Almost 40 years after its debut as an arcade game, Super Mario still sparks excitement among millions of players worldwide. According to Guinness World Records, the best-selling video game character of all-time hit 650 million copies in lifetime sales, and the number continues growing. However, some Super Mario titles have grown a much larger player base than others.
According to data presented by Fair Betting Sites, the top five all-time best-selling Super Mario video games hit close to 188 million in combined lifetime sales.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Best-Selling Title; Almost 10M Sold Copies Per Year
According to Statista, Nintendo, and VGChartz data, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is in the pole position regarding lifetime sales of Super Mario titles and games for the Nintendo Switch. In September, the popular racing game hit 48.4 million in lifetime sales, surpassing Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart Wii. Impressive lifetime sales figures came after very successful 2021 and 2022. For two years in a row, the popular Nintendo Switch title sold almost ten million copies worldwide.
Published in 1985, Super Mario Bros. sold 40.2 million copies, ranking as the second best-selling Super Mario title of all time. That was 2.8 million more than the lifetime sales of Mario Kart Wii, the third title on the list, which hit impressive sales numbers of 37.4 million units.
New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii ranked fourth and fifth, with over 30 million in lifetime sales each. That was around 6 million more than the sales figures of Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart DS.
Released in 1990, Super Mario World closed the list of Super Mario`s best-selling titles, with 20.6 million copies sold worldwide. The eight Super Mario video games hit more than 255 million in combined lifetime sales.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons Best-Selling Nintendo Switch Games
Besides leading the list of Super Mario`s best-selling titles, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also ranked as the best-selling Nintendo Switch game worldwide. The popular racing game sold 8.2 million copies more than Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
With 32.6 million units shifted between its release in March 2020 and March 2021 and an additional 7.6 million in the 18 months that followed, Animal Crossing: New Horizons sits firmly in second place among the most-sold Nintendo Switch games.
The rest of the top-selling Nintendo Switch titles brings no surprises, with games from the Mario and Pokémon series holding three and two spots, respectively. The remaster of Pokémon Diamond, and Pearl called Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, released in November 2021, also proved to be another hit, with close to 15 million units sold in its first year.
