GENRE
	Platform
	DEVELOPER
	EAD
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONTROLLER PAK
	no
	RUMBLE PAK
	no
	RAM PAK
	no
	BUY NOW AT

This is one of those rare occasions where the game lives up to the hype. Super Mario 64 is ingenious. The moment you take your first steps with a 3D Mario using Nintendo's revolutionary analog stick--you're hooked. I haven't met anybody who hasn't wasted at least half an hour just running around outside the castle, sliding, jumping, stomping, diving, swimming... There are no enemies here and there's really nothing to do, but boy is it fun! That's what Nintendo is all about. You don't just get thrown into the midst of action trying to figure out the controls and dying 20 times because you can't quite make that flip. You have time to try everything out. No pressure. When you're ready you simply enter the castle and the game really begins.

Once you're inside you realize how huge this world is. There are plenty of doors that lead to a variety of different courses and tons of secrets to be discovered. Your mission is to find stars (a total of 120 for the best ending) and defeat bosses until you face the evil Bowser who yet again kidnapped that little blonde princess. In contrast to the typically cheesy Mario story are the graphics and the gameplay.

visuals

Everything looks so gorgeous and moves so smoothly you completely forget you're playing a game. This is Mario World, with its cute looking characters, its snow and water levels, mountain courses, its gold coins and shy ghosts -- but now everything is in 3D . The graphics really are beautiful (none of that distance fog stuff) and Mario's animation rivals the smooth movements of the best polygon fighting games. If your only 3-D platform experience is with the PSX game "Jumping Flash," then you're really in for a surprise. The control is perfect and like in fighting games you can pull off a variety of moves. Gone are the days were Mario had to jump on his enemies' heads to get rid of them. Sure, you can still do that -- but it's a lot more fun to punch or stomp or slide or kick or grab them and throw them off a ledge. And although the original Super Mario World was fast in some levels, nothing prepared you for the bone-breaking speed you gain when sliding down a steep slope or soar high above the ground with your winged hat.

There is of course the problem with the third dimension. When walking a straight line and the camera switches or pans, then the control directions change according to the new angle. This will probably throw you off (literally) a couple of times, before you get the hang of it.

audio

The music sounds perfectly retro-Mario with some nice effects like the Sitar and Tabla sounds in the lava levels. Nintendo even made the soundtrack context sensitive in some levels: if you jump into the water strings slowly start accompanying the music and when you enter a cave the drums kick in.

gameplay

There's no question about it: Mario 64 deserves all the praise it's gotten. There really is no game like it. Nothing else offers the same sense of discovery, of absolute control and immersion -- and manages to be this fun to play. It's not perfect (e.g. there's some coin pop-up problems in some levels) but it's darn close... If you haven't played Super Mario 64 yet, you're missing the most ground-breaking game since that strange little first-person shooter called "Doom" hit the PC market.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

Next Generation Magazine recently crowned Mario 64 the best game ever, ahead of Final Fantasy, Elite, Warcraft II and Quake! 'nuff said.

9.7/10