The mainline Mario Bros games?

[Flake]

I'm getting back into Mario Bros. in a serious way after years of buying the games and generally letting them sit on my shelf. Because I am obsessive, whenever I get fired up about a game in a series, I then have to endeavor to play all the mainline games in that series. Example: If I want to play Megaman X5, I know I'll end up needing to take a shot at the rest of the series.

...So what are the mainline Mario games? Is it just the side scrollers? Mario 1-3, World, and the New series? Would the gameboy games be spinoffs? Are the Wario titles canon? What about the 3D games like Mario 64 or Sunshine?

[Blu]

I don't know if the series follows traditional canon methods like other franchises, but Wario would still be canon right? I mean, Mario romps around on the Donut Plains, so I expect anything would go.

I like the natural progression of the console series. I think each offers a new improvement from the previous game. If you can disregard the time that it took for the 3D series to progress, Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy are comparable in how the 2D titles on NES and SNES built upon the previous' ideas.

New Super Mario Brothers is fantastic and a return to glory after a long hiatus. Worth exploring are some of the Sports titles, the Party Series, and Mario Clash / The Original Arcade series.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Because I am obsessive, whenever I get fired up about a game in a series, I then have to endeavor to play all the mainline games in that series.

Same.

And Mario happens to be one series I am playing through.

I've been using the Wikipedia list as my guide, though I'm not sure how authoritative it truly is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_series#Games

Here's a slightly different list from the Mario wiki which doesn't include the Land games or Yoshi's Island:
http://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_(series)

[Xeogred]

Heh, I don't even really connect SMB1-3 much with SMW, then SMW2 Yoshi's Island is so radically different it's better approached as its own spin off pretty much. From there, the 3D installments have honestly been quite different, each bringing some kind of gimmick that sets them apart (outside of 64, but its uniqueness is being the first 3D one obviously). 64, Sunshine, and the Galaxy games all retain that classic 3D platformer collectathon style with a fully 3D camera, with 3D World being more level based kind of falling back on the classic platformer style, revamped in a fixed 3D camera angle perspective. Out of the 3D ones vs 3D World, it'd be hard for me to pick a favorite... but yeah, they're so different so it could just be a mood thing.

It even gets messy where you want SMB2 to fit in here, since the US game was Doki Doki Panic... sure you can throw in the Mario sprites, but the gameplay is still miles different from SMB1, 3, and SMW, yet it still feels like Mario and doesn't really seem off. It's just different.

I've never given Lost Levels much merit as SMB2 though, it's kind of just like an expansion pack / directors cut of the original game with much harder levels. So, I still like to view SMB2 US as the true sequel. Considering it brought in Shyguys and a few other elements that have stuck with the series since, perhaps Nintendo views it as such themselves at this point.

So if I were hard pressed to come up with what I'd call the main games... I'd probably just say SMB1-3 and SMW. Maybe throw in 64 there, but that's probably as far as I'd take it. From there the experiences can be so familiar but still subtly different, it's hard to say what to expect. I guess some probably could argue the New games are the closest thing to the originals... but, for better or worse? My issue with them, is that unlike the other entries that have their own unique flavor, the New games seem to lack identity to me. I played a bit of the DS and Wii installments but was never compelled to beat them. On the other hand, the Wii U one was a huge improvement I thought, and New Super Luigi U changed it up a bit with the shorter crazy levels and threw in some cool ideas. Still, I would almost argue that 3D World is a better "throwback" to the originals than the New series ever has been. They seem more based around SMB1's design, when I wish they would have more complex and bigger open levels that SMB3 and SMW presented.

Anyways, yeah. Mario rambling. Nice timing because I just replayed SMB1, SMB3, and SMW myself and had a blast, now going through SMW2 again. 3D World and New Super Mario Bros U last year, it's been a lot of awesome Mario lately again for me.

[Flake]

Torn on inclusion of yoshis island. Anything with a baby mario validates inclusion of about a dozen other games like Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and all the other Yoshi games.

[Xeogred]

Super Mario World 2 being in the official title probably bugs some people.

Yeah, should have just been called Yoshi's Island or something.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well it's a "Mario World" game by localization only, but I'd certainly include it.

As for Partners in Time and whatnot, I'd consider those to be part of a separate (spin-off) "Mario RPG" series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ma ... ying_games

[Flake]

Maybe it should be a list limited to a set of game elements, like games where :

A) Mario and/or Luigi are playable
B) Saving a Princess is the objective

Too restrictive?

[Xeogred]

Kind of hilarious how confusing the localizations have made the series, to an extent.

Maybe it should be a list limited to a set of game elements, like games where :

A) Mario and/or Luigi are playable
B) Saving a Princess is the objective

Too restrictive?

A works, but B wouldn't since Peach is playable in SMB2 and 3D World (probably others), etc.

[Flake]

I don't think A) has to exclude games where more than those two are playable.