System: Nintendo DS
Trivia: Final Fantasy characters also make appearances in the game, the second time that's happened in a Mario brand game other than Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (see #16).
Year: 2006
Nintendo very rarely hands over their intellectual property to other developers, but they subbed in Square Enix, makers of the Final Fantasy series, to bring the Big M to the hardcourt. While commercially successful, the first Mario basketball game lacked online multiplayer—a big downer for those who, you know, wanted to play 3-on-3 on a console that handles only four controllers at a time.