It has been quite a while since the last best of and worst of list for Amiibo and with a serious lack of Amiibo releases lately, I find myself looking forward to the second wave of the Super Mario series more and more.  It is always fun making a list like this and I think it will be fun to see how the second wave of Amiibo shakes this up too.  As with all lists on the site, I rank Amiibo solely on the quality of the figure (paint, details, and pose) not on the functionality.  I try my very best to keep my personal feelings about a particular character from influencing the rankings too.  I did find myself comparing Amiibo on this list to their Smash Brothers counterpart so that was certainly a factor.  Since all but Silver Mario and Gold Mario are relatively common Amiibo, I did not discuss rarity much or factor that into the ratings.  With that said, let’s jump into the list and see what the best and worst Super Mario Amiibo are!

7th – Yoshi – Normally it is hard to pick the worst Amiibo for these lists but I think Yoshi is the weakest of this series by far for a couple of reasons.  One thing that is curious about this Amiibo is that Yoshi is huge.  Especially when you compare him to his Smash Amiibo.  Yoshi is standing upright which is not a common way to depict the character and he looks like he is about to decide which cookie he wants to eat (or more likely eating them all since Yoshi has an infinite appetite)!  The pose fits Mario Party but doesn’t fit Yoshi as a character that well and is inferior to the Smash Brothers Amiibo.  While it is true of most Super Mario Amiibo, this Yoshi really lacks details (partly because of Yoshi’s character design) so there isn’t anything on this figure that really wows you either.  For these reasons, Yoshi is the lowest rated Amiibo on this list.

6th – Peach – With the Smash Bros. Amiibo, certain characters were designed to stand out from the designs Nintendo fans know and love.  Princess Peach is the perfect example of this.  Her Smash Brothers character is more elaborate and lacks the “cartoon” design of Princess Peach from the Mario games (for a closer look at these two Amiibo, check out the Princess Peach Battle Review).  The Super Mario Amiibo fixed this.  Peach’s pose is very true to her timid, damsel-in-distress character even if it is a bit unexciting to look at.  While the princess’s dress is a bit plain, the jewels are nice details on this Amiibo and help elevate it above what Yoshi offers.  The biggest weakness of this Amiibo is that Princess Peach’s dress is so long that it dominates the figure and prevents it from being more visually interesting.  Despite the dress, there is no doubt that this is the superior version of Peach to get for any Mario fan.  With a Daisy figure coming out in a similar design, it will be interesting to see how that figure gets ranked in the future.

5th – Mario – This is the only Amiibo on the list that I don’t actually own and I actually think this Mario is a bit underrated.  Initially, you had to buy this figure with Mario Party 10 and it was later released as a standalone figure.  The paint is vibrant on this figure and I think it stands out more than the Smash Bros. Mario for that reason.  While the pose is from Mario Party, I think Mario looks best when he is cheerful and that is a weakness of the stern-looking Smash Brothers Amiibo.  These qualities help make this Amiibo stand out and is why it ranks above some of the previous Amiibo despite being one of many Mario Amiibo options.

4th – Luigi – It was a tough decision but I rated Luigi higher than his brother because the Smash Brothers Amiibo leaves a little to be desired.  As I discussed in the Luigi Battle Review  While I can’t ever remember Luigi tipping his hat, his cheerful expression and the height of the figure really represent this character well.  The fact that this Luigi has no stand is a nice bonus too.  All around, this a strong figure and it is the Luigi Amiibo we wanted and had to wait a while for Nintendo to release.

3rd – Toad – He may be simple but Toad is definitely charming.  From his happy expression to his wave, Toad’s cheerful nature is captured in the pose.  While there are not any details other than his eyes or mouth that really stand out, everything is done well and this is quite possibly the best Toad figure money can buy.  It doesn’t hurt that the Super Mario Toad is the only Amiibo of this character.  That made this figure slightly harder to find than other Super Mario Amiibo at release and is another reason why Toad is one of the best of this series.

2nd – Bowser – Like a lot of the Amiibo on this list, there are two Bowser Amiibo to choose from.  However, if you go beyond Amiibo, you will notice that there are Bowser options in World of Nintendo and S.H. Figuarts and these other figure options have their flaws.  I think the Super Mario Amiibo not only captures Bowser in the style Mario fans want, but is just an all around solid figure.  The pose is classic Bowser and there are some nice sculpting details on this figure.  He looks awesome in packaging which is one reason why I have not opened mine.  Bowser is one chunky figure and based on what I have seen in reviews of other figures, he might be the best Bowser figure out there and he is certainly more affordable than options like S.H. Figuarts.  So to give his royal rottenness the credit he deserves, Bowser lands at number two on this list!

1st – Gold/Silver Mario – I’m a big fan of the Silver and Gold Mario Amiibo and have mentioned so several times on the site.  I lumped them together on this list because they’re so similar and I think Silver Mario is just as cool as Gold.  It is pretty cool that an unlockable character (in Mario Golf on 3DS anyway) got an Amiibo and the overall design is cool.  The paint is excellent and while the pose is the same as the previously ranked Mario, that doesn’t take away from what are two of the rarer and higher quality Amiibo out there.  The packaging looks excellent and I refuse to ever open either Amiibo because they look great as they are. Everything about Gold/Silver Mario seems to be designed to appeal to collectors and to be frank, that is something many of us miss with Amiibo now.  For this reason (as well as limited availability), these Amiibo are rare and hard to get.  While rarity did not factor in my ranking, these two are the best Super Mario Amiibo released thus far and I look forward to seeing if the new Super Mario Amiibo can dethrone these two.

So there you have it.  This is just my list and the gap between all of these figures is small so I bet many Nintendo fans will have a different list or ranking.  The Super Mario Amiibo got some flak when they were first announced for not standing out enough from the Smash Brothers Amiibo but as time has gone on, the quality of these figures stand out and I’m glad I own almost all of them.  Which Amiibo do you like or hate from the Super Mario Amiibo line?  Let us know in comments below!