Top 13 Best 2D Mario Games Ranked

What are the best 2D Mario games? We rank every side-scrolling platformer in the Nintendo mascot’s history.

Super Mario’s 40-year history is a testament to all the different ways you can make a little guy run from left to right across a screen. Nintendo’s line of 2D Mario platformers has gone through three distinct eras since 1985 – the original game revived the video game industry and, for a while, the series was a pioneer in side-scrolling platforming. After lying dormant for a few years, the series returned in the 2000s with the New Super Mario Bros. series, games that were steady and safe but soon turned stale. Thankfully, the triumphant age of the Switch brought with it Mario Wonder, where Nintendo reinvented what these games could be. Once again, side-scrolling Mario feels genuinely magical.

2D Mario games, when executed well, perfectly balance the limitations of Mario’s moveset with building your confidence to make increasingly ambitious jumps. The very best 2D Mario games are those that can completely change your approach to platforming without trivialising the challenge. But the most important aspect of a Mario platformer is the process of dying and trying again – the strongest games perfect this loop, ensuring you develop lifelong muscle memory and, by that final flag, feel like a true platforming god.

With the original Super Mario Bros. game turning 40 this year, it’s time to look back on which games nail those core tenets and which struggle to make it past the first goomba. Here’s every 2D Super Mario Bros. game, ranked.