List of games by date
- This article is a chronological list of Mario games. For a list organized by video game system, see Games by System.
Games
Over the years, Mario and his brother Luigi have appeared in several popular video games, both with starring and less significant roles. Here is a chronological list of games that Mario has appeared in, or games with other Mario characters:
1980s
Year 1981
- Donkey Kong (Arcade) - The first game to feature Mario, although at this point he is named Jumpman.
Year 1982
- Donkey Kong (Game & Watch) - The very first game with Mario, who was a carpenter trying to rescue his girlfriend from an evil ape.
- Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade, Game & Watch) - Mario is the opponent in this one, and it is up to Donkey Kong Jr. to rescue his father.
- Donkey Kong 2 (Game & Watch)
Year 1983
- Mario's Cement Factory (Game & Watch)
- Mario's Bombs Away (Game & Watch)
- Mario Bros. (Arcade) - Introduced Luigi, it featured 2-player simultaneous play.
Year 1985
- Super Mario Bros. (Famicom/NES) - First scrolling platformer. 32 KB of program; 8 KB of graphics. According to the Guinness Book of World Records [1], SMB is the best-selling game of all time.
- Tennis (Famicom/NES) - Mario was the referee.
- Wrecking Crew (Famicom/NES) - Mario is the protagonist, but gameplay is unrelated to other Mario games. Many NES games featured Mario as a character, even though the game may not have fit the theme of the series.
- Golf (NES) - Mario's first foray into golf. He must have made some spare money in his blue collar jobs.
Year 1986
- Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Famicom) - Released initially in Japan on the Famicom Disk System as Super Mario Bros. 2, this used a slightly modified version of the original SMB engine with much harder levels. The Lost Levels title was created when this game was brought to the U.S. in Super Mario All-Stars, without the 2. Nintendo did not believe that it would sell well in the US, as the game was voted "too hard" by 94% of a survey of 250 Americans, and the game wasn't seen in America until the SNES release.
- Super Mario Bros. Special - A flick-screen version of Super Mario Bros. with all new levels, which was released for the NEC PC88 series.
- Vs. Super Mario Bros. (Arcade) - A mixture of the original SMB and The Lost Levels that ran on the arcade VS Unisystem. Powerups and solution to mazes (e.g. 4-4) have been moved, and more enemies have been added thanks to new flicker-reduction programming, along with other bugfixes.
- All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. (Famicom) - Japan only. A version of the original Super Mario Bros. game with graphics changed to feature radio personalities from a popular Japanese radio station.
Year 1987
- Pinball (Famicom/NES) - Mario appears in the Bonus stage, where he maneuvers a platform to keep the ball from getting away, and then catch Pauline when she falls from above.
- Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (Famicom/NES) - Mario is the referee.
Year 1988
- Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario Bros. USA (NES) - Released at first in markets outside of Japan, this is a modified version of a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic with some of the graphics replaced by Mario-themed graphics. This game tends to be overlooked by some Mario fans as being the runt; some of the characters introduced in this game have now become staples of the Mario world, including Bob-ombs, Snifits, Pokey the Cactus, Birdo (then called Ostro), and Shy Guys.
- Return of Mario Bros. - sequel to Mario Bros.; Japan only
- Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (Famicom Disk Drive)
Year 1989
- Alleyway (Game Boy)
- Tetris (Famicom/NES) - Mario appeared in some cut-scenes in the Famicom/NES and Game Boy versions.
- Tennis (Game Boy)
- Super Mario Land (Game Boy) - Game Boy game with tiny graphics; gameplay quite similar to SMB1.
1990s
Year 1990
- Super Mario Bros. 3 (Famicom/NES) - Mario gains several new abilities, including the first appearance of his ability to fly. Also of note is that this is the best selling video game that was not bundled with a console. [2]
- Qix (Game Boy) - Mario appeared in cut-scenes.
- Dr. Mario (NES & Game Boy) - Puzzle game with mechanics similar to Tetris and Columns.
- F-1 Race (Game Boy)
- Golf (Game Boy)
Year 1991
- Mario the Juggler (Game & Watch)
- Super Mario World (Super Famicom/SNES) - Mario's first Super NES game and Yoshi's first game
- Mario Teaches Typing (PC)
- NES Open Tournament Golf (NES)
- Mario & Yoshi (Game Boy)
- Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up (PC)
- Sim City (SNES)
Year 1992
- Super Mario USA - Japanese release of Super Mario Bros. 2. (Famicom) - Japan only.
- Lazer Blazer (Super Famicom/SNES) - Mario and Bowser make a cameo in this half of the Super Scope 6 game.
- Yoshi (Gameboy, NES)
- Super Mario Kart (Super Famicom/SNES) - Go-kart racing.
- Mario Paint (SNES)
- Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy) - Wario, one of Mario's rivals, is introduced.
- Hotel Mario (CD-i) - game by Philips
- Mario Teaches Typing (PC) - educational game by Interplay
Year 1993
- Yoshi's Cookie (NES, Game Boy, SNES)
- Mario Is Missing! (SNES and NES) - Educational game, Luigi must restore artifacts to landmarks of famous cities around the world and defeat Bowser to save Mario. North America only
- Mario's Time Machine (SNES and NES) - Educational game, Mario must restore historical artifacts to their proper time and place (and in the NES version, save Yoshi). North America only
- Mario and Wario (Super Famicom) - Japan only
- Super Mario All-Stars (Super Famicom/SNES) (in Japan, Super Mario Collection) - collection of original SMB, SMB: The Lost Levels (SMB2 in Japan), SMB2 (SMUSA in Japan), and SMB3, with enhanced graphics and sound.
- Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters (SNES) North America only
- Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers (SNES) North America only
- Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun (SNES) North America only
- Yoshi's Safari (Super Famicom/SNES)
Year 1994
- Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy) - stars Mario's alter ego, Wario; Mario appeared only in the ending.
- Donkey Kong (Game Boy) - First Super Game Boy game with about 100 levels.
- Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES)
- Super Mario All-Stars & World (Super Famicom/SNES) Only released bundled with Super NES consoles in 1994, this update to Super Mario All-Stars added a slightly enhanced version of Super Mario World to the cartridge.
Year 1995
- Mario's Tennis (Virtual Boy) - pack-in for Virtual Boy
- Mario Clash (Virtual Boy)
- Mario's Picross (Game Boy)
- Mario's Super Picross (Super Famicom) - Japan only.
- Undake 30 Same Game (Super Famicom) - Japan only.
- Mario Excite Bike - (Super Famicom Satellaview) Japan only.
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Super Famicom/SNES) - The player plays this game as Yoshi rather than Mario (as in most of the series), and carries Baby Mario around on his back.
Year 1996
- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super Famicom/SNES) - The first RPG to feature Mario. It used prerendered graphics to appear to be 3D.
- Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) - First Mario platform game for the Nintendo 64. Also Mario's first appearance in true 3D. In addition to characters it featured 3D items for the first time, such as the Green Block.
- Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)
- Mario's Picross 2 (Game Boy) - Japan only.
Year 1997
- Game & Watch Gallery (Game Boy)
- Game & Watch Gallery 2 (Game Boy)
- Mario Teaches Typing 2 (PC)
- Mario's FUNdamentals (PC)
Year 1998
- Wrecking Crew '98 (Super Famicom) - Japan only.
Year 1999
- Donkey Kong 64 (Nintendo 64) - Mario (AKA Jumpman) appears in the original Donkey Kong standup arcade console in the area called Frantic Factory.
- Super Mario Bros. DX (Game Boy Color) - Game Boy Color port of original SMB; contains extra goals, Game Boy Printer pictures, and a hidden SMB2:LL.
- Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Game Boy Color)
- Mario Golf (Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64)
- Super Smash Bros. (Nintendo 64)
- Mario Party (Nintendo 64) - First party-style game with the Mario characters.
2000s
Year 2000
- Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color 2001) - not related to VB game
- Mario Party 2 (Nintendo 64)
Year 2001
- Paper Mario (Nintendo 64) - Mario's second RPG, this time in true 3D, but with 2D characters.
- Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64) - noted for confusion between Mario Party 3's box art and that of the original Mario Party; the original had a die showing a number 3 below the word "PARTY" on the box. Also noted for same initials as MPEG audio layer 3, as the press release points out.
- Mario Kart Super Circuit (Game Boy Advance) - Kart gaming
- Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance) - pixel-perfect port of Super Mario Bros. 2 from Super Mario All-Stars, featuring voice samples and a save feature, plus an upgrade of the original Mario Bros.
- Luigi's Mansion (GameCube) - Mario is the man you must save in this "Ghostbusters-esque" title.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) - A totally revamped version of SSB with a new Final Fight-style side-scrolling brawler; this was also the first game featuring Mario to be given a "T" (Teen) rating from the ESRB
- Dr. Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)
Year 2002
- Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (Game Boy Advance) - Slight update of SMW for the Game Boy Advance.
- Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube) - First Mario platform game for Nintendo's GameCube
- Mario Party 4 (GameCube)
- Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (Game Boy Advance) - Slight update of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the Game Boy Advance, with voice added in for Yoshi and extra levels.
- Game & Watch Gallery 4 (Game Boy Advance)
Year 2003
- Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Game Boy Advance) - Update of SMB3, with new levels and items to unlock with the use of the Card e-Reader.
- Mario Party 5 (GameCube)
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube) New features include 2-drivers system, and the support of 16 players playing at the same time, using GameCube's LAN feature.
- Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (Game Boy Advance) - Mario's third RPG.
- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GameCube)
Year 2004
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Game Boy Advance)
- Mario Golf: Advance Tour (Game Boy Advance)
- Super Mario Bros. (Classic NES Series) (Game Boy Advance)
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube) Sequel to Paper Mario.
- Mario Pinball Land (Game Boy Advance)
- Dr. Mario (Classic NES Series) (Game Boy Advance)
- Mario Power Tennis (GameCube)
- Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo DS) New version of Super Mario 64, in which Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi are all playable characters. This is the first Mario game for the Nintendo DS.
- Mario Party 6 (GameCube)
Year 2005
- NBA Street V3 (GameCube) Mario, Luigi and Peach are playable characters as the "Nintendo All-stars" team in the GameCube edition of this game.
- Mario Party Advance (Game Boy Advance)
- New Super Mario Bros. (tentative title) (Nintendo DS) (To be released)
- Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS) (To be released)
- Mario Superstar Baseball (GameCube) (To be released)
- Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (GameCube) (To be released)
- Mario Party 7 (Gamecube) (To be released)
- Mario Tennis Advance (Game Boy Advance) (To be released)
- Mario & Luigi 2 (Nintendo DS) (To be released)
- Super Mario Strikers (Gamecube) (To be released)
- Super Mario 128 (tentative title) (GameCube or Nintendo Revolution) (To be released)
Interestingly enough, the last game in the Mario series to use Traditional Mario Gameplay (ex: use of Super Mushrooms/Fire flowers and Getting to the end of the level rather than trying to obtain an artifact) is Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Though Yoshi's Island comes fairly close, it lacks the Power-ups listed above. Additionally, the primary player is not Mario. However, New Super Mario Bros. will be the first new Mario sidescroller in that tradition of gameplay.
Spin-off franchises
Here is a list of different Mario series spin-off franchises:
- Dr. Mario
- Mario Kart
- Mario Party
- Mario Paint
- Mario's Picross
- Mario Tennis
- Mario Golf
- Mario Baseball
- Super Smash Bros.
- Paper Mario
In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario is a balanced character (as he is in many games featuring other playable choices). He is said to "reflect the actual skills of the player", according to the Super Smash Bros. Melee "Smash" character trophy description. His trademark move is the fireball. His fireballs are affected by gravity (unlike Luigi's fireballs). Also, Mario's fireballs are red in color, whereas Luigi's are green.
There are ten trophies of him in the game: three Mario ones, three Dr. Mario ones, one as he appeared in Paper Mario, one Racoon Mario, one Metal Mario, and one Baby Mario. In Japan, there is another trophy, showing Mario on Yoshi's back.
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario's weapon is the fireball. In Super Mario Kart, the computer controlled Mario has unlimited invincibility. In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario is an average jumper and second only to Toad in lifting ability.