The most popular Mario game series in your state—and the world

Contents

• Most searched Mario game series in your state [Map]
• The bestselling Mario games of all time [Infographic]
• Interesting findings
• Methodology
• About BrightspeedPlans
• Most searched Mario game series in your state [Table]

One of the most beloved video game characters in history, Mario the Italian plumber has been jumping turtles since before the scrunchie came, went, and came back into fashion again.

In 2023, Mario appears in over 100 self-titled Nintendo games, hangs out in Nintendo World at Universal Studios Orlando, and stars in the Super Mario Bros. movie premiering next month. And with over 70%¹ of Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X gaming online at least weekly, Mario might keep the public’s attention for years to come.

The team at BrightspeedPlans.com wanted to put some numbers on Mario’s popularity. Take a look below to learn your state’s most searched Mario game series and which titles in the franchise claim bestselling status.

Most searched Mario game series in your state

The bestselling Mario games of all time

Interesting findings

• The Super Mario game series launched in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, it has become one of the bestselling and most-talked about series in the franchise.
  • 23 states google Super Mario more than other Mario series.
  • The series’ first-ever game, Super Mario Bros. (1985, NES), is also the series’ bestseller with $40.2 million in worldwide unit sales.
  • A favorite among critics, Super Mario games average a Metascore of 87 out of 100. The highest individual score of 97 goes to Super Mario Odyssey (2017, Switch).
  • As of March 2022, Super Mario games had earned over $396.8 million worldwide, making it the bestselling video game series of all time.
• Mario Party takes the lead for Mario-oriented game searches in 17 states.
  • Super Mario Party (2018, Switch) is the bestselling game of the franchise, bringing in $17.8 million in worldwide sales.
  • The series’ most recent game, Mario Party Superstars (2021, Switch) claims the highest Metascore (80) against a series average of 71.
  • As of March 2022, the whole Mario Party series had earned over $68.9 million in worldwide unit sales.
• Mario sports series take the controller in 8 states, with top searches split between three series: Mario Strikers (5 states), Mario Golf (2 states), and Mario Tennis (1 state).
  • Mario Tennis Aces (2018, Switch) is the bestselling Mario sports game with $3.7 million in worldwide unit sales.
  • The average Metascore for Mario sports series is 73 out of 100.
• Despite boasting some of the highest sales in the Mario franchise, Mario Kart gets searched most in only 2 states.
  • With $45.3 million in worldwide revenue, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017, Switch) is the bestselling game in the series—and in the entire Mario Nintendo games franchise.
  • As of March 2022, Mario Kart titles had earned over $166.4 million worldwide. 
  • Mario Kart titles claim an average Metascore of 86 out of 100, running neck and neck with Super Mario for critical acclaim.

Methodology

First, we compiled a list of the most popular Mario game series in the Nintendo franchise using ratings from Fandom, VGChartz, and Metacritic; we then ranked the game titles in each major series by their all-time unit sales worldwide. We also used Google Trends, a website that analyzes the popularity of top search queries by region, to compare online interest over the last 12 months in each major Mario game series. We gathered this data in November 2022.

About

BrightspeedPlans.com is an online authorized reseller of Brightspeed. 

For media inquiries, please contact media@brightspeedplans.com.

Most searched Mario game series in your state

^1. Arbanas, Jana; Westcott, Kevin. “Gen Z gamers are poised to shake up the media and entertainment industries for good,” Fortune. Retrieved 7 February 2023 from https://fortune.com/2021/04/19/gen-z-gamers-video-games-media-entertainment-outlook-changes-future/