Golf, tennis, and soccer - what do all these sports have in common? The characters from the wider Mario series have all tried them at least once. For around a decade, these characters, alongside some other Nintendo characters and characters from Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog series, have also participated in various Olympic events.
But what sports have all these characters not competed against each other in yet? Between the Mario & Sonic series, Mario Sports Mix, Mario Sports Superstars, and other single sport-themed titles, there have been quite a few, but there are still some sports they have yet to try.
8 MMA
Although characters from the Mario series have been fighting against each other competitively in the Super Smash Bros series and have previously participated in contact sports including wrestling, boxing, karate, judo, and taekwondo in the Mario & Sonic series, they have not competed against each other in Mixed Martial Arts.
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that they ever will, but it would be hilarious to see characters with an unfair advantage, such as Bowser and Donkey Kong, get grappled and taken down by Toad. On the other hand, Toad would probably choose to be a referee in this sport instead to avoid getting smashed by bigger characters.
7 Bowling
Despite bowling being a popular staple of the Wii Sports series, the cast of the various Mario Sports series have never played it, except for Wario, who got his own wacky version of bowling alongside the WarioWare cast in Game & Wario on the Wii U.
Maybe adding bowling to yet another Nintendo series has been seen as too repetitive, but a full Mario Bowling game that puts a spin on the sport and includes various ridiculous power-ups could potentially be one of the best bowling games of all time. For now, we'll have to be satisfied with the Bowling mode in Nintendo Switch Sports.
6 American Football
American Football may not have the international popularity of many other sports, but since Chargin' Chuck has been a staple enemy since Super Mario World in 1993, you would think maybe the Mario crew would have tried it at least once, whether it be an Olympic event or its own full game, and they nearly did once.
Maybe Chargin' Chuck would be the referee since his years of experience with the sport might give him an unfair advantage compared to all the other characters. Another problem is that the title could be confusing since football means different things between the United States and most other countries.
5 Lacrosse
While Lacrosse isn't a very popular sport to adapt into video games, it could work well for the cast of the Mario Sports series. They've played a handful of other stick-based sports, so adding into another Mario Sports Mix game or as an event in Mario & Sonic games could be a great choice, as it probably wouldn't get an entire game to itself.
Everyone's favorite Nintendo dinosaur Yoshi might even be one of the best players since he already has plenty of experience tossing eggs all over the place, and maybe one of the balls players could use could be patterned like a Yoshi egg.
4 Kendo
Fencing was previously introduced as an event in Mario & Sonic series, so fellow sword-based martial art kendo could be another interesting event to add. Kendo has many differences from fencing, with competitors using bamboo swords and different techniques to score points against their opponent.
Maybe even more Nintendo characters such as Kirby, Link, Shulk, and various Fire Emblem characters could join in on the fun since they all have previous experience training with and using swords in their respective series. Some Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy characters could be included as well since some have competed against Mario characters before.
3 Croquet
While croquet isn't as well known as other more popular sports and doesn't have many video games based on it, except for Croquet Pro and its sequel (pictured above), it could be an exciting event to add to the Mario Sports or Mario & Sonic series.
Croquet has some similarities to gold in that the goal is to try to get a ball to a particular spot by hitting it with something, in this case, using a mallet to hit the ball through a hoop, also called a wicket, and there's even a variation known as Golf Croquet. Since the Mario Sports series cast already has experience playing golf, croquet should come naturally. It also seems like a sport Waluigi would be great at.
2 Polo
In several Mario & Sonic games, characters compete in Equestrian events that typically involve characters riding horses and racing or jumping over obstacles. Polo takes things a step further, combining horse riding with a field sport with some similarities to croquet in that it still involves hitting a ball with a wooden mallet.
Instead of hitting the ball through hoops, the players try to get the ball through the opposing team's goal. It would also be hilarious to see characters like Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong riding horses again; it would be like watching sports in the Planet Of The Apes universe.
1 Roller Skating
The Mario & Sonic series has already introduced several events that revolve around ice skating but has never had a roller skating event. Maybe adding a roller skating event could pave the way for a dancing roller disco game similar to Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix; it would probably be a fantastic way for Luigi to destress after dealing with so many spooky ghosts in the Luigi's Mansion series.
Maybe even characters like Miror B from Pokemon Colosseum and Jimmy T from the WarioWare series could join him since dancing to funky music is a big part of their identities.