We’re at the club… Club Mario. Enjoy the club. Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mario.
This is the place to talk about everyone’s favorite* plumber, construction worker, doctor, stage performer, racer, sports star, and board game enthusiast. (And superhero, I guess.) He loves money, cake, and picross. Mushrooms make him huge, flowers allow him to cast fireballs, he can demolish a brick wall with his bare fist, and in recent years he’s liable to prance about in a feline fursuit. That’s right, it’s the Italian from Brooklyn in over 200 Japanese games… Mario Mario.
(*or second-favorite, if you like his twin brother Luigi Mario better)
What Mario games have you played lately? It doesn’t even have to be starring Mario specifically, as Nintendo has made plenty of games starring his friends and frenemies, such as Luigi, Captain Toad, Peach Toadstool, Yoshi, and Wario.
And for another general conversation starter… What is your favorite Mario game? At the moment I think I’d have to go with Super Mario Galaxy from the Nintendo Wii. I’m in the camp which prefers it over its direct sequel, but that’s a great game too.
Uhhhhhh… hmmm. Im not sure on the 2D mario’s, ive only really played a couple of those. But 3D is probably Galaxy… which pains me slightly as i am a hardcore Sunshine fan.
It’s been awhile since I’ve played a Mario game. Every few months my Discord server will have a Mario Kart 8 tournament and that’s always a blast. I’ve only beat SMB 1 and that was only possible with save scumming but there’s plenty that I’ve played at family and friend’s houses growing up. I definitely prefer the 3D platformers. Exploring the vibrant worlds and discovering secret collectibles is delightful. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I love the wholesome chaos, the staggering amount of tracks that are (mostly) beautiful to look at, and the fond memories I have playing it with my friends.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite. Though I pretty much love all of them. Yoshi’s Island is the biggest challenger for the spot in my eyes, but I know there’s controversy over counting that as a “mainline” Mario game. Mario Galaxy, Mario 64 and Mario World are all very close to the spot, though.
I’m also in the same camp of liking Galaxy 1 over Galaxy 2. Don’t get me wrong, the sequel is awesome in its own right, but noting beats the first time experiencing that combo of gameplay and music.
To give a favorite for 2D Mario games, I have the unusual opinion of liking Donkey Kong (1994) for the Game Boy the very best. (A mainline entry or technically a spinoff? I’ll let you decide.) For those who don’t know, it is not just a port of the classic arcade game—it features 101 stages that require Mario to do all sorts of acrobatic platforming and a bit of clever puzzle-solving. I think it is the perfect old-school handheld game… after Tetris, of course. This game would get a spiritual successor in the form of Mario vs Donkey Kong on the Game Boy Advance, but tbh I didn’t care for that one as much.
My favorite 2D Mario is a jumbled tossup between Yoshi’s Island, the original Super Mario Bros, and New Super Mario Bros Wii. Yoshi’s Island is my nostalgic fave and I love its experimental spirit, SMB1 has a fantastically weighty sense of inertia that its many sequels abandon, and NSMB Wii is drab but plays really well.
For 3D it’s less complicated, Odyssey is my favorite by far! Mario has never felt better to control, and I never got tired of charting fancy lines across the playground levels.
Actually, Donkey Kong '94 is secretly the game that inspired the whole Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. It’s a brilliant evolution of the original Donkey Kong, but I think it goes under the radar because of the unassuming title. Definitely worth checking out!
