Video games have been around for so many decades that the next time you sit down to play one, you’ll have tens of thousands of terrific options to choose from. A lot of us find ourselves playing newer releases when the time rolls around, because older titles have slipped from our minds. But they can also provide ample entertainment, if we give them a chance.
Some of those old games will feel rough, and may include mechanics or stage designs we find difficult to enjoy. Others hold up remarkably well, to the point where the most we might ask for is a slight resolution adjustment, or a few quality-of-life improvements. Otherwise, they’re nearly perfect. In case you’re looking for titles that fit that bill today, here are five classic Nintendo games so good they never need a remake. Just keep making them available wherever you can, Nintendo, because they’re fine exactly as they are.
5
Super Mario World
Release date: Nov. 21, 1990
The Super Nintendo launched alongside Super Mario World. The pack-in game was a revelation, designed to perfectly utilize a bunch of new hardware perks. Sprites scaled. Parallax scrolled. Players could tap a shoulder button to let Mario look ahead and see upcoming hazards before they were all up in his face. Colors were richer and more varied.
All of those elements made exploring Dinosaur Land a true joy, but the game was more than just a technical marvel. Stages were packed full of secrets, like alternate exits that revealed huge shortcuts or hidden maps, such as Star Road and the Special Zone. And when Mario took to the air, you could control the speed of his flight, allowing him to gently glide or dive bomb enemies. He hopped onto a dinosaur we know as Yoshi (his real name is actually quite different), which had special abilities of its own. Today, artists attempting to modernize the affair might paint more detailed backgrounds and provide welcome depth, but the game doesn’t need any of those enhancements to entertain..
4
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Release date: Nov. 21, 1991
As all eyes turn toward The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, fans are swapping stories about their earliest memories with the franchise. The original version of that game offered no shortage of spectacular moments, from the journey into the Great Deku Tree at the very beginning (Link’s first foray into a genuinely 3D dungeon), to the twisting corridors of the Forest Temple, to the shadowy ledges and false security of the Shadow Temple.
Some of us started with the series much earlier, and we still remember different highlights. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past turned an evening rainstorm into the most memorable opening the series had ever seen, as Princess Zelda pleaded for a hero to save her from the palace dungeon, where an evil wizard had imprisoned her. It showed us a lively village populated by the citizens of Hyrule, then gave us a glimpse of its corrupted half in the Dark World.
Dungeons were full of unique puzzles that forced us to think strategically in order to properly engage with them, rather than simply pushing on every block in sight and hoping one of them revealed a staircase. We revisited familiar rooms on catwalks at higher levels, dropped into pits to descend to lower floors. We struck switches to lower walls and struck others to raise them once again. It might not have been 3D, but each location felt real enough that it didn’t matter.
Every little animation contributed to the overall story. Little details, like an arrow vibrating when it is fired and becomes embedded into a wall, showed the developers considered every aspect they could while crafting a game to remember. A modern update, done properly, could elevate all of that to the next level. But if one never happens, we’ll be just fine. The foundation remains solid, and one more trip through that version of Hyrule never sounds like a bad idea.
3
Super Mario Kart
Release date: Aug. 27, 1992
While people argue whether Mario Kart World or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best game in the series, some of us are camped out on the sidelines of that debate, wondering when the original Super Mario Kart will get its flowers.
The ancient kart racer clearly did something right, kicking off a franchise that’s so good, its newest entry was the poster child for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch. But a lot of players don’t appreciate the early accomplishments today. They really should. Consider, for instance, the difference in how the karts controlled. They still do to an extent, broken down by character selection and kart frame. In Super Mario Kart, the differences were more obvious and more impactful. Donkey Kong Jr. and Bowser were the heavyweights, slow off the line but impossible to stop once they got going on a straight stretch. Koopa and Toad turned tightly, allowing them to dart between the other vehicles, scooping up coins and cutting corners in the tight turns.
Course designs were similar, and offered flat environments that let you see everything coming, but there was a simple joy in that. Shortcuts were easily activated and highly contested, requiring precision driving to manage the half-second lead that meant the difference between a first-place and second-place finish. Rubberband AI was less obtrusive, particularly on the lower difficulty settings. A lot of the equalizing items (like the fearsome blue shell) hadn’t come around yet.
Many of the courses from the original Super Mario Kart have made their way to later releases as DLC and bonus tracks, but to experience them the way they were meant to be played, you still need to go back to the original. And when you do, you might realize just how much you’ve been missing.
2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Release date: Oct. 23, 1988
Super Mario Bros. 3 is as close to perfect as a platformer gets, and some people (this writer included) even prefer it to the ambitious Super Mario World. Nintendo actually remade the game as part of Super Mario All-Stars, which introduced prettier backgrounds. Unfortunately, it also changed the physics a bit. Mario’s movement felt the slightest bit more sluggish to me, although the worlds he explores have more detail to make up for it.
Any slight shortcomings only go to show that when it comes to the truly great games, visuals are just part of the picture. There’s beauty in the simpler design, which opened with a red curtain lifting on a play-like performance (complete with platforms bolted into the backdrop). But if players were performers rather than heroes, they could at least take comfort in the knowledge that there had never been a drama quite like Super Mario Bros. 3, going all the way back to Shakespeare.
The Mushroom Kingdom had never shown so much variety, from the prairies of the first world, to the ice and snow in World 6. From the aquatic wonderland in World 3, to the myriad pipes and angry plant foes in World 7. Every world had its own attractions, and each one was packed with stages that introduced something new. Often, those moments were so grand that even though we played with them only briefly, we looked forward to returning on our next of many trips through the game.
The action stages were only part of the picture. For multiple players, Super Mario Bros. 3 had more to offer than any game in the series before it. Players could challenge each other to a brief battle to determine who got to tackle a favorite stage next. They could follow their own paths on the world map. And there were events, such as battles with hammer-wielding turtles, that yielded rewards greater than another cleared stage.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is a wonderful experience exactly as it is, with a Game Boy Advance version on Switch Online that adds additional stages many players have still never attempted. It clearly has a lot left to give, exactly as it exists today.
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1
Super Metroid
Release date: Mar. 19, 1994
On the planet Zebes, there’s something in the air. You can feel it when, as bounty hunter Samus Aran, you emerge from your ship and start roaming the hostile planet’s surface. But as harsh as those elements seem, the real nightmare doesn’t begin until you venture beneath its surface and begin exploring labyrinthine shafts on your way to another showdown with the Mother Brain.
When Super Metroid was still new, television spots showed a snarling Doberman with a spiked collar being led toward a room that contained Super Metroid. Every snarl oozed confidence. By the time the dog left at the commercial’s end, the snapping jaws had become the meek whimpers of a Chihuahua. It was utterly defeated by the immensity it encountered, and players were eager to try it for themselves.
Once we did get our hands on the game, we found that it lived up to the hype. We roamed empty corridors that sent chills down our spine, despite the lack of enemies. Then we encountered alien life forms that let us know just what we’d been dreading. Each major victory granted us a new way to explore, to burrow deeper into a world unlike any we had encountered before, even in the original Metroid.
Nothing about Super Metroid is broken. It’s a joy to play and then to play again, even if we already know where to find every last energy tank. The graphics hold up beautifully, as does the haunting soundtrack. The corridors that were once so isolating now feel like home, and we don’t need a remaster or remake to entice us to return. We already know where we belong.
