Mario 64: A Modern Masterpiece

Everybody has their own defining moment in videogame history, but the arrival of the N64 and its focus on groundbreaking new control ideas married with solid, 3D visuals was my moment.

I’d been perfectly happy with my Amiga 1200 prior, but after seeing Miyamoto’s Super Mario 64, an amazing, brave new game running in the local branch of HMV I had to have one of these incredible new consoles and see for myself what this game was all about.

I distinctly remember the first time I sat down to play Super Mario 64 – seeing the plumber’s giant head on my TV with the game inviting me to play with it, spinning it around and pulling at various parts of his face – even before the game had started I knew I was in for something special.  Nintendo had always innovated, but this was a step beyond anything I’d seen before and I happily messed around with the iconic image for a good 10 minutes, utterly engrossed.

The trick with Super Mario 64 is that you improve at the game at precisely the same rate the game expects you to.  The first section you come across, a (at that time, at least) huge expanse of open land in the form of Princess Peach’s castle gardens.  You’re left without a specific goal save for the looming castle ahead, but more importantly you’re given free reign of the grounds to explore and experiment at your own pace.

For a console that introduced analog control as standard, Mario 64 had to find some way to ease players in, and this initial area, with trees to climb (and leap off), water to swim in and plenty of space to just get used to the way a single stick could make you creep, walk and run was essential.

It was also one of the best, unguided introductions to a game I’ve come across, and once you’re ready for the castle, you already know about 50% of the moves.

The castle, split into three main floors and a back area, opens up gradually based on how many stars you’ve collected from the levels.  This means that the player is never overwhelmed, keeping the aim focused but simultaneously, and slowly, offering multiple paths through the game.  Each of the game’s worlds are accessed via paintings around the castle, and each level itself can be played multiple times with slight variations.

This highly structured mechanic means that it’s always clear what you need to do next, and a tap of the Start button lists each world you’ve visited alongside the number of stars you’ve collected from that particular world.  All too often games get bogged down in trying to do much and the player is left scratching their head – not so with Mario 64, in fact I found the handy list of levels a bonus when trying to 100% the game.

The levels themselves are, for the most part, genius, and easily the best courses ever created in a platform game in the history of the genre.

From the opening grassy plains of Bom-omb Battlefield to the game’s mid-section of Lethal Lava Land and Shifting Sand Land right through the climactic (and devilishly difficult) Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride, Super Mario 64’s level design is pure genius.

Rarely a means to an end, these are levels that you want to explore – each one different from the last in terms of locale, enemies, technique and scale but each one part of a consistent approach to ensuring maximum playability.  Each world’s distinctive music (Jolly Roger Bay being a personal favourite) fitted perfectly and the gameplay ideas behind some of the later levels, such as Tiny-Huge Island, literally broke all the rules.

They’re the reason I go back to Super Mario 64 on a regular basis – playing through the game is a pure pleasure from start to finish and never grows old, despite its age.  The game is full of stand out, memorable moments like the first time you long-jumped the gap in Hazy Maze Cave, or figured out the water puzzles in Wet-Dry World, but it’s also humble enough to afford some simple delights, like the subtle splashing underfoot in the castle’s basement or the way the final staircase never ended if you weren’t quite ready…

Super Mario 64’s legacy lives on, and will continue to do so, in most genre games created since.  Of course, analog control is now standard but the blend of puzzling and platforming can be seen anywhere you look, but you’d struggle to find a game of this ilk so carefully crafted, so wonderfully fluid and so utterly replayable from any other developer.  Nintendo, back in 1996, were so far ahead of the game that just thinking about it makes my head spin.

Sublime, and absolutely a masterpiece.