Saying Super Mario is a popular game series would be stating the obvious; everyone and their grandma knows who Mario is and what a Goomba is. The series has existed for as long as I can remember, and even decades after its initial conception, it still shows no signs of stopping or slowing down.

The franchise is so popular that people buy the Nintendo gaming consoles just to play Mario and nothing else.

Over the years, we’ve had hundreds of Mario games, and I mean that literally. There are so many games out there that have Mario as a playable character that it's very easy to lose track pf them. If I were to list every game that features Mario, we’d be here all day because that’s how extensive the list would be!

So when making a chronology of the Mario games, it is essential to make an important distinction. Some games are Main series games, and the rest are games that feature Mario; for simplicity's sake, we’ll call them Mario Related Games.

In this blog post, we will be jotting down the chronology of the ‘main series games because they are the games that most people mean when talking about Mario.

So with that out of the way!

Important - Some consoles are out of date, like the NES. You can use an emulator for games on that system or any other system with a good emulator. We do not endorse third-party emulators; you can play on them at your own risk.

1985 Super Mario Bros

It is important to note that Mario’s gaming journey began before he got his own title in the form of Super Mario. He first appeared in Donkey Kong, where he had to rescue a Princess, but this little Italian plumber had no as to how popular he would be once his game rolled out.

And that happened when the first ever Super Mario Bros came out. Luigi played a significant role before, he was the second player.

The game initially came out on the NES, but since then has been ported to a lot of other consoles and also can be played on mobile phones with emulators.

1986 Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels

After seeing the mammoth success of the original Mario game, Nintendo came out with a sequel the following year on the family disk system. It is important to note that this was called Super Mario Bros 2 by the Japanese, but the American market was not ready for this game as it was too similar to the original one and way harder,

1988 Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros 2, released for the NES in the USA, was the same game we mentioned before. They just ported it to the NES, dialed down the hardness, and introduced a few new features.

1988 Super Mario Bros. 3

By the second game, Super Mario Bros has cemented itself as a legit game series, probably the biggest one in the world then. After 2 years of success and the release of the second installment in the series, the 3rd installment was released on the NES with many more new items, worlds, characters, and power-ups! It was a critical and commercial hit.

1989 Super Mario Land

Super Mario Land is a game that was released not for the console but on the handheld game boy. This is pivotal in the history of Nintendo and Mario and the gaming industry. This changes the design philosophy and how Nintendo looks at gaming, which will have significant repercussions in the future, as we will see soon.

1990 Super Mario World

The name Super Mario Bros is dropped from now on. The new Nintendo console SNES had some significant improvements, so the new Mario games looked better, felt better, and gave a better playing experience.

Once again, the story follows the same Mario formula, the princess gets captured, and the brothers have to save her. In Super Mario world, the brothers also have the help of Yoshis!

1992 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

The Gameboy Mario was successful. Hence a sequel was released. The storyline follows the return of Mario to the Mushroom Kingdom, where Wario has taken over.

1996 Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 completely changed the game; the transition from 2d to 3d could not have been any better. This 3d Mario game was the first of its kind; no one knew how to create a camera, how to position a camera, and where a player should go in a 3d world. 3D gaming was new at this point, but the devs at Nintendo pulled off a miracle and blessed us with this classic.

The fact that people still play this game and do speed runs is a testament to the legacy it left.

It was released on the brand new Nintendo 64, which didn’t do very well as a gaming console. At this point, the competition started to emerge in the form of PlayStation, which is a powerhouse. This Playstation with Microsoft's X Box will eventually push Nintendo out of the Console market altogether.

2002 Super Mario Sunshine

After the monumental success of Mario 64, Mario was back in action in 2002. Once again, batting Bowser, but this time Bowser’s son tagged along. The game came out on the Game Cube, the last dedicated home console Nintendo made, which was on par with the Sony and Microsoft counterparts.

2006 New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario bros mark yet another turning point in Nintendo’s history. It was when Nintendo found its niche, the handheld market, which didn't require many graphical capabilities, and Nintendo was the sole relevant player.

And Super Mario Bros, which was released on the NDS, turned ot to be a hit

2007 Super Mario Galaxy

In Super Mario Galaxy, you can play in space on the many planets and planetoids that the game has in store. It was the first 3d Super Mario game released on the Brand new home console from Nintendo, the Wii, which was very different from the PlayStation and Xbox.

2009 New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Super Mario Bros for the Wii is an indirect follow-up to the original Mario Bros, which was released on the NDS. The game's main highlight is its multiplayer option; it allows 4 players to play simultaneously!

2010 Super Mario Galaxy 2

Riding on the success of the original Galaxy game, Nintendo released a sequel on the Wii itself.

2011 Super Mario 3D Land

With the advent of a new handheld console and a direct follow-up to the NDS, the N3DS soon became a hit amongst fans. The Mario game released on it, super Mario 3d land, returned to the linear structure of Mario's game, with many older retro powerups and enemies showing up.

2012 New Super Mario Bros. 2

The direct successor to the New Super Mario Bros series was released on the new Nintendo 3ds in 2012. It featured a lot of new upgrades, such as Golden Mario, and also added some classic features, such as Racoon Mario.

2012 New Super Mario Bros. U

This one was the first ever HD Mario game to be released. Apart from that, it didn’t add anything significant; it borrowed many elements, including the 4-player mode from the original New Super Mario Bros for the Wii.

2013 Super Mario 3D World

The Wii U was not as well received by the fans as the first one was, but regardless of the console, the Mario games were great. The highlight of this game was the addition of a new Cat Mario transformation, which was initiated when Mario picked up a Super Bell.

2015 Super Mario Maker

Super Mario Maker was the last main series game on the Wii U. As the name suggests, it allowed the players to create new Mario levels on their own!

2017 Super Mario Odyssey

After a lukewarm audience response from their handheld and home console markets, Nintendo decided to do something radical. Hence, they released the Switch, becoming one of the best-selling Nintendo Consoles of all time.

Nintendo carved out a niche in a world where graphic-heavy games dominate the market. And with this new console came the brand new Mario Odyssey. It introduces a new character called Cappy which can be used in many different ways. It is considered one of the best 3d Mario games of all time!

2019 Super Mario Maker 2

The direct sequel to the original Super Mario Maker.

And that’s basically it, we will surely be getting a new Mario game in the future, but a new one on the Nintendo Switch seems unlikely at this point, as the run of that console is almost over. And Nintendo’s competitors have already released their next-gen consoles, so any day we might get an announcement about the next big thing in Nintendo's history, and Mario as well!

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A chronology of the main series Super Mario Games!