Super Mario 64

The story is the gripping tale of deceit, deception and lost love that you'd expect from a Mario title. By that we mean that Princess Peach gets kidnapped again and isn't around for tea and crumpets with Mario when he arrives. Devastating, really. The game starts with a quick description of the story and then a tour of the castle grounds. This is truly the moment where the gaming community rubbed their proverbial eyes and finally admitted they were in the next generation. The camera swoops and pans, obviously knowing the effect it's having on the audience, and then it shows Mario leaping out of a mushroom pipe. Cue jaws hitting the ground.

 

As it was, the graphics of the game blew all others out of the water because of the effective use of what is now comparatively limited power. A fully 3D world viewable from practically any angle requires a lot of processing, so the game used detailed, bold coloured textures and simple shapes. Super Mario 64 was not officially being the first 3D platformer, but because of the complete freedom it offered, it was the first one that actually felt like it was an actual 3D world. Although it was graphically, the best game at it's release, the beauty of this game is the way it uses the power intelligently and without compromising the 3D world immersion or framerate. So whether flying above it or sprinting away from an enemy, the game looks incredible. But if you're going to go out and buy the game now, be warned. Nintendo has since refined Mario's look for his massive line of GameCube games; it might be quite startling to go back to the 64-era Bowser and Mario. The character animations aren't particularly incredible, because most of the enemies are simple models with a vague feet shuffle to indicate their movement. Mario, however, is animated down to the last moustache hair and performs all his jumps with grace and fluidity.

Still true to his 'Jumpman' roots, Mario is the jumping king. Spin jumps, backflips, triple jumps, wall jumps, this guy's got it all. All these jumps are explained to the player by signs near where they're first used, and once you know how to use them all, you'll find yourself leaping and bounding your plumber to his destiny with ease. Mario's attack moveset has been increased from jumping on heads and the occasional fireball, but is still only one button. This is because the attack button is contextual, i.e. the action being performed changes depending on Mario's position. This takes some perfecting, but once you know exactly what he'll do in every situation, it becomes second nature.

 

By now most gamers will know the structure of a 3D platformer as a game where the character begins in a hub world and finds ways into other, special worlds by exploring the hub. Mario 64 was the first games to really standardize this format by making all the castle's stars hidden in paintings that had come to life. Each painting opens up to a world with 10 stars for the player to find, with just a small clue to help you out. Normally these paths are pretty straightforward, but sometimes you might get stuck with a confusing clue or a hard challenge. Luckily, the newer paintings are opened up by the player having a defined amount of stars, so if you are stuck, just move onto another painting to progress though the game.

 

Koji Kondo had composed almost all of Mario's previous games and defined all of the main adventures. The improved sound capable with the N64 let Koji update and reinterpret some of his themes, and composing new tracks that fit right with the old ones, i.e. the catchiness of approximately 'TV Ad Jingle' level. This game was also the first to feature Mario speaking through Charles Martinet. Even if it's completely incomprehensible at times, it's still pretty funny.
The length of the game is admirable, even without finding every single star. There is so much to do in each painting and even just around the grounds of Peach's castle, that getting to the 120 star mark is an adventure worth undertaking, but only if you're patient. Some of the harder stars will cause you to snap that weird, three-pronged controller in frustration, but if you get all 120 stars you'll be treated to seeing Yoshi on the top of the castle AND have some sense of accomplishment. Each level shares some common features, such as a collection of 8 red coins, but most stars are unique in their challenges and keep the game fresh over the entirety of the game.