Simply the Best

I've got two months to work on this list, but I'll try and do it tonight anyway.

1. Galaxy 2
2. Galaxy
3. Super Mario 3D Land
4. Sunshine
5. 64


I've not played 3D World.

Firstly, Super Mario 64 is one of my favourite games. It has so many memorable moments, wonderful music and still plays a good game today. But as this list is "the best", I do feel the 3D Mario format has improved over time. Sunshine's Mario is much more responsive than 64's - even dragging him between Save Files is enjoyable. What I feel Sunshine is misunderstood for (that I read somewhere - probably NGC) is that it's less about nailing the platforming, but about righting your wrongs and utilising the FLUDD - it's effectively a three-way "suit" with the rocket, jet-pack and squirter. If it was set in the Mushroom Kingdom, I definitely feel people would be warmer to it [insert Sunshine joke].

I really liked 3D Land and it will likely befall similar fate as Sunshine - will they be able to port 3DS games in the future? It's kinda forgotten about now, but it meshes 2D/3D ideals perfectly. I'm not a big 2D Mario fan but this is the best place to start and it brought back that "you thought you finished? HERE'S LOADS MORE GAME" that I believe 3D World and Odyssey have done too.

The two Galaxies are up there with the best in videogames. I beat Galaxy this year and on the final world of Galaxy 2 - those two games are just phenomenal. I do prefer 2's approach - it knows you want to just play and reduces the nonsensical storyline stuff. Plus Yoshi! Having played both years after they were released, I don't have that attachment to the first game's "wow factor" but I can see why it holds special memories - it has that Super Mario 64-like whimsical aesthetic that's really memorable.

So!

6) Super Mario 3D World. As most o'y'all have said, placing anything at the bottom of this list is in no way an implication that it is a bad game. I'd suggest this is likely to appear in most of our Wii U Top Tens - or at least get mentioned honourably - but in designing courses for four people, something is lost for the single player. However, things like the Captain Toad levels and any time the Double Cherry appeared were genius, to say nothing of the possibly slightly overpowered Cat Bell.

5) Super Mario 64. Coming off the beautiful cartoon-esque visuals of Super Mario World and going to this was tough on teenage Zero. Even at the time I thought it looked bad and struggled to get past that. Being a resolutely 2D man - which sounds weird, I know - also made me struggle hard in the third dimension. I've never collected all 120 Stars in this, even when I was determined to do so when I downloaded it onto the Wii U. SM64DS is straight to the bottom of the list for taking some of the magic away.

4) Super Mario 3D Land. What an achievement this was on the tiny console that could, and still can. It is a bit of a gyp that the second half of the game is essentially a Master Mode of the first half but it's a real joy to play through and the final Bowser fight is epic.

3) Super Mario Sunshine. It was a straight fight for bronze between this and 3D Land; Sunshine was the winner purely for bravery, I reckon. To alter the way that Mario plays so drastically with only their second foray into 3D platformers with their flagship guy could even be considered reckless but it definitely works. It is entirely possible that time has dulled my senses on this one.

2) + 1) Super Mario Galaxy 2 & Super Mario Galaxy. As some o'y'all have said, original over second because of its impact. I know the second is technically superior, has far more game, and also Yoshi, who brightens every game he appears in (suggested exceptions to this rule will be sent to the review board) but the original is a stunning game. I credit it with causing an almost complete lack of 3D platformers from rival companies: compared to Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel, they would simply fall short. Not even Nintendo themselves followed the pair up all that well. This and Drunka's Mario-themed music week have got me hankering to play SMG all over again from the beginning. I won't be doing that immediately, natch, but probably will before long.

Alright lads, here it is, yer boi's list of 3D Mario games. Please note, 3D Mario platforming is like my favourite type of game, so even the ones in last place are only the worst relatively: they're still absolutely top tier games.

Super Mario 3D Land
I enjoyed 3D Land as a handheld game, but the slightly zoomed out, almost isometric camera and the simplified, blocky levels made it feel a little less exciting and constantly innovative as the best of the series. Although I'm not as concerned about exploration as the Balls Man, I do feel these two games went slightly too far the wrong way.

Super Mario 3D World
I absolutely loved this game, but it did still suffer from similar problems to its predecessor. The levels never felt like anything more than arbitrary videogame challenges, without the charm of the games I'll get onto in a minute. At the same time, Mario's movement didn't quite have the same responsive, organic feel of the earlier games. He moved in a slightly more digital way, travelling almost on 8 very specific lines. This game took the format of "a 3D version of a 2D Mario" as far as it could go, but I'm not a fan of that format so I won't mind seeing the back of it.

Super Mario 64
What can I say about Super Mario 64? I'm about as qualified to give a new take on this game as I am on Macbeth or Casablanca. Its fun to play, even for someone who never gave it a go until he was 15 and played it on DS. Its obviously better with a proper analogue stick and that, but I loved it in every incarnation I played. It hasn't aged wonderfully, no N64 game has, but its an undeniable classic.

Super Mario Sunshine
Fucking love this game, lads. I'm into the idea of a Mario game having a bit more story, character and sense of place. Its not like there was a 45-minute cutscene, or the platforming was interrupted so Mario and FLUDD could discuss the ethical implications of AI or Peach could call him out on the phallic imagery. It was pretty to look at, had wonderful tunes and Mario's movement was even slicker and springier than in the predecessor.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
I love the Galaxy games, as people may have gathered. Mario's motion is perfecto here, tight to control and with a springy, rubbery quality that just feels an absolute dream to flick around. The level design is second to none, the barrage of ideas is incessant and the aesthetic is unparalleled. Super Mario Galaxy 2's only crime is not being Super Mario Galaxy.

Super Mario Galaxy
Any discussion of best games that doesn't mention this bad boy is doing it all wrong. Like I mentioned with the sequel, the controls and level design and music and visuals are absolutely untouchable. On top of that, this game does a better job of taking you on a journey, delivering a small dose of that exploratory vibe here and there with its larger levels and its pretty hub.

If Super Mario Odyssey can feel like Galaxy in my hands, give me a world like Sunshine's to explore and investigate, and hit me with new ideas with the relentlessness of Super Mario 3D World, I can't see it being any less than the greatest piece of art the human race has ever produced. If Breath of the Wild is any indication, Nintendo are the absolute peak of their powers right now, so I'm expecting the best Christmas ever.

EVER.

Just out of curiosity, why is it that you're waiting until Christmas to play Odyssey? Fair enough if you are and all that, but is something holding it back?

There's nothing disastrous. I've just found myself utterly nonplussed about Christmas the last few years and I wanted to make sure I had something to actually excite me this year, so when my family asked what I wanted I said Mario.
I also need some time with less big games to play and less time online, so as to study and that, so it's all worked out ok.

Anybody wanting to have a bash at Star Wars? Soon, I'll type something about the half-a-dozen games I've played, but I'm sure somebody can do the brand better justice.

As soon as I saw this thread had been revived, I thought that might be the series we were thinking.
I've played a fair few in my day, I'll see what I can do.

I've played a lot of Star Wars games

Youngling The Phantom Menace, Jedi Power Battles (I own), Battle for Naboo, Obi-Wan, Clone Wars, Starfighter, Jedi Starfighter, Masters of Teräs Käsi, Yoda Stories

Padawan Revenge of the Sith, Rebel Strike, Battlefront (2015), Super Bombad Racing, Demolition (I own), Bounty Hunter, Racer Revenge

Knight Rogue Squadron, Rouge Leader, Battlefront (2004), Force Unleashed, Republic Commando, Shadows of the Empire

Master Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Battlefront II (2005), Racer (Dreamcast version is the best of which I own), Knights of the Old Republic II, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars II,

Grand Master Knights of the Old Republic

I'll watch this one from the sidelines, I think. A very topical and appropriate idea, but I don't think I've ever played a Star Wars game.

Right, there's no way I can remember every Star Wars game I've ever played, so I'm gonna have to hit up good ol' Wikipedia!

Super Star Wars I played this on the Wii virtual console. Its as tough as old ball sacks, but it has a chunky, satisfying 16-bit feel and captures the Star Wars feeling nicely.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DS This one is properly the closest to Super Star Wars since the classic era, a side-scrolling, pixel graphics, chunky and funky beat-em-up. It was pretty good fun, all things considered, and the added 3D dogfighting was well put-together and great fun in multiplayer.
X-Wing/ Tie Fighter/ X-Wing Vs Tie Fighter PC I played these a lot with my uncle and my dad as a kid, so have fond nostalgic feelings of clutching my uncle's joystick and being taken for a ride, but I've repressed most of the actual memories.
Rogue Squardon II: Rogue Leader Gamecube This is where its at! Amazing Gamecube visuals, great spaceship controls and pitch-perfect recreations of scenes from the films. I always loved Wedge Antilles as a kid, and getting to play through his missions was the best representation of Star Wars' stellar excursions I've ever played. That opening Death Star level is perfection.
Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Gamecube Like the Starfox Assault to the previous game's Lylat Wars, this is a wonky mess. It still has that great vehicular combat, but also lots of rubbish on-foot sections and stuff. But what's this? It contains the entire previous game's campaign as a co-operative mode? Incredible! I couldn't even tell you how many times my brother and I made the Death Star trench run together.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Gamecube Not based on either animated series, this was a Rogue Squadron-like game released around the time of Attack of the Clones coming out in the cinema, essentially providing the same vehicular thrills in a prequel trilogy setting. Fun enough stuff.
Lego Star Wars Gamecube, Wii, everything under the sun This is where it's at, the original Lego game. Its been reskinned for every licensed property lego have under their belt, but the two original  Star Wars trilogy games are the ones I've sunk the most time into. Very fond memories of playing this with my brother when he was pretty young.
Star Wars Battlefront XBox One Played a fair ammount of this when it was on EA Access. Its pretty bare-bones, and I wouldn't like to have spent £40-£60, but for a couple of pounds, a month of access was brilliant. It looks and sounds so perfectly like the films, and was a blast to play over Christmas the last couple of years. I'm hoping I can get away with doing something similar on the new one, so I can play it for the Star Wars thrills without handing over money to EA.

I remember dabbling in various other shooters, your Dark Forces and Jedi Knight and the earlier Battlefronts, but I don't remember enough to say anything.

And the actual best Star Wars game:

Star Wars Episode 1: Podcracer Arcade One of my favourite arcade machines. The game might be littler more than a sub-par, Star Wars skinned F-Zero, but sitting in the little cockpit and playing with the two tank-control thrusters JUST LIKE THE FILM feels amazing, and really gets you into the only good bit of the awful first two prequels.

I totally forgot about the arcade games but I can't really remember what one's I have and haven't played.

If you've got your Xbox One setup, then it might be worth looking at KOTOR which was added to Backwards Compatibly and is almost like a remaster.

Blimey there are a lot! I wish I'd got round to playing KOTOR and the N64/Cube Factor5 trilogy.

From... er... Bantha Poodoo to... er... Darth... Excellent? I've played:

Star Wars - Acorn Electron - i.e. a port of the arcade machine. Shit-tacular. As featured in Ashens' book Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of. I'd say that 32K computers weren't really going to be able to handle a vector graphics game, but then this is where Elite started.

Super Star Wars - SNES - Actually this was pretty good for when it came out. At the time, it felt just like A New Hope (the film that is). But, as the Lilly man says, it's unfairly hard (last time I played it, I relied on the Secret Cave of Many Lives), and, having watched the film since playing the first time, there are quite a few licenses taken. Guess which bit of music is missing? Yep.

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast - PC - or rather, the demo - over and over. Why didn't I buy the whole game?

X-Wing - PC - Now this was amazing for its time. They did a great job of making you feel like a part of the whole storyline, as opposed to just flying some kind of spaceship. I'm probably a bit nostalgic for it, mind.

Lego Star Wars - the Complete Collection - Wii - Brilliant brilliant brilliant. Played through co-op and did all the challenges with my sister (including completing the whole of episode VI in an hour, despite being hung over and falling asleep during the last space level). The light-hearted parodial take was just what Episodes II and III needed, and I still think the Lego games are funnier when the characters don't speak. The combat is a bit simple, and of course I just pressed B instead of waving the remote after a while, but it's a Star Wars game full of secret "ha ha a reference" things to discover. Ideal.

Jimbob wrote:

The light-hearted parodial take was just what Episodes II and III needed, and I still think the Lego games are funnier when the characters don't speak.

You've captured it perfectly. The swing from mocking the prequels to lovingly homaging the originals was well played, and the silent comedy did the job perfectly in these films where every scene is so iconic that there's no need to explain anything.

Jimbob wrote:

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast - PC - or rather, the demo - over and over. Why didn't I buy the whole game?

Oh I've played this one but on the gamecube, it's a bit janky in places (I thought so even at the time too) but it can still be really good fun once you get to the point where you have a lightsaber and force powers. It actually makes me sad that we probably won't see a cool story driven single player game where you play as a Jedi any time soon.

No one wants single player games any more Jas.

Think I'll need Wikipedia for this one...

I've not played these two enough to properly rank them:

Star Wars (Game Boy): The first game I ever owned. I don't think I ever got off Tatooine. It's a side-scroller following the events of Episode IV. I think it's okay. It could be shite, I was four and I was just happy to own a video game.

Super Star Wars (SNES): Again, I don't think I got off Tatooine. I've seen this in action since and I think it looks like it's a better time than the Game Boy game mentioned above.

Ranked from worst to best from here on:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II: Disappointing. The original TFU was a pretty damn fine game with a playful physics engine. This felt short, uninspired and fell flat by comparison. The whole game is less than four hours long which was incredibly disappointing. I don't remember it much beyond that - that's how little an impression it left on me.

Star Wars Battlefront (Xbox): I've only played this at a mate's house and I found it lacking considering I'd spent considerable time with its sequel by the time I played the original. The multiplayer was fun, but again, you're better off with Battlefront 2.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (360): Really fun, this one. It's a hack and slash action game which stars its own edgy original character known as Starkiller. He's Vader's secret apprentice. If you're rolling your eyes, it only gets worse in the sequel. Regardless, the game itself is great fun. It uses its physics engine to its fullest as the environments can be blown away by a might Force Push or you can fling enemies around with the Force as well. The opening level where you play as Darth Vader invading the Wookie homeworld is just a delight. Worth a look!

Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (PS2): This is a banger. It's a space battler set during the times of Episode II, but what I loved about this was how it was full of things to do. Every mission had both a bonus objective and a hidden objective to accomplish which would then unlock a fun little bonus level such as a two player dog-fighting mode, a turret level... lots of fun things like that. The levels themselves were expansive and usually had a fun little easter egg or tough enemy to find. Most importantly, you could play the entire game in co-op which was an absolute blast. Recommended!

LEGO Star Wars (Gamecube): Brilliant idea executed to perfection. I'm including both the original and its follow-up in this. As mentioned above, adding humour to the prequel trilogy was a masterstroke. Much like Jedi Starfighter, ensuring that you could play every level in co-op was a similarly brilliant idea.

Star Wars Battlefront II (PS2): The pinnacle of Star Wars video games. Surprisingly good campaign? Check. Multitude of fun multiplayer modes? Check. Mad mode where you can play as all the hero characters and scrap in Mos Eisley? Also check. This is one of the games of my youth. I had heated galactic wars in the great Galactic Conquest mode where you would fight for control over the different maps in the game, with each map affording you different bonuses should you have control of them. I laughed for hours playing as General Grevious battling Han Solo in Mos Eisley. The space battles were brilliant - being able to fly on a transport, board a battleship and destroy it from the inside? Great idea. The pinnacle of Star Wars video games.

mas wrote:

No one wants single player games any more Jas.

That's a load of pish though, which was probably made up by the fannies at EA who are only about getting good yearly turnovers. Wallopers.

I know it's pish like the lack of KOTOR playing from you lot.

I might check it out on iOS at some point, actually.

It's on STEAM and GOG (I think) where it will likely be playable.

My laptop isn't built for running anything more than piddly little RPG Maker games now.

Really I thought even at few years old it would run a 2003 (I think) PC game.

Oh, I got a new one. My old one died totally. Anyway, this is off-topic!

Am I the only one here who played the modes I mentioned in Battlefront II? I saw nobody mentioned them so far.

As I played Battlefront 2 on Xbox, I mainly played it online with mates and that's all I can really remember.