I have to say Mario is. I know I'll get shit for saying this, but let me clarify. I think every 3D mario has been OUTSTANDING. They have all been pretty darn innovative and haven't been released too often. When I say overrated I mean they shouldn't be 10/10s, at least not all of them. Mario 64 and argument could be made for it being one of the highest rated games of all time because of the MASSIVE transition to 3d. That was ground-breaking for platformers. Mario Sunshine and Galaxy however have added neat little nuances that kept things fresh, but have not been super magical for me, a person who didn't grow up with Mario. I think these reviewers today HAVE grown up with Mario and therefore have a certain nostalgia factor that inflates the scores. The longer a franchise has been around the more beloved they become and Mario is in a unique position of not having made a BAD game across 5 generations of main installments. Galaxy 1&2 and Sunshine deserve around 90 metas at most, but because of nostalgia by reviewers are inflated a couple extra points in most cases. When a reviewers says things like "It will frequently hug your inner child, evoke tears of joy and tug at the heart." it reaffirms this belief.
Again these are fantastic games and I LOVE platformers and this series (obviously) but taking the word in its most literal definition, I believe these games are OVERRATED which =/= bad or mediocre.








