Since we are celebrating Mario this year, has anyone else gone back to the earlier mainline platformers? I’ve been playing through most that are available on Switch) in release order. Here are my thoughts on what I’ve played so far - let me know what you think of the games and my takes!
Super Mario Bros
Classic, and somehow still fun to this day. Not a great game by today’s standards but does a great job of what it tries to be. Hit detection is brutal if you aren’t previously familiar with Mario’s square hit box. Probably one of the most important games of all time and worth playing even if it’s only through the first few worlds.
Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
Actual sadism by Nintendo themselves. They said it was too difficult for the USA, and they were right. The entire game is one big troll and honestly not much fun because it’s obtuse for the sake of itself. Fun preview of Super Mario Maker. If this was more modern and in the style of Celeste or Super Meat Boy, this might be a good game
Super Mario Bros 2
And now for something completely different! Wow, I actually played this one for the first time in GBA when I was a kid and didn’t think much but what a departure from the Mario we all know and love. I guess it makes sense since it’s a completely different game lol. I did not have too much fun with this. It’s barely a platformer and my biggest gripe is there is so much wasted potential and wasted space in this game. Too much unnecessary paths and too sandy throughout. Im really glad this is not the direction the franchise went. However I appreciate some of the environments and enemies it brought to the series.
Super Mario Bros 3
Some hail this as the greatest Mario game of all time, or at least the best 2D Mario game. I played parts of this as a kid but not the whole thing. Going back to it now, I really appreciate this as a landmark game and probably the most influential Mario game aside from the original. It really decided the direction of the franchise with the overworld map, varied environments, tons of power ups, bosses, and secret exits. After The Lost Levels and SMB2, I am thankful for this to swoop in and save the day. However, I have to disagree here on how well it has aged. It looks and plays pretty rough - like a NES game. You can tell the game’s ambition is there and there just wasn’t enough to build on before SMB3. I appreciate this game but I just don’t love it.
Super Mario World
This is the quintessential 2D Mario game to me. I absolutely love this game, it builds upon SMB3 but it’s execution is so well done that it holds up in 2020 - it feels as if the game hasn’t aged a day. A new interconnected world, Ghost houses, Star Road, varied bosses, marked secret exits, yoshi, and tight controls make this game stand out from the other entries. A big complaint of mine about SMB3 is how the map was kind of pointless since you still beat a level and move on, SMW encourages exploration like no platformer did before and you could play levels over and over again looking for secret exits and other spots of interest. This focus on discovery and exploration mixed with Dinosaur Land really made this game hit home with me, it’s easily my favorite 2D Mario game.
Super Mario 3D Land
Ok so this isn’t on Switch, but it should be. I was playing this one earlier in the year and probably halfway done (or so I thought) when all the Mario announcements started happening. I ended up going back and completing this before the other games I’ve commented on, and I have to say it’s either my favorite or second favorite (behind SMW) of the Mario platformers I’ve played so far. This game hits a near perfect balance of platforming focus and exploration. The stages at first feel a bit cramped and I questioned why bother with 3D if you’re going to make such linear 2D like levels. But as you progress Nintendo has found clever ways to hide secrets in plain sight and challenge you with some crazy sequences. The game has been fine tuned in ways the exploration focused ones haven’t. It turns out this mix is fantastic and it will put the spotlight on some challenging star coins, daring you to execute while at other times in the same level the game has you backtrack or explore to find something hidden without being completely obscure. I think what I like about this one is there are almost no obtuse or obscure secrets like some of the ones in SMW. Finally there is the whole second half of this game that is a joy. The only thing I don’t like here is the forced 3D perspectives in a few levels but that is forgiveable considering the rest of the package.
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
I played this last year and might revisit this one. I actually found this one pretty generic and didn’t have a ton of fun playing it. Maybe it’s the art style and music that was off? I’m not the biggest 2D Mario fan aside from World, but still felt this was lacking. Is it just me or was the magic not there? I hope that revisiting this entry will cast it in a different light.
To be played:
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe???
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario Odyssey (“speedrun” only)
Super Mario Maker 2?
You probably noticed I didn’t list some games like Land and New. I don’t own those and I will likely stick to the ones playable on Switch. Also yes I will probably burn out by doing this so I’ll probably take some breaks but I plan to finish this before the end of Nintendo’s celebration in March. That’s where you all come in! Would love to hear your takes on these.
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-Arcadia- , I'm reaching the promised land.
