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NES Super Mario Bros games because of the way it's set up..
You can always come back to SMB and relax and still have fun.
Agreed, Super Mario Bros never gets old..
But that said, Mario was already an established image before the NES. Gamers recognized him from the original Mario Bros & Donkey Kong. I know Nintendo didn't hype or develop his character in Donkey Kong.. but his face was becoming an identifiable commodity. And then Nintendo put him in a series of subsequent games.. then there was a Saturday morning tv series, movies, etc. He became a recurring logo (like Mickey Mouse for Disney). I think Mario's success as an icon had a lot more to do with his ubiquitous company presence, than solely the relaxing gameplay of Super Mario Bros.. Sega copied the same strategy using Sonic.
His tv show and movies and cereal, etc, were not that big a presence, though.
And I say this as their target demographic at the time.
In fact, I recall them being big flops.
Mario was the game that came when you bought the console (NES, Super NES, etc). That in itself made it somewhat iconic.
Nintendo has a way to make Mario game fresh. I didn't play Super Mario 64. So my next Mario game was Sunshine. Using the water pack was kind of fun. I skipped out on Galaxy games so I went to 3D World. Ironically, the games I skipped over are the ones that innovated the series.
I didn't over-saturate myself through Mario games so I never grew tired out of it. As for God of War, I only enjoyed the first game. The part of fighting all of those Kratos clone was just epic and then the fight with Ares. The second and third game wasn't as memorable. I never cared about Ascension and I don't care about that Tomb Raider inspired game they showed at E3.
I hear you man. I have not played a Super Mario game in a while. Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World are definitely classics.
I'm a wide variety gamer because of my children. I play, they play, we all play. I've enjoyed Mario, especially the Kart series. Mario is pretty solid. They seem to start popular trends over and over. Super Smash is always being played throughout the year and when a new one is coming we look forward to it and pre-order it.
I played some of the first and continue because of my kids. (Yay) My kids went through a Sonic game or two. The only one I still visit is the one with Chaos, Sonic Adventure. So cute. Other than that one and the Sonic Racing which I played a bit I didn't really stick with them.
I wish they'd do a new Billy Hatcher. I use to love that game.
Mario sticks around because he's family friendly and seeks the new with a familiar base. It's like those cartoons you watch with your kids but they actually have something you can enjoy as well. Everyone, regardless of age, can have fun playing in my opinion.
I think it's because of the simple, yet fun and addictive gameplay.
Mario games are very easy to play, but at the same time, the levels are creative, colorful and the challenge increases gradually, throwing at you more obstacles to surpass for every level that you advance in.
Most modern games are a bit more complex to play in comparison because of how many things you have to do. For example, Metal Gear Solid V, you have to know how to choose weapons from your inventory in real time, crouch, sneak by undetected, aim either in third-person or first-person with your weapon, as well as use CQC to knock down enemies, use a mode of transportation to get faster to the levels, maintain Mother Base, as well as your own army, send your own men on missions, Fulton the f&*k out of objects to use as resources for Mother Base, run like hell and hide when you're spotted, go to a safe place to recover from injuries, rescue people while avoiding enemy contact, call your helicopter when you need to exit the level, etc.
With Mario, it's much more simple, you just need to get to the end of the level without dying, which includes power-ups to help you a bit.
Not saying, of course, that slightly complex gameplay is a bad thing, in fact, it can be very stimulating, and addictive, as well, but when you just want to play something much more simple, but fun, there's always Mario.
I think it's the game play and level design. Mario games have always played great. You know what to expect from the controls, and the character always behaves the way you would expect it to. I think Super Mario World is one of the greatest games of all time, and it is probably the game I go back and replay the most from either the 8 bit or 16 big generations. It still looks good and plays well.
Theres plenty of other game figures too like
Pokemon
Sonic The Hedgehog
Halo
Donkey Kong
Metroid?
But what do you think makes the plumber" Mario " very successful when it comes to gaming?
Probably the games. Mario is Nintendos flagship character. Up there with Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog. Nintendo puts Mario on everything. Personally I like Kratos from the God of War series, but Mario tops everyone in video games. Sonic, Pacman, Ryu, Lara Croft.
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I use to love that game. 
