Topic: 3D Mario Games

This thread is all about talking about and comparing the 3D Mario games. You can also share your own ranking and explain why you prefer or dislike certain games. Let's-a-go!

1. Super Mario Odyssey
2. Super Mario 64
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2
4. Bowser's Fury (yes, I count it separately)
5. Super Mario 3D World
6. Super Mario Galaxy
7. Super Mario Sunshine

First of all, I'm a big sandbox Mario fan. I grew up with Mario 64 and it's still my no. 1 nostalgia game. Only Odyssey surpasses it. Odyssey is the 3D Mario game I always wished for. But Sunshine somehow never did it for me. I didn't have a Gamecube, so I have zero nostalgia for it. And the game is just so repetitiv, frustrating, and glitchy that it's basically unplayable for me. I also don't like the first Galaxy that much. It is bursting with creativity, but lacking in focus. It's a strange in-beetween of sandbox and course clear that does not play well with me. Galaxy 2 on the other hand is awesome! It leans more into the course clear style and has much more focus and imo better designed levels and objectives. With 3D World I initially had my problems. It felt like a 2D Mario, only in 3D. But over the years I learned to appreciate it more and my last playthrough on the Switch was a blast! It made me appreciate the course clear style a lot more. The levels are so well designed and the music is just great. It's also great for playing in short bursts on the Switch! And Bowser's Fury is just an amazing experiment. It blends the sandbox and course clear elements so well! It was really refreshing to play. It seems like a mix of all the previous 3D Mario games.

So what are your opinions about all the 3D Mario games?
Looking forward to some other opinions!

1. Super Mario 64 DS
2. Super Mario 64
3. Super Mario Odyssey
4. Super Mario Sunshine
5. Super Mario Galaxy
6. Bowser's Fury
7. Super Mario 3D World
8. Super Mario 3D Land
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2

3D Mario is generally tough to rank, so I guess this would be my list. I do know that Super Mario 64 DS is my favorite and my least favorite would be Super Mario Galaxy 2. Beyond that, I'm not 100% positive about where these games are. Super Mario 64 has the most memorable courses and music of the 3D Mario games, so Super Mario 64 DS is my favorite as it is that and more. Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't a bad game at all, but it feels too lost in its identity to stack up well with the quality found in the rest of the 3D Mario games.

My ranking would be:
1. Super Mario Odyssey
2. Super Mario Galaxy
3. Super Mario Sunshine
4. Bowser's Fury
5. Super Mario 64 DS
6. Super Mario 64

3D Land/World are fundamentally much more similar to the 2D games IMO, so I don't tend to consider them when ranking 3D Mario games (that said, the 3D aspect makes them very difficult to compare to the 2D titles!). I've also not played enough of Super Mario Galaxy 2 to form an opinion, but my first impression is that it's similar enough to Galaxy that it would probably rank at a similar level.

I'm generally of the opinion that the 3D Mario games get better with every installment. I too have an overall preference for more "sandbox"-style Mario games...but Galaxy was just so good that it had to rank over Sunshine (which is not without its flaws) and 64 (which has aged quite a bit). Pretty much every title in this series has been revolutionary, and I personally think that Odyssey is the best 3D platformer ever created.

Is there anybody else like me, who doesn’t like Galaxy 1, but does like Galaxy 2? To me these two games feel very different. They look the same, but to me they are nothing alike.

Also what is your opinion on Sunshine? I can’t get into this game. Even in the first level after only a few sun sprites I get bored and frustrated at the same time.

@dionysos283
"Is there anybody else like me, who doesn’t like Galaxy 1, but does like Galaxy 2?"

Me. 🖐
I have both Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2.
I have finished the first game, still working on the second game.
SMG1 was painful with some of the world really hard to clear.
SMG2 was quite easier but it had worse presentation since from the beginning of the game and world mapping design.
FLUDD from Mario Sunshine was a mess.
Aiming the water gun in Mario Sunshine was really awful than Ratchet & Clank games.
I was thinking Ratchet & Clank games generally were better than 3D Mario games.

1) Super Mario Galaxy
2) Super Mario Galaxy 2
3) Super Mario Odyssey
4) Super Mario 3D World
5) Super Mario 64
6) Bowser's Fury
7) Super Mario 3D Land
8) Super Mario Sunshine
9) Super Mario 64 DS

The top 4 could easily share the number 1 spot, they are that good. Those games have some truly fantastic levels/worlds and music, and in general they are just a blast to play! SM64 is easily my most nostalgic 3D Mario game, though admittedly, it has aged in quite a few areas. I don't like the Bowser fights either, but overall it's still a good game. Bowser's Fury is a nice combo of 3D World and Odyssey. My only real problem though, is how Fury Bowser fights are made. They pretty much give the player infinite Giga Bells during these fights, which makes things too easy.

3D Land is a good game for sure, though it kind of feels like a New Super Mario Bros. game in 3D. More so than its sequel, of course, although it does make some nice use of the 3DS's 3D screen. I put SMS pretty low on the list. I think it controls pretty good and I love its tropical setting, but it has its fair share of problems. Some of the shine sprites are insanely hard to get, even for the wrong reasons...and they made the game so that instead of getting a certain amount of shine sprites in any world, including Delfino Plaza itself, you're required to beat Shadow Mario in each of the 7 worlds. Why couldn't they have the same progression method as the last game?

As for SM64DS, I would have liked it more if I didn't need to use the control pad to move, and that it was made for the 3DS or something. I really like how it added more content to the original game, but it doesn't feel the greatest to control, so it's not my favorite way to play SM64.

1. Galaxy
2. Odyssey
3. Bowser's Fury
4. 3D World
5. Sunshine
6. 64
7. 3D Land

3D Land was fine & certainly polished, but just never came across as memorable to me. 64 was groundbreaking & it still feels ambitious in ways, but I found it a slog to play through today. Sunshine is good fun & unique, though a bit glitchy & uneven in spots. 3D World wasn't the most ambitious game, but it's tight, full of charm, & the kind of game that just puts a smile on your face from beginning to end. Bowser's Fury takes the 3D World approach and is a nice test run on how that translates to open world. It gets a bit repetitive but is a fantastic showpiece I hope to see built upon (plus, Fury Bowser himself is just so cool). Odyssey is just a very fun, very modern Mario title with a fun central gimmick and cool worlds (like Metro Kingdom & Wooded Kingdom, and Bowser's Castle being a legit Japanese castle was ace). Galaxy is just the best though. The most epic Mario adventure ever.

1. Galaxy
2. Galaxy 2
3. Odyssey
4. 64
5. 3D World
6. 3D Land
7. Sunshine
8. 64 DS (not counting the minigames, which would at least put it above Sunshine)

I do need to replay some of these someday, I feel like another playthrough might change my mind for some of them. Odyssey in particular, since my opinion 15 hours in vs 35 hours in vs. in hindsight are all different.

When do you guys think the next 3D Mario will come out? The longest time between two 3D Marios was from Mario 64 to Sunshine (6 years). Given that the BotW sequel will (probably) be released next year, a new 3D Mario for 2022 is very unlikely. So I guess it will be another 6 years at least. Which is strange, since an asset-reusing sequel to Odyssey would have made the most sense. Especially since Odyssey didn't get any paid DLC. So what do guys make of this?

Six months after BOTW2

@1UP_MARIO
My suspicion is that the next 3D Mario is planned and held back for a Switch revision with additional features and/or performance, which this game will then take advantage of. Therefor giving people a reason to buy the new system. This may be a Switch 2, or a Switch Pro. Otherwise the absence of a sequel to Odyssey at this point would make no sense to me.

@dionysos283 it’s definitely being held. BOTW2 is coming because they had a lot of ideas kind of like how galaxy 2 came for the wii. It’s Nintendo they don’t usually make no sense.

With the switch selling well and it’s software selling great, they are playing it safe and 3d Mario or kart is not needed yet

@1UP_MARIO
I hope we still get an Odyssey 2. This game had so much untapped potential! I hope the dev team makes the game even bigger and more creative with the extra time they have.

What's everyone's opinion on Bowser's Fury? I for one had a lot of fun with it! It was a pretty cool idea to combine course clear type platforming with a semi-open sandbox level. I heard some voices claiming that this is the future of 3D Mario. But I sincerely hope not. It was a fun diversion for 6-8 hours, but basing a whole 30 hour game on this? Thanks, but no thanks.

What's your opinion on this?

@Snaplocket
Can you elaborate on this? So you don't like Odyssey that much? What are your favorite 3D Mario games? You can also share your ranking, if you like. 😉

1. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
2. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
3. Super Mario 64 DS
4. Super Mario Sunshine
5. Super Mario Odyssey
6. Super Mario 3D Land
7. Super Mario 64

@dionysos283 I know its never going to happen, But I would love a mario maker that Was in the bowser's fury Format, So ya, I love BF, But As a 2d/3d mario game, and not a full 3D mario game like ODY or Sunshine.

I love all 3d Marios.

1 Mario 64 most replayed
2 galaxy 2

3 bowsers fury
4 sunshine
5 galaxy

6 3d world
7 3d land

8 m64 ds
All great games so all number 1.

Edit. Wow I forgot to put odyssey. I’ll put that in between bowsers fury and sunshine

@Snatcher
That would be awesome!!
But as you said, it's pretty unlikely. Especially since Mario Maker 2 didn't meet Nintendo's expectations.

Yeah I loved Odyssey, so I hope so too! Though, I don't think they're making it, unfortunately. Unless they're working on it in secret. But I would imagine that for the next 3D Mario game, Nintendo's gonna wait until they make their next console.