Top 15 Mario Games

If you folks didn't know, the Let's Play Community is one of three main communities revolving around video games. The second is the reviewing community, and the third is the countdown community. I find it interesting that my videomaking is solely LPing, but I am active in all of the other communities to an extent by means of my writing here and on Epinions.

Why am I mentioning this? Simple. I saw rabbidluigi's Top Ten Mario Games, a countdown that he let his fans decide the results. His personal favorite, Super Mario World, wound up as #7 on the list. Given the results of that lisst, I figure I should give my input, because while I loved that some of my favorites were on the list, the ones that were above them really disappointed me.

So I've upped the ante. Here's my Top 15 Mario Games. Here's the guidelines:

-Any game that has the word "Mario", "Yoshi", or "Luigi" is acceptable.
-Any game that features a Mario character as the main playable character is acceptable.
-The Wario Land and WarioWare games are off-limits (so that means that Wario Land 1 won't be on the list despite being branded "Super Mario Land 3"). They deviate too far to be considered Mario games.
-Any Donkey Kong game where you play as Donkey Kong and co. is also off-limits. They're practically their own franchise.
-Mario spin-offs such as Mario Party or Mario Golf are all acceptable.
-Only one version of a game may appear on the list.

Without further delay, let's begin.

#15 - Mario Party 7 (GC)

This one might be a bit byist because of the fact that this is the first Mario Party game that I played, but this one is my favorite of the bunch. The minigames feel more classic than the other ones. The boards are less gimmicky. The game relies very little on luck. The AI isn't terrible. The Bowser and DK minigames are some of the greatest minigames in all party games.

I just love it. I play this one all of the time with my friends instead of the other ones that people seem to enjoy more.

On a side note, Mario Party 8 sucks.

#14 - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)

I figure I should just say it now. All of the Mario RPGs except for three are on this list. The Mario RPG franchise is one of the greatest things to happen to the genre. Instead of simply going through menus like most other RPGs, Squaresoft realized that it needed something more. It managed to blend the turn-based RPG with a real-time RPG by allowing players to actually press buttons at the right time to make attacks more powerful. It's a great system and it has been used in every Mario RPG since. Another game perfected it, however.

Fact is, this game is a classic. It has a bit of problems that most RPGs had at the time - tons of items and armor to manage for every character, one character that isn't really useful, bosses that appear out of nowhere, etc. But the fact remains that the game is still really fun. For a unique Mario RPG experience, pick up this one on the Virtual Console.

#13 - Super Mario 64

Ever since I put Super Mario 64 on my top 15 games of all time list, I began to remember all of the flaws that the game had. It was extremely innovative, but it just didn't feel perfectly put-together like the later 3D Marios. Some stars you can get by selecting other stars and some you can't. The boss battles aren't really that good. The levels all feel like floating islands rather than part of a cohesive world, which may have been a design choice given that the worlds reside in paintings, but still just feel out-of-place as a result.

It's not a bad game. The controls for Mario in this game are the best 3D Mario controls to date. If they took this Mario and just added the spin from Super Mario Galaxy, you have the ideal Mario. Maybe it's just me, but Mario feels really floaty in the Galaxy games. Either way, it's definitely not bad and it's a must-play.

#12 - Mario Superstar Baseball (GC)

I picked up this game with the hopes of having a nice game to just play every once in a while. I didn't even dream of having a game this good. The exhibition games are fun, but it's the challenge mode that makes this game so unique.

It has RPG elements. Yup.

Basically your goal is to play against other baseball teams led by other Mario characters and recruit all of the players onto your team to fight Bowser. In order to do this your team must clear scout missions, which are missions that randomly pop into games and give you a challenge like "Get a hit!" or "Get the player out!". There are also star missions, which unlock the star characters of the game.

I could explain the game further, but the fact remains that it's an incredible baseball game that gives it a Mario twist without being gimmicky. So much fun.

#11 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GC)

When Nintendo and Intellegent Systems decided to make a sequel to their universally loved Paper Mario, they knew that they had to improve. And that's exactly what they did.

The plot is deeper. The partners have more character depth. The partners have HP. Each chapter actually feels like a full story. The game has a huge emotional impact, specifically with Peach. The plot isn't predictable. The game looks better. The battles have a unique theater setup where you aim to please the audience to gain Star power for your special attacks. The music is better. The Pit of 100 Trials is really fun.

The only problem I have with the game is that you constantly have to backtrack. Chapter 4 may have a great story, but I hate it because of how tedious it is to go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, from Twilight Town to Creepy Steeple to Twilight Town to Creepy Steeple and back and forth all over again. It's still a fun game if you can forgive it.

#10 - Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA)

There was this game called Donkey Kong, and it was Nintendo's first success. So when they made their first handheld, the Game Boy, they ported the game to it.

Or so we thought.

Little did we know that this game spawned a series of puzzle platformers that is still going strong to this day. The first sequel is my favorite of the bunch because it perfected the formula that the Game Boy game set without the crappy touch controls of the later iterations.

It's fun, unique, and never gets old. It's an incredibly underrated masterpiece.

#9 - Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) (NES)

I don't understand it. Why is changing the gameplay setup a bad thing?

See, back in the 1980s, people didn't know how to make sequels except for Capcom (who today is known for making sequels and remakes with little innovation). Zelda II was different. Dig Dig II was different. Super Pac-Man was different. The difference between these games and Mario 2 is that Mario 2 is really, really fun.

If you don't like that Doki Doki Panic became a Mario game, fine. But it's still a great game.

I personally prefer this one on the NES. Nothing really spectacular was added in the GBA version.

#8 - Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA)

Did you know that the original Super Mario World didn't have all of the Dragon Coins?

Yeah, that's right. Some of the Bowser Valley levels only have two dragon coins. I don't know whether they just got lazy or they just accidentally got cut out, but they're not there. To be honest, that's the only reason I chose this port over the original.

This game's focus defines what a game's focus should be: the gameplay. Modern games have extremely long cutscenes to creat emotional impact and all of that, but the fact remains that if the game isn't good, then it doesn't matter. So Super Mario World did that. The game is great, despite having some flaws. That's what's important.

#7 - Super Paper Mario (Wii)

It's pretty weird that right after talking about a game that doesn't have long cutscenes we have a game that is notorious for long cutscenes. The thing is that those cutscenes might be some of the most touching cutscenes in all of Mario.

This game's story is by far the best story in a Mario game. It's touching, unique, and all flows perfectly. The music always fits the mood perfectly and the gameplay is unique and wonderful - instead of being a turn-based RPG, this one is a RPG platformer: a game that plays like a Mario sidescroller while having all of the items and HP and leveling up from the other Mario RPGs.

I love this game, and you should too. It's the best Paper Mario game.

#6 - Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)

This game is redemption. Partners in Time was disappointing all the way around, but this one redeemed the series. It was hilarious, unique, innovative, fun, and all-around great. Fawful was a phenomenal villain, and Bowser was a hilarious proagonist despite being oblivious to his partnership with the Mario Bros. It's pure genius in both story, gameplay, and music. I love it.

#5 - Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

It took me a while, but I think I finally have come to the conclusion that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is better than the original. The only thing it did worse was make less memorable levels. Other than that, the game did a lot of things right:

-Yoshi.
-The Cloud Flower, which is the best Powerup in a 3D Mario game.
-A more linear approach than the original's fake open-world approach. It looked like you could explore when you really can't. I prefer the linear approach.
-Green Stars, which practically prove that one of the greatest things about Mario is doing things that you wouldn't normally do.

Overall, it's a great game, despite lacking in memorability.

#4 - Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)

I think that, for most people, this is the definitive Mario game. There's not much to say about it, really. It's just the the best port of the classic Super Mario Bros. 3. It has the best music, the best level design, and the best game feel of all of the Mario NES games, and it was remade for the GBA with better sound and graphics. What's not to love?

#3 - Super Mario Land 2 (GB)

This game is the best main Mario 2D platformer. Its level design is the best. Its music is the best. Its game feel is the best. Its nonlinear map is the best. Its final level is the best. The Carrot is the best. EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!

#2 - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

I love this game so much. It's the best Mario RPG, and it somehow manages to be better than even the best games from the main Mario series. Its humor is spot-on, and its dialogue is funny as hell. Other than Joke's End, all of the areas are enjoyable and the game isn't as linear as the Paper Mario games because you go back to places you have been to before and discover new places to go with the new tools you get as you progress through the game.

Just go and play this game.

#1 - Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)

The perfect video game.

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I hope you all enjoyed this list! Go and check out my game reviews if you haven't already. Not all of my reviews have been posted here, so go to www.epinions.com and find some of the reviews by MML129.