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| An all-time classic. |
Super Mario 64 is regarded as one of the best games of all-time back when it debuted in 1996 for the Nintendo 64. The first game in the series to transition into 3D graphics, the game brought a slew of new features to the mix and was met with wild success. Ever since then, Super Mario 64 is regarded as a classic with it being an example of "doing 3D games right" and recently getting released for the iconic red plumber's 35th anniversary as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Nintendo Switch. Having never played the game before, I got excited at the prospect of finally playing the game on Switch. How does Super Mario 64 hold up years later? Surprisingly well, actually.
The game starts off with Mario getting invited by Princess Peach to the Mushroom Kingdom, however, when he gets there, Mario finds the castle to be empty. Turns out that Bowser has captured the Princess and the Toads inside various paintings around the castle and it's up to him to collect "Power Stars" in order to find Bowser and save the day. Pretty simplistic story, but its a Mario game after all, so the main focus isn't here. That said, the game's ending was nice.
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| The gameplay is fun and even challenging at times. |
You'll be mainly exploring Peach's castle in search of power stars that are hidden in paintings. These unlock parts of the castle's floors as well as new levels. Each level has its own theme from the grassy fields of Bob-omb Battlefield to the creephouse of Big Boo's Haunt to the snowy Cool Cool Mountain, so the game's not short on variety. Levels are divided into courses, each giving you a new objective as you fully explore the level with a Power Star being rewarded at the end. Some even are packed with power-ups like the Flying Cap, Vanish Cap, and Metal Cap, which offer Mario special abilities for a brief period. Despite an abundance of annoying levels like Shifting Sand Land and the Vanish Cap course and a few boring ones like Wet-Dry World and Rainbow Ride, I found the level selection here to be solid. My favorites were Bob-omb Battlefield, Cool Cool Mountain, Hazy Maze Cave, and Big Boo's Haunt.
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| Mario's got a bunch of tricks in store. |
As for Mario, he can pull off various moves like a triple jump, wall jump, long jump, side jump, backward somersault, punches, and kicks--- surprisingly athletic for a plumber! Throughout the game, you'll making good use of these moves if you're planning on beating every course and collecting all stars, which is by no means an easy task. The controls have aged decently at best. Controlling Mario is often times slippery when your trying to adjust his position, only for him to accidentally fall of a ledge, costing you a life. That and flying when using the Flying Cap were a pain to navigate. The worst offender was the crappy camera, which often tends to obscure your view in crucial jumps, and was a constant nag to adjust every time you're moving Mario.
The game has good replay-value since there are over 120 power stars to collect in total and 70 of them are needed for the final boss. That leaves you with a couple of levels to play, each with their own themes and challenges to explore. Overall, the game took me around 12-13 hours and that's without getting all of the power stars.
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| Old game, old BS. |
Being a Nintendo 64 game from 25 years ago, it's not a surprise that Super Mario 64 looks ancient compared to the newer games. Still, the game packs a ton of charm thanks to its colorful visuals and cartoony art-style, which personally helped the game age more gracefully. The designs of the Goombas, Boos, Shy Guys, were all unique and gave the game a healthy dose of variety as well. The Switch port of the game polishes visual aspects of the game by adding cleaner textures and models as well as offering a bump in resolution, making the game a lot more sharp. It also features Joy-Con and Pro Controller support, which worked well since I've played the game with the latter.
Interestingly, the game marked the first time Mario was voiced by non-other than Charles Martinet, who continues to voice the plumber to this day. No surprise, he delivers a fantastic job in capturing Mario's charm and his lines were memorable. As for the soundtrack, it's among the best Nintendo has ever produced hands down. From gaming legend Koji Kondo, the game is filled with many, many nostalgic tracks like the Main Theme, Special stage theme, Dire Dire Docks, Metal Mario, Cave Dungeon, and Credits theme.
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| While on the dated side, Mario 64 is still an eye-catching game. |
Super Mario 64 remains a fun and engaging game decades later. While it's by no means perfect, I had a lot fun with the game's various levels and poking around the castle. The presentation holds up due to its charming art-style and catchy soundtrack. While the next 3D Mario games improved upon Mario 64's foundations, it's still worth a play for newcomers looking to enjoy a piece of history, if you can get around some of its annoying parts.
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