A revolutionary title, Super Mario 64 remains the blueprint for every 3D platformer that has followed it.
The story behind Super Mario 64 is as about as deep as all Mario games that have preceded it. To put it simply, the plot is very thin. That's by no means an issue however, as this game doesn't really need a heavy story behind it. It's as simple as rescuing a princess from a castle by collecting power stars, breaking open seals within the castle and confronting Mario's greatest and seemingly only enemy, Bowser. The concept of Super Mario 64 will take a little longer to explain, but is just as simple as the story.
Like its most recent predecessors, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, this game's 15 individual courses (or levels) are contained within an overworld, or in this case a Castle. Courses range from mountains and towers to sunken ships and submarines and are accessed by jumping through various paintings scattered around the castle. The main objective here is to retrieve power stars from each course in order to progress.
In total, there are 120 power stars to be found. Power stars are used to break seals on doors that can lead to new areas within the castle, or simply to other new courses. To retrieve a power star the player must either complete a given objective within a course or find secret power stars within the castle. Course objectives are outlined before the player begins each course and there are a total of 6 objectives within each course.
The courses themselves are really well designed and a joy to play through. Although contained within enclosed spaces, there is a great sense of freedom and the first time exploration is both fun and rewarding. This is simply because the courses contain many key locations rather single routes like in previous Mario games. Each key location will relate to a particular objective and power star. For example, in one particular level there is a route up a mountain that leads to a boss battle, which if won rewards you with a power star. While another route leads you to a cannon that will fire you up to a floating island that has a power star of its own. A greater sense of freedom is achieved when the player realises that they can obtain power stars in almost any order.
Another important note in relation to the courses is how varied and imaginative they are. As noted above, they vary from Mountains and towers in which players will dodge obstacles and spiral upwards towards their peak, to sunken ships and submarines which involve a lot of swimming. There are some pretty exciting moments from surfing across lava on a turtle shell, getting lost in a maze, floating on magic carpets, swinging on clock hands and sliding down slippery sloped courses. There is also the typical Mario platforming in the form of floating platforms and flying.
This leads me on nicely to the games controls, for which are incredibly important if any of the above is to be fun. With the use of the N64's analog stick Mario's movement comes together nicely. You simply point in the direction you want to run and he's off. It doesn't sound too spectacular these days, but for its time it was revolutionary. Before this you would have had to point your character in the right direction before being able to move forward.
As great as this is, i'm still not 100% happy with how he moves. Although his movement is fluid and loose, it's also slippery. Sometimes when changing direction Mario can make a chore of the situation. Instead of simply halting movement, turning around and then running again, like he often does, he'll attempt to keep his feet moving while turning 180 degrees and will instead run backwards in the same direction for a few seconds. Annoying if you're trying to out run something or simply avoid a ledge or an enemy. The misjudgement of movement isn't all down to the way Mario handles though. We've still to talk about the revolutionary 'dynamic camera'.
Unlike traditional 3D games of the time, Super Mario 64 offered a loose and dynamic camera that would follow the action rather than sitting behind the character/object it is trying to follow. For the most part it works really well. It honestly does. It's almost always pointing where you want it and if it isn't you can change it's angle yourself. It's very good at following particular routes through levels as well, and never ever gets stuck. However, there are times in which the camera can become eratic, especially in enclosed spaces, and this can really throw you off.
One minute you're happily running one direction, the next minute you've violently changed direction and you're running into an enemy or wall or even off a ledge. Other times you find you're unable to alter the angle of the camera to your liking, making certain obstacles harder to see. It's ok the first few times, but on some levels the problem just persists and if you're like me then this can lead to some serious levels of frustration.
Having to work your way back to a location again because the camera has forced an error from you can lead to impatience, which really doesn't help if you find yourself battling with the camera because you'll make those same mistakes again and again. Having said all that though, I must stress again that the camera definately works better most of the time. It's pretty clever. It's as if the camera has it's own AI.
Speaking of the AI, there's not a lot to say here. The enemies wonder about aimlessly until they see you, in which case they'll charge at you to make an attack. It works well enough and you really can't complain. The boss battles are pretty enjoyable. Especially the Bowser battles, in which you have to run behind him, grab his tail, spin him around and release him into the air like you were doing the hammer throw at the Olympics. It really doesn't demand that great an AI, but the challenge is there.
On to the presentation finally, and first up it's graphics. The N64 version may look a little ugly now. Especially the first course, but as far as i'm aware the game was rushed a little so it could be released alongside the N64. Some of the textures are a little ugly, but overall everything is distinguishable. Some of the levels actually look pretty good on an artistic level. Especially 'Jolly Roger Bay' which involves a sunken ship.
Speaking of Jolly Roger Bay, it has some great music. The whole game has great music. Some of gaming's finest music in fact. It's all catchy stuff, without ever becoming annoying. Even if you find yourself playing the same course over and over.
Some courses, like Jolly Roger Bay, include and remove parts of the music depending on your location. So for example, when in water the music has an mellow sound to it, but once you get out of the water it livens up. It even gets an extra drum beat behind it if you find the underwater cave. It's pretty clever stuff.
For all the reasons above, excluding my little camera rant, Super Mario 64 has become one of the most widely critically acclaimed games of all time. Like the original Super Mario Bros. on the NES, it was a revolutionary title that laid down blueprints that all future platformers would copy. Not only that but even today this game is as much fun as it was back then. The controls hold up well, the camera for the most part works incredibly well, the levels are well designed from both a platforming point of view and an artistic one. This game is a classic. If you don't own this game, or if you've never played before I strongly recommend you check it out. There's also a DS version with polished graphics and some extra features thrown in so if you have a DS get that instead.
Oh, and if you're wondering why i've only given it an 8.5, yes it's because of the camera! Thanks for reading!