Worst 'mainline' Mario game?

[Dyle]

The best 2D Mario game after Super Mario World 2 reviewed worse than the worst-reviewed 3D Mario, so this straight up isn't true. None of the 2D Mario games beyond Super Mario World 2 are spoke of as classics.

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Their quality doesn't matter, it's not what defines them as being mainline titles or not. That's kind of the whole point of this thread, isn't it?

The NSMB games are mainline Mario titles because 1) they're regular platformers and not RPGs or sports games or a funky thing like Mario Maker, 2) they were developed in-house at Nintendo, 3) they were specifically made and branded as new mainline entries, signalling the return of 2D Mario after a nearly 15 year gap since the last title, 4) Nintendo has after release consistently treated them in a way that indicates they consider them to be part of the core series.

 

[BassForever]

It's Sunshine easily, and despite that it's still a great game

Edit: I don't know if I would really call Land a mainline Mario game. If we are it's the game that holds up the worse, but it was great for it's time.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

New Super Mario Bros. U simply because of how uninspiring it is.

 

[Leo-Tyrant]

Personally? Odyssey.

 

[Derachi]

Sunshine is a good idea for a game marred by a clearly rushed release. It's buggy, it's heavily padded, certain levels barely work (pachinko...) and by mainline Mario standards it's a massive disappointment.

I sincerely want to know why the 9 people who voted for Land 2 picked it. Land 2 is among my favourites.

 

[cloudknight]

Sunshine is my personal worst. I struggled with the controls, as an adult, and I thought the level design was frustrating. I recognize it has a following though. Objectively, I think the worst is NSMB2. The "unlimited coins everywhere" thing was annoying.

To the folks saying Odyssey...I'm not going to try and reason with that criticism because it takes a pretty steadfast opinion to think that game is anywhere close to "bad". I beat it when it came out, and now that my oldest kiddo is old enough to play it, we play it together at least twice a week. And she's still discovering moons post-game that I never discovered. It's a masterpiece platformer and, if I put away nostalgia for the older games, the best Mario game ever made.

 

[Beil]

The answer is always going to be Sunshine.

NSMB, SML etc. fulfil their goals. Even if they're aiming low they always do their job and they're never less than polished, consistent, mechanically satisfying and fun.

Sunshine is the only one where you can genuinely tell the team ran out of time, didn't test and had to pad it out. There's so many moments where you're just thinking "...what!?" How did that get through? It's a mess.

Ocasional bursts of brilliance; the sand bird, the no-FLUDD levels don't make up for it being the only game in the series that straight-up fails to achieve what it was aiming for.

 

[xir]

3D Land. Sunshine wipes the floor with it.

 

[Eppcetera]

I voted Super Mario Bros. 2, with the USA version in mind (I have never liked that game very much, and I beat the Lost Levels before it). I haven't played the Mario Land games or Super Mario Sunshine.

 

[Aaron]

Lost Levels, SML1 or Sunshine would be my picks.

I know Lost Levels and Sunshine have their fans, but they just never did it for me. Lost Levels' design is too Kaizo-esque for my taste, Sunshine just peters out very quickly (I've never finished it). SML1 is so rudimentary that it's hard to enjoy these days, even if it was a fun novelty back when.

 

[EnglandPrevails]

I'm really glad to see NSMB2 at 2nd place. I didn't think it would come close to sunshine . NSMB2 broke my heart. What s boring fucking game. I had replayed NSMB1 countless times and was so excited when 2 came out only to be crushed by disappointment. Fuck those coins, fuck that game!

 

[Natec]

NSMB2, took me about 5 years of playing it on and off to finish it because it was so bland.

 

[Deleted member 11985]

New Super Mario Bros U

It's a perfectly fine game and I still enjoyed playing it, but I feel like it was the third or fourth one in that specific new 2D style. It just got to be too much of the same by that point. Also, I guess this also includes New Super Luigi U, since that was yet another one that came later in the same exact style, but I never played that one.

 

[EliR]

Galaxy Two

 

[MarcelRguez]

I resisted the urge to vote for Sunshine, but out of those, it has to be Land. Just look at it.

 

[Euron]

Okay, this Odyssey disrespect is crazy. Did you all play the New Super Mario Bros games? They feel so lifeless in comparison.

 

[Deleted member 59109]

Lost Levels

Galaxy Two

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I think the op said worst, not best

 

[CarlSagan94]

The hate for Sunshine in Era continues to baffle me.

 

[Toxi]

BAH BAH

 

[MissCauthon]

There's only 2 mario games I love, Mario 3 and Mario 2 on the NES.

 

[Nephtes]

I don't think Super Mario Land should be on this list. Sure it's not great by the standards of other Mario games since the 1980s in that context, but you have to realize a few things:

1. Super Mario Land was developed by a separate team before Super Mario was a set in stone product. Mario was still evolving into what it is today. The real Super Mario 2 never made it to the US and Super Mario 3 was a long way away from becoming a phenomenon in the US (even though Japan had it a few years before us). To many here in the West, Super Mario Land was the third Super Mario we played.
2. It ran on a game system you could keep in your pocket. This was mind bending in 1989 when the only portable video games at the time were shitty Tiger electronics.
3. Did I mention it was portable Super Mario Bros. you could play in the backseat or the "way back" of the family station wagon on the way to grandma's and not be bored in the freakin Dark Ages of the 1980's?? OP, do you even know what a station wagon is?
   
   In that context: Best. Mario. Ever.

 

[Future Gazer]

Odyssey completely fails as a platformer, which is the essence of the mainline games. So that.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Mario platformers is a series that its known for its consistent quality. And while there are many candidates for the best category, can we at least agree on the worst?

Note: Poll options are limited, so I added a list of the ones often cited as the worst.

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I assume SMB2 in the charts is the famicom game and not the fantastic SMBUSA right?

that said NSMB1 is still probably the worst

 

[ThatsMyTrunks]

People saying Mario Sunshine is worse than Super Mario Land are out of their damn minds.

 

[Dr. Mario]

Was a choice between SML and NSMB for me (never played new 2). Ultimately I see SML as trying to figure out what the Gameboy could do, and NSMB as creative bankruptcy however, so went with the latter.

 

[Nephtes]

People saying Mario Sunshine is worse than Super Mario Land are out of their damn minds.

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Question: Could you play Mario Sunshine on a game device you keep in your pocket in 1989 in the back of the family station wagon as a means to stave off fatal boredom on the 3 hour car ride to grandma's house?

No?

Then yeah, Sunshine is objectively worse than Super Mario Land, which is a game that saved my life on more than one trip to grandma's...

 

[Cogniferous]

Not played the Land games so will have to say Super Mario Bros 2. Odyssey is the best Mario game. Finished it with a huge grin on my face.

 

[Conkerkid11]

Why isn't Odyssey in the list?

Also feel like the 2D and 3D games shouldn't be mixed in the same poll, because I hate all the 2D games I've played, but there's so many that I haven't played them all.

 

[onpoint]

Y'all are crazy putting Sunshine under NSMB2

Still, that is a high quality list to pick the "worst" of.

 

[Ubik]

SML should be exempt for the music alone. It also solved the problem of shitty water levels by giving you a fucking submarine. GOAT candidate right there.

 

[CrocoDuck]

Mario Odyssey is one of the most overrated, laziest, and half assed high profile games ever made.

 

[Novocaine]

I feel like not enough people here have played Land 2 because the votes for it are so low. Man that game is no good. Land 1 is weird but it at least feels good to play. 2 has better looking sprites but it feels like total shit to play.

 

[Rellyrell28]

It's definitely Sunshine. I hated the whole flood mechanic and the whole thing just didn't feel like a Mario game to me.

 

[Parthenios]

Why isn't Odyssey a poll option? That one was not just not good "for a Super Mario game" but was probably not good at all.

 

[Nature's finest mango]

Galaxy 2.
Only mainline game I played without ever trying to beat.

 

[JCal]

I was like 4-6 years old. I went into a Sears and a family member bought me Mario Land 1. Maaaaaan, I was so pissed that evening when I'd already beaten the game after a few hours, lol. I mean, now that I'm older, I can appreciate the fact that I was playing the first Mario game on a portable system, but at the same time... fuck you Mario Land! That shit was full price in the early 90's and it's short as fuck. Nintendo, you bastards. You crushed me!

*Looks at poll* Jesus! People are out of their minds.

 

[Semfry]

Sunshine is the one I have the most actively negative feelings about, but I went with New Super Mario Bros because at least Sunshine was trying something new vs going out of it's way to be as generic as possible. Super Mario Land 1 would also be a contender, but at least that has the excuse of being an early experiment.

 

[Bomi-Chan]

i really disliked the wii and wii u game.
maybe because the controls never felt tight.
super mario sunshine had some bad moments, but too many fresh ones to be considered bad.

 

[Sordid Plebeian]

People don't like Sunshine? I really enjoyed it as a kid

 

[Acido]

Sunshine by far. It doesn't even feel like a Mario game.

 

[werezompire]

Even at the time, SML1 felt off. If that counts, it's the easy loser. If it doesn't count, then SMB2: The Lost Levels is basically just a poor expansion pack with a lot of cheap deaths.

People saying stuff like Sunshine, Odyssey, or the NSMB series are nuts.

 

[FakePlasticTree]

Odyssey is the best, and Sunshine is the worst.

 

[mrmickfran]

New Super Mario ______

Uninspired, boring and ugly

Sunshine leading is laughable

 

[ghibli99]

Out of that list in the poll, Super Mario Land 1 gets my vote. I played it all the way through again several years ago, and I honestly don't remember anything from it except for the shoot-'em-up areas, which are themselves pretty mediocre. Kind of neat at the time I guess, but it's so short and not all that fun to play.

 

[Pirate Bae]

...Odyssey

 

[Jakten]

Odyssey, I gave it a good shot but when I look back and really compare it to every other it just feels very empty and bland. Sunshine atleast tried an interesting mechanic and style. Odyssey just felt like a demo to show developers what types of games they could make.

 

[Host Samurai]

The Odyssey hate is just crazy to me. It's balls to the wall crazy, inventive and has the most variety in the series imo. It's probably my favorite Mario game. Worst is either Sunshine or The Lost Levels.

 

[Jencks]

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is aggressively mediocre. It has no ambition at all and is really a shining example of Nintendo at their most uninspired.

Sunshine is a mess but it at least tries some shit. Mario's moveset in Sunshine is arguably unmatched by any other 3D Mario. The music and atmosphere are also top notch.

 

[MP!]

wait... NSMB wii was by far the worst
the constant hitching any time someone got a powerup or died is just awful

does that not count as mainline
?

 

[SirNinja]

Lmao at all the Odyssey replies. Best Mario since 64. What was even wrong with it? Too many moons? As if you were forced to get them all...

At least the correct answer won. I seriously worry if they're really going to just port Sunshine 1:1. That game needs a serious reworking, especially structurally. At first it seems as open as Mario 64, but the level structure is weirdly linear. Watching speedruns of the game, it's crazy just how much stuff is mandatory and how insistent the game is on telling a story through most of its stages, railroading players from one shine to the next. (And I don't even want to get into the 4Kids-tier voice acting, or how completely ridiculous-in-a-bad-way the overall plot was...)