Favorite Pre Mario 64 Main Series Super Mario Game?

[Magmavision2000]

My favorite is the first one, but I think 3 has the most replayability. I don't really like 2/USA because it's too different, I don't like the throwing mechanic, and it just feels repetitive after a while. 2 JP is like running, it's not fun, but you keep trying because it's rewarding when you progress a little more than you previously did. World feels like a both upgraded and downgraded version of 3.

[DragonGrafx-16]

Super Mario World... hands down... my favorite 2D Mario game. The engine that game used can do so much... just look at all the rom hacks... someone even made a shoot em up stage!

[Black_Tiger]

I love the challenge of the real SMB2, but the original and VS will always be my favorite due to nostalgia, gameplay and style.

[Lord Mushroom]

I have to say Super Mario World, but SMB3 is a close 2nd. There is something magic about SMB3. Perhaps because I only played it a little bit when I was a kid, and haven´t played it since. Oddly, my favourite thing about it was that at an early level (and probably at later levels too) you could kill an enemy by sliding downhill. That was very satisfying for some reason. I also liked the silly costumes (boot, frog, bear?).

 

Whereas SMW feels a bit calculated and over the top. Perhaps because I didn´t really play it until I was an adult. And I have completed it, doing all the secrets, so I almost sick of it now.

 

But SMW has Yoshi, and you can save your progress. And I think that if I take off my nostalgia-tinted glasses, it is a slightly better game.

 

SMB1 was a lot of fun. My first non-Atari 2600 game (along with Duck Hunt). So I have played that the most, and still have fond memories of it. But SMB 3 is better in almost all ways. Better graphics, better music, more creative levels, more power-up variety and an overworld map.

 

Haven´t played the Japanese one, but it looks like SMB1 only too hard.

 

The non-Japanese SMB2 is a good game, but it isn´t really a Super Mario game. So I rank the games like this:

 

SMW

SMB 3

SMB

SMB 2 (japanese)

SMB 2

 

Edit:

My 3,75 year old nephew has borrowed my SNES, and is now exploring console gaming for the first time. He is a bit too young, so games are too difficult to fully enjoy them, but the reports I have received suggests he likes SMW in small doses.

 

Arkanoid: Doh it Again was apparently too boring, and he didn´t really understand what Pop´n Twinbee was all about. I recently lent him Rival Turf. Maybe he´ll like that better.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Lord Mushroom

[BassGuitari]

Original Super Mario Bros. for me. Perfect blend of arcade and adventure for me!

[Tanooki]

I usually go between them, but Super Mario Bros 3 definitely (though World is quite close.)  Dismissing 8vs 16bit graphics and audio aside, SMB3 just had more variety.

[Lord Mushroom]

8 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I usually go between them, but Super Mario Bros 3 definitely (though World is quite close.)  Dismissing 8vs 16bit graphics and audio aside, SMB3 just had more variety.

I am starting to think I should have gone with SMB3 too. I guess I won´t find out until I play SMB3 again.

[derFunkenstein]

For me it's definitely SMB 3, but these days I only have time to play it for 20-30 minutes at a time, so I have to give preference to a version that saves (there's a "Mario All-Stars" homebrew for the NES, SNES Mario All-Stars, and Super Mario Advanced 4)