Everyone knows who the red-capped plumber is, andMario’slegacy has sprouted multiple spin-off series and games of varying genres and styles. From classic platforming with Yoshi to Wario forming his own gaming development company, the Mario spin-offs have expanded the Mario world and brought us some wonderfully creative titles.
With how varied the spin-off titles have become, it begs the question: How much is Mario even in his own spin-offs? Having such a wide cast of characters who can stand on their own, some of the spin-off series barely even include Mario, while others give him the treatment of a king, even when he doesn’t deserve it.
This list only covers the Mario spin-off series, meaning if a spin-off title is not a part of its own series, it will not show up on this list.
Is Mario Playable:No (can be controlled in occasional Microgames)
Are There Mario Themed Levels:Yes
Is Mario A Major Focus:No
Do Mario Power-Ups Appear:Yes (only in the Mario game themed Mircogames)
Mario’s counterpart and rival, Wario, has grown over time to become the star of his own series. Wario has become iconic enough that the red plumber never has to appear in his series anymore. The Wario Land titles started off with the Super Mario Land games, but as time went on, Wario provided more than Mario could and started his own platformer legacy.
In Wario’s more beloved titles, the WarioWare games, Mario is nowhere to be seen in any of them outside of themed Microgames, as these games strive to have a completely original cast. Not even Wario’s pal Waluigi gets to appear as Wario hogs all the spotlight in his series, which is fitting for a character who only cares about himself.
Are There Mario Themed Levels:No
Do Mario Power-Ups Appear:Yes (only in Mario Vs Donkey Kong titles)
The original antagonist of the series,Donkey Kong,has tried to separate himself from the Mario series over the years, but he cannot escape his barrel-throwing roots. While the Donkey Kong Country games are entirely Mario-free, Nintendo tends to force Donkey Kong to remember his arcade days by getting Mario involved for a title or two.
Games such as Mario Vs. Donkey Kong are clear examples of why Donkey Kong is still heavily a Mario series character, as Nintendo loves to use him as an occasional rival or enemy to Mario. Time will likely repeat itself, and these two will likely be rivals for life and so Donkey Kong will never be able to swing free without Mario interrupting.
Is Mario A Major Focus:Kind of (story element)
Do Mario Power-Ups Appear:No
Mario’s overshadowed brother has always been a much more interesting character than Mario himself, and his own haunted series shows that. The Luigi’s Mansion series puts all the spotlight on the cowardly green plumber for a change of pace, and they make for some of the most memorable titles in the entire Mario series.
Luigi’s Mansion is an iconic series that puts Luigi in a ghost-hunter role, searching around a spooky mansion or hotel to find, you guessed it, Mario. These games barely have any Mario screen time, which is honestly a great change of pace in a series that has a bit too much red and not enough green at times.
Is Mario Playable:Yes (only small sections of the earlier titles)
Is Mario A Major Focus:In Some Games
One of Mario’s greatest allies has to be the adorable Yoshi, and this cuteness quickly landed Yoshi his own series with some ofthe best 2D platformersaround. Early entries in the series feature Yoshi carrying around Baby Mario on his back as they jump through each level, with some levels even having a power-up to allow Baby Mario to be controlled for a short period.
In the more modern titles, however, Yoshi started breaking free of the role of being Mario’s babysitter, with Baby Mario being nowhere to be found. Yoshi is equally as iconic to the Mario series as the plumber himself, and he doesn’t need Mario’s face slapped on his series to make them identifiable as part of the Mario brand.
This classic puzzle game is all about Mario getting his stethoscope and getting ready to bust some viruses at his third job as a doctor.Dr. Mariois a series that feels very different from other Mario spin-offs, with it being so rooted in arcade score-based gameplay, and of course, Mario has stood strong as the one and only character who appears.
Only one smaller entry in the series doesn’t have the only playable character being Mario, and that’s the now-forgotten Dr. Luigi. This series just cannot star anyone else but our favorite multi-job working red hero, and when Nintendo tries with titles such as Dr. Mario World, it flops hard, likely meaning the series has a very mustache-filled future if we ever get another entry.
Do Mario Power-Ups Appear:Yes
This sadly now dead series combined the Mario series, theSonic The Hedgehogseries, and the Olympic Games. Each title puts characters from both series into real-world Olympic events, with some having a twist inspired by their games. Despite the potential of a crossover between two gaming icons, these games tend to feel quite generic, lacking the soul of their source series.
Since this is a crossover series that also happens to be a bare-bones minigame collection, for most entries there’s not much focus on the plumber himself or even the blue blur, but they still take the most important roles. For example, in most of the story modes, you are forced to play as Mario or Sonic for the majority of the playtime.
Is Mario Playable:Yes (also has a Rabbid counterpart)
Is Mario A Major Focus:Sort of
This strange series features the Mario series crossing over with Ubisoft’sRaving Rabbidsfor a wacky wild adventure, including Rabbid versions of the beloved Mario cast. This means that in the case of Mario, it’s double trouble with both Mario and Rabbid Mario being available for your party, and when it comes to the story, both Mario’s get a ton of screen time.
The first entry pushes you to like Mario, as not only can you not remove him from your party setup at all, but nearly every character just talks to him instead of the rest of the party. Always being the lead character makes the others barely stand out in the story, and considering Rabbid Mario is also one of the main Rabbids, this series should be titled Mario & Rabbid Mario.
Is Mario A Major Focus: No
Do Mario Power-Ups Appear: Yes
TheMario Partygames are great atdestroying your friendships,but whoever picks Mario is just the boring one in the friend group. The more multiplayer-focused Mario spin-offs are always the games that you want to play as anyone else, but the red plumber and Mario Party are no exception. With some diverse rosters in each entry, it’s hard to even want to pick Mario.
The very first Mario Party gave Mario his own board with Mario’s Rainbow Castle. However, he is treated just as equally as every character is in every entry after, with very little Mario bias showing. While other spin-offs shove Mario into every corner just to make sure you know exactly what game series it is from, the Mario Party games just let you have fun as your favorite characters from the series.
Is Mario A Major Focus:Some entries
ThePaper Marioseries is one of Mario’s most distinct, with its art style going for a paper style that is quite unlike any other game. All the Mario RPGs put Mario at the center of grand stories, but with him never speaking, he has plenty of companions to take the spotlight, and it makes him into a RPGsilent protagonist.
In this series, Mario is treated like some star-studded icon, almost as if his games are canon. Almost everyone he meets knows his name, and people praise and raise his ego despite him being relatively tame in terms of heroics in each title. Unlike Mario, the Paper Mario series actually allows Luigi to speak, so Mario must just have an eternal oath to never speak full sentences in any series.
Whenever he’s not out saving kingdoms, Mario invites everyone to various sports, and in these titles, he always takes center stage. Many of these titles just slap the sport and Mario’s name together and call it a day. They also often include his Metal and Baby counterparts as playable characters for Mario fans to eat their hearts out with their favorite plain choice.
Games that have story modes, such as Mario Tennis Aces, force you to play as Mario all the way through for no reason. We always have to play as Mario in the mainline games, so the spin-offs should always be Mario’s free vacation. However, Nintendo always finds a way to make sure you get a couple of Wahoos and Yahoos no matter what.
