LogFAQs > #949675849

#64 Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64, 1996)

I already had the game ranked around here so it was not hard to make Super Mario 64 at this exact spot on my list. This game was a revelation to me. I first ever saw it at a Toys R Us or Walmart, at the playable demo display, and I could not believe it. The full 3D gameplay was unlike anything I had ever seen before.



I think I finally got to play it a year or so later, and it fully met every expectation that I had for it. The levels were well-crafted and usually nailed the delicate balance between exploration, platforming, and collectables. The aesthetic is simple enough to look crisp and clear despite the graphical limitations of the platform. Compare the way it looks to any other 3D game of its time and I think Mario 64 comes away almost always as the winner.

The control with the analog stick works really well and Mario has just enough different acrobatic moves to make exploring the levels a real pleasure. Although by today's standards a lot of these environments feel small, when I first played they could not have felt any larger. Exploring the castle and the levels and discovering their secrets was a very magical experience that I probably have not felt in any game since then.

Then why isn't this game higher on my list? As time goes on, it becomes more and more obvious how far 3D platformers have come since then. I think that Super Mario 64 is timeless and has aged very well, but the game is still subject to technical limitations that designers have since overcome. The game suffers from some repetition in level design and aesthetic, which is particularly obvious on the castle's second level. And for as important as the game was when it came out, in all honesty I moved on very quickly to other games and have hardly been back to this one since then.

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At least your mother tipped well