Best Family Games Like Super Mario Bros

The best family games like Super Mario Bros are Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario Bros Wonder. Below are 6, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to family costs you.

Why Family Is a Good Answer for Super Mario Bros

Filtering to family means the game has to work for a child and an adult at the same table without either of them being bored. That is a much harder design problem than a difficulty slider.

What you get: Something you can put in front of anyone. The best family games make the skill gap not matter rather than pretending it is not there.

What made Super Mario Bros worth playing in the first place is covered on the full list. This page is the family part of that answer, and only the family part.

6 Family Games Like Super Mario Bros

  1. 1. Super Mario World

    The best 2D Mario, with a spin jump and a cape on top.

  2. 2. Super Mario Bros 3

    The most inventive of the NES entries and still remarkable.

  3. 3. Super Mario Bros Wonder

    The modern one, and it reinvents itself every level.

  4. 4. Rayman Legends

    The most polished 2D platformer of the last fifteen years.

  5. 5. Super Mario Maker 2

    Every Mario level anyone has ever made, plus a good campaign.

  6. 6. Kirby's Adventure

    NES platforming that is kinder but just as well made.

What This Filter Leaves Out

Edge. Family games rarely go anywhere uncomfortable, and a few of them are too generous to hold an experienced player for long alone.

Specifically, these are strong answers for Super Mario Bros that are not family games, so they are not on this page:

  • Celeste — The best-feeling modern platformer, and it teaches like Mario does.
  • Shovel Knight — NES design sensibilities with modern fairness.
  • Pizza Tower — Momentum platforming taken to its extreme.

The full list is on games like Super Mario Bros — 9 picks, no genre filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best family game like Super Mario Bros?

Super Mario World. The best 2D Mario, with a spin jump and a cape on top.

Are all of these on the Nintendo Entertainment System?

No. Super Mario Bros released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, but a recommendation is only useful if you can play it, so the picks above span platforms and eras. What they share is the genre and the reason.

How do I check a game is suitable?

Age ratings cover content but not difficulty or frustration, which is what actually ruins a family session. Five minutes of unedited play footage tells you more than any rating.

Competitive or co-operative?

With mixed ages, co-operative usually wins. The competitive ones that work are the ones where being in last place is still entertaining.

How are these chosen?

By hand. Each pick was written for the full Super Mario Bros list first, on what the game actually does, and this page is the part of that list that is family — never a genre tag lookup, which is how "best racing games like Super Mario 64" used to be a page on this site.

Other Angles on Super Mario Bros

More Family Games Recommendations

Or read the family guide for where to start in the genre generally.