What's your favorite Super Mario Bros?

[Andromeda Stardust]

You left out Super Mario 3D World (Wii-U). Also New Super Mario Bros U + Luigi U mark the overall best entry in the NSMB series I think, though it's gotten stale in recent years. At least they did a new overworld theme.

 

So many greats it's hard to decide. My favorite 2D game is Super Mario Bros, followed by World, SMB3, and SMB2.

 

3D games, I love 64, Sunshine, and the Galaxies. So hard to decide; you are basically asking a parent to pick their favorite child. But it was a tossup between Sunshine and Galaxy 2. I love riding Yoshi in 3D...

[Andromeda Stardust]

Haven't played Sunshine or the Galaxy games and probably never will.

You're missing out bro.

[HoshiChiri]

I have a terrible secret to reveal... I don't really play Mario games. Shock & dismay, I know...

 

There's no good reason for it- I enjoy platformers, and Mario games are decidedly good platformers. For some reason he just doesn't 'click' with me. I don't even own most of what's on this list.

 

I voted for the original SMB, mostly because it was the first videogame I ever owned/played, so there's a lot of nostalgia for that one.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Well truth be told it really is and isn't a reskin. Ever read up on the fairly recent history about the game discussed by Miyamoto himself? The skinny of it is that SMB2 (SMB USA to them) was already under development just not as a Mario game at first but a blank slate prototype for mechanics. The general designs of pick up and throw, picking a character, having vertical and horizontal shaft style stages and some general concept of stage layouts and characters has been started.

A lot of stuff from Doki Doki found it's way into later Mario games. Pokeys, Bob-ombs, Shy Guys, (Shy Guys played a huge role in the Yoshi's series and also show in Paper Mario), pick up and throw, Birdo eventually became a staple in party games as a side kick to Yoshi (she also was a protagonist in Wario's Woods). She also may have origins as the first transgender videogame character, but I'm not going there...

 

Be kind of cool to see Wart as a final boss again. I could picture him and Bowser in kahoots with each other. Be that as it may, it was revealed during the ending credits that SMB2 was all a dream, so it isn't cannon?

[Ransom]

SMB was fun at the time, but boring now.

SMB2 was fun then and still has a charm. (I'm talking about the NA release that was a reskinned different game.) I played it every day for at least half a year, just for fun. I'd be willing to play that again some day.

SMB3, I bought, brought over to my friend's place (this was while I was in college) and we stayed up all night taking turns on a world-by-world basis and beat it. Never played it again.

All the rest were "meh" except for 64, which was fine at the time but is now hobbled by that bizarre controller. Otherwise it was fun replaying it a few years ago.

[CGQuarterly]

 

I never had a NES or SNES growing growing up, but I did have a Game Boy and Super Mario Land. I loved that game like nobody's business and played through it more times than I can remember. I don't think I played any Super Mario games other than Super Mario Land 1 & 2 until I was 17 or 18, and by that point the home console Super Mario games just seemed weird to me because they weren't at all like Super Mario Land. They were way harder, didn't have any shoot 'em up stages, and instead of facing a different boss at the end of every world it was just Bowser every time.

 

I know most people consider Super Mario Land to be the black sheep of the Super Mario family, but since it was the Mario game I grew up with I've always felt like it was the way Mario was supposed to be and the home console games were the strange ones.

 

 

I love that game, too. I was an early adopter of the Game Boy, and SML was my second game (Tetris of course being my first.) And I think it has a cool history, having been designed by Gunpei Yokoi's team instead of Miyamoto's.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I love that game, too. I was an early adopter of the Game Boy, and SML was my second game (Tetris of course being my first.) And I think it has a cool history, having been designed by Gunpei Yokoi's team instead of Miyamoto's.

Super Mario Land is a cool game, if a bit short. I need to beat it sometime. Ironic how Daisy is the Princess of SaraSara Land instead of the usual Peach. It wouldn't be until the mid 90s Daisy got her own identity, mainly created as a partner in Mario Tennis to be a partner for Peach, along with Waluigi as a partner to Wario.

[CGQuarterly]

Super Mario Land is a cool game, if a bit short. I need to beat it sometime. Ironic how Daisy is the Princess of SaraSara Land instead of the usual Peach. It wouldn't be until the mid 90s Daisy got her own identity, mainly created as a partner in Mario Tennis to be a partner for Peach, along with Waluigi as a partner to Wario.

 

 

It definitely is short, but like several early Game Boy titles, it's meant to be played through multiple times in a single sitting, as it gets harder each time. Not as good as having more levels, obviously.

[Andromeda Stardust]

It definitely is short, but like several early Game Boy titles, it's meant to be played through multiple times in a single sitting, as it gets harder each time. Not as good as having more levels, obviously.

So there's a "hard mode" after you beat it the first time? I was not aware, though if it's anything like the second quest on Super Mario Bros, it felt like it was put in as an afterthought.

 

SML has it's charm if the stages are a bit repetitive in that sections of the levels repeat themselves. This was part of the level compression by repeating segments with minor changes.

 

Also funny, if you play on a Game Boy Color, sprites get amber/brown coloring whereas tiles get blue, so in the castles you can see where the fallen bricks are before they drop.

[roland p]

I was the one that chose Sunshine

 

What I like about it:

- Wonderful setting, music, ambiance. It has a certain 'feel' that I like

- Big levels.

- Some levels can be very hard, like the 'secret' levels:

 

I also played Galaxy and Galaxy 2, but I found the levels too short. Great games though, very polished.

[adamchevy]

Super Mario Bros 3 is my favorite, second the original Super Mario, and 3rd The N64 version.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I was the one that chose Sunshine

 

What I like about it:

- Wonderful setting, music, ambiance. It has a certain 'feel' that I like

- Big levels.

- Some levels can be very hard, like the 'secret' levels:

 

I also played Galaxy and Galaxy 2, but I found the levels too short. Great games though, very polished.

Sunshine has such beautiful environments. You'd be hard pressed to find a game that looks half as good as Sunshine, even on modern HD systems. It desparately begs for the HD Zelda treatment. Such effects as the shimmering of water or the fact that flames have real heat ripples. And yes, some of those secret stages are just pure evil. I think the poison river (where you have to take Yoshi out on a boat just to get to it) is by far the most annoying stage ever, except for maybe the Grandmaster Galaxy in Galaxy 2. Also that Pachinko machine is just ridiculous. You can get there one of two ways, with the hover nozzle or the rocket nozzle.

 

I almost voted Sunshine but was the lone vote for Galaxy 2. So many great and varied levels in that game; it's like they took everything great about the first and added to it. Oh and Yoshi! I'll admit though Galaxy ain't for everyone. If you suffer from motion sickness, don't bother with it. If I can fault the Galaxy series on one thing however, it's that many planetessimals are simply too small. I always had a preference for the larger worlds rather than the ones with random floating debris.

[godslabrat]

I never had a NES or SNES growing growing up, but I did have a Game Boy and Super Mario Land. I loved that game like nobody's business and played through it more times than I can remember. I don't think I played any Super Mario games other than Super Mario Land 1 & 2 until I was 17 or 18, and by that point the home console Super Mario games just seemed weird to me because they weren't at all like Super Mario Land. They were way harder, didn't have any shoot 'em up stages, and instead of facing a different boss at the end of every world it was just Bowser every time.

I know most people consider Super Mario Land to be the black sheep of the Super Mario family, but since it was the Mario game I grew up with I've always felt like it was the way Mario was supposed to be and the home console games were the strange ones.

SML had a killer soundtrack.

[Andromeda Stardust]

SML had a killer soundtrack.

Yes. Especially the castle levels and rock head world.

 

Also get some nice SHMUP action for once, in a Mario platformer.

[dj_convoy]

I like SML a lot. It's fun to just pick up and play for a little while.

 

I'm a bit surprised that SMB2 is getting so much love (not that it's bad)... it just seems like it's always a black sheep. Any love out there for the real SMB2 (Lost Levels for us gaijin)?

 

I was also happy to see the shout out to just plain Mario Bros., which is etched into my heart thanks to the 5200 version.

[BassGuitari]

Surprised SMB3 or SMWorld haven't run away with this poll, and that SMB2 is neck and neck with 3. SMB2 was popular in its time but it's been fashionable to dump on it in recent years.

IMO the last really great Mario game was Mario 64. Sunshine was great too but felt weird as a Mario title. It's like Sunshine was to 64 what SMB2 was to SMB1.

I want to really like SMB2j/Lost Levels because I love the style of the original SMB as well as the new stuff 2j added, but it's just too f@#$in' hard. I am not L33T enough for it.

[BydoEmpire]

Super Mario World (SNES) - the perfect platformer, and in my top 10 games of all time.

Super Mario Bros (NES)

Mario 64 (n64)

Super Mario Bros 2 (NES)

 

I had a hard time choosing the 3rd spot. I don't know how well Mario 64 has held up over the years, but wow did I love it when it came out. 2 was great, too, and I loved it just as much on the GBA so it's certainly held up.

 

I've only played 3 briefly, and never owned it. I suspect had I bought it back in the day it'd rank much higher.

 

I didn't like Sunshine much. I slogged through it and finished it only because I had a guide from a magazine. Never bothered to finish Galaxy. Clever, but not much fun imho.

 

 

 

Ooh, I love polls like this, because "favorite" is often different than "best".

Not on internet message boards. hehe...

[godslabrat]

Dumping on the US SMB2 is a product of Internet Revisionist History. The game was amazing in its day and it's still amazing. I don't understand the weird hipstery need to act like the game is "beneath" you just because it had a unique origin. Do these same people deny Ms. PAC man is a real PAC man game?

[zylon]

My top choice would've been the original Mario Bros that I used to play in the arcades. SMB3 is my 2nd choice. Others I enjoyed were Super Mario Land and Wario Land on the original B&W Gameboy.

Edited February 6, 2017 by zylon

[flashbackmatt]

Am only nostalgic for the original, but my favorite version of it is Deluxe for the GBC. Being terrible at platformers, the save feature is great for me.

 

I really enjoy the NSMB series, though I haven't played NSMB Wii, yet.

 

3D Mario's usually don't hold my interest, but I am thoroughly enjoying 3D World.

[Austin]

Mario World is the one I have the desire to go back to the most frequently. It took what made Part 3 great, but expanded on it even further with more intricate level design and longer stages. The controls and movement are so damn snappy in the game as well, it feels so good to play. I also love the look of the game.

[+save2600]

...SMW soundtrack and effects are so memorable too!

[+save2600]

You're missing out bro.

Haha, too late for me at this point. When it comes to the newer games, I'd rather just watch someone else play anymore.

[Tanooki]

I agree SML has an amazing soundtrack, just thinking about it I can hear various courses pop into my head right now as they're catchy. The only flaw was they really when ghetto on the visual detail but it was a launch title, and well it's short if that bothers you. It still takes like 45min to clear the game so that's not really a bad thing as it's meant to be portable and each loop inches the challenge up a little.

 

I do agree also that I really wish they'd resurrect Wart. Perhaps some cracked out story where Koopa uses like a Magikoopa to screw with Mario's head and bring his nightmares to life sucking the lands and enemies of SMB2 into real time. Wart and Koopa collaborating to crush his dreams and bag a princess and land for their own. You'd get a screwball mix of what was SMB2 (the unique bosses, snifits, ninjis, birdo, phanto door locks, etc) and then like SMB3/World type stuff they've continually reused since. I know it won't happen as they're not bright enough to tap into such an obvious resource but it would be fantastic.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I like SML a lot. It's fun to just pick up and play for a little while.

 

I'm a bit surprised that SMB2 is getting so much love (not that it's bad)... it just seems like it's always a black sheep. Any love out there for the real SMB2 (Lost Levels for us gaijin)?

 

I was also happy to see the shout out to just plain Mario Bros., which is etched into my heart thanks to the 5200 version.

#1 It is a nice diversion. No save battery to go bad either.

 

#2 I have played "Lost Levels" and do get some enjoyment out of it, but man many of the latter stages are sadistic. Backwards facing Warp Zones?

Yes, in World 3-1 there is a warp to World 1, and somewhere in World 8 there is another warp back to World 5.

 

I hit that SOB when I originally played through the game on Super Mario Bros Deluxe for GBC. Pissed me off so much...

 

 

#3 I haven't played the 8-bit or 5200 versions, but the 2600 and 7800 versions play well enough from a gameplay perspective. But this version is the best port of "Mario Bros" incidentally only released in Eastern Europe as the 1993 "Classic Serie" edition:

http://nintendoage.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Element.View&pId=1&egID=1418&lgID=5489&sID=2127

 

Not to be confused with the original release, it is PAL exclusive (but plays fine on region disabled NTSC) and has added intermissions and enhanced physics. I think it plays better than the arcade version honestly.