Platform guide
All Mario NES games
Ten Mario cartridges came out for the NES in Europe, between 1986 and 1994. The dates are the interesting part: this continent got the console late and the games later still — Super Mario Bros. 3 arrived here eighteen months after America and nearly three years after Japan, by which time the SNES was already in the shops.
The short answer
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1991) is the one to buy — the best game on the console. Super Mario Bros. (1987) for the history, and Super Mario Bros. 2 (1989) for the odd one that plays unlike any other Mario. All three are common; check the board before you pay a collector price, because these are the most reproduced cartridges there are.
Every Mario NES cartridge, in release order
| Game | Year (EU) | US | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Bros. | 1986 | 1986 | Arcade port — two players |
| Super Mario Bros. | 1987 | Oct 1985 | 2D platformer |
| Wrecking Crew | 1987 | Oct 1985 | Puzzle-platformer |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 | 1989 | Oct 1988 | 2D platformer |
| Dr. Mario | 1991 | Oct 1990 | Puzzle |
| Super Mario Bros. 3 | 1991 | Feb 1990 | 2D platformer |
| NES Open Tournament Golf | 1992 | Sep 1991 | Sports |
| Yoshi | 1992 | Jun 1992 | Puzzle |
| Mario Is Missing! | 1993 | — | Educational — third-party |
| Yoshi's Cookie | 1994 | Apr 1993 | Puzzle |
Game by game — the buying notes
Mario Bros. (1986)
The 1983 arcade game that gave Luigi his first appearance, ported to the console. One screen, endless waves, and the co-operative mode where you can also knock your brother over. Short, and mostly of interest for where it sits in the history.
Super Mario Bros. (1987)
Europe got it on 15 May 1987, a year and a half after America — this continent came late to the NES entirely. The game needs no introduction; what matters when buying is that it is the most reproduced cartridge in existence, so the label print, the board and the shell are what tell a genuine copy from a reproduction.
Wrecking Crew (1987)
Mario with a hammer, demolishing walls in a hundred single-screen puzzles, plus a level editor that could not save. An early Nintendo game that plays nothing like the platformers around it. Common and cheap in Europe.
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1989)
The one with the vegetables, four playable characters and no Bowser — because outside Japan this is a reskin of Doki Doki Panic rather than the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, which reached the West only later as The Lost Levels. Out here on 28 April 1989. It plays unlike any other Mario and is the better for it.
Dr. Mario (1991)
Pills and viruses, and the puzzle game Nintendo kept remaking for thirty years. The NES version came here on 27 June 1991, two months after the Game Boy one. Both are common; the Game Boy version is the one people actually played to death.
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1991)
The best game on the system and the last great NES release, and Europe waited the longest for it: 29 August 1991, eighteen months after America and nearly three years after Japan. By then the SNES was already out here. A world map, the suits, the whistles — everything the series still uses started here.
NES Open Tournament Golf (1992)
Mario as a golfer, with Luigi as the second player and Peach and Daisy as caddies — the game that made golf a Mario genre, which Camelot later ran with on the N64 and Game Boy. Cheap and easy to find.
Yoshi (1992)
A falling-block puzzler where Mario shuffles two platforms to stack halves of eggs. Released on the NES and the Game Boy at the same time; the Game Boy version is the one that sold. Yoshi’s first game with his name on the box.
Mario Is Missing! (1993)
An educational geography game by The Software Toolworks, out here in October 1993 on both the NES and the SNES. Luigi walks around real cities answering questions about them. Widely mocked; collected for exactly that reason.
Yoshi's Cookie (1994)
The last Mario game on the European NES, on 28 April 1994 — by which time the SNES had been on sale here for two years. You shuffle rows and columns of biscuits rather than dropping pieces. Also on the SNES and Game Boy.
The most reproduced cartridge there is
Super Mario Bros. has been reproduced more than any other cartridge in the hobby, and the copies have got better. A modern reproduction boots, plays and looks right from a metre away. What gives it away is underneath: a flash chip instead of the original mask ROM, a board that does not match the year, glue instead of screws, or a label whose print resolution is too clean for 1987.
That is why we open NES cartridges before we list them. It is also why a cheap “sealed” or suspiciously mint copy deserves more scepticism than a scuffed one — resealing is a business of its own. Our authenticity guide describes the same checks for the handheld generations.
Or buy one that has already been checked
Every NES cartridge we sell is opened, checked against the board and chip markings, and play-tested on real hardware. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked to all 27 EU countries.
Browse tested Nintendo gamesQuestions we get asked
How many Mario games are there on the NES?
Ten cartridges in Europe: Mario Bros. (1986), Super Mario Bros. and Wrecking Crew (1987), Super Mario Bros. 2 (1989), Dr. Mario and Super Mario Bros. 3 (1991), NES Open Tournament Golf and Yoshi (1992), Mario Is Missing! (1993) and Yoshi’s Cookie (1994). Golf from 1984 is not counted — Mario is in it but the game was never sold as a Mario title — and the Famicom Disk System releases were Japan-only.
Why are the European dates so much later than the American ones?
Because the NES reached Europe late and country by country. Super Mario Bros. came out here on 15 May 1987, eighteen months after America. Super Mario Bros. 3 arrived on 29 August 1991 — a year and a half after the American release and almost three years after Japan, by which time the SNES was already on sale in Europe. If you compare a European cartridge against an American list, the years will not line up, and that is normal rather than a sign of a fake.
Which Mario NES game never came to Europe?
Mario’s Time Machine on the NES. The SNES version of that game did reach Europe in 1993, but the NES conversion came out in North America only, in June 1994. There is no European NES cartridge of it.
Which Mario NES game should I buy first?
Super Mario Bros. 3. It is the best game on the console by a distance and common enough to be affordable. Super Mario Bros. next for the history, and Super Mario Bros. 2 if you want the one that plays unlike the others.
How do I tell a genuine NES cartridge from a reproduction?
Super Mario Bros. is the single most reproduced cartridge in existence, so this matters. Look at the label print quality and the placement, the shell seams, and — with the shell open — the board and the chip markings. A reproduction usually has a modern flash chip and a board that does not match the era. We open the cartridges we sell and check the board before listing them.
Are NES cartridges region-locked?
Effectively yes. European NES consoles use the PAL video standard and American ones NTSC; an American cartridge in a European console gives no picture or a broken one, and the lockout chips differ as well. Everything we sell is the European (PAL) version unless the product page says otherwise.
Do you ship Mario NES games across the EU?
Yes — tracked shipping from the Netherlands to all 27 EU countries, no customs charges inside the EU, and 30 days to return an order. Your country’s exact rate appears at checkout before you pay.
One console on: all Mario SNES games — where four of these were remade as Super Mario All-Stars — then the N64. Or the whole series in order.
Dutch reader? NES-games — het hele aanbod in het Nederlands.
