How much “Super Mario” per year?
It's impossible to objectively quantify art, but we try anyway. For example: Is “Super Mario” a good video-game franchise?
Looking at review scores, Super Mario includes some of the most universally-acclaimed games ever published: Galaxy, Galaxy 2, and Odyssey are respectively the #4, #5, and #13 highest ranking video-games of all time on Metacritic, all with 97 overall. Chances seem good?
What if we tried quantifying art in a different and slightly more reductive way? This blog post introduces and calculates a new unit: “Super Mario per year”. If you enjoy this franchise like I do then this unit is of particular importance to you.
Calculating “Super Mario per year”
There have been ~19 titles (and two add-ons) published to what I consider the "main-line" Super Mario games, both 2D and 3D. Below is a table with every title, the year it was published, and the approximate duration to play. This last column is the most subjective, because there’s speed-runners, casual players, completionists. If you think any value is way off, send me an email.
| Game | 2D/3D | Platform | Year | Time to Beat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Bros. | 2D | NES | 1985 | 5 hours |
| Super Mario Bros. Lost Levels | 2D | NES | 1986 | 10 hours |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 | 2D | NES | 1988 | 5 hours |
| Super Mario Bros. 3 | 2D | NES | 1988 | 5 hours |
| Super Mario Land | 2D | GB | 1989 | 5 hours |
| Super Mario World | 2D | SNES | 1990 | 10 hours |
| Super Mario Land 2 | 2D | GB | 1992 | 10 hours |
| Super Mario 64 | 3D | N64 | 1996 | 15 hours |
| Super Mario Sunshine | 3D | GC | 2002 | 20 hours |
| New Super Mario Bros. | 2D | DS | 2006 | 10 hours |
| Super Mario Galaxy | 3D | Wii | 2007 | 15 hours |
| New Super Mario Bros. Wii | 2D | Wii | 2009 | 5 hours |
| Super Mario Galaxy 2 | 3D | Wii | 2010 | 15 hours |
| Super Mario 3D Land | 3D | 3DS | 2011 | 15 hours |
| New Super Mario Bros. 2 | 2D | 3DS | 2012 | 10 hours |
| New Super Mario Bros. U | 2D | Wii U | 2012 | 15 hours |
| Super Mario 3D World | 3D | Wii U | 2013 | 20 hours |
| Super Mario Odyssey | 3D | Switch | 2017 | 25 hours |
| Bowser's Fury (Super Mario 3D World) | 3D | Switch | 2021 | 5 hours |
| Super Mario Bros. Wonder | 2D | Switch | 2023 | 15 hours |
| Meetup at Bellabel Park (Super Mario Bros. Wonder) | 2D | Switch | 2026 | 5 hours |
Using the table above we can calculate approximately how much new Super Mario gameplay is published on average per year.
| Year | All-Time Avg | 10-Year Avg (10YA) | 2D (10YA) | 3D (10YA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| 1986 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 |
| 1987 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| 1988 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 0.0 |
| 1989 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| 1990 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.0 |
| 1991 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 0.0 |
| 1992 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 0.0 |
| 1993 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 0.0 |
| 1994 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| 1995 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| 1996 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| 1997 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| 1998 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| 1999 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 1.5 |
| 2000 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
| 2001 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| 2002 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| 2003 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| 2004 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| 2005 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| 2006 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| 2007 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| 2008 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| 2009 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| 2010 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| 2011 | 5.4 | 8.0 | 1.5 | 6.5 |
| 2012 | 6.1 | 10.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 |
| 2013 | 6.6 | 10.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 |
| 2014 | 6.3 | 10.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 |
| 2015 | 6.1 | 10.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 |
| 2016 | 5.9 | 10.5 | 4.0 | 6.5 |
| 2017 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 3.0 | 9.0 |
| 2018 | 6.3 | 10.5 | 3.0 | 7.5 |
| 2019 | 6.1 | 10.5 | 3.0 | 7.5 |
| 2020 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 2.5 | 7.5 |
| 2021 | 5.9 | 9.0 | 2.5 | 6.5 |
| 2022 | 5.8 | 7.5 | 2.5 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| 2024 | 5.9 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 5.7 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| 2026 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
This table will help you calculate approximately how much Super Mario is coming in the next decade. The current 10-year window pace shows 5 hours of Super Mario per year.
Looking at the trends, it looks like we may have already passed peak 2D and 3D Mario individually. This table also shows how overdue we are for a new big 3D Super Mario title, the last entry being Super Mario Odyssey almost a decade ago in 2017.
If I were to somewhat morbidly apply these numbers I can estimate how much more new “Super Mario” gameplay I’m likely to experience. Let’s be optimistic and apply the “All-Time Average” instead of the “10-Year Average”: the resulting number is 256 hours. Around 10 games of similar size to “Super Mario Odyssey”... seems good to me!
Super Mario Blogroll
If you want to read more Super Mario writing here are a few personal selections from my blogroll:
- “Mario 101: For Super Players” by Drew Mackie
- “Super Mario Bros was designed on graph paper” by Nicolás Valencia
- “The most Mario colors” by Louie Mantia
Happy gaming!
Thanks for keeping RSS alive! ♥
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