@Cotillion I agree with you about Super Mario 64. I played it when I was very young but I realised that the only thing that isn't right is the soundtrack with just a few repeated melodies. I know Nintendo had done that before but the soundtrack of SM64 isn't very good except a few tracks like Jolly Roger Bay. The rest of the game is awesome, especially the tight combination of exploration and platforming, the varied gameplay and locations and how fun collecting stars is. A remake would prove how great this game still is (not as great as Banjo-Kazooie though ).
@MarioLover92 That was an awesome addition to the thread. Although I don't necessarily agree with the ranking it's yours and you described the games perfectly and with that agree. It's a very consistent and fair summary.
I have technically played every game, but progress made and time spent vary significantly. So I'm going to rank them based on time spent, and I'm pretty happy with the outcome produced, as it reflects how I feel about the games.
7. Super Mario 64 - I never had an N64 so my first taste of this game wasn't until I played the DS version on my N3DS, or maybe the VC version on Wii U. I like it but don't know what I'm doing enough with it enough yet to have developed strong thoughts on it. More time required.
6. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Only started playing this recently, not got that far yet. Level design seems great, and Yoshi is great, but it does feel rather soul-less compared to Galaxy, and that, so far at least, makes a difference to me. Looking forward to finding out if the rest of the game can change my mind.
5. Super Mario Sunshine - Love what I've played of it so far, but the inverse axis on the control sticks is a pig, and I do have a sense of not really knowing where I should be going next when in the hub world.
4. Super Mario 3D Land - Great fun, great music, nice tight levels: if I'm replaying a level to find a Star coin it doesn't feel a chore because none of the levels seem that long. Portability gives it extra points too.
Super Mario Odyssey - Great fun on the first playthrough, liked the minigames with online scoreboards. Some terrific, standout moments. Haven't played much post-game yet, and not sure how replayable I'll find it. Dislike the half-tone effect when the camera gets close to things.
Super Mario Galaxy - This was one of the very first retail console games I ever bought myself and is what I most remember of my original time with the Wii (think I bought it same day as the console. Didn't play Wii that much subsequently, but then began collecting around 2013) Love the atmosphere, the music, the star bits. The boss battles are intense but fun. Just an iconic Wii game and deservedly heralded as one of the best.
1. Super Mario 3D World - Co-op.
Co-op.
Co-op.
Co-op counts. Proper co-op. None of this secondary player BS you get with Galaxy and Odyssey.
Because of the co-op this is my most played Mario game (excepting Mario Karts). I've played hours and hours with my daughter as she was growing from about 4-6 yrs. Such a fun, good-looking game. I like the linearity, but with the occasional more open environments thrown in.
@Ralizah That was a very professional post! I’m glad you joined us!
Super Mario 64 has aged horribly , I agree, and I do think that people praise it to much. Super Mario Galaxy is right where it should be. That game is a truly life-changing game.
I agree about Super Mario odyssey, I feel like the motion controls were pushed on me when I didn’t want them too. And there were so much more to do after the credits role.
Thank you for your time and posting to this thread!
@Ralizah I’m glad someone else agrees 3D world is a great game. I hated the co-op in most other 3d games, especially Odyssey. I would like to jump around like Mario, not control a freaking hat lol
1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Super Mario 3D World
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2
4. Super Mario 64
5. Super Mario 3D Land
6. Super Mario 64DS
7. Super Mario Sunshine
8. Super Mario Odyssey
I'm actually a newer Nintendo fan (since 2009 or so; before that, my best gaming memories almost all relate to older Playstation consoles, aside from a smattering of fun games experience on the GBA, GC, and NDS), and it was SMG that brought me into the fold. I was never a fan of the Wii and mostly ignored it as an obnoxious gimmick device. I fell out of the hobby big time last gen, as my favorite genres disappeared and were replaced with endless games about angry white dudes with guns, but that all changed when I chanced to replay my brother-in-law's copy of SMG on the Wii one morning out of sheer boredom. It was a... revelatory experience, and played a huge role in reigniting my passion for the hobby.
I dug out my older gaming equipment and started trying various Nintendo games I happened to have collected over the years and mostly ignored. They weren't all positive experiences (see: Super Mario 64), but my interest starting snowballing from there. ESPECIALLY after I bought a Nintendo 3DS. I played my first 3D Zelda game on that device (Ocarina of Time 3D, which I bought around the time of the price drop alongside Star Fox 64 3D), and it also introduced me to Atlus' excellent catalog of JRPG properties (before that, I was a fan of the Etrian Odyssey games on NDS, but I never realized the developer had created so many awesome series).
Well, didn't mean to bore you with all that, but it does tie into my passion for Galaxy.
And yeah, I'm not a huge co-op person in general (actually, I pretty much never play anything online with others unless its random and largely anonymous like in Splatoon), but 3D World does local co-op right, and it's almost perfectly balanced to allow for the player to have a good time regardless of how many people are playing.
It's a shame that game wasn't ported to the Switch (yet). I realize this is a massive cliche, but it feels almost perfectly suited to the capabilities of the device. Far moreso than Super Mario Odyssey.
@norwichred thank you for your ranking! May I ask why odyssey is at the very bottom? Otherwise, great list!
@Ralizah I’m very glad you have a deep love for Super Mario Galaxy like me. Games have gotten worse I think, most of them are shooters and mature video games, while Nintendo is the so-called “childish” one. But, sometimes childish games are what we need! I too played Galaxy at random. I had the flu (years ago, no need to worry lol) and my dad suggested I play Galaxy. I didn’t want to, but I did to make him happy. And in the end, it became my favorite game ever. I think galaxy could go great on the switch as well. Thanks so much for telling your experience! I enjoyed it!
I am an older gamer who has played every Mario game back to Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES on release day so I have been around these games a bit
But I also have two kids under the age of four so time to post is limited. I’ll try and put a detailed rationale for my entire list later but for now.....
Super Mario Odyssey is my biggest Mario disappointment of all time. I don’t really know entirely why but when I have thought about it I think there are two things....
1). I am not a fan and never have been on games which have ambiguity. Games where it’s not clear where you have to go. It’s why I love Burnout and don’t like Burnout Paradise for example. In games I like to always be clear about what. I have to do next. I felt in Odyssey there was too much freedom for me.
2). I find it interesting that Sunshine has Fludd and Odyssey Cappy and these are my two least favourite games. I know Mario has powers in all games but these seem to me to be beyond powers and adding a whole new level to the gameplay which I think over complicates a wonderful core dynamic of control and adds a level of complexity that I just don’t like.
Those are my brief thoughts. I’ll post more later....
But there are still things I love about Odyssey and I did complete it. The callbacks to 8 bit Mario I loved.
And I do plan to play through the game again at some point.
Please remember that someone of my ancient vintage can only really rate games with a high input of my feelings at the time but I have also tried to look at it with some present perspective.
in reverse order
Super Mario Odyssey
(Pasted) Super Mario Odyssey is my biggest Mario disappointment of all time. I don’t really know entirely why but when I have thought about it I think there are two things....
1). I am not a fan and never have been on games which have ambiguity. Games where it’s not clear where you have to go. It’s why I love Burnout and don’t like Burnout Paradise for example. In games I like to always be clear about what. I have to do next. I felt in Odyssey there was too much freedom for me.
2). I find it interesting that Sunshine has Fludd and Odyssey Cappy and these are my two least favourite games. I know Mario has powers in all games but these seem to me to be beyond powers and adding a whole new level to the gameplay which I think over complicates a wonderful core dynamic of control and adds a level of complexity that I just don’t like.
But there are still things I love about Odyssey and I did complete it. The callbacks to 8 bit Mario I loved.
And I do plan to play through the game again at some point.
Super Mario Sunshine
If this doesn’t come out remastered this year, then I will play through it again on my GPD Win Max when it arrives, because I really don’t remember it that well.
But what I do remember is that there was some spectacular ideas and breathtaking vistas - but I just remember frustration with the basic game mechanics. This, at the time, seemed unusual for a Mario game. I really look forward to reappraising it as I haven’t played it since the original release.
Super Mario 64DS
In my mind this is quite a different game to the original hence me ranking it seperately. Kudos to Nintendo for adding so much to it, but unfortunately the control system just hampered it too much for it to be successful. You really needed the stylus to get the precision of control but it made it soooooo frustratingly difficult....
Super Mario 3D Land
I was expecting so much from this, but really disappointed with it. As much as the 3D effects were impressive and added some clever extra layers to the gameplay, it just seemed too safe underneath if that makes sense. It seemed that they thought of 3D but didn’t really have any great ideas to underpin it.
Super Mario 64
Really touch and go which one was higher and I actually think in retrospect that this could be higher than Super Mario Galaxy 2. It’s hard for you young whippersnappers to think what gaming life was like at the time. No internet, no YouTube. I used to pore over the magazine shots of the game, and try and work out what it would be like in movement. How did it work? How would you actually play it? And then when it came out on demo booths in Woolworths, and I actually got to go hands on I was blown away. The N64 is still my favourite console of all time next to the SNES. It had so many wonderful experiences on it - but this was just the pinnacle. It had the gimmick but unlike 3D land it hand imaginative idea after imaginative idea. The water level where you could change the level, the clock, the submerged boat which could be raised. It just constantly blew me away with inventiveness. Another game lined up for a replay on the Win Max if it doesn’t get a remastered release on the Switch.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
I just felt this was too much of an extra level pack for the original rather than having radical new ideas. Of course, when the original is / was so good then an extra level pack will still be welcome but I felt the observatory hub of the first game was a preferable way of progression and the inventiveness of the original which truly shattered my expectations wasn’t matched by the second one.
Super Mario 3D World
I really can’t put a finger on why this grabbed me so much. I didn’t have a Wii U when it came out, and i remember being so dismissive. I think I even said something like : “Oh great - Nintendo are so desperate they’re releasing a remake of a 3D game on a 2D console”. But how wrong I was. I got the limited edition version with the strokable patch on the back of the cat on the box. And I played the HELL out of that game. The constant stream of inventiveness blew my mind - and the fact that it gave birth to a spin off with Captain Toad just underlines this.
A stunning game.
Super Mario Galaxy
There really is just nothing to say. Never been bettered in my opinion and just stunning from beginning to end. Constantly throwing new surprises at you, the core mechanic seemed as clever as Mario 64 did all that time before and I just adored it from start to finish.
Never played 64 DS, so my opinions will be firmly on the original release.
7: Super Mario Galaxy 2. Levels were much shorter, challenges felt rehashed. Some of the hidden collectables are a joke. I have never been particular towards Yoshi's controls, but controlling him in 3D feels very uncomfortable, from the tongue grappling and swallowing, to his hot-pepper mode.
6. Super Mario Odyssey. It's very hand-holdy and often too basic. It has some phenomenal highs, but everything else feels sub-par, between all the various minimal moons you collect. Levels also don't feel quite as evenly focussed as other Mario games.
5: Super Mario 3D Land. The game to really justify the 3D graphics on the 3DS. First half of the game is ridiculously easy and tame. Levels are rehashed along the way. Some great levels in the mix though, but it overall feels outdone by 3D World.
4: Super Mario Sunshine. Great world, dare I say the best hub world within games. Love navigating and floating around with FLUDD. Don't agree with all the mechanics, such as Blue Coins and the difficulty is wildly unbalanced, but its one of the best games to walk around in.
4: Super Mario 64. Controls have certainly gotten better over the past other Mario games and the flying controls really feel like a product of its time. But there is still plenty of creativity that remains in-tact with 64. I still love the labyrinth areas, the various obstacle courses. How this game would have you really digging for each coin. It nailed the difficulty for the most part. The secrets the game has you reveal within the castle are also great,
2: Super Mario 3D World. It oozes ingenuity. The level design structure is nailed to a T. The Cat-Suit is an excellent addition. The multiple characters and their power-ups being the same as SMB2 is a great detail that works well in this game. The Mario game I have played the most. While, I think Open-World Mario has more potential, 3D World's linear structure was done to the best of its ability.
1: Super Mario Galaxy. Constantly packing brand new surprises, in an atmosphere that can't be much more grandiose, Super Mario Galaxy is the pinnacle of Nintendo's games. Levels were always made in a way to constantly surprise you. Power-Ups are some of the most creative ones we have seen. Levels are wonderfully designed and not afraid to give a proper challenge. Have some issues with the Hub-World, but I love how easy it is to be sidetracked by missions of equal value.
Some people really don’t like when a game gives you plenty of options. I personally love freedom, but like I said, this discussion encourages opinion! The only thing I really liked about Sunshine was it’s beautiful graphics and visuals. The actual gameplay was a bit and miss. Too clunky and moving Mario was a pain.
I am one of those “young whippersnappers” that didn’t get to experience the pure joy of Mario back then. It is a rare experience, but I think it aged poorly.
I think the reason 3D world grabbed you was because of its nice visuals and improvement over 3D land. It is truly a wonderful game.
And yes, I’m glad someone else agrees Galaxy is deserving of it’s top spot.
@Kyloctopus thank you for your review! I too felt like Galaxy 2 was huge downgrade on the original. The whole magic of space was gone.
Super Mario sunshine has a truly fantastic hub with good music to have too. I think my problem with it is it as just so hard compared to other games in that time.
Super Mario Galaxy is so deserving of that #1.
1. Super Mario Odyssey (just the newest, biggest and best, with a fantastic variety of great stages and perfect platforming controls. I couldn't stop until I had every single moon, but I completed every Mario game 100%)
2. Super Mario 64 (cried in happyness about its beauty when I first saw it, bought this on launch with my N64 in March 1997, even 23 years later I know the game inside out, I know every secret and every single polygon, spent thousands of hours on it, completed it countless times, speedrunned it, and if someone put this into my console it would be hard to put down until I get all 120 stars all over again. Obviously I was there to pick up the DS version at launch as well, playing with Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi was a nice twist, just like the remixed levels and new content.)
3. Super Mario 3D World (the first and only 3D Mario game for 4 players simultaneously - makes it 4 times as fun, also adds a ton to Super Mario Maker 2's gameplay)
4. Super Mario Sunshine (i love the water/paint mechanics, the holiday feel, the world/island, the great music, the bosses and bonus stages are some of the best)
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (I found it bigger and better than the first one)
6. Super Mario Galaxy (still a 10/10)
7. Super Mario 3D Land (this is the only one that didn't do it for me like the others, I don't really care for it)
I would be interested to know whether those hatin' on Mario 64DS controls have played it on a DS or a 3DS. I've only played it using the Circle Pad on my N3DS, and it seems to control just fine to me (but I've not played much of it so maybe issues arise later...?).
@gcunit Both, the DS controls were hard and I let my brother play on the new 3DS so I stick to the original 3DS and it ( of course ) doesn't have a c stick. Does it work fine?
@Dark_Magician Sorry, I meant the Control Pad/Circle thing on the left. I never remember its official name, but it's not a stick is it so I'm gonna edit my earlier post 🥴
You guys had me at blood and semen.
What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?
@norwichred That was a very good comment, I'm happy that you decided to explain. I agree about Super Mario 64 completely, it is just so creative and fun to play. I agree also about Super Mario Galaxy but the motion controls while wall jumping and the small planets weren't good ideas in my opinion so that's why I didn't enjoy it as much as others.
@Apportal_SMM2 I don't think that the problem with Super Mario Odyssey for many fans is the freedom but the sandbox design with a lack of cohesion. Super Mario 64 and Sunshine also give players a lot of freedom but are tighter packages where exciting things happen and where one thing takes you to another. In Super Mario Odyssey you roam for moons and nothing really exciting happens outside the sweet short story.
@Kyloctopus Great comment too, it's evident that you have played them well enough and I agree with a lot of your points.
@gcunit Even if you play it on 3DS with the circle pad, the DS version has digital movement, just one walk speed and an additional button for running at a constant speed. On Nintendo 64, you have absolute control over Mario's speed and the whole game is designed around this. I love that there's no dash button but you change the speed with the stick, something that some modern games have changed, unfortunately, by adding a dash button.
Also, the DS version has awful pixelated textures and lacks advanced (at the time) graphic effects and processes that took advantage of the original hardware, such as metallic textures, antialiasing, etc.
@BlueOcean@gcunit I just going to list some made up games I want for the holidays. Super Mario Sunshine HD or Super Mario Odyssey 2. Super Mario Party 2U(Super Mario Party 2 Ultimate/ Super Mario Party Too Ultimate)! Super Mario Party 2U has all the best boards from The Mario Party Series , with a travel feature where the boards would be remixed into one board! I also want a new WarioWare game or A Super WarioWare Party game (Microgames from WarioWare with Mario Party boards and rules!) Some 3DS ports so you could play 3DS games on your TV I guess... Oh yeah and a NEW MARIO KART!
@Dark_Magician I haven't played Mario Kart 8 DX much because I played it too much on Wii U. I like the Mario Party Ultimate and the WarioWare ideas, something like that is available on 3DS, WarioWare Gold. I would love a Mario Kart Ultimate with all circuits included! Mario Kart 8 is not even my favourite.
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