Super Mario 64 is a title I'm sure at least 95 percent of you are familiar with. After all, it was Mario's first real venture into the 3D gaming world, and his big adventure on the N64. I did not own this game until about two or three months ago, when I purchased it at a FuncoLand store (coincidentally, a few days after I gave up on Super Mario Sunshine for good). I knew so much about this game already, except what the gameplay would be like. Someone told me that if I hated Super Mario Sunshine, my opinion of Super Mario 64 would be no different. This was cause for concern as I started playing this game. (Thanks again to the tourist we all know as Lord Seth for another strategy guide link.)
I'm sure many of you are very aware of how I feel about Super Mario Sunshine. I figure that 999 out of 1000 people probably strongly disagree with my opinion on that game. Those 999 of you probably think that I hate 3D games in general, and I don't blame you. After all, I did struggle with Donkey Kong 64 (though liking it anyway). This Review will inspect whether the problem is with 3D games in general, or if it is possible to make a very good 3D game, in my opinion.
This game is reviewed on the classic
0-4 star scale, which somehow still survives today. Although it's mean
and unfair, I'm going to also bring
back the old +/-/= system, where + means SM64 is better than SMS in the
category the sign appears, - means
it's worse, and = means it's the same. That isn't fair to a Nintendo 64
game, comparing it to its GameCube sequel, right? You answer that... I'll
also be putting this Review in the
same order as the Review of Super Mario
Sunshine.
Story: *1/2
The story starts so abruptly, it's really confusing. If I hadn't known the story off everyone else, I would still not know what happened. Of course, that's probably because I was banging on my A Button at the very beginning, and the story went by really fast. I assume Bowser's somewhere inside the castle with Peach, but since you're entering places through paintings, this is another "magical" capture- one that can't be understood except by realizing that Bowser's using some sort of magic or whatever. Anyway, it's a pretty boring story anyway- I'm glad I skipped it.
What concerns me more is the atmosphere
of the game, mainly the castle and outdoors part of it. There is
this spooky, eerie feeling inside the
castle I get, partially from the music, which for some reason gives a haunting
feeling even though it sounds normal. There's also the fact that Luigi
is nowhere to be found, despite the million rumors on the Internet. There's
that spooky Eternal Star statue with all the Boos out the back of the castle
(which people read it as "L is real 2041"- a mystic reference to Luigi).
There's the fact that Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 were released very
close to each other in date, but there's no sign of Royal Raceway, meaning
this game must have occurred way before Mario Kart 64. Finally, there's
the "endless stairs"- which I still can't figure out how Nintendo made.
All of these things give Super Mario 64 a really strange, eerie atmosphere,
which I felt from the very beginning of the game. Does that kill the game
right off the bat? Absolutely not! But does it make this Mario game feel
a lot different from most other happy and cheerful Mario games? Yes, though
that may not be a bad thing... (+)
Graphics: ***
The funniest thing I've heard lately is that "Super Mario Sunshine is better than Super Mario 64 because it has much better graphics."
What a surprise!
If we are to take into consideration
that Super Mario 64 just so happened to be on a 64-bit system, and
Sunshine on a 128-bit system, we can
see why I am actually impressed by Super Mario 64's graphics. Yes, if you
play Sunshine and come back to Super Mario 64, you'll notice that Mario's
hands have no fingers, lots of things are still blurry or not round, and
that some things look like they're made of cardboard. But, if you compare
this game to a game released not too long after it, Mario Kart 64, you'll
realize that this game has very good graphics for the N64. While Mario
Kart 64's graphics were not impressive (that's a kind way of saying it),
Super Mario 64 did make pretty complex levels, which looked really nice,
including a beautiful Tall, Tall Mountain, a nice-looking Whomp's Fortress,
and the very eerie Hazy Maze Cave. I like the graphics enough to say that,
if judged in comparison to other games on the same system, Super Mario
64's graphics stack up more favorably compared to N64 games than Sunshine's
graphics do with Cube games. (+)
Sound: ***1/2
Even if this game had no music, it would
still beat Sunshine in this category, just because of that awful
secret level rendition of the Mario
theme song (the losers singing "doo-doo-doo" to it). But, this game has
some great songs, including:
-Hazy Maze Cave. This music, found in later levels as well, starts out really nicely, then continues on with a nice remix of the Mario underground music.
-Dorrie's Place. When you go down to
visit Dorrie in Hazy Maze Cave (I think that's its name), the music
gets really spooky, which makes it
even better.
-Peach's Castle. I don't know what it is about this music, but there's something about it that almost haunts me (sort of like the Lobby music in Diddy Kong Racing). To anyone else, it's just normal background music, but to me, this music gives me a very strange feeling.
-Jolly Roger Bay. This waterworld music is great. It's very beautiful-sounding.
-Vanish Cap. This music is, of course, the Starman music from Yoshi's Island, the only remix of the Starman music that makes it catchy, not repetitive and annoying.
-Big Boo's Haunt's Merry-Go-Round. Why does this music sound so familiar?
All of this music is great. There are
others I haven't mentioned that I recognized, ones that were in Mario
Party. This game doesn't quite make
it to the all-time best games in the music category, but it's pretty high
up there. (+)
Controls: ***1/2
After I played Super Mario 64, I wondered
how in the universe I gave Super Mario Sunshine a positive score
in this category, considering that
back on the N64, Nintendo made 3D movement easy. All you needed was three
buttons: A, B, and Z. Somersaults were so easy: just hold down Z and press
A to flip backwards (not press one direction, then switch to the other
direction and hope the jump works). Long jumping is very easy; no spin-jumping
is needed in this game. Camera control is the hardest thing to get used
to in this game, but
I'll cover most of that in the Camera
section. The only thing I'll subtract for is the overhead fences that Mario
can grab on to (Hazy Maze Cave Star #5); if you reach the end of the fence,
you automatically fall off, so that means you've got to tightrope-walk
to get to where you want to go. Wall-jumping isn't easy either, but it's
something that you can learn. (+)
Camera: no stars
I guess this should come as no surprise
to any of you who have played Super Mario 64: the camera stinks.
It'll change like mad on you (but at
least it won't give you close-ups and far away shots all of a sudden, like
in Sunshine). It's especially awful in places like Tall, Tall Mountain
and Tick Tock Clock, where you need precision in jumping and running. Is
it that hard to get a fixed camera behind Mario's back? (=)
Difficulty: **
If I were judging difficulty on how
much I like the difficulty of this game, I would give it four stars. This
is unquestionably one of the best games ever in the difficulty category,
ranking up there with Super Smash Bros. Melee and F-Zero X as the non-sports
games with the best difficulty level ever (sports games have
adjustable difficulty, which lets you
decide how hard or easy your game is).
Why is this game so good in the difficulty
category? It follows my "secret" formula for a good game in the
difficulty category: Start out easy,
getting a player interested in the game, but not frustrated. Then, as the
player gets more used to the controls and gameplay, make the game progressively
harder. In cases where a player may struggle with certain things (in this
game, Stars) but have an easier time with other things, make no specific
order for the things to be done in, but give the player a nice selection
of the order they want to play the game in.
Super Mario 64 perfectly follows this formula. While Bob-omb Battlefield may have been very, very easy, it at least got me to start to enjoy the game. Whomp's Fortress, Jolly Roger Bay, and Big Boo's Haunt were next, and after that, I was ready for anything the game would hand me. Plus, instead of forcing players to have to collect seven specific Stars in order from seven specific stages, the game lets you collect 70 Stars, in any order you want. So, if you get stuck on a Star, like I was on Hazy Maze Cave's Star #5 for a while, you can skip it and move on. I later did get that Star, with no pressure of having to get that Star in order to complete the game.
This game is neither too easy nor too
hard. Actually, in some cases, it's both, with some stages (Big Boo's
Haunt) being childishly easy, and some
stages (Rainbow Ride) being near-impossible. But overall, I have to
say that the difficulty was as good
as any I've seen besides Super Smash Bros. Melee and F-Zero X. (+)
Characters: ***1/2
These are REAL Mario characters! I see Goombas, I see Koopa Troopas, I see Bob-ombs, I see Chain Chomp! I don't see talking water packs, blubber-filled mumbling blobs, or a copy-off Mario! For some reason, the N64 seemed to always have this right. All N64 Mario games actually feel like Mario games, because they have mainly Mario characters. This game is no exception to that.
What's wrong with the characters? No Luigi, and no explanation as to why Luigi is not in this game. I will always wonder why it seems like Luigi doesn't even exist in this game. (+)
Items: **1/2
The items in this game are the three caps: Wing, Metal, and Vanish. Wing is my least favorite; it's almost impossible to control. I'd rather make random, very difficult jumps than try to control a Wing Cap. The Metal Cap is fun, yet a little confusing; going underwater, Mario takes a while to hit rock bottom, and it's so hard to control him as you jump down. Nevertheless, I prefer the Metal Cap to the Wing Cap. My personal favorite is the Vanish Cap (sweet music); it was a lot of fun in Jolly Roger Bay when I got to use both the Metal and the Vanish Caps for one Star. Fun items, but for once, Sunshine's FLUDD tops them all. (-)
Levels:
This is a little different from Super
Mario Sunshine's Review; I will give ratings on each and every level in
this game.
Bob-omb Battlefield: **
This place is great for beginners, but a bit boring; after a while, this place will run out of gas (Grass Land?).
Whomp's Fortress: ***
This place was pretty fun; getting a few of these Stars was a little tricky (and a little lucky for that cannon Star!).
Jolly Roger Bay: ***1/2
I had a lot of fun in Jolly Roger Bay. In fact, I liked lots of levels that had to do with swimming; this was the easiest of them all (Water Land?).
Cool, Cool Mountain: 1/2
I hate sliding. When I accidentally
chose to go here before Whomp's Fortress or Jolly Roger Bay, I thought
this game was the N64 version of Sunshine's
nightmares. Fortunately, I got a few Stars and chose to leave this place
for good.
Big Boo's Haunt: ***1/2
Sure, this place was easy, but it was
a ton of fun, too! There are tons of coins in this place; I've been
wondering exactly how many coins can
be collected here, as I'm sure there's close to 160 or more total
(this place is very reminiscent of
Luigi's Mansion).
Hazy Maze Cave: ****
Hazy Maze Cave is much harder than most other beginning levels. For some reason, however, I really liked this place. There are quite a few Stars that are very hard to get here, but after getting them I could look back and say that I fully enjoyed this fun and imaginative level.
Lethal Lava Land: *
Not much fun here. For every time I'd
do good in this level, I'd make one bad jump and be bouncing all over
the place. It wasn't too bad, but still
not one of the better ones (Dark Land?).
Shifting Sand Land: **1/2
Believe it or not, I didn't go here
or Lethal Lava Land until I had already reached 70 Stars (or was very
close to 70; I forget). The pyramid
was a ton of fun to navigate through, which gives this place a positive
rating (Desert Land?).
Dire, Dire Docks: ***
I really liked this place as well, being one of my favorite levels. That pole puzzle was quite a doozy, but a great accomplishment once you've figured it out.
Snowman's Land: ***1/2
Another one of my favorites, Snowman's Land has an awesome igloo puzzle, an ice puzzle, fun with a Troopa shell, and a big battle with another Bully (Ice Land?).
Wet-Dry World: ****
This place, even with some very difficult Stars to get, became one of my very favorites, after I fully enjoyed exploring each and every bit of this place. It's one of the really good levels in this game, and it's quite challenging as well.
Tall, Tall Mountain: **
This level was made very well, don't get me wrong. However, some of the Stars are flat-out evil in difficulty. How about the miracle jump needed in Breathtaking View from the Bridge? How about the mushroom-hopping, tightrope-walking, cannon-shooting in Shoot to the Lonely Mushroom? Both of these Stars were major accomplishments for me, in a very, very hard place.
Tiny-Huge Island: *1/2
Tiny-Huge Island confused me so badly. One minute, I'm having a long trip up a mountain, the next minute, I'm running up it. Trying to find some Stars is just plain tough, especially when you keep changing from big to little to big again (Giant Land?).
Tick Tock Clock: *
This torturous, Sunshine secret level-like place is easiest when entering at the top of the hour (minute hand on 12). Believe it or not, I actually have three or four Stars from this place, even with the terrible camera and super-tough difficulty. It's not a place to enjoy yourself, though, I've got to say.
Rainbow Ride: no stars
Eh... let's just say I don't want to talk about it (I can't talk about it, because I couldn't make it past that lava-breathing statue). This place could have been made maybe a little easier, perhaps (Sky Land?)?
LEVELS OVERALL: *** (not an average) (+)
Replayability: **
As I love to say, though we hate to admit it, there are always two sides to every story. Here's both sides of this story:
-The replayability is awesome! You start playing this game, and it just won't let you stop! You start enjoying yourself, and man, you never want this game to end! You want to play it forever! This game is super-large, with tons of secret Stars... wow! Even the bunny rabbit gives you a challenge! This game's so replayable, you'll be playing it for years! (+)
-The replayability is worthless. Even if you do collect 120 Stars, an almost-impossible task considering I can't come close on the Wing Cap course, all you get is 100 lives (erased when the power goes off) and get to watch Yoshi jump into the waterfall. Royal Raceway won't appear, the meaning of "L is real 2041" is not explained, and you'll never see Luigi in this game. You're playing for pride, not a reward, and quite frankly, it's a waste of time. (-)
So, which side of the story do you take?
I offer you both of my two opinions on this game's replay factor.
Pick and choose what you think is most
important.
Fun Factor!: ***1/2
This game would keep me up until 1:00 AM on some nights, wanting to get more Stars. Other times, it would interrupt meals. It was too fun to put down. Fortunately, there's still more for me to accomplish in Super Mario 64, though everything left for me to do is very hard. This one was fun from the first time I turned it on. The important difference between this and Sunshine: it still was fun every other time I turned it on. (+)
OVERALL: ***1/2
Where does Super Mario 64 rank? Not
#1, and not with my top three Mario games (SMB3, MK64, and N64 Tennis).
However, it's one of the best Mario games ever, nonetheless. I'd rank it
next to Yoshi's Island and
the Lost Levels (you read that right,
the Lost Levels), and I suggest that all true Mario fans play this game.
It's one of the greatest, and it proved to me that 3D games can be fun,
as long as the game-makers make them well.
I'm very happy I got this game after Super Mario Sunshine. This game outshined the awfulness of Sunshine to the point that the Mario series was redeemed in my mind again (at least the Mario series not on the Cube). I'm so glad this game washed that bad taste out of my mouth... Mario's a video game hero all over again! (+)
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