Nintendo has dozens of different intellectual properties that have been able to achieve deep levels of success, but it’s unlikely that anything is ever going to dethrone Super Mario as the company’s most popular mascot and series of games.
The mainline Super Mario games are typically the most groundbreaking titles to appear on Nintendo consoles, but there have also been an increasing number of spin-off efforts that try to push the character into a different direction or genre. Many of these are successes in their own rights, but it’s shocking to see just how far off base they’ve become from the standard expectations of Super Mario games.
10 Mario Party
One of the earliest forays of Mario stepping outside of his standard world of platforming comes in the shape of the successful series of minigame compilations, Mario Party. Now that the series is in double digits, the games have hit diminishing returns and feel like their best days have passed them, but there’s no denying that the initial games were a revolutionary surprise and started a massive trend that Nintendo still hasn’t entirely left behind. Now the idea of putting Mario and his friends in weird minigames feels like a standard shift in gameplay rather than anything radical.
9 Mario Golf
The sports genre of video games is often an area that feels dominated by Sony and Microsoft as they indulge in making their titles as realistic as possible. Nintendo tapped into something special when they decided to cross Mario over with various sports and create an entertaining alternative to the norm. It initially seemed ridiculous to have Mario engaging in things like golf, tennis, or baseball, but it’s now become a mainstay for Nintendo. Mario has proved his proficiency in many fields, but it’s Mario Golf that helped advance these spin-offs in considerable ways.
8 Mario Kart
The Mario Kart games are now just as popular as the proper Super Mario series and they’ve turned into an excellent equalizer for both seasoned gamers and newcomers. The initial Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo started off as an experiment that didn’t even originally involve Mario and his friends, but it’s turned into one of the best decisions that Nintendo has ever done.
The whole concept of racing and confining Mario to a vehicle is completely foreign to where the series began, but it’s been a shift that audiences haven’t struggled to accept.
7 Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. is likely the only offshoot from Super Mario that’s actually grown more popular than the original games. Nintendo had no idea that this series of crossover fighters would turn into such a phenomenon where gamers can never get enough. At this point the Super Smash Bros. series effectively represents the bulk of Nintendo’s franchises, as well as characters that don’t even come from Nintendo properties, but it’s always been sure to feature many faces and locations from the Super Mario games. It’s surprising to see how many of Mario’s platforming mechanics naturally translate over to fighting games.
6 Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games
For decades Mario has always been positioned as the friendly rival to Sega’s Sonic and the prospect of seeing these two characters work together in a video game seemed impossible even after Sega got out of the hardware business. It’s truly surprising that not only do Mario and Sonic have their own spin-off series together, but that it’s a celebration of the Olympic Games of all things. This is a bizarre mix of both sports and minigame aesthetics to put Mario in an environment that’s oddly become popular and spawned several follow-up titles.
5 Paper Mario
There are many different Super Mario spin-offs that embrace a foreign genre or play in an entirely contrasting manner to the core games, but Paper Mario is also a series that’s so visually distinct.
There are several different franchises that push Mario into an RPG setting and even though Paper Mario games have slightly lost their way in this regard, they’ve still never stopped being visually exciting. The style of these adventures and the partners by Mario’s side would have been impossible to predict after playing the original Super Mario titles.
4 Mario Vs. Donkey Kong
It’s easy to forget that Mario actually got his start in the arcade classic, Donkey Kong, before he actually got his own series. Nintendo decided to return to Mario’s true roots with the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, which doesn’t just make Mario and Donkey Kong rivals again, but it leans into a puzzle-based style of gameplay. This slows down Mario and puts more of an emphasis on problem solving. The games in this series are completely different than the main platformers, but it’s still interesting that this radical deviation can still in a way be honoring Mario’s past.
3 Dr. Mario
It’s kind of incredible to see how many popular puzzle games have been born by just taking the basic concept behind Tetris and then marginally tweaking it. Dr. Mario is Nintendo’s attempt to launch a new puzzle series, but with the strength of Mario’s character to anchor it. Dr. Mario is simple, yet addictive, in its structure. Clearly this strategy worked because not only are there still Dr. Mario games that are happening, but the figure has even showed up as a playable character in other spin-offs, like Super Smash Bros.
2 Mario Is Missing!
There are a series of Super Mario spin-offs that have more of an educational aim rather than to purely entertain its audience. Many of the examples of this for the CD-i are disasters, but Mario is Missing! is a more subtle example that did come out on the SNES. The game stars Luigi and tries to give out a rudimentary geography lesson as he attempts to locate his brother. It’s a nice change of pace to take control of Luigi, but the game feels like such misguided manipulation. Picture Luigi's Mansion, but without the ghosts or the fun.
1 Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
It would have been a fair gamble to bet that a new Super Mario game isn't going to equip Mario and his friends with guns, let alone have strange and disturbing creatures cosplay as them, but that's exactly what's going on in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. The inexplicable crossover from Ubisoft turns Mario into a turn-based tactics title that morphs the Mushroom Kingdom into a strategy game. Oddly enough, this game actually works and even though the Rabbids are still creepy on every level, this is a very fun Switch game.