The ultimate 3D Platformer!!!
I just couldn't wait to play it, and when I did... OH MY GOD, THIS GAME... OH MY GOD!!! The controls, the graphics, the gameplay, the music, basically everything in this game was not only phenomenal to me, but also a breakthrough in the video game industry.
I had no ideia that my favorite 3D platformer would turn out to be, by far, the best platformer of all time!!!
You start out as, well, Mario. He comes out of a green pipe and finally shows his great 3D graphic to the world. After a little message telling you the basic controls of the game, you finally get to control Mario. Because I had no ideia where to start, the first thing I done was just jumping around the field, until I finally reached the bridge that lead to the castle, where a door was located to enter the castle. Here is where the greatest 3D platforming adventure begins!
The story is as simple as pie. Bowser kidnapped Peach once again, and there goes our italian plumber to save the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. Where all of this takes place (Mushroom Kingdom's Castle) requires some explaining too. This place is full of Power Stars. Power Stars are the source of the Castle's power, and that also takes part on Bowser's plan to capture all stars by defeating Mario, so he can rule the Mushroom Kingdom. The story is, let's face it, weak, like most Mario games, but Mario was never known for it's story, but for it's gameplay.
The gameplay, I have to say, surpasses EVERY 3D Platformer on this planet! So simple, yet so brilliant. The first real 3D Platformer was the one that not only innovated the genre, but nailed it at the same time.
You use the analog stick to move Mario, you can push foward to make Mario run, or you can just gently push the analog stick to make Mario walk. You jump by pressing the A button, and while running, if you time it right, you can do a triple jump combination, with the last being the highest jump. While you're running, you can suddenly turn Mario back, and if you press A, Mario does a backward jump, higher than the normal jump. Another amazing feature is the wall jumps, where you jump against a wall, and if you time it right, you can press A again to do a wall jump. This can be done multiple times, as long as you have walls to jump from. B is the attack button, where it can be used on the floor to do a combo by pressing B three times, and on the air to make Mario kick in midair while he's standing still, or jump towards the enemy with his fists when jumping forward. The Z button can be used to make Mario crouch, and while crouching, you can press A to do a big back flip that's almost as high as the third jump.
Other buttons that can be used are the C-buttons, that are used to move/change the camera. The R button can be used to change between Mario Camera and Lakitu camera. The Lakitu camera is the default one, while Mario camera closes up a little more on Mario.
The game is based on Mario collecting Power Stars, the source of the castle's power. Stars need to be obtained in order to move on through the castle. The castle is filled with paintings, and these paintings lead to the levels of the game. Here is where you collect the stars. There are 6 stars per level, plus a secret one. Stars are caught in many ways, like catching one on the map, beating a boss, completing a riddle, playing mini-games, and so on. The paintings are located in the various rooms of the castle, and each room has a star on the front, with a number inside it. That number represents the number of stars needed to open that door. A door with the number 2 means that you need 2 stars to open it. You are given rooms that don't need stars to open, so you can start collecting.
Even though the huge explanation of the gameplay, if you dig deep enough, it's just like I said before: So simple, yet so brilliant!
The graphics in this game aren't breathtaking, but they really are impressive. Mario's graphic is very well detailed and animated. There are very few NPC's in this game, like Toad and the pink Bob-omb, but they are well detailed as well. Bowser is, well, not that great. I mean, it IS Bowser, but his face is somehow different. Maybe it's just me...
The soundtrack is another aspect where this game shines. In one word: Fun. And I picked the right word! Every single track in this game is just fun to listen to, and they perfectly suit the place/moment where they're in. My personal favorites are the final boss music, which freaked the hell out of me, and the ending theme, which to me is only surpassed by the original Mario theme.
With all that cleared enough, it's a fact that this game shines in every aspect that matters to a platforming game. It's just brilliant! It blows my mind just the fact that such a game exists. The follow-ups are Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. Sunshine kind of disappointed me. It's not a bad game, but it SUCKS compared to this game. I've never really played Super Mario Galaxy enough to have a real opinion about it, but my brother has completed the game twice, and he sais that Galaxy is even better than this one. I can't disagree with him, or agree with him. The fact is that Super Mario 64 not only revolutionized the platforming genre forever, it revolutionized the whole gaming industry, just like Super Mario Bros. did on the NES. It will always be my favorite Mario game, and it's fair to call it One of the Best Games of All Time!!!