Nintendo Distributes Worldwide Shipment Numbers for Mario and Zelda

Today’s going to be a big day for looking back to the past – Nintendo of Japan just released worldwide shipment figures for three of its key franchises: Super Mario, Mario Kart, and The Legend of Zelda. Bear in mind of course that shipments are not the same as sales (I imagine you’re all smart enough to figure out the difference), but except in rare cases of extreme over-shipment, there’s usually a pretty decent correlation. Typically we’ve gotten our numbers from less official sources, so it’ll be nice to see how things look from the internal Nintendo side for once.

Check out these full-size versions of the charts:

Super Mario franchise top five:

1. Super Mario Bros.
2. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
3. Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
4. Super Mario World
5. Super Mario Land

Mario Kart franchise top three:

1. Mario Kart Wii
2. Mario Kart DS
3. Mario Kart 64

The Legend of Zelda franchise top five:

1. Ocarina of Time
2. Twilight Princess
3. The Legend of Zelda
4. A Link to the Past
5. The Wind Waker

Do any of the placements surprise you? I know I was thrown for a bit of a loop by Super Mario Land.

Source: Nintendo Japan via NeoGAF via My Nintendo News