Mario saw his coming-of-age during the Nintendo 64 era. Mario's voice would no longer be based on Captain Lou Albano and his soundalike's portrayal of the plumber as a Brooklynite. Instead, Charles Martinet, who had voiced Mario in other projects before this era, would portray the plumber as a joyous Italian hero from Nintendo 64 onward.
More importantly, the Nintendo 64 era saw the birth of a new series within the Mario franchise. These included Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis and Paper Mario, among others. All of these series and their games have their place in the Mario franchise, with it just being a matter of deciding which games are the best.
10 Mario Golf Plays a Real Game
Release Date - June 11, 1999
- Metacritic score: 91/100
25 Best Nintendo Franchises, Ranked
Nintendo is a household name in gaming; players of all ages can gather and play incredible titles like Pokémon or Super Smash Bros.
Mario Golf is the franchise's least memorable, yet still high-quality Nintendo 64 entries since not everyone will enjoy golfing, even digitally. Even so, Mario Golf has its place in the Mario franchise for formalizing the plumber's abilities as not only a master at platforming but also a master at sports. Past Nintendo sports games have already hinted at Mario's talent at sports, with games from Mario Golf onward demonstrating how great he is at them.
Mario Golf is more fully featured compared to Mario's past golfing ventures. It features golf courses based on the Mario world, and, of course, would include a myriad of Mario characters, from Mario himself to Donkey Kong and Bowser. Curiously, Mario Golf also includes human characters that appear out-of-place in any Mario game, and they bizarrely take up half the character roster.
Mario Golf
9 Mario Tennis Brings a Great Match
Release Date - July 21, 2000
- Metacritic score: 91/100
Mario Tennis was not Mario's first outing in the sport. He was previously a referee in tennis games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, one of which was a launch title (along with Golf) for that system. This time, Mario is a tennis player alongside his friends and adversaries. Like Mario Golf, Mario Tennis would spawn its own series of games that demonstrate Mario's tennis skills.
Mario Tennis marked the debut of Waluigi, the villainous counterpart of Luigi (as Wario is to Mario). Mario Tennis also marks the playable debut of Birdo and Princess Daisy. Like Mario Golf, Mario Tennis also includes human characters, making the two games the only modern Mario sports titles to have such characters. Future Mario sports titles would have no human characters on their rosters.
Mario Tennis
Mario Tennis is a quality tennis presentation that strikes gold on the three points that matter most: value, gameplay, and fun.
- Franchise
- Mario Tennis
- Developer(s)
- Camelot Software Planning
- Developer
- How Long To Beat
- 5 Hours
- Mode
8 Dr. Mario 64 Is More Than Meets the Eye
Release Date - April 9, 2001
- Metacritic score: 71/100
Dr. Mario 64 is a fascinating entry in the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games. Is it one of the more notable 2D games on Nintendo 64, and at first glance, Dr. Mario 64 appears to be just another Dr. Mario game with no frills. Surprisingly, however, Dr. Mario 64 has a semblance of a storyline and features distinct stages. It helps separate Dr. Mario 64 from other games in the series, and it makes for a great late-era Nintendo 64 game.
The story of Dr. Mario 64 has Mario helping to treat patients in the Mushroom Kingdom who are dealing with a severe flu season. Mario can treat these patients by providing them with his famous megavitamins. Unfortunately for him, his adversary Wario and the evil Doctor Scienstein catch wind of Mario's megavitamins and seek to steal and profit from them.
7 Super Smash Bros. Pits Mario Against Nintendo’s Best
Release Date - Jan. 21, 1999
- Metacritic score: 79/100
Every Super Smash Bros. Game, Ranked
Nintendo's crossover fighting series, Super Smash Bros., is one of their biggest success stories, but how do all the game's rank up aganst each other?
Super Smash Bros. is a Nintendo 64 fighting game whose roster consists of characters from Nintendo's many franchises. Since Mario is a flagship Nintendo IP, Super Smash Bros. technically counts as a Mario game. Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Luigi are also included in the roster, meaning there is not much brotherly love in Super Smash Bros. The game also includes stages and items based on the Mario world, including the star power and Princess Peach's castle.
Super Smash Bros. allows Mario to fight against other Nintendo characters, from Link to Samus. With that in mind, Mario can also fight in stages based on other Nintendo franchises, as well as utilize items not found in the Mario games. It does make for an entertaining party-style fighting game.
- Franchise
- Super Mario Bros.
- Developer(s)
- HAL Laboratory
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- ESRB
- e
6 Paper Mario Is a Great Start to a Series
Release Date - Aug. 11, 2000
- Metacritic score: 93/100
Paper Mario on Nintendo 64 helped to spawn a beloved series in the Mario franchise that persists to this day, with newer Paper Mario games ranking as the best of any given year. At heart, Paper Mario is a role-playing game that, in essence, combines platforming elements from other Mario games. What makes Paper Mario especially creative is how it makes use of its characters. Some of Mario's allies include Koopas and Goombas, both species which are normally enemies in other Mario games.
Paper Mario has the player take control of Mario or Peach at certain moments in the game. Mario's plot involves his typical adventures in rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser's captivity, while Peach's plot involves her attempting to escape from the villain's grasp. It proves to be an arduous but fulfilling journey to have those goals reached.
Paper Mario
- Franchise
- Paper Mario
- Developer(s)
- Intelligent Systems
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- ESRB
- E For Everyone Due To Comic Mischief
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
- Metascore
- 93
5 Mario Party 3 Has More Party Game Action
Release Date - Dec. 7, 2000
- Metacritic score: 74/100
Mario Party 3 and its predecessors mark a halfway point for the greatest Mario titles on Nintendo 64. The Mario Party series of games had their start on Nintendo 64, and they are all great in different ways. As for Mario Party 3, it helped to cement Princess Daisy and Waluigi as core Mario mainstays, helping the greater franchise become more lively than it has ever been.
Mario Party 3 is also the first in the series to feature a story mode, the plot of which has Mario and his friends fighting it out over a valuable star that came crashing down to Earth. It is a simplistic story that has helped foster the Mario Party series into what it is today. It certainly has helped shape the newer Mario Party games as essential cooperative experiences for everyone.
4 Mario Party 2 Adds More to the Party
Release Date - Dec. 17, 1999
- GameRankings score: 76% (Metacritic N/A)
Mario Party Superstars: 7 Ways It's Better Than Super Mario Party (& 7 Ways It Fell Short)
Mario Party Superstars is one of the best games in the series, but Super Mario Party still did a few things better than its successor.
Mario Party 2 follows up its predecessor by adding many types of minigames (Battle, Item, Duel) and the ability to practice them. Unlike the previous game, players do not lose coins from failing minigames, which makes collecting stars much easier. Most crucially, Mario Party 2 adds purchasable items that can be used to benefit the player or impede their adversaries. All of these help to freshen the Mario Party experience and influence future games in the series.
Mario Party 2 has a simple plot that involves Mario and his friends creating a new world. They are conflicted as to what this world should be called, all the while Bowser is taking notice of their arguments. He makes plans to claim the new world for himself, but not before Mario and his friends hatch a plan to stop Bowser from invading.
3 Mario Party Gets the Party Started
Release Date - Dec. 18, 1998
- Metacritic score: 79/100
Not only was it the start of a venerable series in the Mario franchise, but Mario Party launched a whole new genre of video games that other developers would futilely attempt to replicate.Mario Party is played as a board game, with characters moving about on a board for a set number of turns. Players would need to collect as many stars (and coins) as possible to take first place. It's a simple concept that has echoed in the medium decades later.
Mario Party also has a rudimentary story involving Mario and his friends getting into an argument over who is the Super Star. It's determined by the group that being a Super Star means having strength, courage, wisdom and kindness. Mario and his friends agree to have a game to determine who encompasses these qualities, thus marking the start of the Mario Party series as it is known.
2 Mario Kart 64 Brought Racing to Another Dimension
Release Date - Dec. 14, 1996
- Metacritic score: 83/100
Mario Kart 64 superseded Super Mario Kart's faux 3D visuals with the former's genuine third-dimensional graphics. More importantly, Mario Kart 64 added items that would become mainstays in the kart-racing series. Among the items is the notorious Blue Shell, which, thankfully, for single-player gamers, only appears in multiplayer mode.
Mario Kart 64 also reduces the number of laps in a race to just three, with each course being more expansive compared to Super Mario Kart. The game reworks mechanics from its Super Nintendo predecessor, with players now holding certain items (green shell, banana peel, etc.) for extended periods. Drifting to gain speed is now a possibility, and with up to four players, it makes Mario Kart 64 a real rush to play.
Mario Kart 64
Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo walked so Mario Kart 64 could run. The first game in the series perfectly laid the groundwork for one of the most beloved video game series of all time. Mario Kart 64 launched the series into the stratosphere, firmly cementing its place among video game royalty.
With four years between the first and second installment of the franchise, Mario Kart 64 came with some notable improvements. The first of these being a drastic update in relation to the graphics. For the first time, 3D graphics were implemented. The additional attention to detail in terms of track design shines through thanks to the updated graphics. The game houses a ton of color which makes racing a joy regardless of where you finish the race.
Mario Kart 64 is at its best when playing with friends. The kart racing game is designed to bring out each player’s competitive side. The cast of eight characters is a little on the light side. However, the way characters are distributed into weight classes adds an element of strategy to racing. Lightweights have a high acceleration, heavyweights accelerate at a slower pace however they have the advantage of hitting higher top speeds and they are difficult to knock around the track. Meanwhile, the middleweights are for the drivers who enjoy well-balanced driving specs.
The ability to play up to four players is yet another new feature that succeeds in spreading the fun around. The multiplayer mode is by far the game’s best feature. There is a ton of replay value in relation to the multiplayer mode. Playing with friends never gets old.
- Franchise
- Mario Kart
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EAD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
1 Super Mario 64 Revolutionized 3D Gaming
Release Date - June 23, 1996
- Metacritic score: 94/100
Which Retro Mario Game Has Aged the Best?
The Mario franchise has ballooned into an absolute juggernaut for The Nintendo Company, but there's one game that still truly holds up today.
Super Mario 64 is considered to be among the best Nintendo games of the 1990s, and it earns its reverence with aplomb. It turned three-dimensional gaming from an experiment to a fact, and Super Mario 64 regularly goes out of its way to show off the Nintendo 64's capabilities. The title screen itself allows players to poke around with Mario's face, rotating and stretching it, and the opening cinematic tours the exterior of Princess Peach's castle in all its 3D glory.
Super Mario 64 has Mario jumping through different, expansive worlds where he will need to collect stars. The designs of each of these worlds are vibrant and encourage the player to search through every crevice they can find. All of this and more made Super Mario 64 into a template that future 3D games would follow and the franchise's best title on the console.
Super Mario 64
The transition to 3D was technical marvel for the gaming industry in the 90s, but not all franchises made the transition to 3D as smoothly as others. Sonic the Hedgehog, for example, never quite found its stride after transitioning to 3D, an issue it still struggles with even today.
Nintendo, with Mario as its chief mascot, did not have that problem. In fact, Super Mario 64 is still by and large the gold standard for 3D platformers. Nintendo perfectly transitioned from 2D by revamping the entire formula. Instead of simply running to one end of the level and collecting coins, players progressed in Super Mario 64 by collecting stars by through simple but fun platforming gameplay.
Players explored different levels by jumping into the paintings in Princess Peach’s castle, and each one had its own unique design aesthetic and novel mechanics. The game also includes a lot of tricks and moves to help Mario to traverse the level.
This game is significant because it had a massive influence on not just platformers, but 3D games as a whole. It also became one of the standout games on the Nintendo 64, and it's the first game most people think of when they think about the console. It’s no wonder that a game so impactful made it onto this list.
- Franchise
- Super Mario Bros.
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- ESRB
- E for Everyone
- Engine
- Nintendo 64 SDK
- How Long To Beat
- 12 Hours
