Gaming was forever changed upon the release of Super Mario Bros.. Since the seminal game, the famous Italian plumber has starred in nearly countless titles, almost twenty of which are traditional platformers. He hasn't stopped innovating on game design either, with several entries reinventing the genre and expanding what people thought was capable in an adventure game.
The following list will celebrate the series by ranking the Mario platformers from worst to best, based on their Metacritic scores. A few of the older games' original releases don't have scores, in which case the re-release on the Game Boy Advanced are used. And finally, the Super Mario Land games and The Lost Levels are excluded because they lack any score.
16 New Super Mario Bros. 2 (78)
One knows their series is pure fire when the weakest entry nabs a still decent seventy-eight on Metacritic. Its mediocre score is mostly attributed to the lack of innovation over its predecessor, which came out on an inferior system six years beforehand. Despite the criticism, it is still immense fun for any fan of the genre.
15 New Super Mario Bros. U (84)
The Wii U is perhaps the least-celebrated Nintendo Console since the Virtual Boy, but it still had some heaters in its library. New Super Mario Bros. U brought the classic side-scrolling game play to the ultimately doomed system. With the game pad, up to five players can enjoy the fun simultaneously.
14 Super Mario Bros. (84)
Age hasn't slowed down the one that started it all one bit. While most veteran fans can beat it with their eyes closed, it is still valuable as a new gaming experience for those who never touched it. The story about Peach getting kidnapped by Bowser all began here, and the Koopa has not stopped trying every since.
13 Super Mario Bros. 2 (84)
The second title in the series is somewhat of a black sheep. The original Super Mario Bros. 2 was deemed too hard for western gamers, so a different platformer was reskinned and shipped to North America as the sequel, while the true successor didn't make its way there until years later as The Lost Levels.
Because of this, what North Americans know as Super Mario Bros. 2 is a radical departure from everything else in the Mario lineage.
12 New Super Mario Bros. Wii (87)
The DS release, New Super Mario Bros., was a revelation, so it was only logical for the revival subseries to make its way to a proper console. It ramps up the difficulty significantly and adds simultaneous cooperative play. Unfortunately, playing with buddies on a 2D plain causes everybody to bounce all over each other.
11 New Super Mario Bros. (89)
New Super Mario Bros. came during a dearth in two-dimensional Mario games. The franchise had fully moved into 3D, but fans still yearned for classic Mario action. Because of this, players welcomed the game with open arms, with the only real complaint being the easy difficulty.
10 Super Mario 3D Land (90)
The 3DS platformer presented bite-sized three-dimensional levels more reminiscent of Crash Bandicoot than Super Mario, making for one of the most unique titles in the franchise to date.
The difficulty curve is masterfully refined, starting off easy as pie until the later levels punish experienced fans.
9 Yoshi's Island (91)
Yoshi's first starring role comes in one of the SNES's most unique art styles. The coloring book aesthetic makes the graphics hold up better than most of its contemporaries. While players control Yoshi, the game is still technically Super Mario World 2.
8 Super Mario World (92)
The premiere SNES Mario title is continually lauded as one of the best platformers of all time. It comes packed with more levels than any of its predecessors and is chock full of even more secrets.
The ability to ride Yoshi and the wider variety of locations makes it a notch above most other titles on the console.
7 Super Mario Sunshine (92)
Despite its reputation as one of the weaker entries in the franchise, Super Mario Sunshine for the GameCube still found favor with most critics. The addition of F.L.U.D.D. to Mario's arsenal makes for new exploration opportunities, and Isle Delfino switches things up from the typical Mushroom Kingdom style.
6 Super Mario 3D World (93)
This Wii U title took the design principles from 3D Land and expanded them for a home console. four-player co-op was also added, and works significantly better than in the prior games because of the 3D levels. Nothing is better than exploring a colorful world with four friends.
5 Super Mario Bros. 3 (94)
The final entry on the NES was a beautiful swan song for Nintendo's first console. The addition of an overworld and suits which grant Mario special abilities make the leap from the second game to the third feel like it crossed several console generations.
Knowing what kind of games were typical for the system still makes this release on the console an impressive thought.
4 Super Mario 64 (94)
The premiere 3D outing was a revelolution in game design. Making titles with an added layer of depth stumped numerous developers, and Nintendo came in to show people how it was done with Super Mario 64. The large levels and variety of objectives in each makes collecting all one hundred and twenty stars pure bliss from start to finish.
3 Super Mario Odyssey (97)
The most recent release on the Switch shows that the plumber still has tricks up his sleeves. The worlds are bigger and secrets are lurking in every corner. Some bemoaned its lack of difficulty, but the endgame content delivers some of the greatest platforming challenges the series has ever seen.
2 Super Mario Galaxy (97)
The Wii's unique controller design presented a challenge to many developers, but first-party support was strong for the console. Super Mario Galaxy came out of the gate swinging, being immediately hailed as one of the best platformers since Super Mario 64. Considering the state of the genre at the time, it wasn't a stretch to believe.
1 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (97)
The creative juices flowed so hard during Galaxy's development, the studio came up with too many ideas to fit into one game. To implement every concept they came up with, they started production on a follow up shortly after the first game's release. Nothing about the sequel feels tired, exhausted, or redundant to its predecessor.