PixlBit

Wow. I need to try some of these. Some I've played, but others not. The Galaxy games are ones I haven't. Would love to give them a run.

They're some of my all time favorite games

I agree that Super Mario World is superior to 3, even if we are in  the minority. It just feels tighter, and I liked the level design more.

 Out of this list I've played: Super Mario World, Super Mario Brothers 3, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Land. Huh, I've actually played more than I thought.

Pretty much agree

I did love Super Mario World as a kid, but I never did get the hang of that cape. Whatever level that was my older brother would play with the cap and a shit-ton of coins always had me asking "How are you doing that? I can never get that to work?" I actually didn't play Super Mario Bros. 3 until much later, and now that I know how the Tanooki tail works, I can figure out the cape, but it wasn't coming to me as a kid. Not sure if I like SMB3 or World better. World would have to be the Mario game I remember most though, even though Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt was the first game I ever played. Speaking of which, I would like a light gun at home again.

I played Super Mario 64 a year or so after it came out and was not at all blown away by it. I have Super Mario 64 DS, which everyone says controls poorly because of the D-pad, but I actually think that and the camera are fine enough. I don't know that I'd blame any of my deaths in the game on either of those factors. I just never found Super Mario 64 all that interesting.

Super Mario Sunshine is probably the most fun I've ever had with a Mario game. I loved FLUDD and the platforming sections, but yeah, the game could get frustrating. As for the setting, I actually really liked that the main hub of the game was a tropical setting, while the levels themselves varied slightly more. I think that vacation feel may have calmed me down after particularly hard platforming segments. Maybe. Probably not. Fuck those squids you surf on. That part was fun, but damn did it get on my nerves after some failed attempts.

Even though I don't own a Wii or Wii U, I really want to play the Galaxy titles to see what all the fuss is about. Those seem to be pretty much everyone's favorite as far as modern Mario. 

I read "I'm Miya-fucking-Moto" as "I'm-a Miya Fucking Moto" in the same voice Mario would use to say "Mama Mia, Spicy Meatball"

Sunshine had a lot going for it, but also a lot going against it for me.

My favorite Mario games are Super Mario World, Mario 2 (USA), and Yoshi's Island.  But I actually like Kirby games much more.

Knew you'd bring up Kirby

I still need to play Sunshine. My only comment is I wouldn't rank the Mario Land games for Gameboy so high. Good list though!

of course on second thought and reviewing your list, I don't know how they could be lower!

I thought I put the Land games up pretty fairly. 1 was bad, 2 was good, 3 was great

The wiimote ruined the SMG game for me.  

I didn't mind it. Think outside the occasional bonus level, they kept a very minimalist approach with it

I really dislike the wiimote.  I wish Nintendo have you an option to use a normal controller like they do with some of the other Wii games.  That level where I had to ride a dolphin and tilt the wiimote to turn was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I died about 10 on that level and didn't make it much pass the starting line.  I kept thinking, "why can't they let you use the damn d-pad?"  One of these days I'll give the games another shot.  It doesn't help that the only 3D Mario game I ever enjoyed was Super Mario 64 and after playing so many Mario games, I'm all Mario'ed out.  They really need to start spacing out those games more.  

I don't have any huge complaints about your list, just some nitpicks here and there, like counting Super Mario Land 3 when it's really a Wario game. If you're going to do that, you'll also have to include Wario Land 2 through 4, plus all the other spin-offs (like Wario Land Shake It).

Well, I guess I do have one big complaint--your placement of Super Mario 64. You obviously don't seem to be factoring historical significance into your rankings, but even so, the game's free-roaming gameplay has aged well, and even the graphics are tolerable thanks to their clean, well-defined textures. In honesty, it's only real flaws are a sloppy camera and occasionally fussy controls. You may want to reexamine this game, or at least try the DS remake (which I notice you didn't include here).

I do appreciate your insights into the 3-D Land and World games, however. They're fine titles, but yep, they're pretty much the 2-D games skewed sideways. 3-D World, however, at least changes the formula enough within certain levels to keep things interesting.

(And, as a side note, what is up with all that Rosalina worship, anyway?)

The thing about the first Wario Land is it did adhere to the Mario formula still in a way future Wario games did not. There was still dying, power ups were lost when you got hit rather than sometimes gained if done a certain way. It's kind of a bridge between the two series, belonging in both at once before Wario did his own thing.

Everything you say about 64 doesn't change how poorly the controls have aged. And I did play the DS version. It controlled even worse. My opinion of it is from a reassessment of it I did this year. It's just what I think. I think you are just looking at it with rose tinted lenses too much.

You're incorrect about some of those later Wario Land games--many did sport a life bar and powerups, including Wario Land 4, Wario Land VB, and Wario Land Shake It. Additionally, the first Wario Land game felt nothing like a Mario game, even if it did sport powerups (which were also nothing like traditional Mario abilities). I mean, the fact Mario's barely even in the game makes the presence of it in your list a debatable one. But no biggie.

As for Mario 64, I have played it recently and find no real error with the controls. In fact, outside a few quirks, I think they're still pretty wonderful (it was the game that sold everyone on the analog stick, after all). That said, compared to simpler, more accessible games like Mario 3-D World, I can see how someone might find the controls trickier or harder to manage. Anyway, have you tried Mario 64 DS on a 3DS? Using the circle pad makes a world of difference there, although you'll have to hold a button down to run which is admittedly a slight bummer. Either way, I think a stronger case can be made against Mario 64's camera, which is indeed obnoxious in more demanding areas.

Using the Circle Pad made no difference to me on the DS. It still controlled like ass. And it still controls like ass on N64. Nothing you say will change my mind on that. It's pretty clear you've spent quite some time with it and are used to its controls. But that doesn't mean they aged well

Ha, ha. You inspired me to actually go to my Wii and play the VC version I had downloaded ages ago. Still can't find any serious problem with the controls, although they do feel "weightier" than later Mario games, and maybe thus a tad less precise. Guess we'll just have to disagree on their overall quality, though.

That camera, on the other hand, is still pretty obnoxious.

Super Mario Bros. 3 will never be toppled in my eyes. Maybe if World actually did something with its world map, like what 3 did by turning the map into a game itself, it would challenge 3. Both are perfect vidoe games, but 3 is just a little bit perfecter.

I loathe 3D platformers, so none of those would make the list, except maybe 3D World since there is a bit more (but not much more) precision required.

I think Galaxy 1 and especially 2 require a good amount of precision, especially in later segments. I tend to prefer those over the collectathon 3D platformers which dominated the N64 even though I like both. It's why I'll always insist Crash Bandicoot 2 and 3 are better than Mario 64

Those N64 collectathons... More like faltformers, because that's what you did: run and jump around broad, flat surfaces. That's where my loathing comes from, and few 3D platformers have disabused me of the notion that three dimensions is just not very good for platforming.

Mario 64 is when the series jumped the shark, imo.  People were so impressed by the 3D, yet the mechanics and design of the game were awful to me. Galaxies are way better than 64, I just wouldn't have them in a top 10 list.   I like Ratchet and Clank as action games, but there is hardly any platforming most of the time.  Jak and Daxters have the same problems as those N64 games. I never played Crash(s) past the demos, but I've watched videos and it looks like they had some seriously intense platforming. Now those 3rd person Prince of Persia games definitely worked for me; they solved the problems of 3D platformers by not trying to take 2D and just give it another axis. They said "HItting tiny platforms is not going to be feasible in this perspective, so we'll find means by which precise interaction with surfaces better serve 3 dimensions." That's why a lot of it has to do with grabbing various types of poles, the rewind mechanic, traps, etc.

Couldn't help but read your comments. If you're looking for a straight and pure platformer, you can't go wrong with the Crash Bandicoot games. All you do, literally, is run forward and jump over holes. There are even 2-D platforming segments. And virtually no powerups beyond invicibility.

I'd recommend the first two if you're curious--even the graphics hold up better than most games of the era.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm looking at the last couple of Rayman games too.

But I do like my powerups. Being able to fly in SMB3 and World was the coolest shit ever at the time.

Crash isn't big on powerups, but the third game does have plenty of "vehicles" that act as powerups in many ways. So, if you want a platformer that's a little less stringent on the actual platforming, you might want to try this one first. It's probably my favorite of the three (it's also the most accessible), but it's really a matter of taste as they're all pretty good.

Crash Bandicoot 3 is in my top 3 games ever. Give it a shot

As you know by now, I love the Galaxy games and they're not only my favorite Mario games but my favorites of all time (and I worship Rosalina).

For Mario 64, guess we'll have to agree to disagree since the controls didn't age imo. I can see your reasoning though.

My other favorites would be 3 and the original odly enough. I would include World, but I need to restart it one of these days since I don't have a definitive opinion on it. I agree with you on 3D Land, good but not Galaxy or 64 awesome.

You should give World another go.

the only chnage that I would make to this list is to move SMB 2 up to spot number 5 and move everything else down one.  i have always had a soft spot for SMB 2, that is all.

It actually wasn't until fairly recently that I had decided that Super Mario World was my favourite of them all.  I had not played it for years, possibly 10 years and then decided to download it on the Wii.  I picked it up and my foggy memories of playing through the game came flooding back... and of course I started to notice all of the little awesome things that Nintendo put into the game...

I haven't played all of these but for the ones that I have, I agree with the ranking. I would place the original Super Mario Bros. higher but I grew up with that game and it's still fun to play.

"The Lost Levels" should've stayed lost. Blech.

I haven't played Super Mario Galaxy 2, but I agree with your number 1 100%.  I'd flip SMB3 and SMG1 around, but that would be my top 3.  I'm sure that would change once I play SMG2, but until then that's my Top 3.  

One great game you should definitely play if you haven't is Warioland on the Virtual Boy.  That game alone was worth owning the Virtual Boy.  

Good list. But it makes me wonder if NSMB2 suffered because it also tried to focus on the DLC offerings (if that's what you can call the time trials) that game was to have. Plus it seemed to try to be the total opposite of what the original SMB2 was to be. it was WAY too easy which is the opposite of the original japanese MB2.

If you switch 3 and 7, we'd basically have the same list.