SG Choice: Mario’s Best Levels, Hubs, and Worlds

It’s Mario Day! This semi-naturalistic holiday is a time for all things Mario, except for those of us for whom every day is all things Mario. And sure, the following listicle may have been intended for September and Super Mario Bros.’ 40th Anniversary, but Nintendo still counts this as part of the celebratory window, so why shouldn’t we?

Let’s break it down: today, it’s all about them levels. Mario’s gone through a ton of areas over the course of his officially middle-aged life. And everything is on the table: levels, sandboxes, worlds, kingdoms, galaxies, planets, cities, rooms, hubs, mini-games, sub-areas, and whatever else we can think of. Consider this a Mario extravaganza.

Wolfman Jew: While my sister had an NES and the Super Mario trilogy, it was only with the N64 that I found my Mario, in Super Mario 64. It’s full of complex and fascinating levels, little nonlinear “gardens” that would influence platformers and the entire open world genre. But for me, the one that sticks out the most is simply the hub, Princess Peach’s Castle, and its outside grounds. This nonviolent area officially only serves to hold the entrances to the more grand and imaginative levels, but it’s an incredible tutorial for learning the basics. The outside area is a perfect playground to get your bearings. The way difficulty is ordered by floor—it goes first floor, basement, second, third—feels clear and allows a sense of deeper intrigue and rising action. Every room feels like it has something, and often it does, because the castle is absolutely filled with secrets. Hidden rooms abound, you can find a way to drain the moat, and Yoshi’s at the top of the castle just to congratulate you for 100% completion. It is both a perfect encapsulation of early sandbox design and something far removed from it.

Image: Source Gaming. So much video game history is tied to this area.

From Super Mario 64 onward, the 3D Mario games have made many more traditional sandboxes, with obvious collectibles and boss fights and obstacle courses. I love many of them, but if I was to pick one, just one, it might just be New Donk City, the standout of Super Mario Odyssey’s near-perfect lineup of worlds. The capital of the Metro Kingdom just gets it. There’s no enemies or fall damage, but navigating its skyscrapers is still exciting. That moveset of Mario’s that has evolved since 64 is perfectly situated to jump off and between buildings. There’s a goofy boss fight, tons of crazy mini-games, various secret areas, and lots and lots of style. Sticking Mario in a 1920s-style Manhattan with regular humans turns out to be a great move, and it ties into how NDC homages the Donkey Kong franchise by implicitly being the setting of Donkey Kong from 1981. All of this culminates in a wonderful musical number that recontextualizes that original game into something deeply beautiful. New Donk City is an incredible level mechanically and aesthetically, and it’s no surprise that it’s become a standard Mario setting, whether in multiplayer games like Super Smash Bros. or in a surprise appearance in Donkey Kong Bananza.

Perhaps this is somewhat unfair of me to take a whole world, but Giant Land is what pops in my head every time I think of Super Mario Bros. 3. It’s the world that gave us the Goomba’s Shoe, a bizarre green shoe built as a sort of proto-Yoshi and only appeared in one level. It’s the world that gave us the trope of supersized enemies, something that would recur again and again in both future Mario games, as well as homages, imitators, and successors. In a game that’s all about being bigger, from more levels to larger levels to crazier powers, Giant Land often feels like the biggest part of all.

Image: Source Gaming. Giant Land, known for large Koopas and irritating formations of Hammer Bros.

As the Mario series has gone on, its idea of its “postgame” has expanded, from World 9 of The Lost Levels to Yoshi on Mario 64’s roof to the absolutely brutal Champion’s Road in Super Mario 3D World. Grandmaster Galaxy is my favorite take on the concept. The very last galaxy of Super Mario Galaxy 2—you have to get every other star in every other level to unlock it—is a wildly challenging, multi-step gauntlet based around various core mechanics. Mario rides on Yoshi and uses the Cloud Suit and jumps off Flipswitches, all while some of Galaxy 2’s greatest music plays. It’s an incredible moment, but it becomes terrifying when you collect the optional Comet Medal and unlock “The Perfect Run.” This takes away every checkpoint and Mario’s health, making every threat scarier. When I first played Galaxy 2, I died at least fifty tries on “The Perfect Run;” I could only beat it half a decade later. It’s hard, and unfair (though as it is literally the last challenge in the game, all it’s gating is a chance to see Rosalina). But it’s also fairer than some of the postgame final levels that have succeeded it, and it’s so cool to jump into Grandmaster and suddenly hear three of Super Mario Galaxy’s most famous songs backing it.

Moving into Mario’s vast world of spinoffs, Glitzville from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a fascinating bit of game design. It has essentially three rooms: an outside area where you can buy items, an interior for puzzle solving and saving, and an arena for fights. Every single fight is in that arena; there are no random encounters, and only two fights are actually lethal. This is because Glitzville’s chapter is about Mario investigating (i.e. rising the ranks of) a dangerous mixed martial arts company. So you talk to your rivals. You solve puzzles from a mysterious informant. You see character arcs come over time. But between all of those, you fight, in front of a crowd, usually with some silly requirement or mechanic. From a perspective of pure gameplay, it’s a fascinating and almost experimental take on RPG standards. It’s a big part of why it’s the most beloved parts of such a fan favorite.

Image: Source Gaming. Mt. Wario was an instant highlight.

Speaking of fan favorites, this list couldn’t include content from Mario Kart and omit Mount Wario. It’s the most iconic track from the world-class Mario Kart 8 thanks to a hook where you drive down the mountainside of a ski resort, with no loop back up. This means it can have different environments as you go from a giant cave to a carefully curated forest to a series of wild slopes. As a snow level, it gets to show off possibly the best video game level aesthetic in a series of memorable icy courses. But it’s the music most fans will think of. Instead of simply remixing the main theme to be faster for the final lap, Mario Wario has different compositions for where you are on the track. It’s not something that only this kind of level could have, but it was extremely cool and made Mount Wario an easy pick for Vs. Races.

But, let’s be real, there’s one Mario Kart stage that’s gotta be here. We can’t not reference, in all its wonderful forms, Rainbow Road, the clincher for every Mario Kart course list and one of the standouts of video game aesthetics. Every version is cool; every version is a burst of incredible imagery. The angular, neon-dipped icon that started it all in Super Mario Kart. The relatively earthbound one in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! The bursts of color in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii. The race across a comet in Mario Kart 7, which got remade into a super fun Super Smash Bros. stage. The gorgeous version from Mario Kart 64, and its even better remake in Mario Kart 8. The goofy cinematic setpiece in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. For me, it’s the newest one, the one from Mario Kart World. It is a kaleidoscopic thrill ride that tries to adopt every idea and more. But there’s an odd comfort knowing there’ll always be a Rainbow Road, and most likely, it will be awesome.

Hamada: As much as I want to nominate Bowser, who’s both a standout party member and set of levels in Bowser’s Inside Story, I’d be lying if I called said levels my favorite aspect of that game. Really, if you want the king of world building in Mario RPGs, the crown definitely goes to The Thousand-Year Door. Rogueport instantly stands out with its rampant crime, public noose, and all-around unclean residents. I love how it plays with the formula established in the first Paper Mario, branching off toward all the game’s other overworlds, but never lets itself feel like just a pit stop. All the core aspects of a good hub are accounted for, including characters to check back in on, mini games, side quests, and catchy music that really captures this game’s love of adventure. Some of my favorite corners include the Pit of 100 Trials, Pianta Parlor (this game has the best Piantas in the series, by the way), that roof Grifty hides on, and the surprisingly developed sewer. All this, and we haven’t even left the first town? Yeah, TTYD is definitely my favorite Mario world.

Image: Source Gaming. Rogueport in the very nice remake.

But if we narrow our scope down to mainline Mario, there’s another hub world I deeply loved exploring. Granted, it’s pretty small, but Galaxy has this way of feeling gargantuan when you’re just a kid. Without a doubt, Rosalina’s Comet Observatory sports the comfiest vibes in the franchise. Between the music, Lumas, library, and homey decorations, this game makes returning to base just as gratifying as setting off for your next Star. And while I get people’s dissatisfaction with the Red Star power-up, I can see why they’d restrict it to a safe zone. Really, that’s just one more reason the place feels grander than it needed to. This is all to say, Galaxy is objectively flawless, I wanna find time to rediscover its sequel, and that nefariously priced Rosalina amiibo was pre-ordered instantly!

All right, let’s get stupid… My recent Donkey Kong binge gave me enough respect for the ape to stop considering his games Mario ones, but Yoshi won’t get off so easily! I played Woolly World last year for the simple pleasure of holding my Wii U GamePad again, and while most of the game was just acceptable, what really stuck with me was the amiibo Hut. I’m stretching the rules when I call this glorified menu a level, but my previous mention of the figures got me in the mood. Basically, scanning any (non-Pokémon) character who inspired an amiibo pre-Woolly World unlocks an exclusive skin; your full collection waits inside the hut and stands in a satisfying formation! Do you wanna play as Kirby Yoshi to evoke the days of Epic Yarn? Mario and Luigi when you find a co-op partner? Ike? Palutena? You’ve heard of Rex Link in BotW, but are you ready for my undisputed favorite: Shulk Yoshi?! Honestly, it’d be no exaggeration to call this unassuming feature the only reason I saw this decent game through to the end.

NantenJex: The Mario series has plenty of iconic levels that just narrowing it down to a few favourites is tough. Especially when some of these levels might change from game-to-game. Take Yoshi Island for example, an iconic location in this series and one that has changed appearance and structure in almost every game it has appeared in. It’s amazing in all of them and if I had to pick a favourite version, it would be the island from the game of the same name with its iconic mountains and great pastel colors. It makes it a treat to look at. But the original Super Mario World appearance is also very memorable, as is its Super Mario RPG variant, as brief as it is.

The Yoshi’s Island from Super Mario World 2 is the most recurring in its design to the point it became the basis for Mario Kart Tour’s take on a Yoshi’s Island track. Previously, Yoshi tracks had been based around a giant Yoshi egg, or just in the shape of a Yoshi, but the version in Mario Kart Tour, and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, is an explicit reference to the best Yoshi game. The reason it took so long to get a proper reference in Mario Kart is because the series has a preference for making unique locations that exist within its world.

Image: Source Gaming. Neo Bowser City just comes out of nowhere. It’s really cool.

Often, we get really cool locales from this and one of the best, in my opinion, is Neo Bowser City from Mario Kart 7. So often, a Bowser themed track is a lava filled castle (which Mario Kart 7 still has) so any change from the norm is going to stand out and I think Neo Bowser City does it really well. I could imagine the king of this universe’s Dark World also being the mayor of a rainy, neon-lit city scape. It also helps that it reminds me of the original 1993 Super Mario Bros. film’s main setting: Dinohattan. It’s like they canonised the dystopian, cyber-punk world of that film within Mario-lore.

And in a similar way to Neo Bowser City, World Bowser from Super Mario 3D World is another highly memorable pull away from the typical Bowser stage. This world also has a dystopian, rainy-city vibe in some of its levels but the stand-out part of this world is its neon carnival aesthetic, with a big Bowser-themed ferris wheel and roller coasters. What I think makes World Bowser stand-out as a favourite location to me, across all the Mario games, is the build-up to its reveal. Players get the typical lava-filled Bowser stages in World Castle just before this. And upon Bowser’s defeat there, the king of Koopas takes from the Kremling playbook by getting back up again and going for round 2, escaping into the sky. Following him up, our heroes come face to face with World Bowser, as the neon-lights break through the cloudy sky and its incredible theme plays. My friends and I bopped up and down in awe when we first made it here.

Lastly, to have a non-reptile themed location on my list, you can’t get more iconic than Bob-Omb Battlefield when it comes to Mario locations. While Princess Peach’s Castle, as mentioned above, is the player’s first introduction to 3D Mario, it is Bob-Omb Battlefield where the first real challenge comes into play. Between its music, perfectly designed layout and choice of round enemies just ripe for the throwing, Bob-Omb Battlefield always ends up being the first location that comes to my mind whenever I am ever asked about iconic areas in the Super Mario franchise.

AShadowLink: Typically when I think of Mario, I always jump to my memories of Super Mario 64. As a game I did not progress very far in as a child, a lot of my foundational memories of the game are of the early-game levels. Whomp’s Fortress is the standout for me of those. The game’s first course involves climbing a mountain at the end, but Whomp’s Fortress is entirely dedicated to scaling a structure. When it comes to early 3D titles, the focus on verticality can often be one of their strongest elements, highlighting the real sense of space gained from the extra dimension. Mario’s movement in 64 is still unmatched to this day in my opinion; The raw feeling of freeflow is exhilarating. One of my favorite things to do in the game is scale up the fortress off of the intended path, and you’re given all the tools to do it. The flippin’ and dippin’ is great fun.

PhantomZ2: I’m a fan of many things that are chaotic, whether that be in visual style, composition, or gameplay mechanics. But, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe isn’t necessarily a chaotic game on its own, crank that speed to 200cc and hit the tracks at Baby Park and that’s all the chaos that one person could want. Riding around as fast as possible in over 8 laps, consistently ramming into other racers while the track is also utilizing the main Anti-Gravity gimmick, thus each collision providing a boost. On top of that, the shifting of placements at such a rapid pace means that it’s never for certain where you’ll end up at by the time you grab your next item, either being another form of boost, a dose of pain to the other drivers, or a tool to think that you’ll protect yourself with when, in reality, your doom was guaranteed the second the online roulette landed here. That’s also what makes Baby Park so chaotic, the chance of going right back into it again even after just leaving, almost as if a roller coaster operator told you it’s safe to take your seatbelts off, only for the ride to take off again before you could step off. If you don’t like Baby Park, you either have motion sickness or you’re a coward. If you do like Baby Park, you’re an evil person and that’s a-okay in my book.

Cart Boy: Since my favorite Mario areas—New Donk City, Bob-omb Battlefield, and the Comet Observatory—are already spoken for, I’m going to champion a stage nobody else would think to mention. Let’s break the targets rules and explore the Mushroom Kingdom from Super Smash Bros. Melee’s Adventure Mode! Its level design isn’t, well, remarkable; the Kingdom’s basically a straightforward run towards a flagpole in the tradition of Super Mario tutorials. Going through it twenty-five times if you seek every trophy grows tiring, too. But my nostalgia for this stage is overwhelming! Melee was the first GameCube game I played, and losing the blocky polygons of the Nintendo 64 felt revolutionary; everything looked so vibrant, so detailed. And the love the series received! The Mushroom Kingdom boasts music and enemies from the NES games, lets you bash blocks like you could therein, and even hides a golf course in the background. That Toad scurrying around at the end always makes me smile, too; I imagine he’s panicking over all the foreign fighters and objects invading his home. Y’know, speaking of the N64 years…

Volunteering at the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo was a rewarding experience. One classic I lovingly showed off to the kids in attendance was Super Mario 64, my all-time favorite game when I was their age. Many of them were happy roaming the castle courtyard, learning Mario’s moves. But one lad was too young to grasp the game; even moving the mascot in a straight line proved difficult. To give him a taste of Mario 64, I wound up playing through several missions, though I always let him nab the Power Stars. He felt like he contributed, and looked triumphant doing so! Anyway, we spent the most time exploring Lethal Lava Land. By this point, it was never a standout for me; that its main area is a bunch of… things floating in magma meant it had less of a sense of place than other stages, a quality I found a tad deflating. My little buddy didn’t care about that, however; he was in awe watching me brave the admittedly cool volcano and bully the Bullies. Oh, and when I accidentally took a dip in the lava? He couldn’t stop laughing at how the poor plumber clenches his rump! Mario’s appeal is universal, and it’s wonderful sharing that joy with people across multiple generations. And through this boy’s unadulterated joy, I finally developed an appreciation for Mario 64’s flagship lava level.

And that’s it from us! Now, this is a pretty short list, and we could go on for a long time. More 3D levels, more 2D levels, more RPG chapters, more hubs, more courses, more fun. We called this list the “Best,” but in truth, it’s barely a scratch. So if you felt we were missing something, you’re probably right! Why don’t you tell us your favorite level in the comments?