BEST Super Mario Game of ALL-TIME?

[DeseoParadise]

I've never played SMB3 but I guess the best Mario's game is Super Mario World for SNES

[Kirbz]

Dr. Mario Is The Best

[buzz_n64]

At first I was pissed that Galaxy wasn't mentioned, then I realized the poll was made in 2004, so all is forgiven.

My top 5

1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Super Mario 64
3. Yoshi's Island
4. Super Mario World
5. Super Mario Bros. 2

[Digital Fisticuffs]

I voted for Super Mario 64, but Super Mario Bros 3 definitely comes a very close second. After everything the first SMB had to offer, and the...interesting changes that SMB 2 (Or at least as we knew it in America) brought to the table, SMB 3 was ground-breaking, and I wouldn't be too hesitant to say it was one of the best, if not THE best, games for the NES. SM64 was a fantastic game though, and it really showcased the franchise's potential for longevity, as well as bringing in a whole bunch of great, new gameplay elements that make it the kind of game you go back to again, and again.

[jms5118]

Mario World, never played Mario RPG though.

[grolt]

I have a lot of love for Mario 3, but two things hold it back from being the all-time classic in my book:

1. Lack of a battery save. It demands you play through in a single power session and therefore discourages the kind of exploration and secret finding of some of the later classic games in the series.
2. Some of the levels in the middle worlds are pretty forgettable. For me most of the time it was always just playing through the first few worlds and then fluting it over to the final world.

I think Super Mario World wins for me because it pretty much improved on everything from SMB3 and then some. Having the expansive overworld with all its secret areas and seasonal changes was awesome and made the game feel so much more epic. The battery save encouraged and demanded multiple playthroughs, and this time around I found every level a joy to master. With the special blocks, different endings, secret doors, cape exploration and all the Yoshi stuff, there was just so damn much to do in that game!

Whenever I want to play an old school Mario game, SMW is it. Props to New Super Mario Bros. Wii though...I thought that game really got the retro feel right, and getting all those star coins made for a fun challenge. Plus, best final boss ever.

[Bradle]

I like Super Mario 3 that is really good & most play full game on internet. mostly people who play super mario they all recommended for "Super Mario 3".

[Khalpz]

I've played (* = didn't finish)

1
2*
3
World
Land 2*
Land 3
Yoshi's Island
64*
Sunshine*
Galaxy*

And I gotta say the best is definitely Super Mario Bros. 3. The level designs and lengths are perfect. The way they teach you everything is so cool. It's easy to pick up and rewarding to play when you're good at it.

*here I just started listing shit
hopping on everything for a while for lives
the way the levels end
the map
the cooperative play
the suits
the controls

second would be Yoshi's Island but I'm not sure I consider that a Super Mario game. It's so stylish and fun. The controls are spot on and the level design is great.

third Super Mario Bros.

fourth Super Mario World or Wario Land (again not sure I consider it a Super Mario game)

I realize I mention Super Mario World so late compared to a lot of you but here's why

- The levels are too long.
- The signature genius Mario level design is just not there. I'll admit I only beat the game once and it was a while ago but the best levels I remember were the ones with the platform moving on a wire and the star world ones where you use Yoshi and specific colored shells. About having only beaten the game once too, the game just doesn't grasp me like other Mario games. But the game is good.
- Yoshi was fun but clunky at times. I don't know the word, slow? You know how when you turn around in Super Mario World on Yoshi it takes too long. Something's just off. It was cool how swallowing different colored shells did different things to Yoshi.
- The game is big and fun but it's just not as fun as 3 or Yoshi's Island.
- Mario looks dumb. Yeah I really put that as a reason. haha
- The world themes are kind of lame.

Wario Land is really fun. Fun abilities and everything. It's just cool and different. Having the bull hat and sticking to a ceiling or shaking the ground and flipping every enemy... throwing enemies and everything. It was my second game ever after Donkey Kong Land 2 so I have some sentimental value towards it. But I've replayed the beginning a little every once in a while and always have a good time. Just a solid game. It's a little slow paced. After some thought I might put this above World.

not into the 3D Mario games

there it goes

[WCP]

I'm a big fan of games that are easily controlled, and Super Mario World has the best play control of any of Mario games. I'll never forget the joy of finding this game and the SNES under my tree on Christmas 1991. SMW will always be my all time fave.

couldn't agree more. In fact, I would put Super Mario World at No.1 overall among ALL games, not just SNES.

[granz]

I guess compilations don't count, otherwise my vote would go for All-Stars + Mario World, which was bundled in one cartridge. You just can't beat a collection like that. Kirby Super Star was another major incentive to invest in an SNES.

I voted for SMB3 in this case. Personally, I think Super Mario World is a little overrated. It borrows from SMB3 in several ways, but it's a bit regressive in comparison. When I first played it, it was kind of disappointing how all the thematic worlds were gone, and everything was just one continuous trek from one section of the world map to another.

My runner-up would be Yoshi's Island. The game didn't receive as much attention as it could have, given it was released so close to the end of the SNES' lifespan. Thankfully it was later re-released on the GBA, with bonus levels.

1. Lack of a battery save. It demands you play through in a single power session and therefore discourages the kind of exploration and secret finding of some of the later classic games in the series.

Ah, but the developers decided to sneak a neat little trick in the game to make things easier: Grab the two warp whistles from the first world, play one to be taken to the Warp Zone, then immediately play the other before entering any warp pipes. You'll be warped to World 8. You can beat the game in about 15 minutes this way.

[Horsehead]

Definitely Definitely Mario RPG! I'm a but biased torwards rpgs in the first place though...

[Rickstilwell1]

Ah, but the developers decided to sneak a neat little trick in the game to make things easier: Grab the two warp whistles from the first world, play one to be taken to the Warp Zone, then immediately play the other before entering any warp pipes. You'll be warped to World 8. You can beat the game in about 15 minutes this way.

Personally I never liked warping due to missing out on all the cool stuff the game has to offer in between. I can see doing it to get back to where you left off quicker, but how can you say you ever mastered a game by cheating and skipping almost all of the challenging levels? That's why if you clear every level you are rewarded with max P-Wings in item stock if you start a new game without turning off the console. The developers wanted you to feel like you did something special if you cleared them all.

That's why I like Super Mario World's progress indicator on the save file. When you get all 96 it puts a star next to the number.

My main reason for choosing Mario World over Mario 3 has more to do with how much smoother the cape feels to use over the raccoon tail, Yoshi and the upgraded sound and graphics though - while still keeping the core 2D gameplay that still feels like the NES games. It doesn't have a major physics change like the New series.

[BricatSegaFan]

Mario is missing. Or hotel Mario.... Seriously....

[SuperEliteGamer]

Can't pick...
Don't make me!!!

[DiEsmitty]

Can Luigi get alittle love how about New super Luigi Bros U. Being the younger brother I was always relegated to being Luigi.

[BlastProcessing402]

3 is great and all, but World had better sound, better graphics, and to me anyway the controls just felt better, more responsive, so it gets the nod.

They're both must play games, though.

RPG is one of the best, but I just don't consider it part of the series any more than I would consider Donkey Kong. Yes, they're connected and related, but they're not in direct contention for me.

[Mad-Mike]

Super Mario Bros. 3, I feel the challenge started to drain off the Mario games by SMW. Don't get me wrong, SMW was a great game, and made some amazing improvements, but I feel about 75% of it built on top of what Mario 3 did before, except now we have capes instead of raccoons, we have Yoshi instead of flying buzzy beetles for one level, and parallax scrolling was actually possible on the 16-bit CPU.

Also, it seems more often than not, when I talk gaming in the non-gamers around me, it seems ALL of them remember SMB 3 and had it and/or played it a lot with fond memories at some point. If they followed the Nirvana Albums - one was the Bleach, two (japan) was some live bootleg to us over here, two (USA) was Incesticide, and three was Nevermind, and SMW was In Utero....and RPG was Unplugged.

RPG I love, but it always felt like a "special" Mario game and not like Mario that I grew up knowing (2-D Side-Scrolling Action game)

[Gandhara]

original arcade Mario Bros. 1983

seriously...

[Afrokid]

Super Mario Bros 3 is the best...

[stealthrush]

Smb3>smw