Super Mario: Every Game Ranked From Worst To Best

4. Super Mario Bros. 3

Mario Feat Copy
Nintendo

By this point, we're entering air of such a rarefied nature that even a top-class Bolivian football team would be left gasping. The quality of this final quintet is simply breathtaking.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is platforming perfection. An astronomical leap from the early foundations laid by Shigeru Miyamoto's original side-scroller, Mario's third excursion took everything great about the vintage forerunner and distilled it into a indefectible cabernet. The controls were tighter, the adventure longer, and the levels bolder, resulting in the finest game on the NES, and one which went platinum 11 times over.

If Super Mario Bros. was Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, its second sequel was the Italian maestro's David, an exquisitely sculpted, flawlessly refined masterpiece, albeit wearing a raccoon suit.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.