In 1985, a little game called Super Mario Bros was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the video game industry was saved and changed forever. Fast forward to today, and Mario and Co are still kicking, with countless hit games, spinoffs, and an animated movie all under his belt.
With all the great games in the backlog, there are several Mario games fans would be ecstatic to see remastered and polished up for the Nintendo Switch. Whether due to their popularity or to get some tweaks and improvements, there are tons of Mario’s outings that would be right at home on the Switch after getting some TLC from Nintendo. With that in mind, we’ve done some thinking and believe we have got the top Mario games we want to be remastered for the Switch, and we want to share them with you.
Related: The 10 best Mario games of all time
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Sunshine is by no means a bad game; its pretty great in our opinion, but since its original release in 2002 and even in the version released in the 3D All Stars bundle, it has not aged quite as well as some of the mustached heroes’ other outings. With its unique approach to platforming, thanks to your water-powered jetpack FLUDD, exciting areas, and a pretty sizeable amount of content, it’s got a lot going for it. However, it was, and still is, a little rough around the edges.
If we could see a full remaster with some tweaks and fixes to the game’s shortcomings and new visuals and quirks using the Switch’s features, Super Mario Sunshine would get another chance to wow players with its great gameplay and setting and get the love it deserves.
Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2
We know Super Mario Galaxy got a rerelease on the Nintendo Switch back in 2020, but we have yet to see a full remaster of what many consider to be one of Mario’s best outings and its sequel. Given the time it’s been since Super Mario Galaxy release and the quality of the newest Mario titles, it seems fitting to give this fan favorite a facelift.
Alongside the introduction of Rosalina, the Super Mario Galaxy games sported some seriously impressive physics and ideas, having Mario jump between planets, some of the most creative power-ups like the bee and cloud, and new and exciting styles of levels for players to discover. It’s looking like we won’t get a sequel anytime soon, so Nintendo can at least throw us a bone and give these games some TLC and bring them both freshen up to the Switch.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Paper Mario games are a popular spinoff series that brought Mario back to the RPG genre following the success of Super Mario RPG on the SNES. The first game was great, but the second hit the height of the franchise.
Since Thousand-Year Door, Paper Mario games started falling in quality, moving away from the RPG elements that made the first games great, and losing a little of their magic. For many, Thousand-Year Door was the peak of this spinoff series, with its great characters, unique approach to the RPG genre, and engaging story. It’s a game many have been clamoring to see remastered and updated for a modern console, and the Nintendo Switch would be the perfect fit. Maybe a little extra content or unique additions wouldn’t go amiss, either.
Related: The 10 best Mario spinoff games
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Originally released towards the end of the SNES lifecycle, this collaboration between Square Enix and Nintendo didn’t get the love it deserved when it was released in 1996, and we think it’s more than deserving of a remaster or maybe a complete remake.
Super Mario RPG blends the RPG prowess of Square Enix with the world of Mario to great effort, with a host of fantastic, well-loved characters with the layered yet accessible depth of an RPG, and one of the unique worlds to explore seen in a Mario title. With all that said, the game is pretty dated by today’s standards, and with the proper care and time, a remaster could bring this classic into the modern day while giving it a good clean-up and refining its few rougher edges. There’s a reason it’s considered one of the best RPGs, so hopefully, one day, Nintendo will see the demand and give it some love.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
We know that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe isn’t going anywhere soon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t see this gem getting some attention too, and we can imagine many people would be happy to see this game remastered.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! boasts some unique features we’ve seen in a Mario Kart title, namely the two-person karts, which allowed for the one and only time players could race cooperatively. This, in addition to special items and other features, has made this a fan favorite and arguably the best entry to the series for some players. Now imagine playing the game but with the polish and presentation of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Sounds good, right? We think so too.
