Super Mario Bros.

5 months - Shigeru Miyamoto explains how Nintendo crafted the perfect level in the form of Super Mario Bros. World 1-1. World 1-1. We’ve all run, jumped, and brick-bashed our way through that familiar first stage. It seems so simple and second-nature to us now, but in this modern age of iterative entertainment, it is almost impossible to convey the magnitude of the leap Super Mario Bros. represented compared to everything that came before it. World 1-1 introduced game design principles and a geometry of motion so perfectly calculated that it endures as one of the great works of the art form to this very day. But how was this miracle performed? Well, let us tell you, with the help of its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto.

5 months, 1 week - What are the best 2D Mario games? We rank every side-scrolling platformer in the Nintendo mascot's history.Super Mario’s 40-year history is a testament to all the different ways you can make a little guy run from left to right across a screen. Nintendo’s line of 2D Mario platformers has gone through three distinct eras since 1985 – the original game revived the video game industry and, for a while, the series was a pioneer in side-scrolling platforming. After lying dormant for a few years, the series returned in the 2000s with the New Super Mario Bros. series, games that were steady and safe but soon turned stale. Thankfully, the triumphant age of the Switch brought with it Mario Wonder, where Nintendo reinvented what these games could be. Once again, side-scrolling Mario feels genuinely magical. 2D Mario games, when executed well, perfectly balance the limitations of Mario's moveset with building your confidence to make increasingly ambitious jumps. The very best 2D Mario games are those that can completely change your approach to platforming without trivialising the challenge. But the most important aspect of a Mario platformer is the process of dying and trying again – the strongest games perfect this loop, ensuring you develop lifelong muscle memory and, by that final flag, feel like a true platforming god. With the original Super Mario Bros. game turning 40 this year, it’s time to look back on which games nail those core tenets and which struggle to make it past the first goomba. Here’s every 2D Super Mario Bros. game, ranked.