Favorite levels

[Ray Trace]

What are some of your favorite levels from various Mario-related titles (can include Wario, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong)?

Super Mario Bros. 2: I can't really think of much stand-out levels because I thoroughly enjoy the game throughout but I do remember having fun beating up Pokeys with the Star over and over again

Super Mario World: Valley Fortress is my favorite level in the game because I enjoyed the progression of slowly increasing Skewers in speed, not to mention it's a fun sort of challenge for precision platforming. I remember replaying this level over and over in Super Mario Advance 2, though the level is easier in that version because the Skewers don't insta-kill you if you get crushed any more. That last jump before the upward facing Skewer is pretty brutal in its timing. The level has no checkpoints that I know of but it's not too long and it's not extremely difficult, just challenging enough to demand some precision skills out of you.

Super Mario 64: Wet-Dry World, I like the idea of raising water levels and whatever to access parts of the level and I like the idea of the underground city.

New Super Mario Bros.: World 6 is extremely inventive throughout, using cliffs and overhangs as a new feature to 2D Mario platforming and I enjoyed it a lot. I love the increased parkour the levels provide, World 6-4 is one of them.

Super Mario Galaxy: Lots of choices to pick from but I'm going to go with Matter Splatter Galaxy with how inventive it is with the Matter Splatter concept and its overall setting being this bizarre, ruins world.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Spine Coaster is so much fuuuuunn!!! I love World 8-7! Sister and I loved replaying this one over and over.

Super Mario Galaxy 2: Cosmic Cove Galaxy immediately comes to mind. I love the smooth relaxing atmosphere it has and it's one of the appropriate spacey levels in the game.

Yoshi's New Island: Cruise the Clouds is probably my favorite level in the game. I love how you start out near the ground, then you progress upward on the level in each new area. I love sense of progressing through settings, whether it's Galaxy 2's World Map progress and what not, and this is no exception.

Super Mario 3D World: Mount Mush Dash is a speed through level with a Mario Kart reference. I love it. Nuff said. Can we have more references like this from other Mario spin-off titles? Thanks.

Super Mario Odyssey: New Donk City. I love metropolitan settings and this is no exception.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Spine Coaster is so much fuuuuunn!!! I love World 8-7! Sister and I loved replaying this one over and over.

You left out the OTHER best level in the game

World 6-Tower

 

[Ray Trace]

Oh fuck yes I love the two giant skewers in this level.

 

[Toasty Toad]

That is my least favorite level my favorite one is Bowser´s Castle boy It sure is fun trying to defeat bowser as mini mario I did it twice

 

[Dell Conagher]

(Warning, lots of text).

Alright here's mine:

Tostarena - Super Mario Odyssey

Without a doubt my favorite kingdom in the game. It's super big, I love all the captures, the locals are excellent, it's just amazing.

Raphael The Raven's Castle - Yoshi's Island

I love this level simply because of the boss fight at the end. You fight Raphael the Raven on the freaking moon, and you can run around the entire thing. Yeah, Yoshi's Island did Mario Galaxy 12 years before Mario Galaxy came out

Lake Lapcat - Bowser's Fury

I don't know if this counts as a level, but I love Lake Lapcat. It's super open with no loading screens in between, the platforming challenges are all excellent, and it's the perfect arena for battling Fury Bowser.

Space Junk Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy

I love this level SOLELY because of the music. The level itself is okay but it does NOT deserve music THIS good. Whenever I'm stressed or anxious about anything, I just listen to the Space Junk Galaxy music and I always feel relaxed.

All the Mario vs. Luigi maps - New Super Mario Bros.

I have so many great memories of playing on these maps with friends at sleepovers or at school. The mode itself is extremely underrated and it's a CRIME it hasn't returned in any of the other 2D Mario games.

World 5-2 - Super Mario 3D Land

Even though I didn't know what a "Legend of Zelda" was as a kid, I still thought this level was really cool. It's an awesome reference and has some sound effects from Zelda as well.

Peach's Castle - Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

(I'm referring to the version when

Spoiler: spoiler for bowser's inside story

Fawful takes over

near the end of the game, but I can't find an official name for it so uh yeah)

Okay so this definitely isn't a level, but it's my favorite location in any Mario RPG so I'm including it. I love it when games have you return to previously explored areas that have since been drastically changed. It makes the place feel oddly familiar, while still being really unsettling. The music and atmosphere is so strong, and it perfectly matches the tone of the story at that point. And of course, it hosts the final boss of the game, which is fucking fantastic (And has a great theme).

Spoiler: MAJOR spoiler for bowser's inside story

Snowball Park - Super Mario 3D World (Slightly more fun in the Switch version thanks to the increase in movement speed)

This level is fun and all, but the main reason I love it so much is because it's the perfect level to do the ice momentum glitch in. It's super easy to do and is loads of fun. Grab a propeller box, run on ice, crouch and uncrouch repeatedly to gain momentum, then jump, and you'll fly suuuuuuuper far. Works best with Toad.

Spoiler: glitch starts at 0:13

Drybake Stadium - Paper Mario: Sticker Star

I stopped playing Sticker Star in the middle of World 3, so I didn't get to any of the levels in World 4 that people like a lot, but anyways I really liked the final level in World 2. Yeah, collecting all the tablet pieces is a pain, and having to do some backtracking because you didn't have all of the exact stickers that you needed to solve the puzzles in your limited inventory because the game never told you what stickers you'll need before entering the level (Which is a major problem I have with the entire game but whatever) is annoying. Even with that though I thought the puzzles were really unique in this level. You have to study the hieroglyphics to see what stickers you need to stick onto the walls, and it's pretty fun. Also, the imagery of the tall Toads is hilarious.

My favorite part of this level is when you're walking, and all of the sudden the hieroglyphics COME TO LIFE AND ATTACK YOU!

Spoiler: happens at about 5:30 in this video

It just comes out of nowhere and is really creative. I had no idea about it when I first played the game, and it actually made me appreciate the game a little more.

The final boss of this area sucks, but at least the music is really good! My only problem with the music is that every I go to listen to it on YouTube, the comments are all referring to something that apparently ruined the song for them. I actually really like the music so I think I'm better off not knowing the context...

I'll probably think of more eventually but for now these are my favorites.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

Finally, another person that has Sand Kingdom as their favorite from Odyssey. It's my favorite, too, and I always enjoy rolling around as Mario in an inner tube while destroying cacti.

 

[Power Flotzo]

Thrilling Spine Coaster definitely comes to mind after reading the OP, since I forgot how much fun that level was.

Additionally, Robo Factory from Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is an awfully good addition to the remake, since it allows the player to assemble a robot while progressing through the level.

 

[Toasty Toad]

My favorite level of all time is the cosmic luigi race in super Mario galaxy

 

[zel]

tropical freeze: busted bayou, bopopolis, alpine incline, grassland groove, high tide ride, jammin jams,.. my beloveds
dkc2 i also like rattle battle, hot head hop, rickety race, bramble scramble, and screechs sprint a lot. yeah a lot of these mainly for the music but i like the gameplay part too

marios:
mario 64 is weird bc i can still list off a bunch of defined favorites. wet dry world, big boos haunt, hazy maze cave, iirc even snowmans land a little??
sunshine idkk i think i like most of the worlds to an extent. i think im the most partial to pianta village? maybe? but just because of the npcs (and i liek the music) and little else LMAO it has THE GOOPY Frickin INFERNO (bad shine stinky)
galaxy idk either (bc i havent played much of it) i did like both honeyhive and gold leaf, battlerock and buoy base, space junk and gusty garden too i guess (though iirc they both had less of the Very good song than i expected?),
odyssey: WOODED KINGDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i really like luncheon (yeah) and sand too, and just. most of the kingdoms in general

mario rabbidskindgom battle i also like all the worlds but im the most partial to sherbet desert i like the music

 

[MiracleDinner]

Super Mario Bros: 1-1, iconic
Super Mario Land: 1-1
Super Mario Land 2: The bubble level
Super Mario 64: Big Boo's Haunt is probably my favourite, I like the spooky atmosphere and finding the secrets in the mansion
Super Mario Sunshine: Noki's Bay easily, because it was by far the most unqiue in a game that I feel is largely too monotonous
Super Mario Galaxy: Space Junk Galaxy, the music is amazing and its concept is pretty cool. Also Melty Molten Galaxy for being pretty epic and Toy Time Galaxy for having idk just a pretty special feel
Super Mario Galaxy 2: Have to also say Cosmic Cove, the relaxing feel and the nostalgia is so much
Super Mario 3D Land: Probably either 1-1 or the final level
Super Mario 3D World: Super Bell Hill, Double Cherry Pass, Piranha Creeper Creek, Sprawling Savanna
Super Mario Odyssey:

Spoiler

Mushroom Kingdom and Metro Kingdom

NSMBDS: None in particular
NSMBW: 3-1, because the sliding with the penguin suit was always so fun
NSMB2: None in particular
NSMBU: Don't remember their names but the one where you ride the flying beetles and the one where the background is like an elegant painting
PM64: Lavalava Island
TTYD: Twilight trail I'd say if we're counting like characters but for the actual level, Palace of Shadow
SPM: Gloam Valley and Castle Bleck Inner Sanctum
M&L series I can't decide any strong favourites for any of the games.
SMRPG probably the factory
Mario Party 9: Magma Mine
Mario Party 10: The ghost level
Donkey Kong Country Returns/3D: King of Cling, the music was amazing and being one the first levels was always so nostalgic, and Switcheroo, again great music and the switches were really cool.
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze: So far the first level is probably my favourite

 

[Teedgee]

it's not gonna be easy to say my favorite levels since i love a lot of them but here goes:

you might or might not know this, idk that's an opinion not a lot of you are familiar with, but i love mario galaxy, so it's not easy to pick a favorite from that game, but the two contenders are:

Melty Molten Galaxy

not just does the music absolutely bang (to be fair what mario galaxy song doesnt), but there's just a lot of stuff happening in this level, such as trying to speedrun the first planet, fighting fiery dino piranha, and a lot of other stuff. it's not easy to describe, but this feels like one of the most "mario galaxy-ish" levels of the game if that makes any sense.

Toy Time Galaxy

This is a similar case, where there's so much happening, but at the same time, every planet looks unique here, you never know what to expect. honestly i don't have a lot to say that i havent said about melty molten

whew......guess i took care of the hard stuff, let's look at a few more i consider to be the best....

Wooded Kingdom

I was debating whether this or Sand Kingdom was the better kingdom, but after thinking a bit, I prefer this one. Despite being pretty linear in a bunch of places, it still manages to feel open and it really encourages to explore since there's so many secrets. Not to forget the music even if its like, literally just the smash 64 character select. Sand kingdom gets an honorable mention for sure though!

World 8-7 (New Super Mario Bros Wii)

After seeing some of the posts in this thread, I'm glad I'm not the only one who really likes this level. I mean yeah, basically, it's just really fast and actually kinda hard in some parts, and I for one, am all for that.

like i said, it's really hard to pick my favorites, but these are the ones that came to my mind. I might update it when i play more games or replay a game, which'll make me remember how good a level was

 

[Koops]

This thread made me realize that throughout awards I've been voting for 8-7 thinking it was the volcano escape level when in reality it was the spine-coaster.

(still a good level tho so whatever)

BattleRock Galaxy is very cool btw, love that level.

Someone mentioned Drybake Stadium and I have to say I'll have to agree, good level (from a good game!), but favorite Paper Mario level overall has to be fucking Autumn Mountain. Looks so gorgeous and its music slaps and it's just really damn pleasant to play through.