10. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo 3DS)
When Mario made his 3D debut he had sixteen gigantic worlds to explore, but through the Galaxy games Nintendo moved the series back towards the more linear path of his 2D games. 3D Land more then any that came before it, managed to fuse the 3D gameplay with the style of the 2D games, and it works beautifully. Whilst not the most challenging game in Mario's history, its quick gameplay and shorter levels make it the perfect 3D Mario handheld experience.
9. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
This game is always highly regarded, but it didnt quite make the impact it deserved upon its release. Coming out at a time when Saturn and Playstation were wowing the world with polygons, and Donkey Kong Country was strutting some silicon graphics, Mario's stylised pastel colours didn't get as much fanfare as Mario games that came before it. This may not have been helped by the fact that Mario himself was only appearing in baby form, and left all the true platforming to Yoshi. Still this was an instant classic and introduced various colour Yoshis, and gigantic foes thanks to the Super FX2 chip.