Feature: Super Mario And Friends - A History Of Mainline Mario Multiplayer - Nintendo Life

Yet, despite Mario's rich multiplayer history, the main Super Mario games have historically been a mixed bag in this department.

Mario’s 2D adventures gained co-op consistency in the last decade, but it wasn’t until Super Mario 3D World that 3D entries truly brought multiplayer to life.

Offering four-player local co-op back on the Wii U, it’s arguably Super Mario’s multiplayer platforming peak, and with online being added to the Bowser’s Fury Switch port, we’ll potentially soon have our hands on the definitive package.

We’re less than a month away now from launch, and with that in mind — spin-offs aside — we’ve decided to take a look back the history of Super Mario’s multiplayer...

Discounting the formative single-screen two-player action of the non-Super Mario Bros., few will need reminding of how it all began with Super Mario Bros..

Its western replacement, Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros.

Much like before, Luigi was a Mario palette swap but the game featured some expanded options like a remake of the aforementioned Mario Bros.

Nintendo maintained a similar approach with Super Mario World, though World’s 'sequel' Yoshi’s Island (a significantly different game) discarded it completely.

It was never implemented in the final release but when Mario made the 3D transition in Super Mario 64, Shigeru Miyamoto experimented with multiplayer.

Much like 64, Super Mario Sunshine was a solo adventure.

The real multiplayer breakthrough came with Super Mario’s return to 2D.

Launched between both Galaxy games back in 2009, New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros.

We’ve not seen a new entry in that particular since, though the battle royale peculiarity that is the limited-time Super Mario Bros.

35 arrived last year for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers and delivered a competitive brand of online multiplayer using the original game as a template.

Despite the community aspects, it was single player-only originally, but back in 2019 Super Mario Maker 2 added a considerable number of tools to Mario's multiplayer belt.

We said at the time that it’ll likely be the last 2D Mario game you’ll ever need, and for good reason; featuring expanded stage options and four-person multiplayer — both locally and, eventually, online — how Nintendo will evolve this template further (beyond streamlining the experience) is difficult to imagine.

Nintendo has always been able to pull off surprises and going back to the 3D entries, solo experience Super Mario 3D Land laid the groundwork which Super Mario 3D World built upon.

Though limited by the Wii U’s poor sales, it was a critical hit and also utilised Miiverse (R.I.P.) community features and a two player “Luigi Bros” game based on Mario Bros.

They share the Super Mario name, sure, but each game plays very differently, and Odyssey’s sandbox approach meant this was better suited to single player.

Super Mario isn’t a particularly consistent franchise when it comes to multiplayer, but across the decades it’s certainly offered a means to connecting with other people.

Let us know below your favourite Super Mario multiplayer experiences over the years.

It's ridiculous that larger and more complex games (such as the Mario Party games) support it, but NSMB2 requires a separate copy of the game.

The Switch already supports out-of-the-box local multiplayer via docked/tabletop modes, but Download Play should have been integrated into the Switch firmware as well (rather than requiring separate downloads as we have seen with Clubhouse/51 Worldwide Games and Namco Museum).

@Silly_G I do wish they add local wireless for switch lite owners to be able to play multiplayer on nsmbud.

Super Mario 3D World is the best multiplayer Mario game ever made.

Super Mario Bros and Super Mario World have been hacked with multiplayer goodness 🎸 🎶

Nintendo Shares New Info About Bowser's Fury Mode In Super Mario 3D World

Where To Pre-Order The Mario Red & Blue Edition Nintendo Switch

"It's-a me, Mario Red & Blue Edition Switch!"

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

News Get Another Look At Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury In These New Japanese Commercials

Best Cheap Nintendo Switch Games - Switch eShop Deals (US)

Best Cheap Nintendo Switch Games - Switch eShop Deals (Eu..

Feature: Best Nintendo Switch Stealth Games