Super Mario 64 (1996) for Nintendo 64

He's an icon of gaming, a household name to gamers and non-gamers alike, and one of the most charming and universal fictional characters in history, he's Super Mario, and now he's in 3D.

Mario 64 cover art. Credit- Nintendo

I don't have to sing the praises of Super Mario 64, but I will anyway, because this game is in my top 10 list of greatest games of all time. It's arguably the gold standard of gaming franchises making the leap from 2D to 3D and has seen numerous re-releases and for good reason.

It was the main title of the Nintendo 64 and remains one of the greatest and most prominent games of all time, so without anymore delay, let's dive into what Super Mario 64 is, and whether it's innovation still shines through to this day.

Prior to Mario 64, the Mario games were straight forward, 2D platforming levels where you're essentially getting from the left side of the stage to the right side with variation here and there. Mario 64 topped this by giving players more open-ended levels with a range of objectives to complete within, the majority of which can be completed in any order the player chooses. Completing objectives to collect Stars are how you progress, with the more Stars you earn opening up more areas of the main hub-world, Princess Peach's castle.

In total, there are 120 Stars to collect but you only really need 70 to get all the way through the castle, face off against the King Koopa himself Bowser and finish off the game.

The levels themselves are unique with their own secrets to explore and themes, some mission types are repeated throughout the levels such as collecting 8 Red Coins but there are always specific challenges to face that you won't find anywhere else, such as a race against a penguin down a slide, ghost hunts, and more. You're not obligated to finish a world before moving onto the next, and some of them can't be finished without special power-ups unlocked later in the game.

Speaking of power-ups, Mario 64 gets rid of the Mushrooms, Fire Flowers and other familiar items and replaces them with special caps, unlocked through finding their corresponding switches hidden in Peach's Castle. There's the Metal Cap which turns Mario into Metal Mario, making him heavier, impervious to damage and a bit slower.

The Ghost Cap lets Mario walk through certain surfaces like bars and enemies.

Finally the Wing Cap, pictured on the box-art, gives Mario the power of flight and is one of the most entertaining parts of the games.

The music is on-point to, with reused but catchy tunes that match the atmosphere of the worlds you visit. My personal favourite is the relaxing soundtrack for the underwater levels, they're very calming and fit the slower pace really well.

I won't talk about the controls too much because they've been over-analysed to death and there's really not much to say about them other than they're incredibly refined and performing tricks or special jumps is simple and effective for platforming segments. Mario feels responsive and when you've truly mastered the moves further into the game it's really rewarding to figure out your own tactics and progression methods combining everything you've learned.

As a quick side-note, if you want to see a good example of masterful Mario 64 gameplay Google some of the speedrunning communities attempts at finishing it as quickly as possible, it's insane.

Overall, the best part of Super Mario 64 is that you can make it your own experience. Create you're own challenges, explore, speedrun, try new tricks, whatever you want, it's a lot of fun, and a must-play for anyone remotely interested in gaming. Basically if you haven't played it yet, give it a go, you won't regret it.