Super Mario 64, Copyright 1996,
Nintendo
In 1996, a comet named Super Mario 64 hit the face the world of computer games. This was
the game. SM64 was the game that single-handedly kept the
Nintendo 64 alive in its first year on the market, until
Mario Kart 64 and
Goldeneye were able to share the burden. SM64 was loved by almost
everybody. It was the birth of a new genre, the
3D platformer. A few platform games had made struggling reaches out into the third dimension before Mario, such as
Jumping Flash, but they all had been written off as niche games due to poor control and almost unanimously disastrous camera angles.
Brainchild of
Shigeru Miyamoto, one of the most brilliant game designers of our day and age, SM64 was the first 3D platformer to mesh tight, intuitive controls with a
good camera system. In fact, it took the rest of the world a good two or three years to catch up with Miyamoto's masterpiece, as Mario was followed by a number of clones trying to cash in on the success of the game. None of them came close to the technical brilliance of Mario.
The line of
Mario games, under Miyamoto's guidance, has been one of consistently amazing quality. Every Mario game has been an incredible success, and they all stand the test of time to this day as wonderful games. The task of updating Mario for the new Nintendo 64 was daunting, as the plight of the console depended on not only a good game, but a truly amazing game. Without it, Nintendo would be dead in the water against the competition of their old rival
Sega's Saturn and the stunning success of console newcomer
Sony's Playstation.
The story is simple, Mario emerges from the plumbing pipes into the courtyard of the castle of
Princess Peach. Mario discovers upon entering the castle that his old nemesis,
Bowser, has captured the Princess and all of her stars. Mario must release the stars and battle Bowser and his minions to save the princess. His arsenal consists of a variety of jumps and punches, a cap that allows him to fly, a cap that allows him to walk through thin walls, and a cap that encases him in steel, allowing him to walk underwater. The player proceeds through the levels collecting all one hundred and twenty stars, until the final battle with Bowser. The many landscapes are all brilliant and colorful, ranging from a haunted house stored in a bird cage, to a castle and courtyard on an island floating in the sky.
3D platformers have advanced now since the origin of SM64, and the camera feels a little sluggish to a contemporary gamer. But, the game still oozes fun from every pore, and is well worth playing for all of those who've succesfully avoided the game. The game was an important step in the evolution of games. It opened the eyes of the public to the fact that 3D was applicable to every genre of game, even those that seemed to not allow it. The Mario gameplay from past games was always recognizable. You knew what to expect from a Mario game. The slide when you reversed direction as mario's feet gained traction. The arc of the jumps when you hit the jump button. Gamers knew what a Mario game was. Nobody expected the series to maintain that feel into a 3D game. Miyamoto not only met that challenge, but crafted a huge game of incredible detail.