1. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES – 1988)
Screw Super Mario World! This is by far the definitive 2D Mario experience. It takes everything good about the original and expands on it in every way. The creativity of this game is unmatched, look at the amazing power-ups: The Tanooki Suit, Frog Suit, Hammer Suit and Kuribo's Shoe, which is only available in a single stage, because why not throw that extra little idea in there?
Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the overworld map, allowing multiple routes through the game, optional stages and bonus levels as well.
The level design is ridiculously good, from the crazy Giant Land and Pipe Land to the charming Desert Land, and none the least the super challenging air ship stages and Dark Land levels. I love that it provides a good, but fair challenge.
The music is also great and the sprite work is high standard for NES games. Some prefer the ‘enhanced’ visuals of the SNES release in Super Mario All-stars, but I always thought the colors in that one looked really weird, so I strongly prefer the simpler, more charming look of the original.
