: Super Mario 64 -- I respect its 3D achievements more than I actually want to play it!

I think it feels and plays bland, but because it was the first in 3D everyone loves it. Zelda and Metroid made the switch to 3D in a more a graceful way. Super Mario Galaxy is the first 3D Mario game that I love.

Super Mario World. Greatest platformer in existence. Perfect in every way; unlike other games, I never got frustrated with it. I always feel pure joy when playing it, and it's the game that got me into video gaming, for good or bad.