Powerups? How about little bunny ears that let Mario glide? Levels? How about a vaguely Halloween themed world and a giant Mario robot that we’ll call Mario Zone? Even the title, 6 Golden Coins, implies that the dozens of coins Mario collects in each level are counterfeits. Yet the thing that makes Super Mario Land 2 so memorable is how weird it is. This GameBoy title stacks up remarkably well to the console counterparts of its time, especially compared to the first Super Mario Land. Super Mario Land 2 is an impressive feat. Regardless, let’s just agree there have been a lot of great Mario games and dive into one of the most hotly debated rankings in gaming history.ġ0: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) That said, I’d be remiss not to give honorable mentions to Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, WarioWare Inc., Super Mario Maker 2, and Donkey Kong (1994). Heck, even my honorable mentions could go much longer. Not only are my opinions subject to debate (as they should be), the very qualifications of what belongs on the list can be contested.įor the sake of some consistency, I’ve limited this list to platformers that most would agree are Mario games. Yet does Super Mario RPG count as a Mario game? Does Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker? Is Donkey Kong a Mario game? I know I’m not the first person to dive into this question, but it does impact this entire list.

Except, also, what is a Mario game? I mean, we all know the big ones count, like Super Mario Bros for the NES or Super Mario 64. This may sound funny coming from someone who clearly took the time to write this list, but… how do you rank Mario games?Įverything that I said about ranking Zelda games applies here.

All the mario game