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What is the best 3D Mario game?

Galaxy 2 without a doubt in my mind. I also agree with other people here that it's also the best 3D platformer ever made.
 
Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy are the most revolutionary/revelatory. That impact means a lot to me in terms of how I'd rank them, so my list would probably start with those two. Slight advantage to Mario 64, which was about as revelatory as a single game can get and still holds up quite nicely.

Galaxy 2 is so polished and content filled that it easily gets the third spot, and 3D Land which I thoroughly devoured despite initial skepticism takes fourth. Sunshine in fifth. All are great games that are worthy of system purchases on their own (with the possible exception of Sunshine) - some of the best that gaming has to offer when taken as a whole.
 
Mario 64. Game was just magic. Super Mario Galaxy was genius - almost obnoxiously so - but it wasn't quite the experience of 64.
 
I haven't played SMG2, but 3D Land is my personal favorite actually. Galaxy is a very close second, Sunshine is in third for me.

I never was a huge fan of SM64, sorry gaf.
 
Mario Galaxy 2 for sure. Not just the best 3D Mario, but one of the best games ever created. Those who say Mario Galaxy I can understand as well!

3D Land is definitely a close second for me.

Basically EAD Tokyo are my developer heroes. If I could make something even close to that polished and creative I'd be overjoyed.
 
Still Mario 64 for me. It's wonderfully free-form and it's got an adventurous and mysterious vibe that all others lack.

Galaxy 1 and 2 may be platforming greatness, but they're "just" courses to run through. Some of the best courses ever made, sure, but courses nontheless. I simply prefer my 3D Mario to be more open-ended.

Sunshine was fantastic in a lot of ways, but that game's main problem was some spotty level-design and shit camera. I'd be all over a sequel that fixed these issues though.

3D Land was great as well, very solid throughout, just never hitting the heights of all other 3D Mario's. 3D World seems to be improving on this one in every way.
 
I like 3D Land the best. Having a dedicated run button allows for on/off speed control that allowed me to nimbly tear through levels. The Tanooki Suit is the most all-around useful power-up in a 3D Mario title to date. And the levels combine the best principles of both worlds -- the spatial elements of 3D and the fine focus of 2D. I maintain that 1-1 in 3D Land is one of the finest Mario levels ever. The fact that many of the levels in 3D World appear to have similar design and density of interactive elements has me excited for the game come Nov. 22.
 
Super Mario galaxy 2 is the only one I haven't played, damn.

Super Mario 3d land is the only one I didn't enjoy.

So between 64, sunshine and galaxy it's a tough call, but the one I enjoy going back to and replaying the most is 64.

Mario 64!
 
I grew up with Mario. I was in awe when I final saw him rendered in full 3D for Mario 64. The levels were fun, and the game had so much to do. Just a brilliant game.

With that said, the Mario Galaxy series surpassed it. SMG 1 & 2 are both easily the best 3D Mario games. 2 probably gets the edge since it basically refined + added to everything that was great about 1.
 
I like 3D Land the best. Having a dedicated run button allows for on/off speed control that allowed me to nimbly tear through levels. The Tanooki Suit is the most all-around useful power-up in a 3D Mario title to date. And the levels combine the best principles of both worlds -- the spatial elements of 3D and the fine focus of 2D. I maintain that 1-1 in 3D Land is one of the finest Mario levels ever. The fact that many of the levels in 3D World appear to have similar design and density of interactive elements has me excited for the game come Nov. 22.

I completely agree. It's an amazing playground/tutorial.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 1 (Haven't played 2)
⬇
Super Mario 3D Land
⬇
Super Mario Sunshine

Albeit 64 changed things forever and as the progenitor it is unrankable to me.
 
I haven't ever really heard why people think Galaxy 2 is better than Galaxy 1. The first Galaxy had a far cooler story, and mission hub in my opinion. The gameplay in both is pretty similar.

It was more refined, they learnt from most of their mistakes. Like they took away the annoying missions, collecting 100 coins etc, added more variety and just balanced the game really well. More focus on gameplay without the hub/story as well, but that one is subjective, some people, like you preferred it in MG1!
 
It was more refined, they learnt from most of their mistakes. Like they took away the annoying missions, collecting 100 coins etc, added more variety and just balanced the game really well. More focus on gameplay without the hub/story as well, but that one is subjective, some people, like you preferred it in MG1!

See, I agree that the gameplay is refined (I think a couple Purple Coin missions would've been fun), but the removal of the hub and any kind of story kinda bummed me out. It's why I go back and play Galaxy 1 more often than Galaxy 2.
 
Mario 64.

It was an amazing game that took advantage of a gaming revolution and they combined to make maybe the greatest game ever(this or Super Mario Bros). The only game I can see ever competing with this in the future would be something that takes advantage of another big change in gaming.

People may say that if someone new played Galaxy 2 and Mario 64 today that they would think G2 is better. But you can't remove a game from it's time period of release, a game and it's release date are tied together and you can't separate that. The refinement of something isn't as impressive as the original invention, that's why more people are impressed with the first telephone than a modern Chinese smartphone knockoff even though the knockoff is a much more useful and feature laden phone.

Comparing games to Mario 64 is often pointless since if that's the bar every game is a failure.
 
In terms of influence, Super Mario 64.

Personally, Sunshine is actually my favorite. Controls and camera are perfect.
 
Super Mario 64 is my favorite of the 3D games. I love this level(Jolly Roger Bay)

Jolly_Roger_Bay.jpg


Plus the music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx6nOkdeNKs
 
Having played the two Galaxies together, one after another, recently, the first Galaxy is the better of the two, no questions asked. The second is too reliant on powerups and weird non platforming sections, like snowball rolling, drilling, ice skating, and the Chimp's goofy and dumb challenges. And as frustrating as surfing was in Galaxy 1, the gliding in Galaxy 2 is like a hundred times worse (and in order to get everything you have to glide many more times than you surfed in Galaxy). Galaxy 2 also for some reason thinks 2D sections in 3D games are just the most amazing thing ever (hint: they're not) and uses them to the point of overuse.

The first Galaxy is a much more well rounded game overall. The highest highs of Galaxy 2 are probably higher than Galaxy 1's highs, but its lowest lows are lower. It's a much more uneven product than the first.

The correct answer is Super Mario Galaxy.
 
Galaxy 2 is so freaking fantastic.

I remember playing Mario World back in 91 and imagining all sorts of crazy stuff based on the game's art. Super Mario Galaxy 2 would have blown my mind back then; it's everything I wished for.
 
Having played the two Galaxies together, one after another, recently, the first Galaxy is the better of the two, no questions asked. The second is too reliant on powerups and weird non platforming sections, like snowball rolling, drilling, ice skating, and the Chimp's goofy and dumb challenges. And as frustrating as surfing was in Galaxy 1, the gliding in Galaxy 2 is like a hundred times worse (and in order to get everything you have to glide many more times than you surfed in Galaxy). Galaxy 2 also for some reason thinks 2D sections in 3D games are just the most amazing thing ever (hint: they're not) and uses them to the point of overuse.

The first Galaxy is a much more well rounded game overall. The highest highs of Galaxy 2 are probably higher than Galaxy 1's highs, but its lowest lows are lower. It's a much more uneven product than the first.

The correct answer is Super Mario Galaxy.
Yeah, between the Galaxies, I prefer SMG1, for the same reasons you described. Only thing SMG2 has over it is a quick level select (which still shouldn't replace a full-fledged overworld -- it should just be a Pause option if you don't want to run to your destination), and Yoshi.
 
I haven't ever really heard why people think Galaxy 2 is better than Galaxy 1. The first Galaxy had a far cooler story, and mission hub in my opinion. The gameplay in both is pretty similar.

Yea, reading this thread was a waste of time. Lots of ranking without any substantive opinions or arguments.

Though I think both Galaxy 1 and 2 had really unimpressive and worthless hub/level select design. Nothing in either that evoked mystery, exploration, curiosity, etc... I dislike Sunshine by a stretch, but at least the city hub contained a sense of mystery and wonder to discover similar to M64. What was so good about Galaxy 1's hub? Galaxy 2's faceship was equally pointless to deal with, and the level select did nothing to advance the concept of this being a 3D world game, or that you are exploring planetoids and galaxies. Just a bit wasted opportunity on both ends. (3D Land suffers here too)

Galaxy 1/2 are great games, but I disliked damn near everything that took you away from pure running and jumping. Too many gimmick levels where you blow bubble mario through space with the pointer, or latch bubble mario to nodes to float him through minefields, etc... Even the suit powers rarely enhanced the platforming and were more suited to mere gimmickry(bee mario is the worst "flying" mario suit in the franchise for instance)

At its purest form, the levels of pure obstacle-based platforming were astonishing and wonderful, but too much ancillary BS puts Galaxy 1/2 behind even SM3D Land for me. 3D Land was tighter in fundamental design and progression.

If anything Sunshine is at the dirt bottom. Unpolished, rushed, glitchy, some solid levels mixed with many of the worst levels and objectives in a 3D platformer ever. Unskippable intro, repetitive objectives, etc... Such a sad follow-up to Mario 64.
 
I like 3D Land the best. Having a dedicated run button allows for on/off speed control that allowed me to nimbly tear through levels. The Tanooki Suit is the most all-around useful power-up in a 3D Mario title to date. And the levels combine the best principles of both worlds -- the spatial elements of 3D and the fine focus of 2D. I maintain that 1-1 in 3D Land is one of the finest Mario levels ever. The fact that many of the levels in 3D World appear to have similar design and density of interactive elements has me excited for the game come Nov. 22.

I totally agree on 1-1. I always look forward to playing that level again when I restart the game.
 
Super Mario Galaxy.
I think 2 might have been a better game, but the original was a better experience for me. The soundtrack in 2 didn't really click for me in all honesty, whereas I adored the original one. Also preferred the Observatory (and Rosalina's storybook) to Starship Mario and the fat star.
 
And as frustrating as surfing was in Galaxy 1, the gliding in Galaxy 2 is like a hundred times worse (and in order to get everything you have to glide many more times than you surfed in Galaxy).
Not that I'm a huge fan of the tilt controls, but surfing was not that hard, and for the flying sections in Galaxy 2 you hold the wiimote like a toy airplane. Problem solved.
 
Not that I'm a huge fan of the tilt controls, but surfing was not that hard, and for the flying sections in Galaxy 2 you hold the wiimote like a toy airplane. Problem solved.

Yep. None of the motion games were an issue.

The one with Mario on the giant ball was extremely fun (and precise).
 
The thread title is fine. The best = your favorite. It goes without saying that there is no objective best 3D Mario game, just as there is no objective best anything.

It's as ill-conceived as asking "What's the best action game?" or "What's the best movie?" Using the word favorite just makes more sense to me, but whatever. It is what it is.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 2 aka the gold standard to which all 3D platformers will be judged.

Unbelievably diverse level design and challenge that never skips a beat across the entire game, and always prioritises the simple act of platforming (navigation through level obstacles) over everything else.

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At this point id say 3d land. I enjoyed it immensely, Might have to pony up for a Wii-U for that new one. That Nintendo direct kinda sold me on it.
 
See, I agree that the gameplay is refined (I think a couple Purple Coin missions would've been fun), but the removal of the hub and any kind of story kinda bummed me out. It's why I go back and play Galaxy 1 more often than Galaxy 2.

Galaxy 2 had the faceship and it had just as little to do on it than the observatory in the original Galaxy. Only thing Galaxy had that could have been considered better was the library with the storybook.

I just think the variety is so much greater in Galaxy 2 compared to the original. Plus there are the extra 120 stars to collect that were somewhat challenging.
 
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