Mario is Nintendo’s mascot, though he may as well be the mascot of video games in general. He made his name jumping from platform to platform. Then he leaped into other genres. There are Mario sports games, dancing games, fighting games, racing games, role-playing games, strategy games, educational games, mobile games, and more.
Those are just the officially approved and licensed entries too. Fans have been into the portly Italian plumber for so long that, with a little wizardry and a PC, they’ve brought him into other games through mods. Here’s a few of the more interesting mods that have added Mario to other games.
6 Street Fighter X Tekken
If Marvel Vs Capcom was “the wildest crossover you never dreamt”, then Street Fighter X Tekken would be the most disappointing. While there’s nothing catastrophically wrong with the game on the surface, its additional features like gems and Pandora Mode were half-baked at best. The on-disc DLC debacle and the Sony-exclusive characters were just an extra layer on a messed-up cake.
Regardless, Somersault_Justice managed to get something out of the game. They turned Tekken’s Bob, an overweight but agile fighter, into the tubby but nimble Mario. In-game, he just has Bob’s moves and quotes. Online, he has an entry on a SFxT fandom wiki that gives him his own win quotes, story, and character interactions. Just in case anyone was wondering what Mario thought about the Street Fighter and Tekken cast.
5 Friday Night Funkin’
Who remembers when Newgrounds just had dodgy Flash games and videos? In 2020, four of their users came together to produce Friday Night Funkin', a catchy rhythm game that was so popular it crashed the whole website. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that it has a ton of mods adding a multitude of characters and tunes from other franchises to keep up the beat with.
There are plenty of Mario ones to choose from too. Some use his Paper Mario sprites, and others are drawn in the game’s art style. A few have their own story and character interactions, while some just go straight for the funk. Others throw in Luigi, the Toads, and Catsuit Bowser for a little variety as well. So, when it comes to funkin’, the possibilities are endless.
4 Elden Ring
Why fit in when one can stand out? From Software’s games are generally the opposite of Mario’s positive, family-friendly setting. It’s why people freaked out when Super Mario Odyssey randomly threw in a realistic dragon as a boss fight. Yet that’s kind of the point when it comes to modding. Why not have Mario in a dark fantasy setting? Like, say, Elden Ring?
There’s already a character creator, but why not go further? Garden Of Eyes’ mods have put all kinds of characters into the game. Homer Simpson, Moana, Ugandan Knuckles, and more. But they’re all pretty much based on their regular looks. GardenOfEyes’ most interesting mod turns Godrick the Grafted into Mario. A giant, deformed, bug-eyed Mario with an equally creepy Yoshi as his dragon. Truly it’s the stuff of nightmares.
3 Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
How about heading back to more comfortable ground? Modding Mario into a platformer isn’t the most alien idea around. The original Crash Bandicoot, as difficult as it was, stood alongside Super Mario 64 as some pioneering entries in the 3D platformer. Thus, for the Bandicoot’s latest entry, SpongeBobbleTea replaced him with a bobble-headed Mario model.
It’s not the smoothest mod around. Mario’s head floats separately from his body, and his shoulders and arms crunch and clip behind him in a few cutscenes. However, there’s no problem on the gameplay front as he’s essentially just Crash with a Mario model. He turns up on the world map, runs through the levels, and even has a few voice clips of his own.
2 Banjo Kazooie
Speaking of 3D platformers, Banjo Kazooie was another reason to get a Nintendo 64 back in the day. It offered the same thrills and spills Super Mario 64 did with its own twist and charm. With the two standing together as that console’s highlight, it’s a no-brainer to expect modders to mix the two. Like putting Banjo and Kazooie into the Mushroom Kingdom, or Mario on Spiral Mountain.
Mario 64 x Banjo Kazooie is technically within Super Mario 64, but all the levels, characters, collectables, and music are straight from Rare’s game. The mod by Kaze Emanuar got a lot of buzz when it first cropped up in 2020 but has since gone quiet as he’s worked on other projects. Nonetheless, his progress can be found on his YouTube channel along with his other N64 creations.
1 Sonic The Hedgehog
Is it that obvious to put Mario into a Sonic game? The former rivals have been bound together ever since the Sega Genesis dared to do what Nintendon’t. Bootleggers put Mario into an NES build of the original Sonic the Hedgehog and called him Somari. BlitzMightyN7 used the Mario & Luigi sprites to put both Mario Bros into Sonic Mania in place of Sonic and Tails. They even replaced the rings with coins and monitors with blocks.
In Sonic 3: Angel Island Revisited, a fan-made retooling of the original Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Skidgi made sure Mario turned up to roll through each zone, complete with his own poses and end-of-level signposts. If the 3D games are more to one’s speed, Daku & Squiz of Mod Database replaced Sonic and friends with the plumber and his friend in Sonic Generations. Why race Shadow when Mario can try to out-sprint Super Mario Sunshine's Shadow Mario instead? Seeing Mario barge into him at super speed to the Star Power-Up music is a delight.