Must-Have Switch Mario Platformers

Now that I'm all growed-up and have a job and a baby and stuff, I've started doing this neat thing where I blow money on games for my geriatric Nintendo Switch, put'm on a shelf... and that's basically it.

*Throw money into a trashcan.* "I call it collecting."

What better way to flush my baby's college fund down the toilet than on Nintendo's mustachioed mascot plumber himself, in his natural pipe-hopping habitat.

Super Mario Odyssey is an launch-year 3D platformer that's all about Mario's hat, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a later-life 2D platformer that's all about Mario eating 'shrooms. Both exclusives combine new twists with polished Mario gameplay. Universal acclaim, not cheap but common, if you own a stack of Switch games on purpose, I'd call these must-owns, with Odyssey a tiny hair above Wonder. 5 out of 5 cute lil Mario Super Stars.

Console exclusivity is neat, but unless you like spending money on garbage more than just going to therapy, the Wii U barely counts. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is a great more classic-feeling 3D Mario experience with fun multi-player, and Bowser's Fury is a great new inclusion. 4.5 stars.

Super Mario Maker 2 doesn't match its predecessor's best use of the Wii U game pad (just ahead of frisbee and doorstop), and it's full potential is internet-dependent, but it's kinda infinite 2D Mario for cheap, the literal best bang for your buck here. On the flipside, if you have enough time to play games but not so much to make them yourself, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a good Wii U port in the 2D New Super Mario lineup with fun multiplayer and the Luigi Bros. content, just a little less interesting than Maker 2. 4 stars.

Those are the games I'll have a while, scratching a decent variety of non-medical itches with a ton of gameplay. If I were already down a kidney and had to sell the rest of my stuff, 

*Set cooler with 'KIDNEY' label in the trashcan, maybe while sporting a large bandage and bloody hand.* "Am I doing this right?"

 I could happily rationalize keeping those with one console and nothing else.

A half-step lower, Yoshi's Crafted World is a 2.5D platformer that looks great, and the gameplay seems neat if not super fluid. Mario's not in it, but it's in-universe, I bet Mario's the one doing the crafting, and this game takes place on his dining room table. Just below that, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a remake of a 2004 Game Boy Advance classic puzzle-platformer that's probably more niche. I don't have either, but reasonable prices and solid reviews have both on my wishlist, we can eat Ramen noodles for a week or three. 3.5 stars.

And since I'm in some kind of mutated super-denial about my budget,*While whistling, light a match and toss it into the trashcan.* Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a collection of Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario 64 for which the presentation and emulation choices are not great, and Nintendo Nintendoed so now it costs closer to triple digits than MSRP. However, it's good enough and I'm a sucker for compilations. Oh, um... neat budget hack, save money buying this game in the year 2020. 3 discretion-heavily-advised stars. 

There you have it, the must-own Mario platformers! And also some other games.

*Show the same trash can with like 3 games in it.* "Look, it worked!"

Actually a lot of my favorite games are great first-party experiences, things really built to a console's strengths and audience. So it was actually Odyssey that finally moved the needle on my wife and I getting our first ever current-gen console, the Switch back in late 2017, leading to the addiction I embrace today. But in my defense, my son was only negative 8 years old at that time, or maybe I would've financial-planned differently.

Anyway thank you, tell me what I missed, be nice, see you next time!

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