The 18 Best Mario Games For The Nintendo Switch, Ranked
Vote up the Mario games you feel are must-own titles for Switch.
Ever since Mario's introduction as Jumpman in Donkey Kong, the diminutive Italian plumber has been Nintendo's mascot. In the 42+ years since his introduction, Nintendo featured Mario in more than 200 games, either as the central character fighting off one of his many enemies or as a participating character in one of many spinoff titles like Mario Kart and Mario Party.
Since he's featured in so many games on Nintendo's modern console, it begs the question - what are the best Mario games on Switch? This list ranks every Switch Mario game, including the mainline games like Mario Odyssey and Mario Wonder, sports games like Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Golf: Super Rush, and every other spinoff game that prominently features our favorite mustached hero.
Thanks to the system's backward compatibility with emulating older games and remakes, players can enjoy a vast library of Mario titles on the modern console - but those aren't being included in this ranking.
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Also included on our list of the most popular Switch games.
Genre: Racing
What’s Mario Doing: Mario Kart is one of the most beloved Mario franchises around, so every entry in the franchise tends to do well. That's certainly true of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a re-release of the Wii U title released in 2014. Just like previous titles, players choose their favorite racer and customize their karts to compete in single-player, local multiplayer, and online multiplayer modes including a Grand Prix racing mode and arena battle mode.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is not a remake but rather a re-release for the Switch console. It does include all of the original downloadable content and features some tweaks to its battle mode. The Switch title also includes downloadable circuits and characters. While the original release was a hit, it fared far better on the Switch due to the sheer numbers of sales, as the Wii U was not a successful console. Perhaps this is why Nintendo opted to re-release the game instead of adding a new one to the franchise - it's a hit, and Nintendo wanted to capitalize on an excellent game initially released on a lackluster system.
- Released: 2017
- Developer: Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 7
- Genres (Video game): Racing, Arcade
- Series: Mario Kart
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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- Super Mario Party Jamboree
Genre: Party
What’s Mario Doing: You know the drill with Mario Party games: pick a character and compete with your friends as your roll dice, travel around an interactive board, and play mini games. Jamboree however is not just another iteration in the franchise - it's the biggest Mario Party yet, featuring a ton of new play modes outside of just the traditional party mode.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Jamboree is almost a celebration of Mario Party games the same way Mario Odyssey was for the Mario franchise as a whole. With 7 boards, over 110 minigames, and the biggest roster in the history of Mario Party, this one was described by IGN in this way:
…it so successfully iterates and improves upon that tried-and-true formula that it almost feels like Jamboree was plucked from an alternate timeline where Mario Party never lost its way at all.
- Released: 2024
- Developer: NDCube
- Genres (Video game): Card & Board Game
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Super Mario Bros. Wonder
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Genre: Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Mario once more finds himself in a fight against Bowser after he uses the Wonder Flower to fuse himself with Princess Peach's castle. Players can control Mario, Luigi, or some of their pals in this traditional platform-style adventure game, largely based on the mechanics first introduced in Super Mario Bros. so many years earlier. That said, the game features many new locations, characters, and enemies while maintaining the look and feel of the Flower Kingdom.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a return to form for our diminutive Italian plumber as it's the first side-scrolling title since the release of New Super Mario Bros. U in 2012. The game adds numerous power-ups not seen in earlier titles and keeps the 2D platformer alive in an age when game developers have largely abandoned it for more common 3D game modes.
- Released: 2023
- Developer: Nintendo
- Genres (Video game): Platform
- Series: Super Mario
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: Super Mario Odyssey places Mario inside multiple kingdoms, pairing him with Cappy, a sentient hat that allows Mario to control various characters and objects. This new gameplay mechanic offers new challenges and puzzles for players to accomplish as they take Mario to multiple worlds.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Unlike other 3D Mario titles released previously, Super Mario Odyssey introduces a lot to the franchise that completely changes how the game is played. This was an excellent addition to the franchise, and the fact that the game is very much like a sandbox-style open world makes it incredibly engaging and fun to both play and replay. The game sold 27.65 million copies, making it one of the best-selling Switch games and it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Mario and his many antics.
- Released: 2017
- Developer: Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 8
- Genres (Video game): Platform, Adventure
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: Super Mario 3D World was first released in 2013, but was later bundled with a later addition Bowser's Fury in 2021. Both feature large, expansive worlds for players to explore as they attempt to save Sprixies from Bowser after he invades the Sprixie Kingdom (3D World) and to stop Fury Bowser from destroying the world of Lake Lapcat (Bowser's Fury).
Why It’s Peak Plumber: This Switch title features two games: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, both of which came out as part of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Nintendo Direct. This isn't merely a package game cart, as it includes an online multiplayer option, enhanced Amiibo support, a snapshot feature, and a four-player cooperative mode for the Captain Toad levels. It also includes tweaks to the game's speed.
- Released: 2021
- Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development Group No.1
- Genres (Video game): Platform, Adventure
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: Super Mario 3D All-Stars sees Mario and company return in three classic titles: Super Mario 64 (1996), Super Mario Sunshine (2002), and Super Mario Galaxy (2007). Each game features Mario as he makes his way throughout the world to stop the evil Bowser from whatever villainous plot he unleashes on the world. Each title is a 3D platformer with many similar characteristics, making for an excellent bundle for fans of the classic titles.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: This bundle is one of the best released for the Switch because it includes some of the most popular Mario games of all time. The system utilizes emulation to port the older games to the newer system, so they are presented in their original form with very few changes or updates. There are some bug fixes and upgrades related to the games' aspect ratios to make them work on a 16:9 screen, but other than that, they remain just as they were when they were initially released.
- Released: 2020
- Developer: Nintendo EPD
- Genres (Video game): Platform, Adventure
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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- 7
Super Mario RPG
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Genre: Role-Playing Game
What’s Mario Doing: In Super Mario RPG, Mario embarks on a quest to repair Star Road after the Smithy Gang causes trouble in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario teams up with two buddies as he searches for the seven stars of Star Road. The game was heavily influenced by Final Fantasy but maintains everything about the Mario franchise, so there are plenty of familiar places, faces, and more.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Super Mario RPG was first released in 1996 on the Super Nintendo, but the title has been released on several systems over the years. This remake for the Switch features the same game as the original but with updated graphics, sounds, and more. If you loved playing Super Mario RPG on any system previously, odds are, you'll spend hours diving back into its rich world and fascinating characters.
- Released: 2023
- Developer: ArtePiazza
- Genres (Video game): Role-playing (RPG)
- Series: Super Mario RPG
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe features Mario, Luigi, and friends as they return to form in a 2D platformer reminiscent of their earlier adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom. The game includes new power-ups and upgrades now familiar to the franchise, as well as enemies and locations familiar to older players. Much of the gameplay and progression is similar to older titles. This game, however, features several new modes of play, including a four-player cooperative that will have you accidentally stomping on and throwing your buddies in many hilariously frustrating ways!
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Fans of Mario titles tend to prefer one format over another. While there are plenty of 3D games out there, Mario began in a 2D environment, and that's where he thrives. This title keeps the old mode going but with enhancements to every aspect of gameplay, making New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe a fun and fresh gaming experience. The initial title was released in 2012 for the Wii U, and this newly updated game for the Switch is essentially the same game released nearly a decade later. It does include New Super Luigi U, which was initially a downloadable expansion but is packaged nicely alongside the main title.
- Released: 2019
- Developer: Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 10
- Genres (Video game): Platform
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Role-Playing Game
What’s Mario Doing: In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Mario embarks on a quest to learn the secret of the treasure hidden behind the Thousand-Year Door. He must travel the world, cursed into paper, and accomplish various tasks while using his curse. This includes folding Mario into paper airplanes so he can cross wide gaps and much more.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: The original Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was released on the Nintendo GameCube in 2004 and remains one of the console's most popular titles. This remake for the Nintendo Switch features updated graphics and animations while preserving everything about the game that makes it such a beloved classic. Other than a graphics overhaul, it's unclear what other changes Nintendo included in the remake, but odds are, there's plenty to attract new players as well as old.
- Released: 2004
- Developer: Intelligent Systems
- Genres (Video game): Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
- Series: Paper Mario
- Designers: Shigeru Miyamoto
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo GameCube
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Genre: Party
What’s Mario Doing: In Mario Party Superstars, Mario and his friends join together to navigate five boards as they accomplish challenges and minigames in a party setting. Up to four players can take control of one of many characters in the Mario roster or play against AI opponents as they roll their way across the board, hoping to reach the final goal first to claim the prize and win the game.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Mario Party Superstars is the second title from the Mario Party franchise to feature on the Switch and the 12th overall. By the time this game hit the market, the format was pretty well nailed down, so if you enjoy any Mario Party game, odds are you'll enjoy this one. It does lack the vehicle mechanics from some of the other titles and more closely resembles the gameplay of the first eight games while featuring more modes and minigames to explore and accomplish. The game also includes several characters that are new to the franchise, including Rosalina and Birdo.
- Released: 2021
- Developer: NDCube
- Genres (Video game): Card & Board Game
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
What’s Mario Doing: In this mashup of two fantastic franchises Mario must team up with his pals and several Rabbids as they endeavor to save the Mushroom Kingdom from an invasion of Rabbids. The game features a relatively untraditional mechanic for a Mario game, as it employs a turn-based tactic model for combat. This expands Mario's signature moves and incorporates aspects of the Rabbids franchise unfamiliar to the plumber's usual fare.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Players enjoy the turn-based tactics of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and it did exceptionally well for Nintendo and Ubisoft. The game also enjoyed some DLC via Donkey Kong Adventure, further expanding players's options. The game did so well that it earned a sequel five years later, proving the combination of everything great from the Mario and Rabbids franchises works well for most players.
- Released: 2017
- Developer: Ubisoft Milan
- Genres (Video game): Puzzle, Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Tactical, Adventure
- Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Mario Vs. Donkey Kong
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Genre: Puzzle/Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: In Mario vs. Donkey Kong an old rivalry is reignited after DK stole all the mini-Mario toys from the factory. Mario must run and jump through more than 130 levels to retrieve them. This improved take on the Gameboy Advance's Mario Vs. Donkey Kong adds cooperative play, new worlds, updated music and graphics, while including new ways to play.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: This title is a remake of the original 2004 title made for the GBA. It's significantly improved over its predecessor and includes plenty of updates now common to Mario puzzle platformers. Players who enjoyed the 2004 game will find themselves in somewhat familiar territory as they relive the glory days and try to take back what DK stole! The game adds what its predecessor didn't, including the ability to play more casually by removing the time limit. Additionally, checkpoints are added along the way, and Mario can take up to five hits.
- Released: 2004
- Developer: Nintendo Software Technology
- Genres (Video game): Platform, Puzzle
- Series: Mario vs. Donkey Kong series
- Designers: Shigeru Miyamoto
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U
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Genre: Platformer
What’s Mario Doing: In Super Mario Maker 2 players take control of the Mario editor to create whatever crazy and challenging levels they can imagine. The second title in this franchise includes plenty of additional content not seen in its predecessor, including new assets, features, and a single-player story mode. It also contains elements from Super Mario 3D World.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: If you enjoyed playing Super Mario Maker when it came out in 2015, there's a good chance you'll love Super Mario Maker 2, as it includes more assets than the original. The world is completely open to the player as they set up everything from enemies to power-ups in any way they can imagine. This is one of those games where “the sky is the limit” because so much of it is customizable; there are countless hours of fun to be had in designing, sharing, and attempting to accomplish levels that are purposefully designed to induce rage.
- Released: 2019
- Developer: Nintendo EPD
- Genres (Video game): Platform
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Sports
What’s Mario Doing: In Mario Tennis Aces, players take control of Mario and his many friends (and enemies) as they engage in local or online multiplayer tennis battles using motion controls or the gamepad to see who stands supreme on the court! Gameplay features standard tennis rules, while also incorporating an adventure mode and boss battles, so there are countless hours of entertainment as Mario and company compete to become the best tennis player in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Mario has been playing tennis for decades and gets a little better with each new title in the tennis franchise. This is undoubtedly true of Mario Tennis Aces, which features a massive roster of playable characters and different gameplay options to suit almost every player. The game also features some new mechanics, introducing motion controls via the Joy-Con, and there's a bullet-time kind of mechanic called “zone shot,” which gives players the ability to directly aim their shot as the rest of the game enters a paused state.
- Released: 2018
- Developer: Camelot Software Planning
- Genres (Video game): Sport, Adventure
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Party
What’s Mario Doing: In Super Mario Party, Mario joins a whole cast of characters in the 11th entry in the franchise. As in previous titles, players roll some dice and traverse various boards as they make their way to the end. To get there, they'll need to undertake different challenges and minigames, each offering options for other players to gain an advantage as this highly competitive and fun party game keeps you going for hours on end.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: One thing that Super Mario Party did well when introduced on the Switch in 2018 was revamping the franchise by bringing back the gameplay elements popular in the first eight games. Additionally, the game adds plenty of new content to keep it fresh, and it's easily one of the best-selling games on the console. There's nothing negative that could be said of this game. It's fun, competitive, and entertaining without any significant concerns regarding gameplay or technical features. Simply put, it's a fantastic party game players enjoy, thanks to its many features, along with a plethora of characters and entertaining aspects that work well with multiple players.
- Released: 2018
- Developer: NDCube
- Genres (Video game): Card & Board Game
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Sports
What’s Mario Doing: In Mario Golf: Super Rush, Mario does what you think he does - he plays golf! Of course, this is hardly the first time the plumber has taken to the links, but in this game players can use their gamepad or swing their motion controls to hit the ball, so it's up to the player how they want to play the game.
Why It’s Peak Plumber: There are many games featuring Mario and golf, and this title is much like the ones that came before it. Some of the improvements over its predecessors include its superior gameplay mechanics, excellent controls, graphics, and new modes of play. When it was released, it lacked a great deal of content, and its adventure mode was considerably shorter than most players would have liked. Despite these issues, the game holds up and is both an excellent golf game and a fantastic Mario title.
- Released: 2021
- Developer: Camelot Software Planning
- Genres (Video game): Role-playing (RPG), Sport, Adventure
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Sports
What’s Mario Doing: Mario Strikers: Battle League puts Mario and company on the field as they tackle, pass, and score in a five-on-five soccer game that lacks any formal rules! Try to score through any means necessary by using items against other players and whatever else comes into play as you go all-in to win!
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Mario Strikers: Battle League is the third title in the franchise and the first released on the Nintendo Switch. As such, it features better graphics and sound than its predecessors on the Wii and GameCube. That said, it's not the most popular game in the franchise. Furthermore, when the game launched in 2022, it had no solo-player options and a small roster of characters to choose from.
- Released: 2022
- Developer: Next Level Games
- Genres (Video game): Sport
- Series: Mario Strikers
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
What’s Mario Doing: In Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Mario and his friends Luigi, Princess Peach, Rabbid Peach, and Rabbid Luigi embark on a galactic journey to find and defeat an evil entity to save their Spark companions. The game takes players across multiple worlds filled with incredible secrets and numerous quests to keep you busy for hours on end. As you rescue each Spark, you'll gain new powers and abilities to help you and your heroes save the day!
Why It’s Peak Plumber: Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is the second title in the Mario + Rabbids franchise, the first of which was released in 2017 for the Switch. The game didn't perform as well as other Mario titles though the developer added three expansions since its release in 2022. Additionally, the game is notable for being the final title voiced by longtime Mario voice artist Charles Martinet.
- Released: 2022
- Developer: Ubisoft Paris
- Genres (Video game): Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical, Adventure
- Series: Rabbids
- Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
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