Five Super Mario Bros. Games to Play to Get Excited About the New Trailer
The Super Mario movie is officially on its way. But in the meantime, these games will remind you how great the character can be.
The Super Mario Bros. movie trailer dropped yesterday and we are cautiously optimistic about this film. It looks fun, goofy, and well-animated. And with good recent game-movie experiences from Sonic the Hedgehog and Detective Pikachu, maybe it’s not too much to hope for an enjoyable, mindless way to spend a few hours in April.
But there’s a lot of time between now and then. How will we fill those Marioless hours? With more Mario, of course. These are five of the best mushroom-eating plumbers games to get you extra excited for next year’s animated film.
Mario Kart
You may look at this and think, “Mario Kart, huh? Which one?” And honestly, it doesn’t even matter. Yes, they’re all a little different. Yes, some are arguably better than others. But sometimes the goal is to let your brain take a little nap and just have fun for a few minutes. And for that, Mario Kart is perfect. I’m awful at this game, and even I can confidently say that it’s nearly impossible to have a bad time with some Mario Kart. So play whichever one is newest (either 2020’s Home Circuit or 2017’s 8 Deluxe, depending on what you think counts). Play whichever one you already have. Or pick up a copy of whichever will work on the system closest to you right now. But go play, and have a great time doing it.
Super Mario 64
I’ve written before about how much I love Mario 64. Is this love nostalgia-fueled? A little bit. But this was also a great game in its own right. The graphics were great for their time and hold up surprisingly well today. And the gameplay was a fun mix between story, mini-games, and simple tooling around the castle. This was a classic Mario game that managed to feel fresh and new in ’96. Now in 2022, it would be just as fun as it was in my friend’s basement in fifth grade, but with a comforting nostalgic twist.
Super Mario World
We’re going to pop a little farther back in time to take a look at 1990’s Super Mario World. This game introduces flight, the now famous Mario – Yoshi team-up, and had a map that allowed for multiple ways to get around the world. It was revolutionary for its time, and with some of the nicest possible 2D graphics, there’s a reason this game has withstood the test of time.
Super Mario Galaxy
On one hand, large aspects of this are a standard Mario game. But on the other, he’s able to bounce between galaxies and collect stars. This is Mario in the next frontier. But it’s not all just aesthetics. You can now interact with your environment in ways that you couldn’t before such as picking up objects and moving obstacles out of your way. It’s a borderline addictively fun game.
Mario Odyssey
This may be the most innovative and creative Mario game to date. It’s a gigantic mix of story and art styles that blend together in a way that feels like it shouldn’t work but somehow manages to do so perfectly. Your cap can allow you to possess NPCs and enemies alike to borrow their abilities or powers. For example that T-Rex has a big head but little arms so while he’ll be helpful for smashing and chomping, picking things up may not be in his wheelhouse.
What is your favorite Mario game? Are you looking forward to the upcoming movie? Did you watch the trailer yet? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
