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In one month, Mario Odyssey will release. What's your favorite Mario game and why?

S

Seik

Banned
Super Mario 64 is one of those games that I know to the core, I think I could rate it as my favorite. I did it over and over, almost on a yearly basis and the game is just as fun each times I go through it.

I fucking cried when I got it along with my N64 on Christmas, my reaction was pretty close to that ''NINTENDO SIXTY FOUUUUUR'' kid, heh!

Odyssey is very, very promising so far, maybe even to a point where it could dethrone SM64. Can it beat all that nostalgia though? Only time will tell.
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
Mario 64. That game blew my mind. It was such clever mechanics and game design.

I still wish for a true sequel.

My favourite 2D mario is actually NSMB U.
 
M

Menitta

Member
Sunshine. I like the setting and visual style so much. Also Mario controls incredibly well. I love Galaxy and 64 is fine but I think Mario controls much more stiff in those two compared to Sunshine.

Odyssey looks like it's gonna go back to that style of movement with many options.
 
CharminUltra

CharminUltra

Member
The awesome thing about Mario as a franchise is that I see all these answers that don't match mine and I go

"Yeah, I can totally see that game being somebody's all-time favorite"
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
3D World, probably. I always preferred 2D Mario to the collectathon style of most of the 3D entries, but 3D Land and World translated 2D Mario to 3D in a way I could get into.
 
T

Theslammer

Member
It used to be Super Mario Bros. 3, but over time, Super Mario World took over that spot. And honestly, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is awesome and underrated. As far as a party game, the New series is spectacular.

But World, in addition to all the secret exits, colored blocks, Star World AND secret world, it improves upon Super Mario 3 in several ways that push it over the top.

1) I think the addition to world maps in 3 was great, along with the secrets like the N card, the Money Ship, and the breakable rocks. But I prefer the inter-connected world of World, plus the short-cuts you can take using the Star World. It just feels like this one giant thing, which I love. Nothing against 3 and the really cool world themes, especially Giant World.

2) The level length is better. 3, because it was on old hardware, has some pretty short levels. I never noticed for years, but once I finally played World (I was a Genesis kid, so it was a wait before I could play it front to back), I went back to 3 and couldn't believe how quickly the levels ended. Course, there are some short ones in World, but the shortest one is such because it has a secret that you need to meet certain criteria to get.

3) Save system. The one thing I can say is bad about 3, and really this is technological, is it gives you a lot of content with no save states. If I play through all of 3, I have to prepare to sit down for a whole evening because unless I skip a bunch of levels, I'm not playing Worlds 1 through 8 in the span of a couple hours. World's save, while not perfect (I always restart with five lives no matter how well I was doing), is a great upgrade since the game gives you an abundance of content, but you can take it in spurts.

Plus, even if I left the NES on to break up sessions, I'd have no guarantee the game would still be working since I never knew what would cause the screen to get lines on it, switch to solid colors, for the game to freeze, etc.

So yeah, it's probably World now.
 
J

Justinh

Member
Probably Super Mario Bros 3 is my favorite, just because it's what I had when I was a kid.

I played Mario 64 a lot at a friend's, but never had a copy myself until Virtual Console (I think?). I've had the Galaxy games since they were new, but always got bored of them shortly after starting them and never finished them.

Of the 3D games, Sunshine is probably my favorite. I just loved exploring that world. I haven't played it in a long time though and one thing I do remember not liking about that game was the fact that it had voices. I know it's petty, but I just thought it sounded too weird to have voices in a Mario game.
 
L

Lasthope106

Member
I still like the first SMB the best. It is a classic, and tough as nails towards the last levels. A close 2nd would be Yoshi's Island.
 
R

RedZaraki

Banned
That's a tough question.

I've probably played Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros 3 the most.

On paper, I would probably say Mario Galaxy 2 is the best game.


But in my heart I think Super Mario RPG holds the most fond memories.



Hmmmmm.
 
Muffdraul

Muffdraul

Member
I have to give it to Super Mario World simply because that game is basically the reason I'm a game at all today. I've told this story a million times in here. I'm an ancient fart who was obsessed with video games as kid in the 70s and into the early 80s. Then when I hit puberty they suddenly lost their appeal. I didn't play a video game for about 7 or 8 years. Then after finishing college I ended up buying a SNES as part of a scheme to establish credit. It was a macguffin, I had to buy something for approx. $200 and "a Nintendo" was the only thing on the list of suggestions that I didn't already own. My plan was to play with it for a couple of hours just for the hell of it, and then sell it or give it to a friend or whatever. I had no interest in Mario, I actually bought a copy of F-Zero because the commercials had impressed me. In 1991 after not really playing any games after 1983, F-Zero looked amazing. I got more into F-Zero than I expected, got 1st place in all cups/classes including the secret track. Then I was going to disconnect the console and put everything back in the box. I pulled out the styrofoam tray and saw the SMW cart. Figured I should play it at least once before I got rid of it. About 15 minutes later I knew I would never be getting rid of the SNES, and I've never really stopped gaming since then.
 
S

Siegmeyer

Member
Well I'll be the first one to say it, Sunshine. The Gamecube was my first Nintendo console and Sunshine was the first Mario game I played. Never before had I played a game where I felt I had such complete control over the main character. Mario was just a joy to navigate the world with and the level of finesse I felt I coud achieve was insanely addictive. I'd love to replay it now to see how it holds up and now that I've sampled all the other 3d titles.
 
I

IncognitoPanda

Member
SM64 for me too. It's the only one I've owned apart from World on original Gameboy, thus I put tons of time into it. I was also the only kid in my neighbourhood who bothered to get all 120 stars.

I also felt that game gave me the most freedom in terms of movement. It just felt so "free".
Galaxy is also excellent, though. I also thought Sunshine was really charming and fun.

Never got super into Mario Kart on 64 (I found Diddy Kong Racing much more fun), but they're all fun I guess.
 
W

WilsonX100

Member
I remember playing SMB3 on my neighbor's NES. He had a SNES but it didn't work anymore so we'd constantly just play through the first few worlds of SMB3 almost every time we hung out. Then i got SMB3 on my Gameboy Advance and finally beat it. Love that game, its levels, its soundtrack, all so perfect.

I really really love the first New Super Mario Bros on DS. was my first DS game, literally bought it just to play it.
.

i never owned a nintendo CONSOLE but all the handhelds. i've made sure to play those mario games i never could own like Galaxy or Sunshine. Have beaten 64 multiple times too.
 
F

Firemind

Member
SMB3

It's all I ever wanted in a videogame.
- huge, expansive world;
- power-ups that change the way you play the level;
- secrets unraveled by exploring the map and levels;
- multiple routes adding to the replayability;
- option for coop multiplayer.

If it wasn't for SMB3 I wouldn't have played so many video games as I had, since my previous gaming experiences were shoddy Atari games.
 
G

Griss

Member
You're choosing from some of the greatest games of all time that just happened to land at significant points of my childhood and adolescence, so it's absolutely impossible for me...

Super Mario Bros: First video game I ever saw (though Zelda was the first I ever played). Still holds up today and the visuals and music are utterly iconic.

Super Mario Bros 3: One of the first games I got hugely into as a young child. Loved it to bits but these days I do thin that the levels are just too short. The idea is to introduce new ideas all the time but they don't do enough to iterate on them here. They'd get better at that in the future with the so-called 4-koma design theory.

Super Mario World: I made friends with two people at school just because they had SNES's and had this game (and I had neither). Would go over and play for an hour at a time, and because I only got to see snippets out of order the game seemed even more magical than it already was.

Yoshi's Island: One of my favs of all time, but not a Mario game imo.

Super Mario 64: I'll never forget getting an N64 on the first day of summer holidays, and opening the game that came with it only to find that it wasn't the requested Mario 64, it was Mario Kart 64. I got Mario 64 six months later and man was it worth the wait. It shouldn't be possible for such an early 3d platformer to control so astonishingly well, for the camera to be so well behaved, and for the level design to be so decent (dated now, but still good, and phenomenal for its time). This was my first introduction to true 3d video games and as far as I'm concerned remains one of the greatest achievements in the industry.

Super Mario Galaxy: I was in a computer programming degree at the time, so was chatting with gamers day in and day out. The hype for this game was insane. How would the gravity based platforming sustain itself over the course of a game? How could these more linear levels remain interesting and challenging? How could a 3d mario control properly given the limitations of the Wii remote + nunchuck? We were unsure about all of these things but convinced that Nintendo would nail it and they did. They turned the unique gravity idea + the Wii controls into one of the most joyous and unique celebrations of platforming game design ever.

Every level is a masterpiece, pretty much. Unique ideas abound. They took the best parts of Sunshine (the abstract levels without the water pack) and built an entire game with that laser focus on tight level design. It's utterly gorgeous and the music is legendary. Not only that, but it has a narrative (with Rosalina) that is surprisingly touching that frames the action as a bit more meaningful than 'make it from A to B' and makes the game resonate after you beat it, unlike most other Mario games. The sequel added and expanded to it, but could never recapture the mindblowing feeling of experiencing the gravity based platforming for the first time and had an overabundance of gimmicky levels like the 2D levels or poor yoshi levels.

I feel like each of these games was my favourite game of all time at the time, and then the next one in the list came along and topped it, against all expectations. So yeah... my winner is Super Mario Galaxy. The best 3d platform game of all time. So glad they've moved away from the 3D World 'fake 3d' style of Mario. It was a good game but I was not a fan of that direction.
 
L

Lynx_7

Member
Super Mario Galaxy for a lot of reasons. Art direction, level design, soundtrack, novelty, everything. The more focused level design instead of 64's and Sunshine's open areas was immediately appealing to me. As soon as I stepped in Good Egg Galaxy the game clicked with me and never let go. One of the most fun playthroughs I've ever had. Pure gaming bliss. Galaxy 2 was also great but it just didn't have that same magic.

As for the 2D titles, either Mario Bros. 3 or World, but I always lean a bit more towards 3. I love how 3 uses its world maps and just how tightly designed its levels are.
 
W

wild wild rice

Member
I can't think of a gaming series with more quality releases than mainline Mario and I can't decide if Yoshis Island or Mario 64 is the GOAT.
 
T

TheGrantula21

Neo Member
While I believe galaxy 2 is the best 3d platformer ever made, Galaxy 1 is my fav mario game. Introducing the new level design with shifting gravities for different planets was some amazing gameplay and floored me the first time I played it. Also that OST >>>>>
 
L

LegendofLex

Member
2D: Super Mario Bros. 3, for introducing creative world concepts that were about unexpected surprises and not just unique level designs, for having the most robust collection of power-ups in any Mario, for blowing our minds with its interactive world maps, and for hitting the sweet spot for arcade-style game structure + tough but reasonable difficulty.

Honorable mention: Super Mario World, for nailing the visual style, adding Yoshi, and coming really really close to the quality of Super Mario Bros. 3. Also Super Mario Bros. 2 for taking us to a totally different world and introducing unique playstyles for each of the main characters in the Mario universe.

Worst: New Super Mario Bros. 2. Only redeeming qualities are Raccoon Mario and Coin Rush.

3D: Super Mario Galaxy, for having the right caliber and quantity of levels (without leaning too much on dumping you into the same level over and over again to complete bite-sized missions), for having a fantastic atmosphere and soundtrack, for going crazy with its world and level concepts, and for being an outright beautiful game.

Honorable mention: Super Mario 3D World, for adding fun 4-player co-op, and having a great selection of levels that hew nicely to classic Mario tropes while still taking good advantage of 3D space.

Worst: Super Mario Sunshine. Went all-in on the collect-a-thon approach and suffered for it.
 
E

Ecliptor

Member
3D: Super Mario 64, because of what it made me feel back in the day. It was groundbreaking. Best christmas ever when I got the N64+SM64.

2D: Super Mario World, because it was fun then and it is still fun to play to this day. Plus, I love the art style.

Honorable mentions: Galaxy 1 and 2. Both games are masterpieces.
 
R

Ravelle

Member
Super Mario 2 because it has more interesting enemies than seeing Goomba's and Cheep cheeps in every game. Also because it has some good music and multiple payable characters with their own ability.

Mario 3D Land is really great in my opinion, more so than 3D World because 3D Land felt like a sequel to Mario 64, it had great platforming with the classic perspective, clever way of the 3D screen and a lot of content, even post game.

Does Mario+Rabbids count? Because I loved it.

Mario 3 is probably what I spent most time on though, didn't have a nintendo back then so I had to speed run that game at every grandparents visit.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Both my answer and the reason:
OLvbS1ll.png
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
Bronetta said:
Mario Galaxy 2 is my favourite because its the best one.
Click to expand...

I own it on wii u and never got a nuchuck. I'm really really hoping that gets a port to switch if the controllers would work like that... because I would love to play it.
 
K

kromeo

Member
World is by far my favorite, but was also the first game I ever owned so my opinion of it is probably distorted somewhat. 64 was the last Mario platformer I'd really say I enjoyed and I kind of gave up on them after not liking Galaxy

Mario Party 2 was probably the most fun I've had with any game featuring Mario
 
F

Famassu

Member
It's hard to choose between Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D World (with Sunshine kind of being there because I absolutely adore FLUDD & what it brought to platforming, as well as the FLUDDless levels that are obviously precursors for both Galaxies & 3D Land/World).
 
woopWOOP

woopWOOP

Member
b3b0p said:
NES Mario 3.

It's challenging without saves. You can alternatively use Warp Whistles.

It's got a ton of variety. Tanooki, Frog, Raccoon, Giant World, etc.

Tons of levels and worlds.

The Koopa Kids.

I would say World on SNES, but it's so easy. Super fun, but easy, even to get perfect.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much how I feel about it.

Some of those stages like the bottom/ceiling lava stage, the climbing of the World 5 tower and the desolate, enemy-less "puzzle" fort still feel very unique.

Also getting in one of the boats and sailing all over the World 3 ocean was so cool. Gave me a sense of freedom I guess. World 4's whole theme was simple, but awesome and World 7 actually creeped me out, lol.

I have a lot of great memories playing about all the mainline Mario games, too many to type out. It's funny tho that, thinking back, some of the most fun I had was playing around with basic things in the games, like the whales and skating snowmen in SMB2, grabbing a turtle shell and "surfing" with it in SMW, having a melon seed shoot out with the monkey enemies in SMW2, etc.
 
G

GamerJM

Banned
Mario Kart DS is my favorite because it has more single-player content than the other Mario Karts, and the skill ceiling is really high thanks to things like snaking. I spent the entirety of the Summer of 2006 trying to best my time trials and playing it online, and it was one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had to date.

Super Mario World is my favorite of the platformers. The cape gives you a lot of freedom in how you play through levels, making it more replayable than the other games in the series to me. As a kid it was one of those games I'd always go back to.
 
J

JinjoUnchained

Member
It's a tough call between the original NES SMB and 3D World. I feel like those two both capture the spirit of Mario and play the best. IMO, Mario should be a wacky, entertaining race to the goal post with very tight controls. All of the other mainline games are great too.
 
B

BraXzy

Member
I never had a Nintendo home console growing up, I briefly had a Wii but stupidly sold it before ever really getting into it. Weirdly, my first real exposure to actual Mario games was 2D Land and 3D World. I absolutely loved both but often hear that the best came beforehand.

I'm looking forward to this one topping everyones favourites, mine included.
 
alf717

alf717

Member
Dang I can't just pick one. Too many good Mario games to decide on just one. For me Mario was a system seller. You got a Nintendo for Mario and with so many games to choose from each system that got one had a defining Mario title. Sorry for copping out on my answer.
 
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