Super Mario: Games With The Best Post-Game Content

The Super Mario series is one of the most consistent franchises in modern gaming. Almost every release in this series has received universal critical acclaim and is highly regarded by the gaming community as well. Many games in the franchise have proved to be turning points in gaming history, and they paved the way for other platformer games.

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However, when it comes to post-game content, not every Super Mario game has much to offer except going back through the levels to pick up some more collectibles. This doesn't mean that there aren't some games that have much to offer after seeing the credits roll. But which Super Mario games have the best post-game content?

6 Super Mario World

Metascore: n/a

Super Mario World doesn't technically feature post-game content, as the eight, secret world can be accessed very early in the game. However, this world feels like the real ending to the game, as it gives the players one final reward for playing through the whole adventure. Because of this, it makes much more sense to play it after beating Bowser, turning it into some sort of post-game content.

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The star world, as it's called, is home to five levels. Here, players can find different-colored Yoshi, and each one of them sports a different ability, all of which are pretty useful for traversing levels. The levels themselves are also pretty though, and they represent the hardest challenge players need to face within the game. This makes beating the star world extremely satisfying, much more than simply defeating Bowser in his castle.

5 Super Mario Galaxy

Metascore: 97

Super Mario Galaxy has an interesting take on post-game content. After beating the main story and collecting each of the 120 stars available in the game as Mario, players will be able to play through the entire adventure from the beginning, this time as Luigi. While the content of the game remains the same, Luigi has a very different playstyle when compared to his brother, which makes this second run through the game feel quite challenging.

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While it's debatable whether to consider this as true post-game content as it's basically a second run through the same game, completing the game a second time as Luigi does grant access to the final 121st star in the game, which can't be accessed in any other way. Reaching this final star is no easy task, but it's the only way to really complete the game at 100%.

4 Super Mario Galaxy 2

Metascore: 97

Super Mario Galaxy 2's post-game content feels like a huge step-up from its predecessor. Instead of asking players to venture through the entire game a second time, 120 green stars are added to previously explored galaxies, and players are tasked with retrieving them all. While this challenge doesn't exactly provide new and exciting locations to see, completing it will grant access to the Grandmaster Galaxy, which is the ultimate challenge for the game.

This final galaxy is really hard to beat, as it requires complete mastery of each one of Mario's abilities and transformations. Should players manage to complete this galaxy the first time, they will unlock one final challenge, which will make the players traverse the same galaxy, with only 1 health point. This means that players aren't able to take even one single damage all throughout the level, which is already one of the longest and most challenging levels in the game.

3 Super Mario 3D Land

Metascore: 90

Super Mario 3D Land grants players access to eight new worlds after completing the main game. While that may sound amazing on paper, these new levels are mostly based on content already seen in the base game, and they are mostly new challenges created using the same assets and themes. However, this does not mean that the levels themselves aren't good, as they manage to provide a new spin on the content, introducing new elements and gameplay variations, such as a time limit in some levels.

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However, many players always felt like this post-game was fairly unremarkable, and that's probably due to the fact that the game in itself is quite short. Fans were probably hoping for some kind of ultimate challenge in Super Mario 3D Land, as seen in other Super Mario games, but there simply isn't anything like that here.

2 Super Mario 3D World

Metascore: 93

Super Mario 3D World features very rich post-game content, as players are able to unlock not one, but four extra worlds upon completing the main game, with a whopping total of 29 new stages. Each of these worlds provides increasingly difficult levels, culminating in the Crown World, which is home to the toughest level in the game, called Crown Champion's Road. While the game is mostly fairly easy to complete, this singular represents a huge spike in difficulty, and even veterans of the Super Mario series will have a hard time trying to beat it.

Similar to the Grandmaster Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, this stage requires players to achieve absolute perfection in the game, mastering the moveset of Mario and his friends. Luckily, there are some strategies players can use to make things easier here. First, choosing some characters, like Peach, can make things a lot easier as she has floatier jumps; secondly, players can try and bring some suits or power-ups, which can definitely help to get through some sections. Lastly, the stage can be tackled in multiplayer, which gives players more room for mistakes. Despite this, this remains one of the most difficult post-game content the Super Mario series has ever had, and it's also what makes it one of the best.

1 Super Mario Odyssey

Metascore: 97

Super Mario Odyssey is undoubtedly the richest Super Mario game when it comes to post-game content. It could arguably be said that most of the content in the game is unlocked after beating the main story, which shows just how much stuff there is left to do in this space adventure. Beating the game will unlock three completely new kingdoms, hundreds of new moons scattered all throughout the game, and new events in previously visited kingdoms.

Of course, there's also a final, incredibly challenging new level that will grant players access to the "true" ending of Super Mario Odyssey, but it just feels like the cherry on top, considering all the amount of new content players can now go through. Super Mario Odyssey is a massive game, and it will be really hard for Nintendo to go beyond what they were able to achieve here.

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