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&emdash;Basic Info. &emdash;

Release Date: September 26, 1996

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Number Of Players: One

System: Nintendo 64

Genre: Action-Adventure Platform

Super Mario 64 was technically the first game to ever come out with the Nintendo 64. And Super Mario 64 was exactly what the new system needed. A new Mario game.

 

Mario was The Man. He was the original system mascot, and quickly warp-piped into the hearts of the world. A chubby plumber, his tall, skinny brother Luigi, and a hoard of really strange bad guys; Mario and friends have reappeared many times on every system created by Nintendo. The Nintendo mascot grabbed gamers, and drew them in where they were needed. The 64 was the first of the "new systems", but the lack of popular titles coming out with the N64 would cause a gap in sales for Nintendo at the 64's birth. The gap was lessened, almost depleted, with the release of Super Mario 64.

This was the first Platform Adventure game for Mario. Princess Peach invited Mario to the Castle because she "baked a cake for you!" (Random fact: With the release of this game, The Princess finally received a first name.) Mario arrives via warp-pipe, and is met with disaster. Bowser has broken in the Castle and kidnapped the Princess Toadstool. And, he has stolen 120 stars from the Castle, removing all the magic from its walls and hiding them in the Castle's paintings. As Mario, you are on a quest to regain the stars, and once again have the power to save the Princess and the rest of the castle. To do this, you must jump into the collection of paintings hung on the Castle walls, and enter fantastic words filled with many familiar baddies to save the stars.

Collect the stars. Defeat Bowser. Save the Princess.

There are 15 worlds in the Castle. In each world, you have 7 stars you can collect, and there are other hidden stars in the castle itself. The game is filled with puzzles, so keep your wits about you. And it's not easy. At first, you think you have the hang of it--- nope. The levels get progressively more difficult as you collect more stars. But never fear&emdash;you only need a mere 70 stars to make your way to Bowser and save the day!

This game has fantastic replay value. You cannot collect all the stars when you first play it. The levels are amusing, and go by quickly. And the game is very addicting! Beware: You can turn on your 64 and find yourself droopy eyed and with 30 stars at midnight before you know it. Not to mention all the fun you can have with Mario's "Caps". In this game, when Mario beats secret levels, they make blocks appear all over these worlds. From these blocks come caps in Red, Blue, or Green. Each cap gives you a special ability, such as the power to fly. And there are races and other mini-games in the levels as well.

The music is addicting. Both music and sound effects have been well thought out by Nintendo, a wise choice for the first 64 game. I find myself humming the silly background music tunes constantly. And the sound effects are great. The best is when Mario himself speaks. He'll fall asleep if you don't move him for a while and will coo, "Ahh, ravioli…" "Ahh, linguini…" And when you die, Mario will be thrown out of the painting, collapse on the ground and cry "Mama Mia!"

The controls are pretty simple. But you have a huge collection of moves for Mario. He runs, jumps, crawls, slides, shimmies, dashes, flies, ducks, punches, and flips. Let me tell you, Mario is quite the gymnast. You would never gather from his short-pudginess either. The only qualm I have with this is the flying controls. They are pretty difficult to conquer. But, I know Nintendo made them that way. If flying was easy, we'd all do it.

Being the first game from a brand new system, Super Mario 64's graphics were quality. The Nintendo 64 marks the entrance to the 3D world for Nintendo systems. Polygons are a Gamer's best friend. The whole game had a great cartoonish feel to it, and fit the Mario games perfectly. Nintendo did not try anything too flashy here, they were wise not to spoil Mario. Again, only one qualm. In water, some weird things can happen. Mario can stutter, or he can try to swim through walls… but the water looks nice. So, I'm not complaining.

Your typical Platform, Nintendo did very well with this. Addicting, never boring (unless you just can't get anymore stars), and always something new. Trust me. Plus, you don't have to be perfect to win the game. Just, have a really good handle on the controls.

&emdash;Scores&emdash;

Graphics: 9

Music/Sound Effects: 10

Plot: 8.......All you do is get stars. Sometimes you get annoyed. Sometimes.

Controls: 8 ......What can I say, the flying really bothers me!

Camera Angle: 8...........It can be a real pain…

Replay Value: 10

Originality: 10.........Once again in infamous "Stars" from Kirby reappear, but we'll let this one slide.

Overall: 9

Random Fun Tidbit: If you play this game for no other reason, play it for the fact that you can make Mario's face look as strange as you want in the opening screen.