A Nintendo console wouldn’t feel right without Mario taking real estate to some extent. He is the poster child of the brand, so it only makes sense that there are so many games that he stars in. Looking back into the Wii era of video games, what are the best titles involving Mario on the console? For obvious purposes, Super Smash Bros Brawl will not appear on this list as that isn’t a Mario-centric game.
The 7 Best Mario Wii Games of All Time
7. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
The Mario and Sonic games were fun, but never really had lasting power. They always felt like a loose extension of a Mario Party game, but there were just a few that were able to escape mediocrity. The first game in particular was a memorable one. It finally introduced the Sonic characters and pitted them in the weirdest crossover ever.
It worked and felt like a solid game. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games was the proper way to further utilize the motion controls of the Wii Remote at the time other than for the Wii Sports games.
6. Super Paper Mario
Though this game switched it up from being a turn-based RPG into a more typical platformer, Super Paper Mario is quite memorable. Its story is more than enough to carry it as being one of the better Mario games of the Nintendo Wii era. People may be mixed about the game because it isn’t like the first, but it still lands on its feet to this day.
5. Mario Strikers Charged
The sweet spot for a lot of the good Mario sports games was somewhere between the GameCube and Wii eras. This is definitely the case for Mario Strikers. It only got better from the first iteration, having more levels and characters. Not to mention at the time, it had an online mode via Nintendo WFC, making it that much more replayable.
Mario Strikers Charged is also the best of the three games that have been released in this series, even beating out the recently released Battle League.
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
There was something refreshing about playing a Mario game once again in 2D. Ever since the huge success of predecessors like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Galaxy, NSMB Wii showed how fun a proper 2D platformer can be. The game even used mechanics used from the 3D era of games like triple jumps and wall jumps.
Pair the new mechanics with new powerups like the Ice Flower, Penguin Suit, and Propeller Mushroom. What you have feels like the best of both worlds. For those who still have the physical copy of the game, it was so iconic that the game came in a red case compared to the standard white Wii cases.
3. Super Mario Galaxy
Every Nintendo console has to have a genre-defining Mario game. Galaxy was just that but surpassing past games by a lot. From the music, visuals, story, and new characters, Super Mario Galaxy redefined what made these games so great. It would be a disservice to never play this game if you never owned a Wii.
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
This is one of the rare moments where Nintendo followed up with a sequel to a beloved miniseries to a Mario franchise. They were right to capitalize on Super Mario Galaxy and expand upon it. With Yoshi in the mix, he added more pizzazz to the shenanigans of Mario’s platforming adventure. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was a proper instance where more of the same with a few new additions did the franchise absolute wonders.
1. Mario Kart Wii
While you can make an argument for either Mario Galaxy to be number one, it feels like Mario Kart Wii holds up better. Even after servers went online and there was no further support for the Wii, there is still a large community that plays Mario Kart Wii online. Both from modding communities and people who prefer it over the newer installations, the game is very much populated.
Also, the game originally came out with the iconic Wii Wheel. It was the pinnacle of Nintendo Wii peripherals. Although it isn’t the best way to play the game, it was a cool party trick to whip it out and jump into the hectic nature of the game.
