A Review of Every 2D Mario After Playing Them All for the First Time

My videos are usually pretty rambly. But I think this may be my rambliest one yet. Is that a good thing? I guess that's for you to decide.

This was probably the most time-consuming video I've made so far. Between playing all these games and sifting through over 40 hours of footage during editing, it was a lot. Hope it paid off.

This was originally supposed to be split into parts. A video for the old games. A video for the NSMB games. And then a video for Wonder. But I ran out of time and figured no one wanted to watch a review of the NSMB games after Wonder came out. But maybe people would be more interested in a video talking about everything in one giant thing? We'll see.

Who knows. If this really does well, I'd be happy to do a whole slew of videos on Mario. I've already done a few. But I'd be down for more. Reviews for the 3D games, Luigi's Mansion, maybe that new Peach game, some Mario Kart, Party and sports stuff. And I'd say Paper Mario reviews as well. But those are already going to happen. But maybe I could dip into the other Mario RPGs? Is Mario + Rabbids any good? The second one looked kinda cool. Maybe I'll check it out at some point.

Before anyone asks, I will be covering the DKC games eventually. No promises on Yoshi or Wario Land, though. Those games never grabbed me. Then again, neither did 2D Mario before this. Never say never, I guess.

0:00 1
16:28 Lost Levels
24:58 2
31:49 3
44:18 World
53:41 Land
55:26 Land 2
57:48 NSMB
1:08:58 NSMB Wii
1:15:33 NSMB 2
1:20:04 NSMB U
1:30:27 Luigi U
1:35:42 Maker
1:37:14 Maker 2
1:38:54 Run
1:40:12 Boll Deluxe
1:44:50 Kitsune Zero & Kitsune Tails
1:46:08 Wonder

[Pariah]

Okay. I've gotten way too many comments saying, "You want Mario to be Sonic!" So I need to clarify. No. I did not try to play these games like Sonic games. I tried to play them in the way that I found to be most enjoyable. And due to the mechanics and design of the games, rushing through is what I thought was the most fun way to play. Believe it or not, different people can enjoy the same game in different ways. Crazy, I know.

As I said at the beginning, I've tried to play Mario games more slowly in the past, looking for secrets and collecting star coins. And I never found them that fun. And I tried here in U and Wonder to collect all the star coins/10 purple coins. And I didn't like it. I also found all the secret exits in World. Which I enjoyed, but not as much as just playing through the levels. Had I played the way many people seem to want me to play, this entire video would be me talking about how I found every single game boring.

I also don't understand this "You played the games wrong!" energy. At the end of the day, I still had a lot of fun with Mario 1, Lost Levels, 3, World, U and Wonder. I think those are all great games. So what's the problem?

And btw, World did not feel slow because of the widescreen. It felt slow because Mario does in fact move slower compared to previous games.

[NerotheGame]

I think something that set Nintendo apart is the fact they were initially a toy company. They employed people that understood "game design" far before they got into programming, so they really hit the ground running.

[bridge-moonproductions]

It'd be funny if towards the end Pariah kept delaying talking about Mario Wonder and said something like, " but befooore I get to Mario Wonder, I'd like to talk about the entire Halo series."

[jp]

The reason I think NSMB Wii has so many sidescroller levels is due to the Coop being a heavily advertised feature of the game, and it was probably more convenient to put more of those levels into it because it's easier to keep all the players in the same place on the screen. Still sucks though.

[greenD]

The level skipping thing is probably implemented BECAUSE of limited lives. So that when you do restart there's a faster way to get to where you were. Especially with how long 3 is, and how it originally had no save system.

[Random_User]

*Who would’ve thought the Sonic fan’s favorite 2D Mario games were the momentum-based ones?*

[TheDiego]

"I have a bone to pick with this game. I like it."

Never change Pariah

[Lazypackmule]

As someone who doesn't really care for the 2D Mario games, I think the thing that makes Super Mario World good is, well, the world. The content and progression structure with so many things like hidden exits and secret worlds is wild and something that I wish was replicated more directly in other games

[caioaugusto]

I honestly think the widescreen hack made Mario World accidentally feel way slower, at least looking at it

[sstudios]

I'm about halfway through the video, but I can't help but find it funny as hell that the way the you end up enjoying Mario is to approach it basically like a Sonic game. Not that that's a problem; I just find it funny and interesting.

[trianor]

Was anyone else hoping he'd call the coins "rings" through this video? :D Love your stuff Pariah, keep it up!

[satan-kun]

Mario ones heavy handed momentum and straight forward level design make it my favorite for the reasons you stated. I love the later games for their art and charm but they are much more about slow paced exploration and interacting with these creative level gimmicks. It’s fun for a casual playthrough but they pale in comparison to 1’s infinitely replayable core gameplay and high skill ceiling.

[Eniggma]

*The 2d Mario games are suffering from power creep*
is a line I never taught I would hear in my life. Yet, it is very accurate.

[gamesforted]

Actually in the All Stars version of Lost Levels, losing all your lives means restarting at the beginning of the level. So using save states the way you did wouldn't really do anything.

[joshgamer]

For that one tricky jump in lost levels, there’s actually a hidden block you have to hit below to make it to that top platform. I don’t blame ya for missing it since that’s pretty cryptic. Also, I’m glad to hear you give praise to lost levels. I feel it is a refreshing challenge. At least for the All stars version since you can at least save after every level so it makes the experience way more bearable

[removehandlesplease]

Finally, someone who *understands* why SMB1 is actually incredible.

[Wiziliz]

The level skipping thing is largely done with the idea of no saving in mind. Say you've played a few times in a day as a kid, then while you got closer to the end, you lost, but you find/know a way to skip the worlds you've been through enough times

[dmclsl]

I disagree with literally everything you said about World but you made me rethink of much of a problem in general is having a main new power up that's is just fucking flying

[gabrielshishido]

Ngl, this video is way too painful to watch lmao. The whole time I was like "Jesus dude, not every platformer has to be a hyper arcadey speed run friendly sorta shit, just chill and smell the roses for a moment". Either way, I supose it's interesting to see a different perspective on these games.

[thajocoth]

It definitely sounds to me like you've played these games as close to how one would play a Sonic game as you could... Which is not really surprising given what you've enjoyed in the past. This preference would definitely play a big role as to why you liked and disliked the different things that you did. It's good that you found a few gems in the mix that you enjoyed.