OK, I've been playing a couple retro games tonight on my GameCube and I thought of a question.

From any platform from Game&Watch to the Wii U and 3DS, in any genre of game, what are your top 5 (10 if you can be bothered) Mario games.

They have to be Official Mario games (no third party flash games or anything) but anything from the Official Mario franchise.

It could be Mario Bros, Mario World, Mario Land. Even games without Mario as the lead like Yoshi's Island.
Puzzle games like Dr. Mario.
Sports games like Mario Tennis or Mario Kart.
Even mixed franchise stuff like Super Smash Bros. or Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.

There are hundreds to choose from.

The only rule is that you have to have played them. This is YOUR top 5 not "THE" top 5 Mario games.

Also, if you can be bothered, write a little reason why too

Anyway, I'll start off in the next post.

1. Super Mario Land - Game Boy - THIS was an amazing game. It was the first Mario game I ever owned. I played it so much that still now almost 20 years later I could probably draw a fairly accurate and to scale map of every level. I would still say that the in game music (although 8 bit) is some of the best game music of all time.
2. Super Mario World - SNES - The first game (of any kind) that I played where you could choose your own path. Of course I had to 100% the game, addictive gaming at it's best. Again, I could probably draw every level out for you.
3. Super Mario Bros 2 - NES - OK, it's not a "proper" Mario game as it was originally intended to be a game called Doki Doki Panic but it was the first Mario game I ever played. I didn't own it but I spent most of my time at my friend's house playing it.
4. Super Mario Kart - SNES - Another "safe" choice but it really was a brilliant racing game. The fake 3D was at the forefront of gaming at the time. It got me through many hours of sitting in hospital. The "skills" I learnt from playing this are still relevant in the latest Mario Kart games too
5. Super Mario Sunshine - GameCube - A bit of a curve ball but out of all the other Mario games I've played this stands out the most.

There are so many other great titles that I haven't put in my list though

I may have to rethink this and edit at a later time

(Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Land 2 are three others I can think of straight away).

I can totally see why people love the Mario games, but they just don't hold my interest design-wise

Not in any order but...

Mario Kart 7 (3DS) - the best bits of all the previous kart games rolled into this
Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) - what the '3D' in 3DS was for
Super Mario 64 (N64) - I still remember my jaw hitting the floor
Super Mario Bros 3 (NES) - probably the best of all the Mario platformers
New Super Mario Bros (DS) - an excellent modern Mario

Honourable mentions...

Mario Kart (SNES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)