Super Mario 64SYSTEM: Nintendo 64
DEVELOPER: Nintendo- (Created by Shigeru Miyamoto)
PRODUCER: Nintendo
PRICE: $69.99
RATED: Kids to Adults
Without a doubt this is the best video game I have ever played. My hats off to Shigeru Miyamoto. Previously I had not been one of Nintendo's biggest supporters. Sure, I knew they made some great games, but I felt they got way more recognition than they deserved. Now I'm jumping on the Nintendo bandwagon too. This game is truly unbelievable in every respect, and Nintendo deserves all the praises they get!!
Before it's release, had someone told me that Super Mario 64 would be this good, I'd laughed in their face. Prior to playing I did not believe games could reach the standards that Mario 64 has set. Also, I do not believe anyone will even match them for a long time to come. This game introduces so many new gameplay and graphical elements that it unbelievable.
To explain the game, it's traditional Mario as you'd expect except this time he's in 3D. You have a large world to explore with levels up the kazoo. You set out in search of the 120 hidden stars (You can complete it with 70 though), to save your princess. You go through level after level gathering stars, when you get enough new doors in the castle will open up to you. Most levels will have to be explored more than once to get all the stars. As an example, you may have to win a race with Koopla the Quick for one star, then gather 100 coins for the next. All on the same level.
The graphics are truly amazing. We expected that with all the build in graphical features of the Nintendo 64 (Anti-aliasing, real time graphic rendering, ect..). What we did not expect was that game goes beyond features. The programmers used the capabilities of the N64 so well that at times you may get sick due to the feeling of height while on platforms. This wasn't just N64 features, this was programming at it's very best!!
The sound is, well Mario sound. This is a good thing! It works perfectly to give you that classic Mario feel. Still, it's not CD music, and it has to be downrated a little because of that. I gave the sound a 95%, which is the lowest rating I gave this game in any catagory (But still higher than 99% of the games out there).
The gameplay in this game is nothing short of perfection. There's always something to do, and in every instance it is a total blast. To tell the truth, we played this game for about 4 months before we got tired of it. Matter of fact, my 5 year old beat it, and still replayed most levels for fun factor alone. This is not too amazing for a kid, except for the fact that he has literally thousands of games in which to choose from. If it wasn't that great, he'd be playing something else. The character interaction, balance, and draw you in factor were all just about perfect. It probably would've got 100% except for a slight few camera angle problems.
First game of it's kind, can't get more original than that. Some may say that Mario's an old character so the game doesn't deserve such a high rating in the originality department. I say nobody's seen Mario (or any other game) anything like this so he fits the originality rating perfectly.
Replay value? Yes, as I've said before it will really draw you in. Expect to get totally hooked on this game!!
The new analog controller works perfectly with Super Mario 64. Flying (Yes, I said flying!), swimming, jumping, all feel perfectly natural with this controller. It is truley perfect for this game.
I just can't say enough good things about this game. It is near perfect. If you don't have a Nintendo 64, this game is good enough reason to go out and buy one. Which is exactly what I did!
RATINGS
GRAPHICS 99%
SOUND 95%
GAMEPLAY 99%
ORIGINALITY 99%
REPLAY VALUE 99%
OVERALL 98.2%
