Today might not be Mario’s birthday, but Nintendo has been celebrating March 10th (“MAR10”) as Mario Day since 2016.
Fans have been receiving little surprises from the consolemaker ever since, and as a big fan of Nintendo’s mustachioed mascot myself, I wanted to see what Version 3.0 of the Video Game Canon had to say about Mario’s greatest adventures. Does one of the classic side-scrollers like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World reign supreme? Or perhaps critics prefer a 3D adventure like Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy 2?
There’s only one way to find out…
Zoom in on specific portions of the Video Game Canon and explore alternate sorting options from the Version 3.0 Update with Listology 3.0.
This Listology article is based on an earlier Version of the Video Game Canon. Visit the Top 1000 to see the most recent changes to the full list.
Among the core Mario games, a total of 16 titles received at least one mention on the 53″Best Games lists that make up the Video Game Canon… and Super Mario 64 was at the top of the heap, beating out Super Mario World (#2) and Super Mario Bros. 3 (#3):
- 1. Super Mario 64
- 2. Super Mario World
- 3. Super Mario Bros. 3
- 4. Super Mario Bros.
- 5. Super Mario Galaxy 2
- 6. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
- X. Donkey Kong
- 7. Super Mario Galaxy
- 8. Super Mario Bros. 2
- 9. Super Mario 3D World
- 10. Super Mario Sunshine
- 11. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
- 12. Super Mario Land
- 13. Super Mario 3D Land
- 14. New Super Mario Bros.
- XX. Super Mario Odyssey
- XX. Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Maker are still too new to receive a ranking in the Video Game Canon. And though not an “official” Mario game Donkey Kong would have hammered its way into the Top Ten.
But Mario is a character that’s always been willing to branch out in new directions, and six games from the Mario Kart franchise can also be found on the Video Game Canon. The influential Super Mario Kart was ranked as the best game, but only Super Circuit and the criminally-underrated Double Dash!! went unmentioned:
- 1. Super Mario Kart
- 2. Mario Kart 8
- 3. Mario Kart 64
- 4. Mario Kart 7
- 5. Mario Kart DS
- 6. Mario Kart Wii
And finally, here’s how Mario’s many spinoff appearances were ranked:
- 1. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- 2. Dr. Mario
- 3. Mario’s Pircross
- 4. Paper Mario
- 5. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- 6. Mario Paint
- 7. Mario Tennis
- 8. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
We might not have to wait very long for a new addition to these lists, Nintendo and The Lego Group announced a Lego Super Mario project as part of this year’s Mario Day festivities. I’m hoping it turns out to be some wild new spinoff game.