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How to play Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros. in release and chronological order

How to play Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers in release and chronological order

A promotional image for Super Mario Odyssey
Image credit: Nintendo
Joshua Lapin-Bertone
Guides by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer
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In 1981, a carpenter battled a gorilla, and video games were changed forever.

Not only is Mario one of the most successful video game characters of all time, he’s one of the most recognizable figures in pop culture. One 1990 survey found that the only person more recognizable than Mario was Mickey Mouse.

Nintendo created Mario for the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, and it wasn’t long before he took on a life of his own. The 1985 game Super Mario Bros. not only raised the plumber’s popularity, but it also revolutionized platformers as a genre.  Many spinoffs followed, with the plumber wearing many hats, from racer, doctor, fighter, and beyond.

If you’ve ever wanted to play through Mario’s gaming library, Popverse has you covered. This guide will tell you everything you need to know to play through Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Yoshi’s adventures.

How to play Super Mario in release order

Admittedly, it’s tricky to identify what counts as a Mario game. We've counted 193 different games, but if you count remakes, compilations, and other ports, that number grows to over 300. For this list, we’ve used games where Mario and his immediate supporting cast are playable characters. Mario has had Easter egg cameo appearances in some games, like Qix, but games like that aren’t included unless Mario has a significant role.

The Donkey Kong franchise has become its own unique entity outside of Mario, similar to the way Punisher has with Spider-Man. Because of that, we are only including Donkey Kong games where Mario plays a significant role. Yoshi games like Yoshi’s Story are different, since Yoshi is still considered a Mario supporting character.

Many games have been updated and released multiple times on multiple consoles. This list handles these games on a case-by-case basis. For example, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 is a remastered version of Super Mario Bros. 3, but it adds enough new features and gameplay elements to be considered a separate game.

In contrast, Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong is simply a port of the NES version of the arcade game with no extra features. As such, Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong isn’t considered a unique release. On a similar note, compilation games like Super Mario All-Stars don’t count, since they are just collections of previously released games.

This list only includes Mario games released on consoles or mobile devices. Browser-based games or wristband watch games fall under another category. For games that have been released on multiple consoles, we’ve used the console they were released on first.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at Mario’s epic video game career!


Do the Mario games have a chronological order?

No, Mario doesn’t have a chronological order. At least not an official one. Various fans have put together their own timelines for the series, but if you look too closely at Mario’s chronology, you’ll probably get a headache. For example, official lore from Nintendo sometimes states that the ape Mario fought in the original Donkey Kong arcade game was DK’s grandfather, Cranky Kong. Sometimes Cranky Kong is identified as DK’s father instead of grandfather, and other times it’s stated that DK himself was the ape from the original Donkey Kong arcade game

This is further complicated by the new game Donkey Kong Bananza, which has the modern version of DK meeting Pauline as a child. If Pauline met Donkey Kong as a child, it raises the question of how a young Cranky Kong could’ve kidnapped her as an adult.

Some have tried to reconcile this by stating that the Mario seen in the 1981 Donkey Kong game is Mario’s father or grandfather, but Nintendo has been clear that it’s the original Mario. Ever since Pauline was revealed to be part of Bananza, dozens of YouTube videos have been made trying to reconcile the timeline implications.

This is just one of many examples of why any Mario timeline doesn’t work. My advice is to just play the games and not worry too much about the lore. Think of it like Looney Tunes, where Bugs Bunny and the gang live in different periods with different occupations depending on what the story needs. Heck, Mario regularly races against a baby version of himself in the Mario Kart games. There is no coherent chronology, and the sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.


How to play the main Super Mario series in order

Mario’s complete gaming library is pretty big, so it’s understandable if you want to streamline things. This list covers the mainline Super Mario series. In other words, the mainline games without including any spin-offs like Paper Mario or sports games like Mario Kart. If you want to play the main Mario series, here’s how to do it…

  • Super Mario Bros. (1985 Nintendo Entertainment System game)
  • Super Mario Bros. 2: For Super Players/Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986 Famicom Disk System game)
  • Super Mario Bros. 2/Super Mario Brothers USA (1988 Nintendo Entertainment System game)
  • Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988 Nintendo Entertainment System game)
  • Super Mario World (1990 Super Nintendo game)
  • Super Mario 64 (1996 Nintendo 64 game)
  • Super Mario Sunshine (2002 GameCube game)
  • New Super Mario Bros. (2006 Nintendo DS game)
  • Super Mario Galaxy (2007 Wii game)
  • New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009 Wii game)
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010 Wii game)
  • Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (2010 Nintendo DS game)
  • Mario Sports Mix (2010 Wii game)
  • Super Mario 3D Land (2011 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • New Super Mario Bros. U (2012 Wii U game)
  • Super Mario 3D World (2013 Wii U game)
  • Super Mario Odyssey (2017 Nintendo Switch game)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023 Nintendo Switch game)


How to play Mario Kart in order

 

Since its debut in 1992, Mario Kart has been one of the most iconic racing game franchises. Many friendships have been tested over the fabled tortoise shell, and surviving Rainbow Road has become a rite of passage. If you’re looking to play Mario Kart in order, here’s how to do it…

  • Super Mario Kart (1992 Super Nintendo game)
  • Super Mario 64 (1996 Nintendo 64 game)
  • Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001 Game Boy Advance game)
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash (2003 GameCube game)
  • Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005 arcade game)
  • Mario Kart DS (2005 Nintendo DS game)
  • Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007 arcade game)
  • Mario Kart Wii (2008 Wii game)
  • Mario Kart 7 (2011 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • Mario Kart 8 (2014 Wii U game)
  • Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017 arcade game)
  • Mario Kart Tour (2019 mobile phone game)
  • Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020 Nintendo Switch game)
  • Mario Kart World (2025 Nintendo Switch 2 game)


How to play Mario Party in order

 

Mario Party is one of the best things to happen to game night. Each Mario Party game is a series of fun and addictive minigames designed to break the ice, bring friends closer together, and cause lots of laughter and fun memories.

If you’re looking to play Mario Party in order, here’s how to do it…

  • Mario Party (1998 Nintendo 64 game)
  • Mario Party 2 (1999 Nintendo 64 game)
  • Mario Party 3 (2000 Nintendo 64 game)
  • Super Mario Advance (2001 Game Boy Advance game)
  • Mario Party 4 (2002 GameCube game)
  • Mario Party 5 (2003 GameCube game)
  • Mario Party 6 (2004 GameCube game)
  • Mario Party Advance (2005 Game Boy Advance game)
  • Mario Party 7 (2005 GameCube game)
  • Mario Party 8 (2007 Wii game)
  • Mario Party DS (2007 Nintendo DS game)
  • Mario Party 9 (2012 Wii game)
  • Mario Party: Island Tour (2013 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • Mario Party 10 (2015 Wii U game)
  • Mario Party: Star Rush (2016 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • Mario Party: The Top 100 (2017 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • Super Mario Party (2018 Nintendo Switch game)
  • Super Mario Party Superstars (2021 Nintendo Switch game)
  • Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024 Nintendo Switch game)


How to play Super Smash Bros. in order

The scale of the Super Smash Bros. franchise seems hard to believe. You have Mario, Sonic, Link, Pikachu, and many other iconic video game characters. And you get to make them fight each other. What can be better than that?

If you’re looking to play Super Smash Bros. in order, here’s how to do it…

  • Super Smash Bros. (1999 Nintendo 64 game)
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001 GameCube game)
  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008 Wii game)
  • Super Smash Bros. 4 (2014 Nintendo 3DS game)
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018 Nintendo Switch game)


Is Mario Japanese or Italian?

The official word from Nintendo is that Mario is Italian. However, NES hardware designer  Masayuki Uemura said that Mario was Japanese in a 2020 Kotaku interview. It’s possible that Mario was considered Japanese during Uemura’s time with Nintendo, but the character’s background has always been malleable. Numerous statements from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo identify Mario as Italian, so that should be considered the official answer.

Television and film adaptations portray Mario and Luigi as Italian-Americans who grew up in Brooklyn, but until stated otherwise, their New York background isn’t video game canon. The 1995 video game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island shows a stork delivering baby Mario to his parents in the Mushroom Kingdom. Technically, this would mean that he’s neither Italian or Japanese, but we’re not meant to think about it too much.


Who is LGBTQIA+ in Mario?

The Mario franchise doesn’t feature a lot of dating, so there aren’t a lot of opportunities to find out which characters are LGBTQIA+. The English manual for Super Mario Bros. 2 has a description for Birdo, which states, “He thinks he's a girl, and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called Birdetta.”

The language in the description hasn’t aged well, and Nintendo has been more vague about Birdo’s status in the years since. The character has been identified using male and female pronouns in official material at various times. Depending on how you look at it, Birdo could be considered one of the first transgender characters to appear in a video game.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door introduced a ghost-like being called Vivian. The character was a transgender woman who experienced transphobic verbal attacks from her sister, Bedlam. References to Vivian’s transgender status were removed from some regional ports of the game, including the original American release. However, the 2024 Nintendo Switch remake restores Vivian’s transgender backstory.


What is the oldest version of Mario?

There are a few ways to answer this question. The first game to feature Mario as a playable character was the 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game. The character was originally called Jumpman but was given the name Mario when the arcade game was imported to America.  

The first game to have Mario’s name in the title was the 1983 Mario Bros. arcade game. The game featured Mario and Luigi eliminating various creatures emerging from pipes in an endless sewer.

Some consider Super Mario Bros. to be the first official Mario game. Released in 1985, Super Mario Bros. introduced many of the elements we’re familiar with in Mario games, such as mushroom power-ups, Princess Peach, Bowser, Toad, and more. The character may have been introduced in Donkey Kong, but Super Mario Bros. is where he became the fully realized character we know today.


Are Mario and Princess Peach a couple?

Despite the fact that many gamers think of Mario and Peach as a couple, Nintendo’s official word on the matter is that they’re good friends. According to a July 26 post from the Nintendo Today app, “Princess Peach and Mario are good friends and help each other out whenever they can.”

However, many games make it clear that Mario and Peach have feelings for one another. The Mario All-Stars update of Super Mario Bros. depicts Mario surrounded by hearts and blushing as Peach kisses him on the cheek. Mario seems to declare his love for Peach in the final cutscene of Super Mario Odyssey. Moments like this have led fans to assume they’re an official couple, rather than close friends who have feelings for one another.

Of course, Nintendo could always throw us for a loop and say they’ve been a couple all along. Their relationship is ambiguous enough to work either way. Mario is one of the most popular characters in all of fiction, so it’s clear he’s not going anywhere, which means he and Peach have time to figure things out.

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone

Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.

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