Everyone’s favorite plumber started off rescuing princesses and traversing hostile worlds full of giants, dragons, and sentient bullets. With such an exciting beginning, it’s no wonder game Nintendo needed to branch out in unexpected ways to keep the Super Mario franchise fresh and exciting.
Seeking to take advantage of another genre besides platformers, Nintendo began releasing Mario-themed sports games. This novel use of their most recognizable characters immediately grabbed the interest of fans and has not let go since. Many games take a fresh approach to established sports like tennis and golf, although some titles fail to meet the mark and end up feeling like stale air.
10 Worst: Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (GameCube)
Mario, and quite a few of his friends, are remarkably athletic. Though, long jumps, backflips, and cartwheels are meant more for adventuring around the Mushroom Kingdom and don’t have much practical use on the dance floor.
Gamers who enjoy the Super Mario games found it a bit odd to see Mario busting a move to modern music but Dance Dance Revolution fans enjoyed this fresh take. This divide caused DDR: Mario Mix to receive mixed reviews mostly due to its very short single-player campaign and difficulty so lacking that many consider it to be boring.
9 Best: Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GameCube)
Although not the first Super Mario game to take on golf, fans who loved the Nintendo 64 version greatly enjoyed this newer iteration on the GameCube. Wonderfully designed courses, new characters, and polished mechanics make this golf game many people’s choice for virtual sporting.
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour plays like a digital vacation, where the player can travel about lovely landscapes to enjoy many holes of relaxing, yet challenging, golf.
8 Worst: Mario Sports Mix (Wii)
Although fun, Mario Sports Mix is lacking in a number of areas that prevent it from being remembered as fondly as other Mario sports games. The lack of diversity makes it feel repetitive if played by one person, though the minigames can be great fun via couch co-op or competition.
There is a major lack of depth that is usually found in Mario sports games revolving around a single sport. The events in Mario Sports Mix feels like the developers took rejected Mario Party minigames and stretched them into another title.
7 Best: Mario Tennis: Power Tour (Game Boy Advance)
Unlike many other Mario sports games, this Game Boy Advance title does things a bit differently. The developers behind this one are the same people who made the renowned Golden Sun games for the same system. Sticking with what they know best, Camelot Software Planning introduced a lot of dialogue and RPG elements that allowed players to get immersed in the world.
Furthermore, the studio tied these elements to rewards and things the player can do through the game, making them feel organic. On top of this, the tight controls, fun gameplay, and loveable characters make Mario Tennis: Power Tour a hit.
6 Worst: Mario Sports Superstars (3DS)
Another collection of games, Mario Sports Superstars fails to satisfy fans of either Super Mario or sports games. Some events, such as tennis and baseball, are fun but the majority are dull and too simple to offer any real replay value.
This game also has a paywall that blocks the best characters from being used unless the player opens up their wallet once more. Overall, Mario Sports Superstars feels like a soulless cash-grab instead of an interesting and immersive experience.
5 Best: Mario Golf: Advance Tour (Game Boy Advance)
Golf is meant to be a relaxing pastime, and this is where Mario Golf: Advance Tour hits the sweet spot with longtime franchise fans. The user interface, controls, and visuals are refined, yet simple. They convey the required information without overloading the player’s brain or crowding the GBA’s relatively small screen.
The gameplay, much like previous Mario Golf titles, is fun and satisfying due to being intuitive and having a balanced difficulty level for most courses.
4 Worst: Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (Wii U)
With friends, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a fun tennis game, though the single-player mode is woefully lacking in content. Many Mario sports games add new and exciting elements that attempt to enhance the base experience with unique power-ups and situations.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash does not bring anything new to the table. Failure to innovate is a surefire way to disappoint fans.
3 Best: Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)
Mario Tennis was one of the very first sports games to feature Mario and his friends. At first, the cast of classic Nintendo characters makes people assume it will be a cartoony experience with little consequence, but that is not the case.
The controls and gameplay are tighter than many other tennis games, realistic or otherwise, while simultaneously providing lots of things for players to do. With challenging tournaments, fun local multiplayer, and immense quantities of charm, Mario Tennis is not only the best Mario tennis game out there, but one of the best tennis games of all time.
2 Worst: Mario & Sonic At The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games (Wii U)
With a massive cast of recognizable characters, many possible minigames, and the backing of the biggest recurring sporting event on the planet, one would expect this game to be a guaranteed hit. Sadly, this is very far from the truth. Many of the sports and events are recycled from previous games in the series with little or no updates, and most don’t make very good use of the Wii U’s Gamepad.
In addition, there are lackluster controls that make the gameplay feel clunky. This title comes off like another soulless cash-grab aimed to take advantage of Olympic hype instead of aspects that make other Mario sports games special.
1 Best: Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)
Despite being released over 20 years ago, Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64 has yet to be surpassed in the eyes of gamers around the world. Incredible balance, infinite charm, and refined gameplay make this one of the best golf games ever made. The wealth of fun characters, variation in game types, and decades worth of replay value rightly have placed this game upon the throne above all other Mario sports games.
Furthermore, this charismatic exploration of unique courses is equally fun for hardcore gamers seeking to take on the toughest tournaments as well as casual players simply looking for a few rounds of minigolf. Anyone who enjoys Super Mario games or sports games should check this one out.
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