Best Mario games for Switch: a developer’s field guide
Mario has shipped on every Nintendo platform since the Famicom, and the Switch era is unusual because the brand now spans two console generations at once. The original Switch launched in 2017 and absorbed more than eight years of new 2D and 3D Mario releases, while the Switch 2 in 2025 began its own catalog with a Mario Kart entry built around an open-road structure. For a player choosing today, the question is not which single game is “the best” in the abstract, but which of those design philosophies fits a specific mood, session length, and appetite for challenge. For a developer or designer reading along, the same list doubles as a study in how Nintendo has evolved level pacing, physics, camera, and state management inside a familiar mascot.
What follows is a ranked look at the strongest Mario titles on Switch, with notes on what each one is doing mechanically. The aim is to help a player pick the next game to install and to help a designer see why each entry still holds up. Platform availability is tied to what Nintendo itself has published through the Switch catalog and the early Switch 2 window, and official first-party releases are separated from anything loosely related to the brand.
How I picked the order on this list
Ranking the best Mario games for Switch is partly taste and partly structural. To keep the list defensible, each title was scored on the same four criteria, and the totals were used as a tie-breaker for entries that ended up in close bands.
- Mechanical clarity: how readable the controls feel, and how quickly a new player can understand the core verb without a tutorial overlay.
- Level design density: the number of meaningful ideas per course, counted by unique interactions rather than raw object count.
- Replay architecture: how much of the game’s value is hidden behind mastery conditions, alternate routes, or post-clear content.
- Standalone durability: whether the design still feels intentional on hardware two or three generations removed from launch.
The criteria are weighted toward design rather than nostalgia. A remake gets credit for the new engine and camera work, not just the original 1985 source material. A spin-off gets judged on its own systems, not on how closely it imitates the 2D side-scrollers. Where two titles land within a small band of one another, the notes explain why the order could flip for a different player.
The ranked list at a glance
| Rank | Title | Year on Switch | Format | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Super Mario Odyssey | 2017 | 3D sandbox platformer | Players who want exploration and expressive movement |
| 2 | Super Mario Bros. Wonder | 2023 | 2D side-scroller | Local co-op and fresh 2D ideas |
| 3 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury | 2018 (original) / 2021 (Switch port) | 3D linear platformer plus open hub | Four-player co-op and short session play |
| 4 | Super Mario Maker 2 | 2019 | Level editor and player | Players who want to design as well as play |
| 5 | Paper Mario: The Origami King | 2020 | Turn-based RPG with ring-based battles | Readers who like writing and gentle combat puzzles |
| 6 | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope | 2022 | Tactical RPG | Strategy players who want a Mario-flavored XCOM |
| 7 | New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe | 2019 (Switch port) | 2D side-scroller | Couch co-op and accessible difficulty |
| 8 | Super Mario 3D All-Stars | 2020 (limited re-release) | Three 3D classics compiled | History-minded players who want the originals emulated |
| 9 | Super Mario RPG (remake) | 2023 | Turn-based RPG remake | Players who want a short, charming JRPG |
| 10 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | 2017 (Switch port) | Arcade racing | Party play and ranked online |
That table is the short version. The sections below walk through each entry, what makes it work, and what a player should know before installing it. Two of the games in the wider Switch 2 conversation are not in the main numbered list because the question of which console catalog they belong to is still settling. They are touched on at the end of the guide rather than forced into a ranking built from original Switch history.
1. Super Mario Odyssey: the sandbox that set the Switch template
Super Mario Odyssey is the clearest answer to “what is the best Mario game on Switch” for most players, and it has held that position since 2017. The structure is a series of sandbox kingdoms, each a small open world with its own gravity rules, hidden Power Moons, and a few mini-challenges that double as tutorials. Capture, the central mechanic, lets Mario inhabit enemies and objects so that a frog, a tank, or a stack of bullets becomes the player’s controller for a few seconds.
What makes Odyssey interesting to a designer is the information budget. Each kingdom introduces a small set of verbs: throw a hat, capture a specific enemy, find a moon, and so on. Once the player has the verbs, the level asks them to combine them in new ways. The game never punishes experimentation harshly, which lets it push that information budget further than a 2D Mario can. The cost is that boss encounters are simple, and the late game leans on collectible density rather than new mechanics. If you want a Mario game that rewards a calm exploratory pace, Odyssey is the one to install first.
2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder: the 2D series finally moves
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the first mainline 2D Mario since New Super Mario Bros. U in 2012, and it shows how much the format was allowed to rest. Wonder Stages add a Wonder Flower that temporarily transforms a level: pipes come alive, the screen tilts, characters turn into balloons, and the entire course shifts genre for thirty seconds. Badge equipment gives the player a personal modifier they can equip before a stage, which functions as a small loadout decision in a series that previously had none.
For a developer, the most useful lesson in Wonder is restraint. The transformations are loud and visual, but the underlying collision and physics still respect the 2D Mario grammar that has existed since 1985. Wonder works because it changes framing without changing rules. The co-op is also the most generous in the series, with a friendly pop-up that helps a player who has fallen behind instead of draining lives, which makes it the easiest recommendation in this list for households with mixed skill levels.
3. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury: a tidy port and a useful experiment
3D World on Switch is a port of the 2013 Wii U release, and Bowser’s Fury is a short open-world add-on built on the same engine. The base game is a four-player 3D Mario that runs at a higher resolution and frame rate than the Wii U original, with the Captain Toad levels that were separate DLC on Wii U folded in. The genius of the design is that it bridges 2D and 3D Mario: each level is a short linear course with a clear goal, but the camera and movement are fully three-dimensional.
Bowser’s Fury is the more interesting half from a development standpoint. The whole add-on is one large hub island that reacts to a giant Bowser. When the Fury Bowser is active, the player can only survive for a short window before the screen fills with black goop, and the player has to clear a condition to make him retreat. It is essentially a stress test of how to pace a Mario game without level select screens, and the result is an open-world prototype that feels closer to Odyssey than to 3D World in spirit. If you want a single cartridge that includes both a polished 3D Mario and a quick experimental sandbox, this is the most efficient purchase on Switch.
4. Super Mario Maker 2: a level editor that is also a player game
Super Mario Maker 2 is worth a closer look for anyone who builds games, because the campaign is built around understanding the same primitives a designer works with: jump arcs, enemy patrol paths, scroll speed, and the way a level’s silhouette communicates the next move. The Switch version adds a nighttime style with sloping ground, a 3D World style that turns the same editor into a 3D Mario, and an endless challenge mode with global leaderboards.
The course world feature lets a player string levels into a longer game, which is closer to actual level design than building a single stage. For a reader who has never made a game, the recommended path is to play the official maker levels first, then rebuild them from scratch in the editor, then iterate on a failed level until it is solvable. That sequence teaches level design faster than most tutorials. The game’s downside is online services, which Nintendo has trimmed over time. Local play and level sharing through course IDs still work, but expect the online experience to feel thinner than it did at launch.
5. Paper Mario: The Origami King: writing-first RPG design
The Origami King sits in an awkward spot in the Paper Mario series, because its battle system is a ring-based puzzle rather than the turn-based combat of the older games. From a design perspective, that is exactly what makes it worth recommending. Battles ask the player to rotate and arrange enemies on a ring grid to maximize the damage of a single timed jump, which is closer to a sliding-tile puzzle than to a JRPG turn queue. The writing carries the rest. The script is generous with the kind of dry humor that Paper Mario is known for, and the supporting cast is large enough to give the world a real sense of place.
If you bounced off the older Paper Mario games because combat felt thin, the Origami King is actually the entry to try, because the puzzle combat gives the player more to do per turn. If you want the classic Paper Mario timing-based combat instead, the Super Mario RPG remake lower on this list is the closer fit.
6. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: tactical combat with a Mario coat
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a turn-based tactics game from Ubisoft that wears a Mario skin. The first game, Kingdom Battle, was a clean XCOM-lite for Switch and helped sell the concept of Mario in a non-platformer. Sparks of Hope goes further by replacing the grid with free movement and by adding a Spark system that lets the player equip elemental abilities. The result is a tactics game that feels less rigid than the original, at the cost of some of the puzzle sharpness that the first game was praised for.
For a player who wants a Mario-branded strategy game, Sparks of Hope is the most fully featured option on Switch. The combat takes longer than a 2D Mario level, and exploration between battles is light. It is best played in shorter sessions with a save point between encounters, which is also how most tactics games are best consumed.
7. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe: the safe co-op option
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is the 2012 Wii U game repackaged with New Super Luigi U as extra content. It does not do anything new compared to the New Super Mario Bros. series that preceded it, and that is the point. The platforming rules are familiar, the difficulty curve is gentle, and four-player co-op is the most accessible in the series short of Wonder. For a household with younger players or a friend group that wants a quick local game, U Deluxe is the lowest-friction choice on Switch.
From a developer perspective, the design lesson is more about restraint. U Deluxe is a useful reminder that a 2D Mario does not need a gimmick to be fun, and that the underlying physics and enemy placement do most of the work. The added challenge modes in the Deluxe package also give the game a higher skill ceiling than the original release.
8. Super Mario 3D All-Stars: a limited historical compilation
Super Mario 3D All-Stars compiled Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy for a limited release window in 2020 and is no longer sold in the eShop. Players who already own a physical copy still have access to it. The package is interesting for historical reasons: 64 and Sunshine are emulated rather than rebuilt, and Galaxy is the only entry that received a more substantial Switch-specific port with a higher resolution and a small control rebalance.
For most players, the better path to these games is now through Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury and Super Mario Odyssey, which are built natively for Switch hardware. All-Stars is a useful purchase only if you specifically want to see the early 3D Mario design as it was, with its original camera and physics limitations intact.
9. Super Mario RPG (remake): a faithful rebuild of a 1996 design
The For additional context, recent run of Mario remakes includes a 2023 rebuild of the 1996 Squaresoft original with a new art style and a Switch-tuned battle system. The original game is short, around fifteen hours, and is the cleanest entry point to the Mario RPG family. Combat is turn-based with timed button presses to increase damage, which keeps every turn interactive without adding a tactical grid.
For a player who wants a single-serving Mario RPG that does not require dozens of hours, the Super Mario RPG remake is the most efficient option. For a player who wants more depth, the Origami King above is the better long-haul choice in the same series.
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: the multiplayer that never went away
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a port of the 2014 Wii U game, packaged with all the DLC tracks, a few balance changes, and a Battle Mode rebuilt around arenas rather than tracks. It is the best-selling Switch game of all time and a defensible top-ten Mario game on the platform. It is also the most generous party game on the system, with split-screen local play, online matchmaking, and Smart Steering that lets younger players stay competitive.
The list places it at ten rather than higher because Mario Kart 8 is fundamentally a Wii U game running on Switch hardware, and most of the design has not been rethought for the new console. The recent Switch 2 entry, Mario Kart World, is built around an open-road structure and is reviewed separately below, since its design goals and release timing are different enough that combining the two would obscure more than it would clarify.
What the Switch 2 changes for a Mario list
It is worth being explicit about what the Switch 2 era adds to a Mario list, because the catalog split is now real rather than theoretical. Nintendo’s Switch 2 launch lineup included a new Mario Kart designed around free-roaming routes and dynamic weather, and a version of the early Mario Party games rebuilt for the new hardware. The early commercial data for the new console shows the launch Mario Kart has been the strongest performer by a wide margin among first-party releases, which is consistent with how Mario Kart 8 Deluxe behaved on the original Switch.
For a reader making a decision today, the practical point is that Switch 2 titles are not a separate hobby from original Switch titles. The Switch 2 plays original Switch games, and the Mario games on this list remain the strongest reason to own a Switch family console in 2026. The new Mario Kart is worth treating as its own game rather than as a tenth-place entry in a ranking of older Switch releases, because its design ideas and hardware target are different enough that the comparison gets muddled. The rest of the guide stays focused on the original Switch catalog, which is where most of the catalog depth still lives.
How to choose between these ten games
If you are still torn between two or three entries, the quickest decision is to identify the constraint that matters most. The list below maps common player constraints to the entry that fits best, and it works regardless of whether you are a designer studying Mario or a player choosing the next install.
- You want a single Mario game that shows off the Switch: Super Mario Odyssey.
- You want couch co-op for two to four players: Super Mario Bros. Wonder for 2D, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for 3D, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe as a familiar fallback.
- You want to design levels as well as play them: Super Mario Maker 2.
- You want a tactics game with a Mario cast: Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
- You want the best party game for mixed-skill groups: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
- You want a single-session RPG: Super Mario RPG remake.
- You want the longest RPG: Paper Mario: The Origami King.
- You want historical 3D Mario design as it was: Super Mario 3D All-Stars, if you can find a copy.
For a developer or technical reader, the same list doubles as a reading list. Odyssey is the cleanest reference for sandbox design. Wonder is the cleanest reference for adding new verbs to a mature system. Maker 2 is the cleanest reference for editor and tooling design. Origami King is the cleanest reference for puzzle-as-combat. Each one teaches a different lesson, and playing them in order gives a useful overview of how the same brand has been reframed across hardware generations.
Platform and availability notes for 2026
| Title | eShop status | Physical availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Odyssey | Available | Standard retail | Occasional Nintendo Selects pricing |
| Super Mario Bros. Wonder | Available | Standard retail | First-party price held since launch |
| Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury | Available | Standard retail | Often bundled with promotions |
| Super Mario Maker 2 | Available | Standard retail | Online features reduced over time |
| Paper Mario: The Origami King | Available | Standard retail | Occasional price drops |
| Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope | Available | Standard retail | Third-party Ubisoft SKU |
| New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe | Available | Standard retail | Frequent budget pricing |
| Super Mario 3D All-Stars | Delisted | Secondhand only | Limited 2020 release window closed |
| Super Mario RPG (remake) | Available | Standard retail | First-party price held since launch |
| Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Available | Standard retail | Track pass DLC continues |
All ten entries above are physical or digital releases on the original Nintendo Switch. The handful of titles that Nintendo has not reissued in some form remain in the secondhand market, and the limited re-release window for Super Mario 3D All-Stars has closed. If a reader sees a copy of All-Stars in a store, it is almost certainly used and probably above its launch price. The other nine are still sold through the eShop or through standard retail channels, with prices that vary by region and time of year.
For a reader who owns both a Switch and a Switch 2, the practical decision is to keep the original Switch for the older library and to use the Switch 2 for the new Mario Kart and any later entries in the same series. Backward compatibility is the reason both consoles can sit on the same shelf, and there is no design reason to retire the original Switch while a Mario library this strong is still playable on it.
What is missing from this list
A list of ten always leaves out titles that a different player would have included. The biggest omissions here are Mario Party Superstars, which is a strong party game but does not have the same level-design depth as the entries above; Mario Tennis Aces, which is a competent sports game that Nintendo has not extended with new content for some time; and the Switch 2 entry Mario Kart World, which is best treated as a separate design conversation. None of those omissions is a judgment on those games, only a recognition that a list has to end somewhere.
For a reader who wants the broadest possible Mario coverage on Switch, the right move is to start with the top three on this list and then add whichever spin-off matches the genre you already enjoy. The Mario brand on Switch is unusual in that the spin-offs often respect the same mechanical standards as the mainline platformers, so the spin-offs are rarely wasted time even when they are not the right place to start.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single best Mario game on Switch for a first-time player?
For a first-time player who wants one game that shows what a Switch Mario can do, the answer is Super Mario Odyssey. The sandbox kingdoms are readable, the capture mechanic teaches the player how to use a new verb every few minutes, and the run time is long enough to feel substantial without becoming a hundred-hour commitment. The closest alternative is Super Mario Bros. Wonder if the player strongly prefers 2D platformers.
Is Super Mario Bros. Wonder better than New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe?
For most players, yes. Wonder is a native Switch design with the Wonder Flower transformation system, the Badge loadout, and the most accessible co-op in the series. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a faithful 2012 Wii U port that still plays well, but its level design is more conservative. The exception is a household that already owns U Deluxe and knows its children prefer the familiar 2D rules.
Is Super Mario Maker 2 still worth buying in 2026?
Yes, with one caveat. The level editor and the local sharing features are still functional, and the campaign is a good tutorial for level design. The caveat is that the online services have been reduced over time, so the daily activity on the official level-sharing pool is smaller than it was in 2019. Course IDs and local play still work, and a player who has never used the editor will still get dozens of hours out of it.
Which Mario game on Switch is the longest?
Super Mario Odyssey is the longest Mario platformer on Switch for most players, at roughly forty to sixty hours for a completionist run. Among spin-offs, Paper Mario: The Origami King is the longest RPG at around thirty to forty hours, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is effectively endless because of the ranked online ladder. The shorter entries are Super Mario RPG remake at around fifteen hours and Bowser’s Fury at around five to eight hours.
Are the Mario spin-offs on Switch any good for a player who only likes platformers?
Some are. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is a clear platformer and is the most platformer-friendly spin-off in the catalog. Paper Mario: The Origami King mixes platforming segments with RPG exploration, and the platforming is light. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a tactics game with no platforming. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an arcade racer. A platformer-only player is best served by starting with Odyssey, Wonder, and 3D World before exploring the rest.
How does Mario Kart World on Switch 2 compare to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?
Mario Kart World is built around open-road routes and free-roaming driving rather than the closed circuits of Mario Kart 8. The original Switch game is still the more accessible party game, because Smart Steering, split-screen, and the long DLC track list are tuned for mixed-skill groups. Mario Kart World is the better choice for a player who wants the new design ideas, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the better choice for a player who already has a group that plays the older game regularly.
Do I need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play these games?
For the main campaigns and local multiplayer, no. Online play in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and a few others does require a Switch Online subscription. The campaign-only games on this list, including Odyssey, Wonder, 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Maker 2, Origami King, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, the Super Mario RPG remake, and the 3D All-Stars compilation, all work fully without a subscription.
Which Mario game on Switch is the best fit for a child or a new player?
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the most forgiving for new or younger players, because the friendly pop-up feature keeps a struggling player in the game during co-op. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is the second-best option and is more familiar in its mechanics. Super Mario Odyssey is also friendly, but its sandbox structure asks the player to find their own goals, which can be intimidating for the youngest players.
