Well I have played a lot of these games lately. They all hold up VERY well compared to a lot of other platformers (like Mario World, which felt kind of flat in comparison).
The first one is a very good introduction to the series, it is the easiest of the three and the most basic. The levels are all straight forward and a lot of fun. Of all the games, this has the fastest and smoothest gameplay; could be because it is overall the easiest as well.
The second game adds a lot of depth to the first one, it also has one of the best soundtracks on the system (all three have awesome soundtracks, but this one has a few better tunes). The level design is more varied than the first game, and overall is a better game. It is more difficult, so not recommended as the first title, there are a lot of parts that require real precision. It is the hardest of the series, mostly because of some VERY difficult locations.
The third is even bigger than the second. Very unfortunately it came out late, it was released after Mario 64 and was one of the most overlooked games on the console. It changes the formula even more than the second having a free roaming interactive overworld map (similar to Chrono Trigger) while the other games were more or less straight forward. There were a lot more secrets in this one, and I personally much prefer the environment in this game to the other two (It's a Northern climate vs. Jungle climate). The game's level design builds on the first two, so it is the most advanced of the three. The difficulty of the easier points is higher overall than the second game but the hardest parts are easier. The third game I like the best, easily, mostly because it is more suited to the style of games I like to play (namely Adventure/RPGs); there are way more secrets in this one than the other ones.
This is more or less an essential collection, and it's a lot of fun to play all three games in a row. Add in Super Mario Brothers 3 and Sonic 2 and those are arguably the 5 best 2D platformer titles available; all 5 of these are 2 player games.
The first one is a very good introduction to the series, it is the easiest of the three and the most basic. The levels are all straight forward and a lot of fun. Of all the games, this has the fastest and smoothest gameplay; could be because it is overall the easiest as well.
The second game adds a lot of depth to the first one, it also has one of the best soundtracks on the system (all three have awesome soundtracks, but this one has a few better tunes). The level design is more varied than the first game, and overall is a better game. It is more difficult, so not recommended as the first title, there are a lot of parts that require real precision. It is the hardest of the series, mostly because of some VERY difficult locations.
The third is even bigger than the second. Very unfortunately it came out late, it was released after Mario 64 and was one of the most overlooked games on the console. It changes the formula even more than the second having a free roaming interactive overworld map (similar to Chrono Trigger) while the other games were more or less straight forward. There were a lot more secrets in this one, and I personally much prefer the environment in this game to the other two (It's a Northern climate vs. Jungle climate). The game's level design builds on the first two, so it is the most advanced of the three. The difficulty of the easier points is higher overall than the second game but the hardest parts are easier. The third game I like the best, easily, mostly because it is more suited to the style of games I like to play (namely Adventure/RPGs); there are way more secrets in this one than the other ones.
This is more or less an essential collection, and it's a lot of fun to play all three games in a row. Add in Super Mario Brothers 3 and Sonic 2 and those are arguably the 5 best 2D platformer titles available; all 5 of these are 2 player games.
-Insert Inspiring Quote-
