1 - Super Mario World, more for the physics and mechanics (even the unintentional ones, like the glitches make the game so much fun) than the level design, although I like how it's one of the few 2D Mario games to try to make its world somewhat believable, with the overworld geometry and paths being less over the top and having no overly clashing stuff right next to each other or a strictly formulaic world thematic (I mean, the worlds are all nicely connected on the map, instead of being obviously completely different environments with extremely different biomes and whatnot all separated from each other).
There's such a sense of flow to the player movement and everything else, it's just great to control, also it has Yoshi and the cape, some amazing and game changing power ups.
2 - Super Mario Land 2, I partially blame nostalgia for this (not like this whole list isn't full of nostalgia anyway), but I love how creative this game is with its environments. It has some of the most off the wall worlds in any Mario game, it's simple but really fun and the level gimmicks are also really nice. It also has some of the nicest boss battles in the series, the music is great too.
One thing I like in particular that this game has over others is it's open approach to the worlds, you can start in any world you want, which is just nice and great for replayability. I actually think this idea could work nicely in a new 2D Mario, just expanded a little more.
Same with the shop, I really like that idea, and I think it could be amazing in a modern title, especially since it's generally agreed that lives are dated nowadays, so it would give the coins a purpose.
3 - Super Mario Bros. 3 - Honestly, I love the level design in this game and its difficulty, it also feels massive. The amount of powerups is also nice, the overworld is the most fun to explore in this game, I love how many secrets there are and all the little Toad houses and whatnot. I don't think I have much else to say, it's just a bit of an obvious one.
My favorite version is the GBA one, because of all the nice extras, it's basically the ultimate version of the game in my eyes.
4 - Um... I kinda want to stay with just non-spinoff games for this list, but I can't think of anything else I'd put on my list of most favorite Mario games since I haven't played anything from the Wii and onwards, so...
Mario Kart DS it is!
Yeah, might as well put a Mario Kart title here, it's still one of the Mario games I've played the most, I love how robust its single-player mode is, I love the gameplay in general, drifting in this game is really fun, the stages are varied, the music is great and I like the different cars that you can use and all the different characters.
Sure, by now there's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has way more characters and stages and so on, but... I haven't played that AND that game doesn't have bosses and challenges like this one does (or if it does, I haven't seen anyone talking about it lol). Obviously, like anything else in this list, nostalgia plays a bit role in it too, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a great game and I think it kinda makes sense, if I'm going to make a list of personal favorites, might as well go with stuff that mean a lot to me and have huge emotional value, tons of memories related to it and so on. I wouldn't put a game I haven't played a lot, even if I enjoy it.
5 - I'm trying to stick with games that have Mario in the title, otherwise this list would be kinda impossible due to me loving Wario games, Yoshi games and so on. So I'm just going with
Super Mario RPG, I guess... I mean, there are plenty of titles I have played more than this one, but this one is nostalgic as hell to me and it's just a fun game full of personality and great music, visuals and gameplay.
I haven't actually played many Mario RPGs like a lot of people out there, in fact besides this one, I have only played the first two Mario & Luigi RPGs and I have only beaten the second one.
There's a lot of stuff I love about this game, but I'm just gonna keep it short and say that I love how the world feels familiar yet different than other Mario games, which makes it always feel fresh but not out of place, I also like the pre-rendered SNES visuals a lot, besides everything else I've mentioned. I also like how it's the Mario RPG closest to a traditional RPG, while still having the timed button thing every other Mario RPG has.
Honorable mentions:
Mario sports games, particularly Mario Tennis and Mario Golf.
I'm not really into sports games unless they have something that makes them stand out, and I have nostalgia for a few of the early Mario Tennis and Golf games, but... I haven't played them nearly enough for them to even come close to being in this list, but I still have some nice memories (I mean, Mario Golf was pretty much one of the 3 or so games that made me be kinda interested in Golf).
I've also played the GC Baseball and Football/Soccer games, but not a whole lot, still had fun though.
Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2 (both versions).
Ok, so SMB1 is a game I've actually played as a kid quite a lot, be it the original version, the All-Stars version or the Deluxe (GBC) version. Same with SMB2 (Lost Levels) and SMB2 (USA). I have good memories of them, and they can give me nostalgia some times, but it's not nearly as much for them to be in the list, besides them not being really my favorites, as I do think they all have some flaws due to being too old, but I still think they have some pretty nice aspects that make them unique, if only because they're really the earliest games so the series didn't have as many established rules.
There are many Mario games that I like, so I'd say that a large portion of them could be on my list of nostalgic games and whatnot, but since this is about favorites, I decided to be more picky, but pretty much any game that was released on handhelds from the Game Boy up to the 3DS could be here, most stuff from the 80s to the early 2000s could be here.
Хуй войне!
桐生会FOREVER #ThankYouCoco / Rest in peace, Near, thank you for everything