Nintendo Highlights Super Mario's Game History In 40th Anniversary Timeline

The lowlights are the current prices of Mario games.

Article says Super Mario Land 3, but it should say Super Mario Land 2

I think we'd be okay if Nintendo left Super Mario Run off of this list 😂

Why do they keep pretending the Switch ports are original games? Where's Super Mario Advance or Super Mario 64 DS? They don't have to be that gung-ho about advertising a console that's no longer even current.

It’s been a beautiful journey.

With the exception of the OG Game Boy games I've had the pleasure of playing them all.

I know they're accessible on NSO but I've just never fancied trying them

I can't believe I only now realised the Japanese name for Super Mario Bros 2 was Super Mario USA! 😅 (I knew about the 2/Lost Levels naming, so obviously it couldn't be called the same but... i just knew the Doki Doki Panic origin and never looked up the "rerelease" name in Japan before!)

@Member_the_game Super Mario Land 1 is most like the original Super Mario Bros, but with some shmup stages. Super Mario Land 2 is most like Super Mario World.

Can't believe they've left off Mario Clash just as they're about to re-release it... sort of... behind a physical paywall.

OK, maybe I can believe it.

@molkom ditto!

They forgot the all time classic Mario is Missing

Super Mario World 2 not being on this list while Super Mario Run being is heartbreaking to me.

I am finally playing the 38 e-Reader levels of Super Mario 3 in the NSO GBA game (Super Mario Advance 4).

These are like Mario Maker levels before Mario Maker. I am definitely using rewind to pass them. 🙂

@Liam_Doolan ‘Super Mario Bros. U’ should be ‘New Super Mario Bros. U’ in that list.

@Max_the_German Because it’s not called SMW2 in Japan.

Have they included the moment where he dons a burglar costume and raises the price astronomically for almost 20 year old games?

@Max_the_German Super Mario Land 3 isn't on there either but you don't see me crying about it

So it seems Nintendo is fully intent on considering Mario Run a mainline "Super Mario" game whether we like it or not.

Thus, Run is actually the first 2D Mario in which Daisy and Yoshi (as a standalone character) are playable. Wonder is the first console game to feature them playable but Run was still first in general.

They left off super Mario run 35, which I actually would like back tbf as I didn’t really play it that much before it disappeared. Maybe Mario run 40?

@Markiemania95 SMW2 is called Sūpā Mario: Yosshī Airando in Japanese. That’s not less Super Mario than Sūpā Mario Ran.

They never acknowledge this surprisingly addictive 1989 gem! Yes it's a side scrolling platformer with levels and an original game. It was really impressive for the tech it was using, with traps like spinning platforms and tight vertical platforms you had to jump through without being crushed (it was an auto runner) Bullet bills, Lakitu and others obstacles to dodge.

Plus it got faster and faster as you went through the levels. I can't remember if I ever even managed to complete it as a, kid.

I was so disappointed when the so called 35th Anniversary "Game and Watch" was just a NES rom and not the real Game and Watch Super Mario Bros.

As a matter of fact they should bring Game and Watch to Nintendo Switch Online!

@Max_the_German It’s still considered the first entry in the Yoshi series in much the same way Wario Land is the first in the Wario series though.

However, on that note, I understand Donkey Kong, DK Jr., DK3 etc all being considered by Nintendo as part of the DK series… but then where does that leave Mario Bros.? Wrecking Crew? I suppose they’re not ‘Super’ enough. That, and they’re not true platformers in the same way the games on this list are. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Seeing the Japanese release date of Mario World on the Super Famicom always reminds me that it came out BEFORE Mario 3 on the NES in Europe 🤣

@GravyThief Dear God, no wonder the NES, got beaten by the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in the UK. NOE was terrible back in the day.

@Markiemania95 Yoshi‘s Island will always remain a Super Mario title for me, the pinnacle of platforming, one of the best games.

Thats fantastic. They should have charged for it tho,

@Suketoudara I think part of the problem was NOE didn’t even exist back in the day. They left it up to Mattel in the early days to distribute their stuff in the UK, and later Bandai and THE Games which were much better. But it really goes to show how much we’ve moved on when you look at how games pretty much release simultaneously across the globe these days.

This is a weird selective list. Why didn’t they just include every release? What’s wrong with Mario bros 2?

@datamonkey I think they are going off Japanese release dates so it's there later under the Japanese name of Super Mario USA.

Though confusingly the lost levels is the western title of that game, I guess the list avoids calling either of them super mario 2.

Interesting to see Yoshi Island and Wario Land don't count, it makes sense but they originally where keen to have them be part of the series.

The best entries of the series were released within the first 5 years (the first 10 years if, as I do, you consider Yoshi's Island as part of the gang).
The wait for "Super Mario World 2" seemed sooo long back in the days, when I was a kid.
And I'm still waiting for a sequel to "A link to the past" on Super Nes !

@Roibeard64
It's kinda why Yoshi and Wario are considered separate from Mario characters in Smash. While they are tied to Mario in terms of origin, they pretty much have their own sister franchises now like Donkey Kong Country.

And crazy that in Japan, Super Mario Bros 2 / USA released four years after SMB 3 and two years after SMW!

@Misima You never complained about Zelda being over priced.

Oh you have Super Mario 2 named as Super Mario USA

Nothing but good memories (except the times when I’d die, which happened most of the time). Here’s to many more years of platforming perfection with our mustachioed maestro!

Nice, this is pretty cool!

The main ones I never played were the Galaxy games on Wii because I boycotted that era (and the WU era), and the Gameboy games. I'm so happy to see the Galaxy games come to Switch 2, complete with a 4K upgrade, and the price is great too. The Gameboy games don't hold much interest.

As to the whinging about Nintendo releasing old games again, remember this release is to appeal to a new market. If you own them on Wii, pull out your machine and wiggle controls, and go for it. Let those that want to buy them to enjoy them. Considering inflation and the comparison price to other Switch 2 games, the Galaxy package is tremendously fair. Ultimately, the consumer decides. If you don't like it, don't buy it! 🤗

It probably costs $20 to access the website. Any update from now on is going to be paid DLC.

You know what would have honoured Mario's legacy more than anything? Releasing those remasters at 40$ and getting more people to play them.

Mario has now become a high end luxury brand, apparently.

Mario is missing is missing how ironic

@HalBailman You forgot to consider greedflation: companies taking advantage of inflation to sneak in some extra $'s.
In no reality is this price reasonable. That's what you ask for a new game that hundreds of people worked on for years. You can't keep doing that for every re-release unless all the people who worked on the original also get a cut.

It's horrible to see them blame it on inflation and get away with it. It's nothing less than gaslighting the consumers they so depend on.

@RoboCube I have. Over and over. Especially about Tears of the Kingdom.

Absolutely awesome of them to do this, but they already had this exact same thing without the 40th anniversary branding for the past several years 🤣

@Member_the_game Both great games. SML1 has looser physics than SMB1, but, is so flipping weird and unique it deserves at least one playthrough. Can be done in as little as 20mins once you know it and has a 'new game plus' after completion. Due to its short length I have replayed it countless times, I can hope on, have a full adventure in no time and walk away happy.
SML2 feels floaty to control, which can feel odd at first, but it is a great game that has some real odd moments and, indeed, enemies. Jason mask with a knife in the head stands out straight away. It's a much longer game, but can still be blasted through quickly and isn't very difficult at all. In fact the only challenge is at the end and I use the term challenge loosely.
Well worth the little time it will take for you to try them out.

It says something when 13 of these games I play through on a regular occurrence. Fantastic series.

@Max_the_German Mario Run is a Mario game (although not exactly his best), where as SMW2 is in name only to pull people into trying/buying it. It is a Yoshi game through and through. They did the same with Wario Land, calling it SML3 knowing people would more likely purchase it. Sneaky, maybe, but it prevented the crime of these games not being played as much as they deserve. Being left out is in an admittance to what they truly are, not Mario games.

Adding to the discussion on Super Mario World 2.. It's really weird to me seeing Yoshi's Island not being on this list. Considering they announced a new Yoshi game for the anniversary. That new game seems to have very little to do with Mario himself, whereas that original Yoshi's Island had baby Mario in it, so that one had more of a connection. Just feels off to me.

@PinderSchloss No, I haven't forgotten corporate greed at all. I've mentioned it countless times on these pages, especially with the lack of price reduction of consoles over the years, with Sony the biggest culprit. They released a Slim model and, for the first time ever, increased the price. Absurd. These companies are taking advantage of the high inflation environment, knowing the consumer is now conditioned to higher prices. Guess what? We are paying those prices.

My point with the Galaxy package is that within that context, its price is tremendously fair. Even thinking back to Metroid Prime Remastered on the Switch, wasn't that $40? All these years later we get the two Galaxy games on the Switch 2, upgraded to 4K, at $80.

@Suketoudara I agree with this! Game & Watch should be fairly easy to emulate and if they're willing to do Virtual Boy, I don't see why they wouldn't be willing to do Game & Watch emulation.

I’m surprised that they didn’t find a way to work in that the main event of Mario it’s games now it’s movies

Well alright then.

@MTMike87 Game & watch would be impossible to emulate, simply because the screen was different for each game. It's not a bunch of pixels they can translate. They'd have to re-draw everything from scratch.

So Mario 2 on the NES (where you lift the baddies and throw them) is dead to Nintendo?

Just now realising the super Mario USA naming 🤯

@Member_the_game

Super Mario Land 2 is fantastic and really feels like Super Mario World mixed with the best of SMB3.

SML is worth playing just for good its soundtrack is.

@Scarftail I get what you’re saying, but Nintendo isn’t going to skip an opportunity to advertise its full-price Mario games that are currently available for purchase.

@PinderSchloss not entirely impossible. They still have most of the original character and background art archived so I imagine recreating the visuals wouldn't be too much of a hassle.

@PinderSchloss I think it will be more difficult to do so in an official form for sure, but I've already played several Game & Watch games via emulation so it's definitely possible, but I'm unsure of the process that it would really require to get the most authentic experience from Nintendo themselves.

@OrtadragoonX @DennyCrane @RupeeClock @BrandyBongos

Thanks all, sounds like I should really give them a go, particularly number 2

@MTMike87 I think those are all basically remakes : )
True, it wouldn't take much effort. Just a few illustrations per game and the most basic code. So I do see that happening!

It's been a fun ride. Wow, I've played and beat almost all of these. No matter how old I get, or what I play, there's two constants I will die with-- Always playing the next Super Mario game, and the next Zelda game, if nothing else. Happy 40th SMB, the game that turned me on to Nintendo consoles.

@RoboCube the Switch versions are overpriced. The Zelda games are excellent and basically 1 dollar an hour. They're not overpriced. Mind you they should be going down in price.

If you paid extra to upgrade the game, I think you got ripped off.

@Scarftail I would guess that the switch ports are still available to purchase. Those other games you’ve mentioned aren’t, so in their mind, no point mentioning it.

All amazing games, but the fun I had with Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario Land 2 and Super Mario 3D Land is still unsurpassed, and I played them all.
Odyssey is the most beautiful.

@Member_the_game try the first one. Short, sweet and with some of the best tunes of all the games.