Everyone remembers where they were when they first saw Super Mario 64. While the generation of 3D was already well underway by the point that this was released this showcased the true potential of the jump in graphics. I myself had no knowledge of the Nintendo 64, and had limited exposure to the Sony PlayStation when I noticed this spectacle on display in a store. Never before had I seen any video game that offered so much freedom of movement, and in such a compelling way. When my turn came in line I was in such amazement that I simply had to have a Nintendo 64. I soon learned that my at the time favorite franchise, Final Fantasy, was going to be available only on rival hardware. By the time I finally saved enough to buy one next generation console I had quite the dilemna on my hands, but after much consideration decided to go with the Nintendo 64 because of this title alone. When I got home I was immersed in a fully 3D world and knew that video games had changed forever. Today I’m going to take a look at this game from a modern viewpoint. It was (and in most ways still is) the absolute pinnacle of this genre.
This adventure begins with Mario receiving a special invitation from Princess Peach (formerly known as Toadstool) to join her in the castle because she has baked a cake for him. He arrives to an empty castle, and is soon informed that Bowser has once again kidnapped his royal gal pal. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but the setting is confined only to the castle this time which serves as the hub world. This is where Super Mario 64 takes a different turn from the other installments in the franchise. Each room in here contains a painting which, upon jumping into, opens up into a self contained level. Within each of these stages are seven power stars that are used to unlock doors thus opening up new stages. To acquire these you must complete an outlined task, and these goals offer a ton of variety. In some cases you must make it to and defeat a boss while other objectives include racing characters, reaching specific areas, etc. The developers got really creative with this, and it more than makes up for the fact that Super Mario 64 has less stages than most other installments in the franchise because each area is re-purposed so darn well.
In Super Mario 64 you have full freedom of movement thanks to the analog stick on the Nintendo 64. You can move the titular character in all directions in three dimensional space. What makes things interesting is that Mario has a wide range of acrobatic moves. He can perform a standard jump, and three of these in a row results in a higher reaching hop that can be used to access higher areas. He can also perform a reverse jump when you reverse directions and press the A button. In addition Mario can climb ropes/pillars, crawl, and swim in water. Keeping with tradition you can defeat most enemies by jumping atop their head. Nintendo realized that this much more difficult given the new range of control, and gave Mario the ability to punch foes as a means to compensate for this. It works pretty well and feels surprisingly natural. Initially I was a little disappointed that none of the traditional power-ups are included here. There’s no super mushroom; this time Mario’s health is measured with a circular meter at the top of the screen that depletes as he is hit. There’s no fire flower or even cape/tanuki suit. Instead Nintendo went with something new.
Hats are what give Mario unique abilities this time around, but there’s only three of them. The first is the metal cap that slows him down and limits his jumping ability but allows him to sink in water. He’s also invincible while wearing this one. It may not sound particularly useful, but Nintendo integrated it into several of the star challenges. Next up we have the vanish cap which is a little boring to be honest. He’s also invincible while wearing this hat, but its only real use is that it lets you pass through specific environmental hazards. The big one is the wing cap which allows Mario to fly. Unfortunately he cannot gain elevation; you stay in the air by using his momentum to dive and rise up. Nintendo must have realized that flying was a fan favorite technique, and that everyone would want to do so in 3D space. It’s fun, but difficult to master. The power-ups are okay, but they’re all pretty uncommon and are mostly reduced to gimmickry.
The absolute high point of Super Mario 64 is its level design. Right from the first level you know you’re in for a treat. While the stages are set up mostly in a three dimensional cube they’re large enough that it feels like a living breathing world. Enemies are rarely a hazard and most pose minimal threat at first. In the beginning you’ll be able to traipse right past most of them, but gradually their placement becomes more intelligent and demanding. In the later areas platforming becomes absolutely integral with a significant number of bottomless pits requiring tight and well planned jumps. Some areas even focus on puzzles. Big Boo’s Haunt, in particular, is one of the best designed levels in any platformer. It’s also surprisingly eerie and could almost function as a light survival horror game. You also have Tiny Huge Island which pays great homage to Super Mario Bros. 3, and requires you to switch the size of the level by going down pipes at several intervals to proceed. Others such as the Shifting Sand Land and Lethal Lava Land contain separate areas within them that could be considered their own levels. Even worlds based on water are a pure joy to explore, and swimming freely through the water is incredibly lucid and fun. You’ll never get bored returning to a stage. There is a stifling amount of variety here and exploring every nook and cranny is incredible fun.
Most games from the 32/64-bit generation haven’t aged particularly well. 3D was still just taking hold, and the hardware just couldn’t offer smooth gameplay without some major sacrifices. Somehow even as a launch title Super Mario 64 transcends this problem. Although character models as well as the environments are very polygonal the frame rate holds at a steady rate no matter what is happening on-screen. You’ll have enemies approaching while environmental hazards animate and it all looks great. That is truly impressive especially when you take into mind the vast scale, and the fact that the draw distance is so great that in most places you can see to the farthest edge of most stages. In the very first level you can see the top of the mountain you must climb from your starting position, and when you get to the top you can look back at where you started. This was truly impressive back in the day. The only problem with the visuals is the camera. It can be erratic, and you’ll constantly have to re-adjust the view using the camera buttons. The soundtrack is incredible and very memorable. The Dire, Dire Docks theme is absolutely mesmerizing, and is the track that sticks out most in my memory. Everything else is pretty good and fits the Mario theme well. This also marks the first time a mainline Mario title featured voice work even though the portly plumber’s vocabulary is pretty limited overall. The audio here is pretty impressive.
Several generations later Super Mario 64 is still the standard that I compare all other 3D platformers to, and few are even in the same galaxy as this one. It’s hard to believe that this was a launch title for the Nintendo 64 because I consider it one of the absolute pinnacles of the generation. This title single handedly made the console, and despite the fact that releases were sparse for the system it didn’t matter because this was so easy to return to. This is best on the original hardware in my opinion but is begging for an HD remake.
