Super Mario 64 was originally released on the Nintendo 64 in 1996 (1997 in Europe and Australia). It is one of the games to bring Nintendo into the 3D era. It gave us a new way to play Mario and showed us a greater future.
The story starts with with Mario getting a letter promising him a cake. He runs to the castle to find not a cake, but a nearly empty castle. Peach has been once again kidnapped by Bowser. Along with this, Bowser's holding everyone captive inside the castle walls. Mario must then collect Power Stars by jumping into painting-like portals that lead to different places. These types of paintings to be exact:
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| This makes me like art a little bit more. |
Using the Power Stars, Mario can unlock more doors in the castle and gain more stars.
The gameplay to Super Mario 64 is simple and good. Like I already said, you jump through paintings to different worlds, whether it be a battlefield, a volcano, or even a clock. A new thing in Mario is that worlds are fully 3D and are free to explore. Mario can now punch enemies, or he can simply jump on them. Some enemies can even be picked up. At the end of every level is a Power Star. Some levels have a boss or a mini-boss, who usually have a special way to be beaten. While I still mention it, portals are not just paintings. They range from other things such as cages, holes and walls of water. There are also a small but helpful range of power-ups, but I'm not going to spoil them. The gameplay is very good and addictive.
The graphics were pretty good for their time. The Nintendo 64 used 64 bit graphics, explained by the name, making it able to make 3D worlds that brought a new way to explore. The areas in the game are all beautiful and a joy to look at. Here are some examples and some of my personal favorites:
Characters in the game look very good for their time. Look up at the two Marios at the top. They are in full 3D and are fully animate. They look very good compared to many other in that time. The figures fit their 3D atmosphere and are well worth it. Graphics get a check for being new and pretty good for their time. While I'm still talking about characters, I want to mention how creepy Bowser looks.
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| Uhh... I really don't know what to say about that. |
The music in this game is very good and a joy to hear. Each song fits its theme, from being calm and soothing for water levels, to being festive for cold levels. Sounds are well recorded and fit their places in the game. There aren't many voices in the game, but we do have Mario's grunts, Bowser's roar and a Chain Chomp's bark. They may start sounding like a broken record, but they too are well recorded and pass.
Super Mario 64 is a great game and well worth the time. With its vast levels, fun bosses and much more, Super Mario 64 is worth it to be on your Virtual Console collection. If you don't own a Wii, but own a Nintendo DS, check out its remake Super Mario 64 DS. I may do a review on it later on it just for kicks, but until then, thank you for reading.
Gameplay-5
Graphics-5
Music-5
Sounds/Voices-5
Controls-5
Overall-10
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