What's your favorite Super Mario Bros?

[R.O.T.S]

It was between the original and number 3 which seems a little cliché I know but In the end I voted for SMB3 and the results showed I have brought these two titles level in the poll. I can fully understand this as I had to think for several minutes before deciding between them.

[mbd30]

It was between the original and number 3 which seems a little cliché I know but In the end I voted for SMB3 and the results showed I have brought these two titles level in the poll. I can fully understand this as I had to think for several minutes before deciding between them.

 

Nice Riddle of the Sphinx avatar. That was one of those games that I played a lot as a kid.

 

I had a neighbor friend who was especially fond of it, and wanted me to help him use the other controller for items. I guess it was pretty complex for a 2600 game.

Edited February 19, 2017 by mbd30

[Zap!]

SM World. I always thought 3 was over-rated, and hurt badly without a battery-backup. I'm also a bit surprised that the original got so many votes. Does anyone actually prefer it over the rest, or are you voting for it because it's the landmark that started it all?

[Zap!]

My experience is that second entries in a series often screw with the formula a bit, not to say that the second in a series is necessarily bad, just that deviations are not always as well received. Then a third entry comes out that returns to it's roots and makes everything about the original great again.

 

Street Fighter 2 was probably the biggest exception to this rule in world history. I don't think there's a single person alive who prefers the first (or third). Mortal Kombat II was a lot better than the first as well, but at least MK1 was pretty good and a big commercial success, unlike SF1.

[Austin]

SM World. I always thought 3 was over-rated, and hurt badly without a battery-backup. I'm also a bit surprised that the original got so many votes. Does anyone actually prefer it over the rest, or are you voting for it because it's the landmark that started it all?

 

I can see people choosing it because it's still fun as hell to play. I personally go back to it the most frequently, even more than Mario World (which is my favorite).

[Andromeda Stardust]

SM World. I always thought 3 was over-rated, and hurt badly without a battery-backup. I'm also a bit surprised that the original got so many votes. Does anyone actually prefer it over the rest, or are you voting for it because it's the landmark that started it all?

 

 

 

I can see people choosing it because it's still fun as hell to play. I personally go back to it the most frequently, even more than Mario World (which is my favorite).

Pretty much. I still save the Princess on a semi-regular basis. The 32-stage run takes me a good hour or so to complete because I skip the warps and collect all the powerups and secret pipes / vines.

[Zap!]

 

I can see people choosing it because it's still fun as hell to play. I personally go back to it the most frequently, even more than Mario World (which is my favorite).

 

I play it often too, but not because I think it's the best, but because it's very quick. I get sidetracked a lot more than I used to, so sometimes a nice 10-15 minute game of SMB is just the right dose of fun.

[Trooper Galactus]

I went with World, but just as easily could have said 2 or Galaxy and not been lying. I'll give 3 and 64 their due, but for some reason they never resonated with me like those three.

[Trooper Galactus]

Street Fighter 2 was probably the biggest exception to this rule in world history. I don't think there's a single person alive who prefers the first (or third). Mortal Kombat II was a lot better than the first as well, but at least MK1 was pretty good and a big commercial success, unlike SF1.

Thing about SF2 was they spent so long simply developing it and Alpha, which recycled old Capcom characters, that by the time 3 came out SIX YEARS after the original fatigue with the series had set in a bit.

[PhilipTheWhovian]

The original is the most influential, but far from the best quality wise (I still think it's fun though).

The poll misses out some games.

Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2 are now main series (according to the 30th anniversary website).

Super Mario 3d Land and Super Mario 3d World are also main series.

None of the New Super Mario Bros games are included either.
Also, why isn't Super Mario 64 DS included?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Thing about SF2 was they spent so long simply developing it and Alpha, which recycled old Capcom characters, that by the time 3 came out SIX YEARS after the original fatigue with the series had set in a bit.

And yet Ultra Street Fighter II is coming to Switch later this year. It's like in 15+ years since, III, IV, and V never existed!

 

Then there's that abomination, Street Fighter 2010, which had the unfortunate to grace the NES, along with Fighting Street for the Turbografx / PCe CD.

[Zap!]

And yet Ultra Street Fighter II is coming to Switch later this year. It's like in 15+ years since, III, IV, and V never existed!

 

Then there's that abomination, Street Fighter 2010, which had the unfortunate to grace the NES, along with Fighting Street for the Turbografx / PCe CD.

Fighting Street is really only Street Fighter. It looks very much like the arcade version of the original SF, which was just that awful. When I first heard in Electronic Gaming Monthly that they were working on a SFII, I screamed "WHY!!!" because the original sucked.

 

There are only two times in life that I was worried over nothing for something, and the greatest thing ever happened instead. Street Fighter II, and when John Wetteland signed for another team in 1996. I was so worried that we lost the best closer in baseball. Then the Yanks experimented by promoting Mariano Rivera and the rest is history.

[Tanooki]

Fighting Street was never made well I had that on TG16 and trying to pull off a fireball is a lesson in madness and patience, but mostly madness. I don't mind if 3-5 didn't exist, 2 they got so well even refining it as they have still hasn't made it go off any of the well laid rails.

[mbd30]

Fighting Street is really only Street Fighter. It looks very much like the arcade version of the original SF, which was just that awful. When I first heard in Electronic Gaming Monthly that they were working on a SFII, I screamed "WHY!!!" because the original sucked.

 

There are only two times in life that I was worried over nothing for something, and the greatest thing ever happened instead. Street Fighter II, and when John Wetteland signed for another team in 1996. I was so worried that we lost the best closer in baseball. Then the Yanks experimented by promoting Mariano Rivera and the rest is history.

 

Street Fighter II has to be the sequel most improved over the original game.

[BassGuitari]

Does anyone actually prefer it over the rest, or are you voting for it because it's the landmark that started it all?

I prefer to play it over the rest. It's that good a game. It's like a distillation of all the things that made the later games great, and it's more arcadey IMO--in fact, it WAS an arcade title if you count Vs. Super Mario Bros. Even as a kid whose NES came with SMB3, I liked the original for its simpler gameplay. I even liked the blockier graphics.

 

BTW the 1 vs. 2 vs. 3 vs. World poll is looking more like I expected now.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I prefer to play it over the rest. It's that good a game. It's like a distillation of all the things that made the later games great, and it's more arcadey IMO--in fact, it WAS an arcade title if you count Vs. Super Mario Bros. Even as a kid whose NES came with SMB3, I liked the original for its simpler gameplay. I even liked the blockier graphics.

 

BTW the 1 vs. 2 vs. 3 vs. World poll is looking more like I expected now.

SMB2 has taken a nose dive it seems. A couple weeks ago they were neck and neck.

[Andromeda Stardust]

The original is the most influential, but far from the best quality wise (I still think it's fun though).

The poll misses out some games.

Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2 are now main series (according to the 30th anniversary website).

Super Mario 3d Land and Super Mario 3d World are also main series.

None of the New Super Mario Bros games are included either.

Also, why isn't Super Mario 64 DS included?

Yeah I noticed that too. Only the main series Mario console games were listed. NSMB were all decent games, but NSMBU + LuigiU is the best release in the series so far IMO. I thoroughly enjoyed the original DS title, but then Nintendo basically released the same engine four times on different platforms, which started to wear thin. At least they produced a new theme with the Wii-U release.

 

Also SM3D Land and SM3D World, while fun games, simply don't feel like a traditional 3D Mario. They are built on the same grid and borrows heavily from elements in the NSMB series, almost to the point it is an exact extension of the 2D formula. Compare Hazy Maze in M64 to the first underground stage in SM3D World. One feels like a real environment, while the other feels like World 1-2 of SMB with added depth. That said, 3D World was incredibly fun and playing with the old character roster from SMB2 felt fresh. And cat suit powerup gets my vote for favorite powerup in a Mario game of all time...

 

I get the impression that the OP deliberately omitted the "New" series of games, as well as the Game Boy iterations. Super Mario did spawn two spinoff series, Wario Land and Yoshi's Island were both spinoffs from Super Mario that created brand new series. The original Game Boy game definitely has it's charm and I feel it's a worthy addition to the Mario universe, as is the sequel.

 

There's definitely more Mario out there than the original four 2D titles spanning NES to SNES and the four 3D titles spanning N64 to Wii.

[BassGuitari]

SMB2 has taken a nose dive it seems. A couple weeks ago they were neck and neck.

It's like I said a little while back--BITD I remember people liked SMB2 well enough, but nobody liked it more than they did SMB3 or SMW.

[Andromeda Stardust]

It's like I said a little while back--BITD I remember people liked SMB2 well enough, but nobody liked it more than they did SMB3 or SMW.

SMB2 is a great game; it just doesn't feel like a Mario title. Kinda like Adventure of Link plays more like a weird metroidvania hybrid than an open world adventure game.

[Dr Manhattan]

I have a very tough time choosing between SMB3 and Super Mario 64. I love them both for different reasons.

[Video]

Of the actual " super Mario Bros" games, I'd go with Super Mario Bros 3, it's the most polished and fun of the lot. Of what you have listed, I'd say Super Mario World, huge game and having a mount with powers too adds a lot to the game.

 

Why none of the "new Super Mario Bros" games? New Super Mario Bros Wii is awesome (and with the switch fixing to come out, Wii's fixing to become a 'classic console' sad, isn't it?

[Zap!]

Super Mario World needs just one more vote to go into a three-way tie with SMB1 and 3. The rest are far behind.

[Zap!]

Wonder what a poll for "What's your favorite Zelda?" would look like. In many ways, they are parallel. SMB1 would parallel the Legend Of Zelda, SMB2 would parallel Zelda 2: The Adventure Of Link, and Super Mario Word would parallel Zelda: A Link To the Past. As for Super Mario 3, not sure. It has no Zelda equal, with similar arguments for it being the best or not.

[high voltage]

Yep, Super Mario Land 2 fan here, played it for hours in the old days, I'd say more than the NES Mario titles.

 

Here's my fave console Mario game:

 

 

with a 'cool' advert like this in Jap Playboy magazine, what's not to like...

and the game is kinda weird, like you're on drugs.

Edited March 7, 2017 by high voltage

[toptenmaterial]

Really cool reading this thread. It occurs to me that I really ought to make a better poll with the spin-offs. That would more accurately reflect our experiences. I will as soon as I can hit a desktop.