One of the most bland entries in the entire Mario franchise. This game feels as if it only exists to be a "Mario game on the Wii U". Offering almost nothing new over New Super Mario Bros. Wii, there is no surprise that this was the last official entry in the New Super Mario Bros. series. There are new enemies, worlds, and powerups but otherwise nothing innovative or interesting for long time fans. After all, New Super Mario Bros. wasn't really "New" anymore at this point, and the game feels like beating a dead horse.

This game is surprisingly fun and has a very different vibe from other Mario games. This game was the first to feature Wario, who has taken over Mario land. There is a new rabbit powerup that allows Mario to hover and a new world map. The world map allows players to navigate through different worlds and tackle the bosses and levels within to collect the 6 coins. The zoomed in perspective of the game is a little bizarre and feels more akin to Wario Land but the game is very impressive for a GameBoy game.

A pleasant surprise from Nintendo when they revealed that a port of Super Mario 3D World for the Switch would be bundled with a completely new and original game. Super Mario 3D world is one of my favorite local co-op Mario experiences, taking many of the ideas seen from Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS and bringing them to a bigger screen. Plenty of collectibles, levels and power ups to mess around with and some very surprising but welcome post game challenges to tackle. This experience is improved even more when played with friends. Bowser's Fury, on the other hand, is a fantastic singleplayer experience (it does have multiplayer, but its not really in depth). The ideas seen in Bowser's Fury are completely original and never seen before in the franchise. Bowser's Fury essentially has Mario traversing a semi-open world all while avoiding a Godzilla-like Bowser terrorizing the land. I won't reveal too much about the game, but it is very fun. A great bundle with two very fun games.

This game is certainly the direction Mario games should have gone towards long before the release of New Super Mario Bros. Super Mario 3D Land takes the fun of 3D platforming from games like Super Mario 64, Galaxy and Sunshine, and integrates it into classic level design seen in the 2D Mario games. This combination, while seemingly bizarre, actually comes together very well and makes for a very enjoyable experience. Plenty of collectibles and secrets to uncover, high replay value, and great level design make this one of my favorite Mario games.

It's a Mario game, and that's about the extent of it. The game genuinely does not do anything new at all and set Nintendo on a tunnel vision path for 2D Mario games in the following years after it. It is fun, yes, but when compared to its predecessors it is painfully bland and does not offer anything particularly interesting. The level design is fine and the game has plenty of replay value with collectibles and secrets to go back for. Otherwise, this game is a passable portable Mario experience that I personally think did more bad than good for the franchise as a whole.

Super Mario Sunshine is still what I believe to be one of the boldest decisions made by Nintendo with their most popular and profitable IP. F.LU.D.D., Mario's hose/backpack companion, is the primary gimmick in this game; this means that paint and other substances that must be washed away are very common throughout the game. The usage of FLUDD in the level design is pretty fun and satisfying, and the levels are laid out very similarly to Mario 64. The physics of the game are obscenely janky and the game sometimes just completely breaks even when played normally. Still, the game has plenty of content and collectibles, great level design, fun bosses and a very nice vibe.

What more can be said about the game that set the standard for 3D platforming and possibly even 3D games as a whole? Super Mario 64 is the staple title of the N64 and it demonstrates what exactly the console was capable of. It was the most open ended Mario game at the time, allowing players to tackle levels in pretty much whatever order they would like (with limitations, obviously). Peach's Castle as a hub world was a genius idea to have in place of a world map, since it allowed for even more secrets and collectibles to be hidden throughout peach's Castle instead of just inside of the levels. The gameplay itself is incredibly fun albeit sometimes very sticky (an inherent problem of the N64). The physics are a little janky and rough around the edges. Regardless, this game is incredibly iconic and set a precedent for not just Mario games but for all games in the 3D transition era.

The definitive 2D Mario experience. Combining many of the great things we saw across Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3 along with the new hardware of the SNES, Super Mario World still holds up incredibly well today. The world map design, as well as the various secrets, shortcuts and collectible items is strikingly similar to Super Mario Bros. 3 and the level variety is just as fantastic. Iconic music, levels, and, of course, Yoshi. Yoshi is this game's neat little gimmick that isn't necessarily forced upon you to use but helps immensely in traversing levels, since Yoshi can make quick work of enemies by eating them and can also eat fruit and give extra power ups. One of the best games to come out of the time period, and still is arguably the best 2D Mario game.