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What are the best Mario games for the Nintendo Switch?

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Jun 27, 2018

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4 Games Considered

Best Mario games for the Nintendo Switch	Price	Genre	Platform
-- Super Mario Odyssey	$59.99	Platformer	Nintendo Switch
-- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	$59.99	Racing, Sports	-
-- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle	$59.99	Tactical Role-Playing	Nintendo Switch
-- Mario Tennis Aces	$59.99	Sports	-

Super Mario Odyssey

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Top Pro

Really fun possession mechanic keeps the gameplay fresh

Mario can take control of enemies and objects by throwing his hat on top of them. Once controlled, an enemy retains all of its abilities, allowing you to use them. For example, you can take control of a frog, enabling you to jump up to areas that would be normally out of reach. Or you can take control of a T-Rex and go on a rampage, smashing rocks, enemies, and everything else in your way. You can even control a Christmas tree and hop around for no real reason. This gives the usual platforming gameplay a great amount of variation while also making exploration a tad bit more exciting. It's simply fun to discover and use new and interesting abilities. See More

Top Con

Motion controls can feel awkward at times

Some of Mario's special moves need motion control inputs to perform, requiring you to rotate or tilt the controller alongside precise button presses. While this is an attempt to make the gameplay feel more engaging, it's not implemented that well. It simply makes the special moves needlessly challenging to perform, which can considerably detract from the gameplay. This is especially the case when playing in the handheld mode of the Nintendo Switch, since you're also swinging around the handheld display. See More

Specs

Genre:Platformer

Top Pro

Good level variety

There are 16 unique levels in SMO, including a large reddish desert, filled with colorful buildings and quirky skeletons, a gray kingdom built on the moon where enemies wear white top hats, and even a bustling metropolis where you can bounce off of taxis, swing on lampposts, and climb skyscrapers. There's a good amount of variation in the level designs and themes, so you probably won't get tired of exploring the levels that quickly, making even long sessions really enjoyable. See More

Top Pro

Tons of collectibles that encourage exploration

SMO is jam-packed with gold coins, purple coins, and power moons for you to collect. While collecting them all is completely optional, it can quickly become addicting to collect them. A couple of coins here, another dozen there, and another hundred there, all for that silly looking skeleton outfit. This can easily lead you to spend hours searching every nook and cranny in a level just to collect a bit more. See More

Top Pro

Incorporates old school 2D gameplay in a cool way

In some areas, Mario can enter the surface of a wall, shifting the gameplay to a 2D plane. This also reverts Mario to his 8-bit era pixelated self, allowing you to play through a mini level in the style of the original Super Mario games. While it could've been done just to bait nostalgia, the developers added new, fun mechanics to the old formula, making it as fresh and enjoyable as the main game. See More

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

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Accessible to beginners and young players

Despite having a very high skill ceiling and 48 tracks to master, MK8DX makes it less intimidating for beginners by including the "Smart steering" and "Auto acceleration" options. The former option automatically prevents collision with walls and the latter option glues your foot to the gas pedal. These two options used in tandem basically auto-drive your kart while still giving you control over the on-screen action. This gives you comfortable training wheels to learn the ins and outs of the game while also allowing really young players to enjoy the game without feeling too frustrated. See More

Top Con

Unlockables might not feel that exciting

Every character (except Golden Mario) and race track is unlocked from the beginning, leaving you to only unlock new kart parts. While these are very good for improving/adjusting your kart's performance and looks, you probably won't ever use the vast majority of the parts. This can cause unlocking them feel pointless and tedious, making it really disappointing for players looking for a more meaningful progression system. See More

Specs

Genre:Racing, Sports

Top Pro

Excellent variety of race tracks

MK8DX features 48 unique race tracks, including tracks running through a haunted mansion, an airport, a medieval castle, and even outer space. Each track also has a completely different layout, providing its own set of twists, turns, loops, and shortcuts for you to enjoy and master. As a result, there's enough variety to keep gameplay fresh and exciting for a long time. See More

Top Pro

Fun battle modes

Other than MK8DX's 3 main racing modes, there are also 5 battle modes, focusing on battles in arena-like tracks. There's the Balloon Battle, where you have to pop or steal your opponent's balloons, Renegade Roundup, where racers are split into teams of cops and robbers, Bob-omb Blast, where you throw bombs at other racers to get points, Coin Runners, where you try to collect the most coins to win, and Shine Thief, where you have to hold a star for 20 seconds to win, but your opponents can steal it away from you. These 5 modes can be a great distraction when you get tired of regular races, keeping the game fresh for a long time. See More

Top Pro

Entertaining kart racing gameplay

Every race in MK8DX is a fast-paced battle for first place. You drive at high-speeds, drift to gain speed boosts, fly off ramps, and collect mystery boxes that give you random power ups. It can be one-use weapons to set back your opponents. Or it can be one-use items that boost you in some way. For example, if you get a banana peel, you can drop it on the track, so anyone who drives on top of it spins out, setting you further ahead of them. Or if you get Bullet Bill, you can transform into a massive bullet, gaining increased speed, automatically steering through the track, and knocking out any opponent you touch. This is very useful for catching up to other racers, especially because the effect's duration increases the closer you are to last place. The end result is a very enjoyable gameplay that is equal parts strategy and skillful driving. It can be very easy to spend hours playing and not notice the passage of time. See More

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

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Exciting turn-based combat

Despite having cover mechanics, the turn-based combat in M+RKB almost never feels slow or boring. This is partly because the cover is easy to destroy, so you can't hunker down in a single spot for too long, forcing you to move every time cover gets destroyed. It's also thanks to the great mobility of characters, allowing them to cover great distances and attack all in the same turn. For example, your character can slide into an enemy to damage it, move to cover, and attack again from afar. Or you can launch your character across the battlefield with the help of another character, take position in cover behind enemies, and freely attack them as their cover has no effect. There's still a lot of strategy and careful planning involved, but very little time is wasted before action begins. As a result, not only does the combat have a nice flow to it, but it's exciting from start to finish. See More

Top Con

Fixed camera can feel restrictive at times

You play M+RKB at a semi-fixed camera angle, which prevents you from moving the camera vertically. Because of this, you can't freely look around a level to enjoy the scenery. While this makes it easier to keep the framerate stable by limiting what the game has to render, it can feel annoying that most of the great views you can see are at a downward angle from a high cliff. This can also make exploration slightly more difficult in some cases, when you can't really tell where you're going because of foliage and other environmental objects. See More

Specs

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing

Top Pro

Fantastic soundtrack

The the upbeat orchestral soundtrack in Mario + Rabbids fits really well with the cartoony madness found in this world. Whether it's the powerful booming of the brass instruments, gentle wafting of the pipe instruments, or intricate sounds made by string instruments, the soundtrack can make your journey feel all the more joyful or magical. See More

Top Pro

Enjoyable wacky tone

While Mario games are usually light-hearted with some serious undertones, the inclusion of Rabbids, Ubisoft's rabbit-like mascot creatures, pushes this game into the wacky spectrum. This is mostly because the Rabbids are very goofy, overreact to the events around them, and even strike ridiculous poses at times. There are even Rabbid versions of well-known Mario characters such as Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Luigi, and even Rabbid Yoshi, creating very silly moments and amusing encounters throughout your journey. As a result, M+RKB is a wacky adventure that players of all ages can enjoy. See More

Mario Tennis Aces

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Solid roster of Nintendo characters to play as

There's a good variety of characters you can play as. If you're familiar with first party Nintendo games, then you'll see a lot of familiar faces here, like Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Peach, and of course Mario. Everyone has their own playing styles, with bigger characters like Bowser and Donkey Kong favoring hard-hitting power shots, and others like Yoshi and Mario that have a more balanced approach. You can go with whichever style or character you prefer, practicing with them until you master everything. Getting to see all of these characters together in one game is great for fanservice as well. See More

Top Con

Limited gameplay options for solo players

If you're the type who prefers to game alone, then Mario Tennis Aces might not be for you. There's only one single-player mode, while the rest of the game is mostly dedicated to co-op and online play. The solo mode is also extremely short, clocking in at around four hours. Aside from that, there really isn't much else for you to do. See More

Specs

Co-Op:2 Player Couch

Top Pro

Intense and engaging tennis matches

Mario Tennis Aces is incredibly addicting to play. Matches are fast-paced and exciting, with one particular mechanic that keeps things unpredictable. Every time you successfully hit the tennis ball to your opponent's end of the court, you build up a power meter that you can use in a couple of different ways. When you want to quickly finish off a match, you can slow down time and take aim at a vulnerable corner of your opponent's court for an instant win. Or, if they try to do that to you, you can instead expend some of your power meter to quickly reach the ball and hit it back. Things can get pretty tricky when you both use up your power meters at the same time, leading to some satisfying wins. See More

Top Con

Certain characters are locked behind online tournaments

The primary way to unlock new characters is to win tournaments, but this isn't entirely fair. They're only available for a limited amount of time, with the rewards changing from tournament to tournament. Even though some of these characters are in the actual game as opponents in the single-player adventure mode, you can't get access to them unless you unlock them through these tournaments. If you don't like playing online, or if you don't have the means to pay for Nintendo's online service once it's implemented later on in 2018, then you're basically out of luck. See More

Top Pro

You can compete against others online in multiplayer

When you run out of single-player content to enjoy, you can hop online to play against random opponents. The main game mode is the tournaments you can play, which rewards you with special characters if you score well. Online connectivity is good too, especially with the choice to drop out of matches beforehand against players who have bad connections. Playing online is a really great way to test your skills and improve your play, since anyone you get matched with is an actual player who has their own strengths and weaknesses. See More

Top Con

Single-player adventure mode is pretty difficult

The game's adventure mode makes up for its short length with some real difficulty. It's a rough introduction to the gameplay, as some of the matches and bosses are really hard. There's plenty of variety to things, like courts that have certain hazards in your way and uneven terrain such as tall grass, as well as inventive boss designs like a giant squid that shoots out tennis ball-shaped blobs of ink. But all of these things can get quite overwhelming, especially if you're using the single-player mode to get better at the game. See More

Top Pro

Couch co-op with a friend is tons of fun

Playing with a friend right beside you makes the game much more enjoyable. Reacting to each other in real-time is just better than playing against a computer opponent. There's no online co-op -- only multiplayer matches against random people -- meaning you'll have to be in the same room together to play. See More

Top Con

Very wide skill gap between experienced and inexperienced players

Mario Tennis Aces can be unwelcoming to new players. While playing co-op or online, it's tough to catch up with everyone else who knows how to time their power shots with the meter. If you don't pick up on this mechanic fairly quickly, you may feel like you're getting left behind. You don't necessarily have to use the mechanic if you and a friend agree not to, but this sadly makes matches pretty dull. Running against computer opponents is a good way to get your feet wet before moving up to other levels of play. See More

Mario Kart 8

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