2023 is a good time to be a fan of Super Mario Bros. Earlier in the year, Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie broke box office records for an animated film. And most recently, Nintendo shared an inside look at the future of the Mario franchise in their latest Nintendo Direct, including a remake of Super Mario RPG and the all-new Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Another title Nintendo announced was a new game centered on Princess Peach, but this is far from the first time Mario has taken a backseat in his own franchise. Since the franchise's early beginnings, supporting characters to the iconic plumber have gotten their own spin-offs, including these ten that are among the most memorable Mario adventures without Mario.
10 Donkey Kong Country
The Donkey Kong franchise technically predates Mario, debuting in arcades in 1981. However, the design of DK that Super Mario fans know now originated in Rareware's 1994 game Donkey Kong Country for the SNES. This game also introduced characters to the series like Diddy Kong and King K. Rool, both of which appear in future Mario games.
Donkey Kong Country spawned its own franchise, with two sequels on the SNES, as well as a rebooted series starting with Nintendo Wii. Although Donkey Kong is a frequent antagonist of Mario throughout the video game franchise, Mario has been completely absent from this spin-off series, despite harkening back to the plumber's 2D sidescrolling roots.
9 Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins both launched on the Nintendo GameBoy 1989 and 1992, respectively. For the third entry in the series, released in 1994, Mario was noticeably absent and replaced by Wario, who made his debut in 6 Golden Coins. However, Mario cameos at the end of the game depending on the player's performance.
Wario Land was instrumental in introducing a lot of aspects that would become the norm for future Wario-centric side-scrollers. Future Wario Land titles would even stray further from including Mario, including games like Wario World for the Nintendo GameCube, or Wario Land: Shake It for the Nintendo Wii, the last installment in the franchise.
8 Yoshi's Story
Yoshi first took center-stage in the SNES title Yoshi's Island, although Baby Mario still played a prominent role in the gameplay. It wasn't until Yoshi's Story on the Nintendo 64, which released in 1997 in Japan, that Yoshi got to star in his own game without Mario. However, the game still incorporates many gameplay elements from the original SNES title.
Similarly to Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story featured many playable Yoshi of varying colors, though in this game their colors correspond to the food they like. The game also features recurring minions from the Mario franchise, including Shy Guys, Lakitu, and Piranha Plants, while also introducing Poochy, who would return in future Yoshi spin-off games.
7 Donkey Kong 64
Following the success of Rareware's Donkey Kong Country titles, the developer took their characters to the Nintendo 64 with Donkey Kong 64. This title, released three years after Super Mario 64, does not feature Mario, but some could argue it's a more refined 3D platformer. Of course, it comes from Rare, the same company behind Banjo-Kazooie.
Notably, Donkey Kong 64 also introduced the DK Rap into the Mario franchise, which recently was featured in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Overall, this Nintendo 64 title was incredibly influential towards the tone of future Donkey Kong games, and in some cases even improves upon aspects of Nintendo's earlier 3D platforming titles.
6 Luigi's Mansion
Aside from unofficial titles like Mario Is Missing!, Luigi didn't get to star in his own mainline Mario game until the GameCube. As a launch title for the system in 2001, Luigi's Mansion finds Luigi exploring a mysterious haunted house, where Mario takes on the role of Princess Peach as a captive of King Boo who the frightened Luigi must rescue.
Luigi's Mansion has since become one of the most beloved spin-off titles in the Mario franchise, spawning two sequels on Nintendo 3DS and Switch. In keeping with the original game's intention, Mario is not playable in either installment. Additionally, the games introduced Professor E. Gadd, who has become a recurring face in the Mario series since.
5 WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!!
The WarioWare franchise is perhaps Wario's more well-known spin-off series, debuting on the GameBoy Advance in 2003. Although Wario takes center-stage, no other Mario characters are featured in this series, with the focus instead going towards brand-new supporting characters including Mona, Crygor, and Jimmy T.
The only times Mario does appear in this franchise has been through its featured microgames, notably the ones in levels featuring the character 9-Volt, an avid video game fan. The most recent entry in the franchise, WarioWare: Get It Together!, continues to not feature Mario in place of now-iconic WarioWare characters like Ashley.
4 Super Princess Peach
Although little is known about Princess Peach's upcoming spin-off game, the damsel-in-distress got her first shot at a feature on the Nintendo DS. Sadly, this game is notably one of the more controversial titles in Nintendo's roster. Playing as Princess Peach, her powers require Peach to vastly switch between different moods, which some regarded as sexist.
Nevertheless, it was a good proof of concept to showcase that Peach was deserving of her own spin-off, which Nintendo will hopefully deliver with the new title. However, Mario's role in this game is similar to that of Luigi's Mansion, finding him, the Toads, and Luigi all captured by Bowser instead of Princess Peach.
3 New Super Luigi U
New Super Mario Bros. U was released as a launch title for the Wii U in 2012, but received an expansion in 2013 to commemorate Nintendo's "Year of Luigi." This update, New Super Luigi U, featured 82 redesigned levels from the original title, although with one glaring difference: Mario is no longer playable, with just Luigi, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, and Nabbit.
After its initial release as DLC, New Super Luigi U was released as a standalone physical version, as well as a packaged copy with New Super Mario Bros. U. The expansion is also included in the re-release of New Super Mario Bros. U for the Nintendo Switch, adding an extra bang for players buck if the Switch version is purchased outright.
2 Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Captain Toad made his debut in Super Mario Galaxy, but was featured more prominently in Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U. In that game, Captain Toad starred in frequent mini-levels where he would have to collect Power Stars from a three-dimensional stage. The popularity of these mini-levels resulted in a full spin-off title, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Released in 2014 for the Wii U, this game paired Captain Toad with Toadette in a series of levels that are reminiscent of those from Super Mario 3D World. Mario doesn't appear until the game's ending cutscene, which transitions into the opening cutscene from Super Mario 3D World, explaining how Captain Toad ended up in the Sprixie Kingdom.
1 Yoshi's Woolly World
Yoshi's Woolly World was the first Yoshi-centric game on consoles since Yoshi's Story, but was uniquely popular due to its yarn aesthetic. The game features a similar premise to the original Yoshi's Island, albeit without the inclusion of Baby Mario, though Poochy returns from Yoshi's Story as Yoshi's sidekick throughout the yarn-covered adventure.
The game's use of amiibo, which were designed to appear as plush Yarn Yoshi toys, would allow the only inclusion of Mario in the game. When the Mario amiibo is tapped in, Yarn Yoshi will appear with a Mario design, as was the case for many other officially-released amiibo. Mario characters like Baby Bowser and Monty Mole also appeared as bosses.