SUPER MARIO 64 REVIEW

Super Mario 64 is a 3D action-adventure game of epic proportions. For the first time ever, you can move Mario around anywhere you want and do whatever you want -- all in real-time, three-dimensional graphics. Swim in the lake. Jump into that tree. Walk on the wall like you used to do when you were a kid. Slide down a hill. Do a back flip to the platform above you. Slide down the ice slope. You are no longer confined to left and right or up and down motions. Go ahead and experiment, you never know what you may find.


Mario games typically never have been known for gameplay options, and Super Mario 64 is no exception. Basically, the only options are to load, copy and delete saved games, look at some coin and star statistics, and change the sound output. There are no options for controller configurations, difficulty levels or anything like that.

Your goal in Super Mario 64 is to find the hidden power stars in each level. There are 120 power stars in total, although only 70 are required to complete the game. To get a star, you must perform a particular task. The game gives you a hint about how to acquire each star. You might have to race a Koopa Troopa to the top of the mountain, get all eight red coins, take a baby penguin back to its mother, get a star off an eel's tail, navigate a pyramid and so forth. You can also get a seventh star in each of those courses if you get 100 coins, and there are other special ways to get stars, too.

Mario has an incredible repertoire of moves here compared to previous Mario games. Besides running and jumping, he can now punch, kick, dive, roll, stomp, back flip and leap high into the air. Running is now accomplished with the analog Control Stick. If you just press lightly in a direction, you will tiptoe. Press a little bit harder and Mario will jog. Press all the way in one direction and Mario will start to run.

Mama Mia...

Button placement feels natural right from the beginning. The A button makes Mario jump. The B button makes Mario punch. The Z trigger makes Mario stomp. And the C group is used to control the camera angle. When you use combinations of these buttons, the beauty of the control starts to shine through. Press the B button three times and Mario will kick. Press the A button twice and Mario will do a super jump. Jump and press the Z trigger and Mario will stomp a block or post in the ground. Run, jump and press the B button to make Mario dive. Jump into a wall and press the A button to make Mario bounce off the wall. Mario also has several other moves, including swimming, picking up items and climbing poles.

Since Super Mario 64 ushered us into the third dimension, camera control is understandably the game's Achilles' heel. First of all, you can press the R button to switch between Lakitu's camera (where the computer controls the camera angle, but you can still change it slightly if you need to) and Mario's camera (you have to control the camera every step of the way). If you stop and zoom all the way in on Mario, then you can look to see what's above and around you.

Most likely, you'll find that the camera angle is often not to your liking, and it's that battle with the camera that can be a little irritating. You can always rotate the camera left, right, in, or out to give you a better view of the obstacle you must clear, but you can't always rotate the camera to get that perfect view.

Mario is no longer camera shy

Super Mario 64 places more emphasis on exploring rather than the platforming aspect of other Mario games. As you explore, you'll encounter worlds like grasslands, a castle in the air, underwater levels, snow worlds, a ghost house, underground levels, fire and lava levels, desert levels and more. You will find familiar things in these worlds, too. The game's enemies range from new creations to polygon-modeled enemies from other games. You'll find Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Piranha Plants, and Thwomps. Of course, Bowser is in the game, and it's incredible when you face him. Finally, platforms haven't disappeared completely. There are see-saw platforms, rolling logs, platforms where you have to step on an arrow to make them move, breakaway platforms, rotating platforms and many others.

Graphically, Super Mario 64 has the look of a simple, colorful cartoon. The simple geometry, however, means the game moves at a consistent frame rate throughout. There are a few places (noticeably in the water levels) where the smoothness suffers, but it doesn't warrant much complaint. You'll also notice how the graphics are smooth, with no jagged edges and no pixelation. Background pop-up, a mark of the 32-bit era, is non-existent in the game. Character pop-up, however, appears occasionally. Clipping, which is when you can see through polygons, happens more frequently than one would expect, but it has been cleaned up a little for the American version.

Sound in Super Mario 64 is better than expected. Mario has a number of screams, yells and one-liners. A few of his now-famous one-liners are "Mama Mia" and "Here we go!" Surprisingly, the Japanese version has less speech than the American version. In the American version, you'll find spoken dialogue in the beginning and ending and more sound effects. The music in Super Mario 64 is a combination of remixed Mario tunes and some original tunes. From a great bonus-time "whistling" tune to a steel drum remixed version of the theme, the tunes are composed brilliantly and can include subtle changes in the song (thanks to MIDI). For example, in the water stage, if you're out of water, the music is somewhat low key. But once you hop into the water, it becomes much more robust. And, once you swim into a cave and go on land, it adds drums to the mix.

This is a good idea

SCORING

GRAPHICS: 8.5  Looking back on this game now it is hard to say that an N64 game had good graphics. But from a perspective of time period, this game had graphics on par with the rest of the gaming world. Add in the 3D element to the mix and Super Mario 64 gets an edge.

AUDIO: 9  It's hard not to love the soundtrack for this game. The music is just as catchy as any Mario game, and there are even new songs made specifically for this game. It's even harder not to love every one of Mario's one liners, screams, yells, cries, and unidentifiable noises during a variety of situations.

GAMEPLAY/PLOT: 9  The usual, mundane plot of saving Peach from Bowser is in place here. But, the gameplay is incredible. Through all of the different worlds, terrains, enemies, and puzzles, it just doesn't get any better.

DIFFICULTY: 9.5  The game itself is probably at around an 8.5-9 for difficulty, but the fact that there are 120 stars to collect adds a completely different element to the game. Gamers will want to not only "get to the end" but they will also want to get every single star, and doing so is no small feat. This is grounds for a 9.5 in the difficulty category.

MULTIPLAYER/ONLINE PLAY:  N/A

MISCELLANEOUS: 8.5  Quite a few glitches occur in Super Mario 64. Be prepared to fall through solid obects and platforms, have the camera freak out, and watch Mario disappear through walls. These things sound and would be awesome...if they were supposed to happen.

Mario approves of our score. So should you.

OVERALL 9.1

Why the ".1?" Because we said so, that's why.

Super Mario 64 not only redefines a genre of gaming but sets a new benchmark from which all other games can be compared to. Just like Super Mario Bros. brought gaming to a whole new level back in 1985, Super Mario 64 has ushered us into a new era -- the third dimension. Believe the hype.