Seven Obscure Mario Games Worth Rediscovering
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- Wrecking Crew (1984), produced by GameBoy creator Gunpei Yokoi, sent Mario and Luigi into demolition work across 100 puzzle levels on the NES, complete with a built-in level editor.
- Super Mario Bros Special (1986), developed by Hudson Soft for Japan's PC-8800 computers, featured entirely original levels plus a Donkey Kong hammer and a wing item that let Mario fly.
- Dr Mario 64 (2001) added a story mode and four-player competitive mode to the Tetris-style virus-clearing formula, but arrived too late in the N64's life cycle to make an impact.
- Mario Slam Basketball (2006), developed by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS, crammed classic Mario mechanics—mushrooms, question blocks, blue shells—into a mini-court sports sim that Eurogamer rated 6/10.
- Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (2009), a stylus-controlled DSiWare puzzle platformer, is now permanently inaccessible after both the DSiWare and 3DS eShop services were shut down.
- Super Mario 3D World (2013), originally a Wii-U commercial underperformer, was revived on Switch with an added Bowser's Fury mode and is singled out as the list's top recommendation.
Why it matters: The list reframes Mario's legacy beyond the headline-grabbing mainline titles, highlighting how Nintendo experimented across genres (demolition puzzles, basketball, tile-matching) and platforms including Japan's PC-8800. For retro gaming fans, the article confirms several obscure titles are now playable via Nintendo Classics, while Minis March Again! is permanently locked behind shut-down storefronts, underscoring how digital-only distribution has created new gaps in gaming history.
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