Back in 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. This game would go on to define how the 2D platformer is played and is easily one of the most important video games of all time. It set a certain standard for the platformer would be play and progress that while the mechanics have aged much of the basics set by the game are still there. Now, most video game franchises don’t even get one game that important, Super Mario would get another in 1996.
Much like how SMB set the standard Super Mario 64 would do the same for the 3D platformer. Sure 3D gaming and even platforming had been done up to this point Super Mario 64 was one arguably the first time it had been done so fluently. From the minute you boot the game up with the iconic voice of Mario (provided by the great Charles Martinet) greeting you with “It’s-a me, Mario!” and then Mario’s disembodied head greeting you, you are set for something big.
The minute Mario pops up on the garden outside Peach’s Castle you immediately taken in with how much freedom of movement you have. Mario had never had so many moves at his disposal and the game encourages you from the outset to jump around and play with them. When you enter Bob-Omb Battlefield and are really allowed to put these skills to test the game really starts to shine. After that, it is just an almost never-ending sequence of imagination and creativity. Snow-capped mountains, underwater grottoes, haunted houses a world where you can go from Tiny to Huge with just a pipe, inside a giant clock and finally in the sky there is so much variety and especially when you set out to collect all 120 Stars. And top it off Mario 64 has one of the most memorable soundtracks in the Mario franchise that continues to be an inspiration for the modern games as well as Mario fanbase.
On a personal note, I was 14 when I first got to play Super Mario 64. I was around for Super Mario Bros.’s release but was too young to appreciate the importance to gaming it had at the time. Super Mario 64 from some of the earliest videos got my imagination flowing. It was one of the first games I ever remember following from the earliest screenshots to release. I had dreams about playing Mario 64 that was how hyped I was. When I finally got to play Mario 64 Christmas 1996 everything about the game was just stunning. I had never seen or played anything like it before. To this day the opening pan where you follow Lakitu around the outside of the castle to where Mario pops out of the pipe still gives me that feeling that makes me smile a little bit. It is hard to explain but it just feels perfect in many ways.
The fact that it has been almost (as of this writing) 24 years since Mario 64 made its official debut is still absolutely mindblowing. In that time the industry has continued to evolve and some aspects of Mario 64 now seem antiquated but it can’t be stressed that Mario 64 was the game that set many of the standards for how you control a character in a 3D space in a fluid way. And 3D Mario games still remain among the best in the genre and I feel a lot of that is because Nintendo nailed the concept of the 3D platformer so well that they haven’t had to drastically change things. Just build upon and innovate rather than trying to figure out or redefine the formula with every game. And to this day whether playing it on original hardware, VCs or other, more nefarious, means it still remains completely playable.
The New Age Retro Mage has been gaming since the mid-80s since the Atari 2600 all the way to today. Loves the retro and loves the new, because if you can’t find enjoyment in what came before or what comes after, what’s the point? Wanna yell at him? He is on Twitter @chrisbg99.
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