Semi-Mainline Mario Games

[Sapien6]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

I've watched the above video a few times at this point because it's just so good. For context, a YouTuber named jan Misali (pronounced yawn-Meesalee, real name Mitch Halley) conducted a survey asking respondents to categorize every single game in the Mario franchise. All 358 of them. (This was the successor to a previous survey in 2022 which only had 54 games, and only had a Mainline-or-not binary option).
The survey asked 2 questions:
Is this game a: Mainline, Major Spinoff, Minor Spinoff, Not Canon, or Not a Mario Game, and
Is this game distinct? (i.e. is this game not a reissue of a previous game)
It's 2 hours long, but I promise it's worth it.
Anyways, around 36:26, jan Misali introduces a graph of the games where the y-axis measures the amount of the people who said the game was mainline, and the x-axis which was how many people said the game was distinct. There's a cluster of 19 games on the top-right, where most people would agree they are mainline (watch the video for details).
However, there's a set of 10 games that jan Misali and I consider interesting regarding the question of mainline-ity:
-Donkey Kong
-Mario Bros. (sans super)
-SMW 2: Yoshi's Island
-SM RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
-Super Mario 64 DS
-Super Mario Maker
-Super Mario Run
-New Super Luigi U
-Super Mario Maker 2
-SM3DW + Bowser's Fury

so I ask you this,

 

[Cubot]

I'd like to take a crack at this.

Donkey Kong: Mainline

Arguably the start of both the Mario and Donkey Kong franchises, without it there would be no Super Mario Bros.

Mario Bros.: Mainline

Introduces Luigi as a playable character and cements that he's Mario's brother. Also introduces the prototype to the Koopa Troopa, the Shellcreeper.

Yoshi's Island: Major Spinoff

Started the Yoshi's Island series of games and features Mario, Luigi, and Bowser as babies.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: Major Spinoff

Began the Mario RPG line of games, which includes Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi.

Super Mario 64 DS: Mainline (distinct)

A remake of Super Mario 64 with Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi as playable characters. Falls under mainline as it is a remake of a mainline game.

Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2: Mainline

Course creator that allows you to make courses based off of five mainline game styles.

Super Mario Run: Mainline

Mobile version of the Super Mario series that features classic platformimg mixed with auto-running gameplay

New Super Luigi U: Mainline

A "sequel" to New Super Mario Bros. U that stars Luigi and has harder levels.

Bowser's Fury: Mainline

Separate game included with the rerelease of Super Mario 3D World

Let me know what you think!

 

[OmegaRuby]

I do feel that all but RPG are considered mainline, as Maker has been officially bundled in with other mainline Super Mario entries, 64 DS is a remake of 64 and shouldn't be thrown into spinoff territory just because it has differing content (that's what a lot of remakes do fundamentally), Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. are the foundational titles of the entire series, Yoshi's Island is literally monikered as a sequel/prequel/whatever to SMW, and Luigi U and Bowser's Fury are expansions onto existing mainline titles. Another neat thing, jan Misali is actually a fairly active member in the Wiki itself! Not sure if he's got a boards account, though.

 

[Cubot]

I do feel that all but RPG are considered mainline, as Maker has been officially bundled in with other mainline Super Mario entries, 64 DS is a remake of 64 and shouldn't be thrown into spinoff territory just because it has differing content (that's what a lot of remakes do fundamentally), Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. are the foundational titles of the entire series, Yoshi's Island is literally monikered as a sequel/prequel/whatever to SMW, and Luigi U and Bowser's Fury are expansions onto existing mainline titles. Another neat thing, jan Misali is actually a fairly active member in the Wiki itself! Not sure if he's got a boards account, though.

@janMisali is his boards account I believe

 

[Uniju]

the only thing here that i would consider a mainline super mario game is yoshi's island
donkey kong and mario bros predate the super mario series
rpgs and level makers are very different experiences from normal platformers so i would call them spin offs
remakes and dlc i wouldn't consider worth being called their own entry in the series
the only thing that leaves is super mario run, which i will confess may or may not constitute a mainline super mario game, i have never played it so idk

personally, my theory of mario is that the inheritors of the legacy of super mario bros are not actually the modern mario games, but the yoshi games
you have the super mario bros series, then super mario bros 4: super mario world, then super mario world 2: yoshi's island, and the successor to yoshi's island was obviously yoshi story, not super mario 64
both the 3d mario games and the nsmb series are usurpers

just my opinions

 

[Salmancer]

Super Mario the series starts at Super Mario Bros. All prior games are backstory to Super Mario Bros. Ya know, like DK Vine's DKU.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is an outright Super Mario game, since you interact more or less entirely with Super Mario concepts in gameplay that is a direct pick up from a Super Mario game while starring a character from a Super Mario game. This could be extended to include Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island as a Super Mario game, and if it does then all Yoshi platformers go in too because either they're sequels to Yoshi's Island or take enough cues to fit in the same bucket. It is not lenient enough for Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land. I choose to restrict this specifically to Treasure Tracker because every Yoshi platformer is a lot of videogames, so Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is not a Super Mario series game

If The Lost Levels is a distinct mainline entry of Super Mario, then New Super Luigi U is as well. I think both are so that's simple.

Being a platforming videogame is a primary component of Super Mario the series, making Super Mario RPG and all other Mario RPGs not Super Mario series games. Super Paper Mario is genuinely both an RPG and platformer, but being a sequel to Paper Mario means it already cannot be a Super Mario game. Nintendo will probably throw a curveball into this 25 or so years down the line, but for now this stands well enough.

Super Mario is not serious enough to make Maker's metaness a concern. And it certainly plays like a Super Mario game. Sure why not.

Super Mario Run is mostly like a Super Mario game and Super Mario Maker already throws out the need for power-up continuity across courses. It's in too.