Super Mario 64

September 26, 1996 was the day everyone's dreams came true. That was when the best Mario game of all time was released in North America. That game was Super Mario 64.

Super Mario 64 is not just any game. It was Mario's leap into the world of 3D gaming that would revolutionize his future games to come. With an incredible story and state-of-the-art graphics (back then), this would be the best Mario game any gamer would own.

Super Mario 64 starts off with Princess Toadstool sending a letter to Mario, saying that she has baked a cake for him. To Mario's dismay, when he gets there, he finds out that Bowser has kidnapped the princess, and stole all the Power Stars from the castle. Mario must now travel to the painting-worlds to get all 120 power stars and save the princess.

Gameplay is superb: The player controls Mario through several courses to collect Power Stars. The courses are fairly big where the player can wander around wherever they can. Coins and 1-Up mushrooms are some of the objects that can be collected in the courses. There are also enemies, that attack and make you lose health, and friendly characters, that help out Mario (example: The Red Bob-omb opens cannons that can blast Mario in far away places). There are also power-ups that come in the form of caps: The Wing Cap allows Mario to fly, the Invisibility Cap allows Mario to turn invisible, making him run through walls and enemies, and the Metal Cap allows Mario to become metal, allowing him to walk underwater. When collecting a certain number of Power Stars, Mario can face Bowser in special courses. Defeating Bowser grants him a key to other courses in the castle.

Controls are a breeze to get used to: A to jump and to swim underwater, B to attack, grab objects, and another way to swim underwater, Z to crouch, C buttons for camera, L + R buttons also for camera, and the Control Stick to move. With various combinations of buttons, you can also execute a double jump, a triple jump, jump kick, long jump, and back flip. You can also do the wall kick, jumping from one wall to another.

 

In conclusion, this game is truly a classic. I have had this game for a while now, and I never get bored playing. All I can say is this: Miyamoto, well done. Well done indeed.

Score: 10/10