Super Mario 64

As Mario's first polygonal-3d adventure, and one of the earliest games to take advantage of such technology on this scale, there were so many ways that Nintendo could have messed this up. Luckily, they didn't, and Super Mario 64 quickly earned it's place as one of the best 3d adventure games ever made. I personally still prefer Mario's later 3d escapades, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this title.

As Mario, the game tasks you with exploring a surprisingly large amount of sandbox-style levels in order to collect power stars. Each level hides seven, but there are an additional fifteen that clever players can find while exploring Princess Peach's castle. These power stars are used to open up new areas, eventually leading you to a final battle with King Bowser himself. As I made my way through the castle and the worlds hidden with it, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed exploring the same levels over and over in order to collect each of their stars. I would be lying if I said that I didn't get irritated or bored with this structure every so often, but that mostly only happened when I was having trouble completing one of the challenges. Even then, I wasn't too frustrated, mostly because of how smooth the gameplay was. I constantly found myself longing for better control of the camera, but control over Mario himself was buttery smooth and always a joy. In order to better complement his new world, Mario improved his maneuverability with new jumps, dashes, slides, and attacks, each feeling perfectly suited to the new setting.

I wouldn't say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. I mean, I don't live under a rock. However, I was impressed at how well it held up against the later 3d Mario games in my mind. Completing a challenge in a level was a lot of fun crammed in a short time, which encouraged me to keep playing more and more. That kind of thing can sometimes be hard to find, but it just felt natural here. If you haven't given this game a try yet, I absolutely think you should.

The game is available for WiiU here (as of 1/24/21): https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-mario-64-wii-u/
The game is available for Switch here (as of 1/24/21): https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-mario-3d-all-stars-switch/

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