Playable Mario Games

Arcade Mario Games

Mario originated as a carpenter named Jumpman and debuted in the arcade version of "Donkey Kong" in 1981. Nintendo started development on a spin-off for Jumpman in 1983 and came out with "Mario Bros for Nintendo." Mario teams up with his brother, Luigi, to kill an onslaught of turtles, crabs and flies that travel through pipes. You can use various emulators online to play the 1983 version of "Mario Bros."

Nintendo released the classic "Super Mario Bros." in 1985, which was a side-scrolling game that featured Mario and Luigi exploring the Mushroom Kingdom in search of Bowser, who has kidnapped Princess Toadstool. Nintendo then released "Super Mario Bros 2" in 1988 and "Super Mario Bros. 3" in 1989, which was the best-selling game of all time. These three releases are memorable Mario games that deserve to be played by any Super Mario Bros. fan on an emulator. The introduction of the Super Nintendo gaming system led to the release of "Super Mario World," which introduced Yoshi as a permanent character to the Mario family. The popular "Super Mario Kart" also came out on the SNES, placing Mario in go-kart race. Unless you have the old gaming consoles, you must use emulators to play a majority of these games.

The creation of more powerful gaming systems allowed Mario to evolve as well. Nintendo 64 and GameCube brought forth Mario and his world in 3-D. "Super Mario 64" was released in 1996, introducing the first game in which Mario was not in a side-scrolling environment. "Super Mario 64" was a major factor in the success of Nintendo 64. Gamecube expanded on Mario's 3-D environment, and in 2002 and came out with "Super Mario Sunshine."

Released in 2006, the Nintendo Wii brought forth the next generation of Mario Bros. games. "Super Mario Galaxy" debuted in 2007, and its gameplay involves Bowser kidnapping Peach and fleeing into outer space, forcing Mario to explore various planets. It featured an innovative gravity system that received critical acclaim.