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The Super Mario series has been going on ever since the NES, and as with any other long-running series of platformers, it hasn’t been entirely perfect. It’s usually pretty damn good, but when the level designers decide to get mean, they get really mean.
I’ve previously ranked the worst levels in Sonic the Hedgehog games, and the major difference between these two lists is that Mario is so much more consistent. I really had to split hairs here, as some Mario games don’t really even have notable, distinct levels.
I’ll be going by what is generally the most widely accepted definition of the mainline Super Mario series, mainly because that is also what I personally believe to be the mainline series. Thank you, jan Misali, for making everyone realize it wasn’t that easy to categorize.
This ranking is from best to worst, so the game with no bad levels will place near the top, and the game that decides it wants you to suffer the heat of a thousand suns will go towards the bottom. These are all just my own opinions, though, and frankly, I just don’t hate that many Mario levels.
19 Super Mario Galaxy 2
Fleet Glide Galaxy
Like with the Sonic list, this first one isn’t really bad, just very underwhelming. Despite my previous statements on thinking Mario Galaxy 2 is a generally lesser sequel, it ironically doesn’t shoot for the stars nearly as much, which means it doesn’t really have the potential to miss.
For me, just about every galaxy in this game is completely fine at worst. Fleet Glide Galaxy is absolutely the one I groan the most whenever I come across it, though. It’s essentially those ball rolling stages that everyone aside from me hates, but even less fun.
It’s an autoscroller where you can barely adjust the speed, and it forces you to time things. Plus, it’s a really unnecessary sequel to a previous level I wasn’t a massive fan of in the first place. It’s not torturous and is objectively not that bad, but if it weren’t here, no one would miss it.
18 Super Mario Odyssey
Ruined Kingdom
While I can’t really find a ton of flaws with any kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey, I will absolutely complain about Ruined Kingdom. The content here is serviceable, but there are only ten moons, and it feels like they wasted this entire aesthetic on just one boss.
There’s a 2D section I remember seeing at the Nintendo World Championships before the game came out, which made me hope they’d use this area more. You could do a hell of a lot with a very gritty, draconic, and gothic aesthetic castle, but they fumbled it.
Instead, you get to come here and barely get anything after you kill the dragon, then come back for the post-game, and get the few moons they left here. It’s not bad content, it just leaves me feeling rather hollow on the inside.
17 Super Mario Land
World 3-3
Unlike most other early Mario games, Super Mario Land had not a single clue of what the hell it was even supposed to be, yet stumbled into being decent. Every level is around a similar level of quality, and I’m not particularly mad at any of them.
The only one that kind of stands out in my mind is level 3-3, which is mostly not fun because this game controls like you’re driving an RV car through a field that is simultaneously frozen and on fire. That is to say, precision platforming is really not fun at all.
This level is short, and most of it is waiting for enemies, jumping on tiles that are one or two blocks wide, and doing quite a bit of waiting. It’s not the worst, and it is at least still making an attempt to be engaging, but it’s not the highlight of my half-hour-long playthrough.
16 Super Mario 3D Land
Special 4-1
Another game with no really despicably terrible level, I chose Special 4 — 1 for Super Mario 3D Land, because it’s pretty much the epitome of why a lot of people don’t pay any mind to this game. It’s kinda boring, doesn’t try anything new, and is clearly limited by the hardware.
It consists almost entirely of a moving platform that slowly moves along a track for the entire level, while enemies fall onto it. These enemies range from easily defeated roadblocks to Bob-ombs, Piranha Plants, and Magikoopas that get more annoying than challenging.
It’s one of those levels you play that feel entirely like going through the motions. It has you staring at your 3DS screen, not really thinking or doing much of anything interesting, and feeling nothing by the end. This one is just boring and has no other defining aspect.
15 Super Mario 3D World
Rammerhead Reef
In World Castle of Super Mario 3D World, you find something horrifying: a level that is a little bit boring. Rammerhead Reef is a water level through and through, offering very little genuine challenge, and primarily making you wait for cycles to pass before you can swim off.
It’s not challenging aside from the test of patience, and there aren’t any real merits to stand on. It forgets just about every fundamental of what makes 3D World usually one of the most enjoyable Mario games. I’ve played this game multiple times, and I’ve forgotten about it entirely for years at a time.
There is nothing notable about it; it doesn’t do anything unique in terms of water level design, and while it’s relatively painless, I still never want to go back. I need some semblance of challenge to feel engaged, and this one brings only complete and utter apathy.
14 Super Mario Bros. Wonder
An Empty Park?
As the most recent Super Mario game, Wonder has almost entirely good stages that expend their entire runtime on a gimmick you’ll see once or twice and never again. One exception to this is the numerous Search Party levels, which almost anyone will tell you are hot garbage.
An Empty Park is a prime example, a Search Party in World 3 that feels like it was designed by little Timmy in Mario Maker as an epic level to troll everyone. It’s almost entirely comprised of hidden blocks, which makes it incredibly frustrating in single-player.
You can mitigate it if you play online or with friends locally, but if you’re flying alone, you’re only getting frustration and a completely unenjoyable time afterward. There is zero point to this level whatsoever; it’s not hard, just a really dull waste of my time, in a game where everything else is new and unique.
13 Super Mario Galaxy
Bubble Blast Galaxy
In the trifecta of stupid gimmick levels up in the space above the Comet Observatory in Super Mario Galaxy, there are three great contenders for the worst level in the game, and you could pick any of them, and I would shake to that. For me, though, I just hate Bubble Blast.
The entire level takes place in the space right above a black hole, with Mario in a bubble that you need to slowly guide around a ton of insta-kill obstacles. Touch anything other than a solid wall, and you die, with all your progress being reset in the blink of an eye.
It’s another level that combines tedium with frustration, which is everyone’s favorite mix of things. And, god forbid, if you play this on the Switch with button controls, it’s the absolute worst. Trying to use the C-stick for the pointer makes this a genuinely awful time.
12 New Super Mario Bros. U
Superstar Road-8: Pendulum Castle
One thing about this list you may notice is that I tend not to put the intentionally difficult levels near the end of the game here. However, I make an exception for New Super Mario Bros. U, because Pendulum Castle feels poorly designed for the game it’s in.
In a game like Celeste, for example, a level where you have to time your movements under very low-to-the-ground spike balls on pendulums could be awesome. But New Soup U has no burst movement options, has a very slow running speed, and it just feels kinda bad.
It boils down to running forward and hoping you don’t die, or falling down donut blocks to make a pretty precise jump back up to the top. The level itself is well-made, just not when you mix it in with the controls of this game, and the way everything feels so sluggish and tedious.
11 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Space Zone — 2
Stop me if you heard this one before. Super Mario Land 2’s worst level is the second level in Space Zone, which is boring, makes you wait around forever, and is quite obnoxious. Just like most things above it, but in a far more condensed and annoying fashion that brings it down.
The entire level is an autoscroller; there is almost nothing to do here aside from dodging the Mario Maker levels of enemy spam, and it’s mind-numbing. Every time you play it, you’re in for two minutes of the most nothingburger gameplay of all time, then a boss that sucks.
To kill the boss, you dodge one attack, then get above it, and boom, you win. What sucks more is that it’s a required encounter for one of the titular Golden Coins, meaning everyone who wants to get them all has to trudge through slop before they can get on with their life.
10 New Super Mario Bros. 2
World Star — Castle
One thing about the entire New Super Mario Bros. series that you will hear constantly is that the games caused a series-wide creative stagnation, and I believe this level to be a really good example of that. New Soup 2 is generally alright, but it’s one of the least interesting games in the franchise.
In World Star, the game’s equivalent to the final special world of most other 2D Mario games, the very final level of the game makes the whole thing go out with a gentle thud on the ground. It’s nearly identical in design to the castle in World 8, now with far more annoying level design and snake blocks.
The gimmick of dodging the Koopalings’ petrification flash is extremely annoying and reused, and the final boss is a five-minute-long autoscroller that is nearly the exact same as the boss of World 8. There is nothing new here, and I hate it for that, especially as it takes the place of a final challenge that could be genuinely amazing.
