02-28-2015, 10:27 PM
Top Ten (in no particular order)
Super Mario Advance (GBA)
I'm probably going to hunt Jermungandr down in a murderous rampage and fight him to the death, because this is what I think is the definitive and certainly not shit version of Super Mario Bros. 2 out there. The original SMB2 was a bit drab for my liking (even the All-Stars version), and I have to appreciate this version's added flair. Said flair comes in the form of characters going all bouncy, extra aesthetic effects and details, a few new (and rather weird) enemies and items not seen in the original game, and... score (I guess), all together giving the game a much-needed boost in liveliness. The end result is something that feels much more... Mario-like.
The Ace Coin and Yoshi Egg challenges were neat, and they give the game some replayability, which is always nice in my book. The bonus Mario Bros. remake is pretty fun, too. I have some really fond memories of crazy times me and my cousins had in the multiplayer mode.
What's that? The graphics are too bright? The sound and music took a massive hit in quality, you say? The voice acting is annoying? Yeah, that's inconsequential. It's still Super Mario Bros. 2.
This version in particular was one of the games that introduced me to Mario as a whole (including Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, but that's another story). For that reason, Super Mario Advance gets mad childhood bias respect from me despite its faults.
Also, I never was serious about that "fight you to the death" thing, Jermungandr.
Yoshi's Island (SNES/GBA)
Give me Yoshi's Old Island, any day. This game is pure platforming bliss.
Super Mario Galaxy Duology
Yeah, I'm cheating here, but I like to think of these two games as one single adventure (since Galaxy 2 takes place right after the first). These two are certainly two of Mario's greatest, and they were the solitary reasons why I bought a Wii.
Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
Although I'm slightly more fond of the Galaxy Duology, this is still one of the plumber's best 3D platformers. What's even sweeter is being able to choose between five playable characters; playing as characters other than Mario and Luigi, each with their own attributes and perks, was something I'd really like Nintendo to do more, and I appreciate this game for reviving(?) that concept. All that with co-op multiplayer, too.
Also, holy hell, the level design. Leave it to EAD Tokyo to cook up some of the most beautiful and creative Mario locales ever. This game makes NSMB2 and NSMBWii tremble in fear and cry in shame, respectively. It makes 3D Land obsolete. Here, we have consolidated proof that with a little subversion and creativity, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Super Mario World (SNES/GBA)
What more can be said about what many consider to be the best of the classic 2D Mario platformers?
Keep in mind that I've only played the GBA re-release a lot when I was a kid. What's that? The graphics are too bright? The sound and music took a massive hit in quality, you say? The voice acting is really cheesy? Eh, none of that matters to me. It's still Super Mario World.
Also, playable Luigi.
New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U & Knuckles(Wii U)
I'm probably gonna make heads roll/get chewed out for having no taste by including this.
It'd be best if you pretended that the Wii and 3DS titles didn't exist before playing this (that's what I did); to me, the New Super Mario Bros. U Master HD Collection truly feels like what a 2D Mario game could have been like if they hadn't disappeared for twenty years after Super Mario Land 2.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)
Say hello to the magnum of the entire Paper Mario series, and the Mario RPG games as a whole. For your sanity and mine, I'm going to hold off on saying a lot about this one; it'll most likely be parroting what everyone else here has said about it, with 99% more fanboy gushing and brown-nosing.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
Not what I consider to be the star of the Mario & Luigi series (that honor would go to either Superstar Saga or Dream Team), but this is still a fantastic entry in the series. Playing as lovable ol' Bowser, messing with his body as the Bros., the battless, the new special attacks, the new additions to the RPG mechanics, the wacky story... it's all kickass.
Mario Kart DS
My favorite Mario Kart game, bar none. It has some of the best track design in the series, some of the best picks for retro courses, the best Battle Mode (second only to Double Dash's), and of course... Mission Mode. This was the game that pushed me to beg my parents for a new and shiny Nintendo DS.
Super Princess Peach (DS)
Despite the somewhat easy difficulty, this one is really fun Mario-style platformer with a pretty neat mechanic. I liked the Vibe thing.
For some reason, I really enjoyed playing as Peach. I sorta have a thing for spin-off games putting characters other than Mario in the lead role; guess that also explains why I love Luigi's Mansion and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker so much.
I really would love to see a sequel to this game someday, like with Daisy, Rosalina, Toadette as playable characters and 4-player co-op or something. The Vibe mechanic would probably have to be absent though; too bad the mass media had to raise such a big stink over some kids' video game, and accuse Nintendo of some gender stereotyping agenda and such.
...despite the fact that everyone was affected by the crazy mood swing magic, including Bowser and the Mario Bros. Hell, shouldn't Peach be getting points for being the only one actually in control of her emotions?
Honorable Mentions (because I couldn't stand to leave any of these out)
Super Mario Advance (GBA)
I'm probably going to hunt Jermungandr down in a murderous rampage and fight him to the death, because this is what I think is the definitive and certainly not shit version of Super Mario Bros. 2 out there. The original SMB2 was a bit drab for my liking (even the All-Stars version), and I have to appreciate this version's added flair. Said flair comes in the form of characters going all bouncy, extra aesthetic effects and details, a few new (and rather weird) enemies and items not seen in the original game, and... score (I guess), all together giving the game a much-needed boost in liveliness. The end result is something that feels much more... Mario-like.
The Ace Coin and Yoshi Egg challenges were neat, and they give the game some replayability, which is always nice in my book. The bonus Mario Bros. remake is pretty fun, too. I have some really fond memories of crazy times me and my cousins had in the multiplayer mode.
What's that? The graphics are too bright? The sound and music took a massive hit in quality, you say? The voice acting is annoying? Yeah, that's inconsequential. It's still Super Mario Bros. 2.
This version in particular was one of the games that introduced me to Mario as a whole (including Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, but that's another story). For that reason, Super Mario Advance gets mad childhood bias respect from me despite its faults.
Also, I never was serious about that "fight you to the death" thing, Jermungandr.
Yoshi's Island (SNES/GBA)
Give me Yoshi's Old Island, any day. This game is pure platforming bliss.
Super Mario Galaxy Duology
Yeah, I'm cheating here, but I like to think of these two games as one single adventure (since Galaxy 2 takes place right after the first). These two are certainly two of Mario's greatest, and they were the solitary reasons why I bought a Wii.
Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
Although I'm slightly more fond of the Galaxy Duology, this is still one of the plumber's best 3D platformers. What's even sweeter is being able to choose between five playable characters; playing as characters other than Mario and Luigi, each with their own attributes and perks, was something I'd really like Nintendo to do more, and I appreciate this game for reviving(?) that concept. All that with co-op multiplayer, too.
Also, holy hell, the level design. Leave it to EAD Tokyo to cook up some of the most beautiful and creative Mario locales ever. This game makes NSMB2 and NSMBWii tremble in fear and cry in shame, respectively. It makes 3D Land obsolete. Here, we have consolidated proof that with a little subversion and creativity, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Super Mario World (SNES/GBA)
What more can be said about what many consider to be the best of the classic 2D Mario platformers?
Keep in mind that I've only played the GBA re-release a lot when I was a kid. What's that? The graphics are too bright? The sound and music took a massive hit in quality, you say? The voice acting is really cheesy? Eh, none of that matters to me. It's still Super Mario World.
Also, playable Luigi.
New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U & Knuckles(Wii U)
I'm probably gonna make heads roll/get chewed out for having no taste by including this.
It'd be best if you pretended that the Wii and 3DS titles didn't exist before playing this (that's what I did); to me, the New Super Mario Bros. U Master HD Collection truly feels like what a 2D Mario game could have been like if they hadn't disappeared for twenty years after Super Mario Land 2.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)
Say hello to the magnum of the entire Paper Mario series, and the Mario RPG games as a whole. For your sanity and mine, I'm going to hold off on saying a lot about this one; it'll most likely be parroting what everyone else here has said about it, with 99% more fanboy gushing and brown-nosing.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
Not what I consider to be the star of the Mario & Luigi series (that honor would go to either Superstar Saga or Dream Team), but this is still a fantastic entry in the series. Playing as lovable ol' Bowser, messing with his body as the Bros., the battless, the new special attacks, the new additions to the RPG mechanics, the wacky story... it's all kickass.
Mario Kart DS
My favorite Mario Kart game, bar none. It has some of the best track design in the series, some of the best picks for retro courses, the best Battle Mode (second only to Double Dash's), and of course... Mission Mode. This was the game that pushed me to beg my parents for a new and shiny Nintendo DS.
Super Princess Peach (DS)
Despite the somewhat easy difficulty, this one is really fun Mario-style platformer with a pretty neat mechanic. I liked the Vibe thing.
For some reason, I really enjoyed playing as Peach. I sorta have a thing for spin-off games putting characters other than Mario in the lead role; guess that also explains why I love Luigi's Mansion and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker so much.
I really would love to see a sequel to this game someday, like with Daisy, Rosalina, Toadette as playable characters and 4-player co-op or something. The Vibe mechanic would probably have to be absent though; too bad the mass media had to raise such a big stink over some kids' video game, and accuse Nintendo of some gender stereotyping agenda and such.
...despite the fact that everyone was affected by the crazy mood swing magic, including Bowser and the Mario Bros. Hell, shouldn't Peach be getting points for being the only one actually in control of her emotions?
Honorable Mentions (because I couldn't stand to leave any of these out)
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
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