It’s that time again! Every MAR10 Day (Mario Day), it feels like people often look at all the best Super Mario games or all the best characters from the series, but few look at the man himself. Mario has had a lot of different looks and interpretations over the years—he’s changed a lot from the humble plumber we knew back in 1985. So this year, to celebrate MAR10 Day, we’re going to take a look at the Top 10 Marios throughout the decades.
10. Hotel Mario
Starting this Top 10 Mario list at the first and lowest spot is Mario in his iconic appearance in Hotel Mario. Everyone knows by now the story of the Phillips CDi, but briefly for those who don’t—Nintendo partnered with Sony to make a disc-based system (what would eventually become the PlayStation), then backed out of the deal to partner with Phillips instead. Nintendo would eventually back out of that deal as well due to the lack of quality in the device, but because of some licensing agreements, Phillips was able to release both a Mario game and three terrible Legend of Zelda games.
The Mario in Hotel Mario is iconic in just how bad it is. Despite looking somewhat like the Super Mario Bros. Super Show version, he is still oddly uncanny. This is made worse by the awful choice of voice they gave to him—no disrespect to Marc Graue, but his choice was way off the mark here. Every frame that features Mario looks enough like him but just feels off, thanks in large part to the CDi’s legendarily bad animated cutscenes. However, if for nothing else, this Mario sticks with you in all its wrongness.
9. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)—Chris Pratt
There’s a part of me that feels bad for putting this one so low on the Top 10 Mario list because, visually, Mario in Illumination’s 2023 The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks pretty good. While initial trailers and posters had him looking somewhat uncanny, when the movie finally released, he looked a lot closer to his videogame self than Luigi or any other character—whether Nintendo stepped in or not remains unknown.
However, it’s his portrayal by Chris Pratt that reduces him to a somewhat homogeneous character, overshadowed by everyone else who brought personality and life to the characters. Don’t get me wrong, Chris Pratt was perfectly okay as Mario, but that’s just it—it was just okay. Compared to every other actor whose voice felt perfectly suited to their character—even Seth Rogan, who just used his own voice—the star of the film just blends into the background. Even if he had stuck with the goofy Italian accent the whole film, it would’ve been more fun than a basic Chris Pratt voice with 4% of a Brooklyn accent.
8. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (1993)—Bob Hoskins
The 1988 Super Mario Bros. Movie is by no means perfect. I’ve long been on the record saying while it’s not a very good Super Mario movie, it IS a very good B-movie sci-fi comedy. For me, it’s the same kind of high-concept that gave us movies like Ghostbusters, Flash Gordon, or Buckaroo Bonzai. And if you were like me and you grew up loving this movie, that was in no small part due to the portrayal of Mario by the late, great Bob Hoskins.
Regardless of his feelings toward the movie, or how much of it he allegedly filmed sober, Hoskins’ ability to portray gruff but caring and incredibly likable characters translated perfectly to a “realistic” imagining of the iconic plumber. Throughout the entirety of the film, Hoskins’ Mario is relatable, resourceful and reliable, and his iconic voice and absolute command of the Brooklyn accent brought the character to life in a truly believable way—and when he stepped into those iconic red and blue coveralls, there was no denying he WAS Super Mario.
7. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was iconic. If you were a kid in the 90s and you loved Super Mario, there was nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning, grabbing a big bowl of Corn Pops and watching the weird and whacky adventures of the Super Mario Brothers—in syndication, obviously since it only lasted a few months. Mario’s portrayal in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was a stark contrast from what we knew of him from the games—which was very little.
But he was brought to life in a fun, comedic way, with Captain Lou Albano finding a perfect balance between being fun and kid-friendly and nailing the tenor and gruffness of the Brooklyn accent. What was more, basing Mario’s design closely on the Japanese box art for the NES Super Mario Bros. gave Mario an adorable, somewhat chibi look that made him even more likable. Even the way Lou Albano and Danny Wells portrayed the brothers in live-action just made the whole thing even more believable for a kid obsessed with Super Mario.
6. Paper Mario
Paper Mario is about as close as we’ll likely get to a game featuring Mario’s iconic drawn design—and no, I’m not talking about the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! When I first saw Paper Mario I fell in love with the plumber all over again. His chibi aesthetic—likely carried over from the initial concept of the game being a true sequel to Super Mario RPG—paired with a simple design perfectly suited the serious but lighthearted adventure he was a part of.
Paper Mario’s design only got better with time. Whether you prefer the traditional “borderless design” or, like me, enjoy the more paper cut-out aesthetic, Paper Mario got more expressive, more cartoonish, and more elaborate as his series grew and became more experimental. This came to a head in Paper Mario: The Origami King, where he was stopping for coffee breaks and participating in elaborate dance numbers.
5. Super Mario Bros. 3
Mario’s sprite from Super Mario Bros. 3 is arguably the best version of his 8-bit self. Though borrowing a lot of charm from his Super Mario Bros. 2 sprite, it takes it a step further through its incredible amount of variety. While I think most gamers probably thought it was weird that he was wearing black overalls—a look that wouldn’t return until the seldom-used Flying power-up in Mario Galaxy—Mario was far more expressive in Super Mario 3. From his run-cycle and flying jump that would become the norm in later 2D Marios to his adorably goofy death pose, not only was Super Mario Bros. 3 the most fun NES Mario game, but it had the most fun Mario.
And we would be remiss not to mention the whole host of costumes the heroic plumber adorns on his journey, adding further likeability and appeal to this version of Mario. There’s no denying that Racoon Mario is one of the most iconic versions of Mario, but the Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit, Hammer Bros Suit, and even Kuribo’s Shoe give Mario so much charm and personality throughout the game that these sprites are unforgettable.
4. Super Mario Odyssey
Mario’s jump from 2D to 3D was always going to be a simple one. Unlike his blue contemporary, Mario’s simplistic design and more streamlined movement were always going to be more easily achievable in 3D—not to mention his wholesome characteristics spared him from the late 90s and early 2000s “edgeification.” But for my money, when it comes to 3D Mario, he’s never looked better than in Super Mario Odyssey, landing him high on the Top 10 Marios list.
Perhaps it’s by virtue of the hardware, but Odyssey’s Mario is the most detailed, most expressive, and most versatile of any of the 3D Marios—safe for one, but we’ll get to that in a moment. From the stitching in his denim, the wavey—and frankly dreamy—lines in his hair and mustache, the sheen on his buttons and shoes; every angle of Mario in Odyssey oozes with polish. You can strip him down to his boxers and he still looks likable.
Add to that a multitude of outfits, and we see Mario more personable than he’s ever been. But it’s also all the little details that make Mario more memorable during his adventure. The way he changes up how he throws Cappy, or long jumps on subsequent uses, to how he gets little needles in his nose when he touches a cactus or fans himself off in the heat shows him being an actual character more than any other game before. Not to mention how adorable and silly every enemy and object wearing his hat and mustache looks.
3. Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Naturally, we have to pay tribute to THE Super Mario on the Top 10 Marios list for Mario Day! This humble sprite is probably the first version of Mario that most gamers see. It’s a sprite that’s so ubiquitous with gaming that even most people who aren’t gamers can recognize it almost immediately. Even Nintendo still uses this version of Mario in a lot of their promotional material—heck, the 35th anniversary of Super Mario featured a whole Battle Royale centred around this version of Mario.
And there’s a lot to like about the Super Mario Bros. Mario. Its simplicity and form perfectly convey the humble plumber turned hero, his muted colour palette conveys a degree of realism to the “fish out of water” narrative, and his blocky structure conveys a hero that is both reliable and capable. He is as strong as the bricks he punches through and sturdy enough to stomp Goombas with ease. There is something about Mario that is so immediately likeable and so lasting in appeal that it’s not surprising he’s become the face of gaming.
2. Jumpman
Of course, the original Mario is one of the best, but on the Top 10 Marios list, I think special mention needs to be paid to the one who started it all. The ORIGINAL original. When Jumpman debuted in the Donkey Kong arcade game back in 1981, he was about as unassuming as you could get. He didn’t even have a name—he was a man and he could jump, that’s all we get to know about him. His design within the game was similar to his solo debut but a bit more paired down, overshadowed by the true star of the show—the one whose name was on the cabinet.
His artistic design was even more bizarre, looking more like a B-tier character from Popeye than anyone who would become the Mickey Mouse of video games. But despite all that, we need to respect Jumpman because, without him, there would be no Mario. That’s not just me saying it; even Nintendo put him in the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie and got longtime Mario voice actor Charles Martinet to voice him.
1. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
In my opinion, the most perfect depiction of Super Mario exists in Super Mario Wonder. Everything about his design and style makes him one of the most fun, friendly and downright lovable Marios across the entire franchise. To paraphrase a line from my Super Mario Bros. Wonder review, when I saw Mario enter a pipe, only for his hat to fly off and be grabbed in Looney Toons style animation, I knew I loved the style of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Almost everything about Mario’s design has been altered in Super Mario Bros. Wonder to make him the perfect distillation of everything he represents. He’s got a somewhat chibi style making him adorable and instantly likeable, he’s almost always smiling throughout his adventure communicating a constant sense of fun and…well wonder, and his incredible range of updated animations give him jovial playfulness that is a far cry from the once stoic hero we used to know.
When I reviewed Super Mario Bros. Wonder, I said it was the best 2D Mario ever made, which is why it only makes sense that it portrays the best version of the iconic plumber.
That is it for our Top 10 Marios list, just in time for MAR10 Day (Mario Day)! Which Mario was your favourite?
