Recently I innocently decided it was high time I went back and played through all the Super Mario games in anticipation of New Super Mario Brothers Wii and Galaxy 2 next year.
I soon realised the astonishing number of Mario titles, which I had never really thought of before. See, there are so many spin-offs, sports and party games, and games that so greatly deviate from the others in the series that it becomes very difficult to say with any certainty which Mario games count, meaning which Mario games belong to the "main" super mario series, and which are just spin-offs or unrelated.
For example, it's fairly clear that Dr. Mario or Super Smash Brothers do not belong in the same series as Super Mario world and Mario 64. On the other hand, What about games like Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario, games that clearly take place in the Mushroom Kingdom world, but that deviate largely from Platforming gameplay. Do the gameboy Mario land games count?
Of course, the best solution is to just play the ones I like. Yet, There does seem to be an obvious "main" series, and I just find it interesting to debate those games that are on the border between being part of the main series or a spinoff game.
Here are the games I feel actually count (of course any of them you like count, but I feel these constitute the actual main series)
Super Mario Brothers- I'm skipping any games before this one. Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, and other arcade type games lack almost everything that makes a mario game a mario game, except his presence. I can see Donkey Kong maybe, but it's clear to Me that SMB is where the series truly becomes it's own entity.
The Lost Levels - Not really a true sequel, It plays more like an expansion pack, but I dig it as SMB part 2
Super Mario 2 - This is one that has a lot of weird gameplay compared to other mario games, and in fact is a Japanese game that was reworked with mario characters for the U.S. market. regardless, It's a great platformer and I think deserves it's spot in the main series
Super Mario 3 - it's in
I'm skipping the Mario lands. Mario land was below standard imo, and featured mario driving an airplane/submarine. The 2nd mario land is borderline, and I'm not sure.
Super Mario World - it's in
We then have a million spinoffs. mario world 2 is really the first yoshi title, not a mario game, and RPG is an RPG, which is just tto far from the platforming style for me to count it. the others are obvious spinoffs, like Mario Paint and the first Kart game (which is awesome)
Super Mario 64 - reinvented mario, but kept the roots. it's in
We than have a billion spinoffs from this point till now, and i think most of them don't count, except for Sunshine and galaxy, which are both 64 influenced. New Super Mario brothers may also count.
So by my count, there are 8 games (seven if you consider lost levels an expansion) in the actual "main" series, which I've catagorized as the console based platform related games.
What do you guys think? is this somewhat accurate, how do you feel I was too harsh on some games?
I soon realised the astonishing number of Mario titles, which I had never really thought of before. See, there are so many spin-offs, sports and party games, and games that so greatly deviate from the others in the series that it becomes very difficult to say with any certainty which Mario games count, meaning which Mario games belong to the "main" super mario series, and which are just spin-offs or unrelated.
For example, it's fairly clear that Dr. Mario or Super Smash Brothers do not belong in the same series as Super Mario world and Mario 64. On the other hand, What about games like Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario, games that clearly take place in the Mushroom Kingdom world, but that deviate largely from Platforming gameplay. Do the gameboy Mario land games count?
Of course, the best solution is to just play the ones I like. Yet, There does seem to be an obvious "main" series, and I just find it interesting to debate those games that are on the border between being part of the main series or a spinoff game.
Here are the games I feel actually count (of course any of them you like count, but I feel these constitute the actual main series)
Super Mario Brothers- I'm skipping any games before this one. Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, and other arcade type games lack almost everything that makes a mario game a mario game, except his presence. I can see Donkey Kong maybe, but it's clear to Me that SMB is where the series truly becomes it's own entity.
The Lost Levels - Not really a true sequel, It plays more like an expansion pack, but I dig it as SMB part 2
Super Mario 2 - This is one that has a lot of weird gameplay compared to other mario games, and in fact is a Japanese game that was reworked with mario characters for the U.S. market. regardless, It's a great platformer and I think deserves it's spot in the main series
Super Mario 3 - it's in
I'm skipping the Mario lands. Mario land was below standard imo, and featured mario driving an airplane/submarine. The 2nd mario land is borderline, and I'm not sure.
Super Mario World - it's in
We then have a million spinoffs. mario world 2 is really the first yoshi title, not a mario game, and RPG is an RPG, which is just tto far from the platforming style for me to count it. the others are obvious spinoffs, like Mario Paint and the first Kart game (which is awesome)
Super Mario 64 - reinvented mario, but kept the roots. it's in
We than have a billion spinoffs from this point till now, and i think most of them don't count, except for Sunshine and galaxy, which are both 64 influenced. New Super Mario brothers may also count.
So by my count, there are 8 games (seven if you consider lost levels an expansion) in the actual "main" series, which I've catagorized as the console based platform related games.
What do you guys think? is this somewhat accurate, how do you feel I was too harsh on some games?
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Ha, I didn't even know there was a Super Mario Canon!
