🏅91%
Super Mario 64 is a revolutionary step forward in this franchise. This is my first time playing it, and I was not disappointed. There's so much to love about it, but I had a few complaints I'll get out of the way before the great stuff. So the obvious one is the camera. It was a nightmare to control, especially as the game went on. It cost me many lives and the angles were wonky. Then you have the levels in the latter half of the game where the level design gets a little worse and it starts feeling more gimmicky to sell strategy guides. Last, there were a few cheap deaths I would find throughout.
Other than those things, I had such a great time with this game! It is able to spin the concept of the series by instead of just reaching the ends of levels, you'd complete these missions to get stars in these imaginative 3D worlds that don't really run out of variety. You are thrown into Bob-Omb Battlefield that shows you the basics of the game through awesome missions, and then get to see Whomp's Fortress for more enemy encounters and Jolly Roger Bay for swimming and more imaginative star missions. It's masterfully paced and the difficulty ramps up perfectly as the player gets more accustomed to the gameplay.
Speaking of gameplay, it is so immersive and just invests the player into the game so well where it is hard to stop playing. It is very addictive through this creative gameplay and never stops giving you something new. Then you have the secrets, which just makes the game go above and beyond. It was already revolutionary for video games, but adding the secret stars and locations up the gameplay to where it feels like you have to explore all the worlds to see what the game is offering. Some of the best parts of the game are in how fun the mechanics are, where you could spend a while outside Peach's castle trying to master all of Mario's moves like the triple jump and other moves like it. Then you have awesome sliding mechanics where when you get the penguin race or the secret slide star in the first few minutes of gameplay, you want to play more from how fun it is. The game also just tells a better story than the others of gathering these stars to restore the power, you aren't just finishing levels. You are doing more, and it leaves a super satisfying ending when completed.
Visually, it also looks great. While it didn't age too well in its graphics, they still look great and add charm to the game. The soundtrack is also something great with the main theme being iconic, but the underwater music is so soothing and leaves a landmark in video game history of making underwater levels actually enjoyable. Super Mario 64 is not just a groundbreaking achievement in gaming history, it is a super entertaining Mario platformer that I already want to replay. An absolute must play video game!!
Super Mario 64 is a revolutionary step forward in this franchise. This is my first time playing it, and I was not disappointed. There's so much to love about it, but I had a few complaints I'll get out of the way before the great stuff. So the obvious one is the camera. It was a nightmare to control, especially as the game went on. It cost me many lives and the angles were wonky. Then you have the levels in the latter half of the game where the level design gets a little worse and it starts feeling more gimmicky to sell strategy guides. Last, there were a few cheap deaths I would find throughout.
Other than those things, I had such a great time with this game! It is able to spin the concept of the series by instead of just reaching the ends of levels, you'd complete these missions to get stars in these imaginative 3D worlds that don't really run out of variety. You are thrown into Bob-Omb Battlefield that shows you the basics of the game through awesome missions, and then get to see Whomp's Fortress for more enemy encounters and Jolly Roger Bay for swimming and more imaginative star missions. It's masterfully paced and the difficulty ramps up perfectly as the player gets more accustomed to the gameplay.
Speaking of gameplay, it is so immersive and just invests the player into the game so well where it is hard to stop playing. It is very addictive through this creative gameplay and never stops giving you something new. Then you have the secrets, which just makes the game go above and beyond. It was already revolutionary for video games, but adding the secret stars and locations up the gameplay to where it feels like you have to explore all the worlds to see what the game is offering. Some of the best parts of the game are in how fun the mechanics are, where you could spend a while outside Peach's castle trying to master all of Mario's moves like the triple jump and other moves like it. Then you have awesome sliding mechanics where when you get the penguin race or the secret slide star in the first few minutes of gameplay, you want to play more from how fun it is. The game also just tells a better story than the others of gathering these stars to restore the power, you aren't just finishing levels. You are doing more, and it leaves a super satisfying ending when completed.
Visually, it also looks great. While it didn't age too well in its graphics, they still look great and add charm to the game. The soundtrack is also something great with the main theme being iconic, but the underwater music is so soothing and leaves a landmark in video game history of making underwater levels actually enjoyable. Super Mario 64 is not just a groundbreaking achievement in gaming history, it is a super entertaining Mario platformer that I already want to replay. An absolute must play video game!!