Mario is like Nintendo’s bread and butter. He, and all of his associated friends, are like the mascots of the company. This is all to say the franchise is a global phenomenon. However, that doesn’t mean Japan hasn’t kept a few secrets from the West over the years. By and large most Mario games make it westside, but it didn’t used to be like that.

Several games in the 90s and beyond were, and still are, exclusive to Japan. There aren’t many though and in fact this list pretty much covers all console and handheld releases. Calling them the “best” may be a bit of a reach in other words. That is not to say these are bad games, but more like oddities. Let’s see what has been hiding for over the past few decades.

10 Itadaki Street DS

Itadaki Street started in 1991 in Japan. It, and the games that followed, are board game RPGs like the Mario Party series. Speaking of Mario, only one game in the series has ever come over in the past thirty years. Fortune Street was released for the Wii in 2011. The game that directly preceded that as a Dragon Quest and Mario crossover was this game in 2007.

9 Mobile Golf

After Camelot was primarily a third-party developer for Sega and Sony, Nintendo gave them a chance with Mario Golf. Both the N64 and Game Color versions released in 1999 and were both big hits. In 2000 they got to do the same thing for N64 and Game Boy Color versions of Mario Tennis.

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What made them popular were the RPG aspects integrated into typical sports games. That and the Mario license was huge. After this they developed Mobile Golf in 2001. Mario and friends are still in it, but more like background characters, which may be why this was never brought over.

8 Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium

Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium is actually one of several games that were exclusive to the Satellaview service in Japan. For those unaware, Satellaview was an add-on to the Super Famicom that clamped on and allowed players to dial into an online service where they could play and download games. This then was a sequel to the original NES game in 1985, but starring Mario characters instead of generic racers.

7 BS Super Mario Collection

There are two other notable Satellaview Mario games. First, BS Super Mario Collection was a version of Super Mario All-Stars that added in audio commentary during gameplay, hosted live like a radio show. BS Super Mario USA then was a half-step of a sequel to Super Mario USA. That is the Japanese name given to what North Americans know as Super Mario. Bros. 2, which in itself is a reskin of Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic. It is kind of like a snake eating its tail kind of situation.

6 Mario and Wario

Sticking with the Super Famicom, but moving away from the Satellaview, we have 1993’s Mario and Wario. In this game Wario has placed a bucket over Mario's head and kidnapped his friends. Players must guide Mario through mazes via a fairy they control with the mouse peripheral.

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The most notable thing about the game is that it was developed by Game Freak. It is a decent if not weird puzzle game. How weak is Mario that he can’t remove a bucket from his head? Ah well, the game does have Japanese text, but it can easily be bypassed by non-Japanese players as well.

5 Mario Advergames

Mario has had some video game tie-ins to other brands in order to hock some stuff in the past. All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. is a re-release of the original game with many enemies replaced with characters from a Japanese audio show: All Night Nippon.

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It was a prize so needless to say the game is very rare. There was also a re-release of Yoshi's Cookie, Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie, that was made to help promote Kuruppon branded ovens. There are expected to be about 500 copies still out there today so this too is a rarity.

4 Mario Artist

Mario Artist is like a 64DD, one of Nintendo’s greatest failures, sequel to Mario Paint. There are four games included under this umbrella when it launched in 1999. Each game offers something different. Mario Artist: Polygon Studio, for example, focuses on helping players recreate 3D models. Even though his name is in the title of each version the plumber himself doesn't really appear much in any of the four games. There are models to trace and what not, but you are not specifically controlling Mario. This is basically the same case for Mario Paint as well. Both games could be considered to be the very building blocks for Super Mario Maker.

3 Mario Knitting

Another "game" released for creative minds in Japan was I Am a Teacher: Super Mario Sweater. Releasing for Famicom in 1986, it, well, taught kids how to knit sweaters with Mario, Peach, and the rest on them. A sequel of sorts would release for the Game Boy Color in 2001 under the title Mario Family. Hooking the system up to supported sewing machines would allow for patterns to be printed on clothing as well.

2 Nintendo Puzzle Collection

Nintendo Puzzle Collection released for the GameCube in 2003. As the name suggests, it collects a few games in one package: Dr. Mario, Panel de Pon, and Yoshi no Cookie. All three puzzle games are similar in gameplay to Tetris. Except for Dr. Mario, which appeared on the N64, the other two games are actually new releases for the GameCube.

1 Undake30 Same Game

Love Mario? Love the card game Monte Carlo? Well, Undake30 Same Game combines both of those loves together into this 1995 Super Famicom release. It was initially released online via the Satellaview service. See how influential that service was for Mario? It was all encompassing for the system in Japan and with it many more Nintendo properties including The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past got pseudo sequels.

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