Super Mario 64 is probably the single most important video game ever made. It’s also almost assuredly the single most-cited “greatest of all time” in the medium, and considering what it did to the industry, it’s no wonder why. Mario 64 is still considered king of the speedrunning scene–a testament to the quality with which Mario controls. In fact, much of my joy from playing through it came from performing the iconic speedrunning strategies like Cannonless, (failing at) Owlless, and the endless staircase BLJ, to name the well-known ones. Unfortunately, due to a larger focus on tighter platforming as the game progresses, the later levels soured my taste on the title and struggled to live up to the excellence of the early levels in my opinion. Those early stages like Bob-Omb Battlefield, Whomp’s Fortress, and Cool Cool Mountain are near perfect displays of what makes Mario 64 so Super.