Mario vs. Zelda by Platform

Mario and Zelda are two of Nintendo’s oldest, best-selling, and most acclaimed franchises. They are both well represented across Nintendo’s entire hardware history. Each has their fans but which series do you think did better when you break it down by platform?

I like both series. 

I am only considering mainline 2D or 3D games for both series. Spinoffs not considered.

Note: Yoshi’s Island is not a real Mario Bros. game and Wario Land is not a real Mario Land game. Those are just lies by Nintendo marketing to sell more games. 

Here are my thoughts. 

NES

Mario:

Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. 2 JP (The Lost Levels)

Super Mario Bros. 2 USA

Super Mario Bros. 3

VS.

Zelda:

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda II: Link’s Adventure

Winner: Mario

Mario wins out in terms of quality and quantity here IMO. Of course the original Zelda is a classic, shame about the sequel.

GB/GBC

Mario:

Super Mario Land

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

VS.

Zelda:

Link’s Awakening

Oracle of Ages

Oracle of Seasons

Winner: Zelda

Both Super Mario Land games are fun for what they are. Link’s Awakening has had a lasting legacy. The two Oracle games are each distinct enough that both are worth playing. 

SNES

Mario:

Super Mario World

(Super Mario All Stars)

VS.

Zelda:

A Link to the Past

Winner: Zelda

This is a tough one. I give it to Zelda because A Link to the Past was the best of the franchise up to that point and a huge improvement of Zelda II. You will find some people who say SMB 3 is better than World. A Link to the Past saved the franchise.

N64

Mario:

Super Mario 64

VS.

Zelda:

Ocarina of Time

Majora’s Mask

Winner: Zelda

Super Mario 64 is incredible. Ocarina of Time is often considered the best game of all time. Majora’s Mask is highly considered too.

GBA

Mario:

No Original Mario Platformers on GBA

VS.

Zelda:

Four Swords

The Minish Cap

Winner: Zelda

Mario got a bunch of ports and re-releases on GBA that I’m too lazy to type out. So did Zelda actually. The Minish Cap was good and original though. Also Four Swords.

GC

Mario:

Super Mario Sunshine

VS.

Zelda:

Four Swords Adventures

Windwaker

Twilight Princess

Winner: Zelda

Sunshine is great. Zelda got more love on GC though. Windwaker is quite beloved. 

DS

Mario:

New Super Mario Bros.

(Super Mario 64 DS)

VS.

Zelda:

Phantom Hourglass

Spirit Tracks

Winner: Zelda

NSMB revived the 2D Mario games and was a massive hit. Both Zelda games were well liked and continued on from Windwaker though. 

Wii

Mario:

NSMB Wii

Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy 2

(Super Mario All Stars)

VS.

Zelda:

Twilight Princess

Skyward Sword

Winner: Mario

Mario trounced Zelda on the Wii. Not only first 2D console Mario in a long time, also first console to get two 3D Marios, both well loved. Twilight Princess was well liked but a Gamecube game migrated to the Wii.

3DS

Mario:

NSMB 2

Super Mario 3D Land

(Mario Maker 3D)

Zelda:

A Link Between Worlds

Tri-force Heroes

(Ocarina of Time 3D)

(Majora’s Mask 3D)

Winner: Zelda

Mario 3D Land is great. ALBW has a great reputation. NSMB 2 was basic. Tri-force Heroes was okay. 

Wii U

Mario:

NSMB U

Super Mario 3D World

Super Mario Maker

VS.

Zelda:

Breath of the Wild

(Windwaker HD)

(Twilight Princess HD)

Winner: Mario

Breath of the Wild arrived way too late, once the Wii U was already dead. Mario did its best to save the Wii U, being there from Day 1.

Switch

Mario:

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario Maker 2

(NSMB U Deluxe)

(Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury)

(Super Mario 3D All Stars)

VS.

Zelda:

Breath of the Wild

Tears of the Kingdom

Link’s Awakening

Echoes of Wisdom

(Skyward Sword HD)

Winner: Tie

I think this is the toughest platform to judge. Ultimately I’m going to call it a tie. Wonder refreshed 2D Mario. Odyssey was a delight. BOTW one of the best games ever but really a Wii U game. TOTK will play better on Switch 2. I call it a tie.

Final Results

Mario: NES, Wii, Wii U

Zelda: GB/GBC, SNES, N64, GBA, GC, DS, 3DS,

Tied: Switch

What do you think?

As far as Switch goes, I think it's actually really close. BOTW, TOTK, Odyssey, and Wonder, are all in my opinion some of the best games of their generation.

At the end of the day, the sheer ambition and revolutionary nature of BOTW gives Zelda a narrow win, but against any other console's Zelda lineup I'd give Odyssey/Wonder the win.

Zelda wins on Switch because they remade my fave 2D game in the series. LA.

Now I haven’t played them all, but here is how I would call it:
Nes: Mario - Super Mario Bros 3 alone is just way ahead of both Zelda games, even if Zelda 1 is great. The original SMB is great too.

Gameboy - Zelda - Easy, The Mario Land games are perfectly fine, but the Zelda games can hold their own against the series highlights. Haven’t played Oracle of Ages yet though.

SNES - Mario - Maybe controversial, but I think both got better games on NES. Still Super Mario World is still my second favorite 2D Mario, while there are at least two 2D Zeldas I prefer to ALttP.

N64 - Zelda - God, this was the hardest. Ocarina and Mario 64 are both among my very favorite games. I barely played Majora, so don’t know how well it holds up, but the fact it exists breaks the tie.

Gameboy Advance - Zelda, I guess. Never owned the system or played any of these games. But since it actually got an original Zelda, but no Mario, Zelda wins by default.

Gamecube - Zelda. I did not play a lot of Sunshine, wasn’t captivated by what I did play, and found the idea quite unappealing. Now I unfortunately also find The Wind Waker extremely overrated, I feel it mainly got its strong reputation from its charming visuals rather than the actual gameplay. Twilight Princess is a masterpiece though and wins the match for Zelda.

DS - Ehh, Mario? - Neither are really that good, but would rather play NSMB again.

Wii - Mario - I actually prefer Twilight Princess to both Galaxy games, and I am also a Skyward Sword defender, but since Twilight Princess is shared with Gamecube and the Galaxy games are still better than Skyward Sword, plus NSMB Wii is good in its own right, I gotta hand it to Mario.

3DS - Zelda - 3D Land is good, but ALBW is a series highlight.

Wii U - Zelda - Difficult one. 3D World is awesome, BotW is a masterpiece but launches simultaneously on Switch. NSMB U and Mario Maker are of course also really good, but I don’t think I can count the latter any more than the great Zelda remasters. Switch version or not. BotW is still a Wii U title, hence Zelda wins.

Switch - ? - Never had one. BotW could win it for Zelda, just for its impact, but would be too unfair of me to call without having played all the other games.

As far as Switch goes Zelda beat outs Mario simply because BOTW and TOTK have elevated the series to a GTA type status on top of the impact they have had on gaming if it weren't for these two titles it's just be an easy choice for Mario, BOTW had more than 100% attach rate on Switch for the first few months of release something I haven't seen with any other game. Against any other line up of Zelda games the Switch line up of Mario games would be a default choice by far.

NES: SMB and SMB3 were monsters of the industry one helping return things from the crash the other being one of the first modern day mainstream killer apps, LOZ was a great game and a genre defining title as well but AOL's controversial approach wasn't on par with the other games here.

Mario

SNES: SMW and SMW2:YI continue the streak with the former building on what came before and the latter even spawning a spin off series, ALTTP is one of the all time greats but SMW2:YI breaks the tie here.

Mario

GB: Mario Land games as well as LA were great but like with the SNES Mario Land 2 and 3 with the latter creating a spin off break the tie.

Mario

N64: SM64 is the most influential 3d title of all time with OOT being the second most influential however MM is still good and breaks the tie for Zelda.

Zelda

GBA: Zelda very much cleans up here with Oracles, FS and MC while Mario didn't really have any new releases here.

Zelda

Gamecube: Sunshine while good struggled to match up to the high bar of other 3D Mario games while Zelda had two of it's most notable releases in WW and TP.

Zelda

DS: This is a bizarre one with a port of SM64 and the NSMB debut reviving the 2D Mario branch while PH and ST were controversial, while on paper it's a tie in practice NSMB's impact just edges it for Mario.

Mario

Wii: Galaxy duo speak for themselves, NSMB Wii is also there while TP and SS are two of the most notable Zelda titles SS is some what controversial although I like the game.

Mario

3DS: 3D Land was good although NSMB2 was a bit dull, ALBW is one of the best Zelda games released while TFH was a nice idea but a bit meh overall ABLW carries this one.

Zelda

WiiU: Probably the most odd platform out of all of them it has no actual Zelda game of its own but then it's Mario offering comes down to NSMBU and NSMBL with 3DW which like Sunshine is a good game but doesn't hit the high bar of 3D Mario games. That said the Zelda games WiiU has are remakes of WW, TP and of course the cross gen release of BOTW this is probably a tie.

Tie

Switch: See above

Zelda


So overall about even across all platforms.

I mostly agree with the OP, except Zelda > Mario on the NES and Switch.  Both NES Zelda games are roughly as good as Mario 3.  The other NES Mario games are very fun, but not of the amazing caliber of Zelda 1, Zelda 2 or Mario 3.  Breath of the Wild blows away any Mario game on the Switch which gives the win easily to Zelda.

GBA, DS, 3DS, GC to Zelda. Maybe WiiU too.

Nes, Snes, GB, N64, Wii and Switch to Mario.

I like linear games, and my favorite genre is 2D platformers, so Mario for the sweep when it comes to 2D. In 3D, I'd give Zelda the clear win on N64, and then Mario on everything else sans Switch. I haven't really enjoyed 3D Zelda outside of N64 and BOTW. They just haven't felt "right" to me.

Zelda wins: N64 (60% Confidence), GCN (55% Confidence) Switch (70% Confidence).
Mario wins: NES (70%), SNES (80%), Wii (90%), Wii U (N/A).
I’d say Zelda wins on Switch by a rather comfortable margin.

What do I like better between Zelda and Mario on each platform?
I'm not going to do an exhaustive list, as I was mainly a fan of these franchises in the 8 and 16 bit era, and then from the Wii generation onward. I'm not saying they were bad on N64, Gameboy, Gamecube, and such, they just weren't really for me.

Switch - Zelda, and it's not even close. Breath of the Wild is one of my favourite games of all time.
Wii U & 3DS - Mario by default, while they didn't top Galaxy for me, I still enjoyed the 3D Mario games on these platforms, and they remain my next favourite post-2D Mario. So this is more of a "like a lot" rather than love.
Wii - Mario, and it's not even close. Galaxy 1 and 2 are my two favourite platformers of al time.
SNES - Zelda, but I also really liked Mario. Link to the Past is my favourite Zelda game all the way until Breath of the Wild.
NES - Mario, but I also really liked Zelda - Super Mario Bros 3 is my favourite Mario game all the way until Galaxy.

So, overall, Mario generations score 3, Zelda scores 2. Kind of...

But, if we give half points for "still like a lot" versus 1 for loved:

Mario 3 points - 1 for NES, 1 for Wii, 1/2 for SNES and 1/2 for Wii U/3DS

Zelda 2.5 points - 1 for SNES, 1 for Switch, and 1/2 for NES