Super Mario 64: The 2nd Greatest Video Game Ever (The awoolcott Write-Off)

October 1996. The video game world was forever changed that day. Super Mario 64 was released and unleashed upon the world the first truly 3D video game. Mario was in 3D, the Princess was in 3D, Bowser was in 3D. The whole world was in 3D, and it couldn't have been done any better.

The story is standard Mario Bros. stuff. Bowser The Koopa King has kidnapped the Princess and you, Mario the brave Brooklyn plumber, must save her. You will venture out into the Mushroom Kingdom armed with your Wing Cap for flight, your Metal Cap to smash everything in sight, and your Vanish Cap to become a walking ghost. But before, the gameplay was very linear. You played level 1, then went to level 2, and so on and so forth. But Super Mario 64 was much more wide open. You could play the levels in almost any order you like. Because it all revolves around collecting stars. You collect stars by performing various tasks or beating bosses. And these stars open up new parts of the game for you. And the star collecting system is set up in a way that less experienced players only have to collect 70 stars to open up the final level. But challenge hungry veterans can keep looking for the remaining 50 stars to try and collect all 120. It's challenging enough for everybody.

But that wasn't really what set this game apart from everything else made before and since. This game sent itself apart by creating flawless 3D worlds. The sparkling water seen in Jolly Roger Bay. The creepy ghost house of Big Boo's Haunt and the weird mist of the Hazy Maze Cave. The totally wild fire of Lethal Lava Land. I mean the graphics of this game create these huge 3D landscapes perfectly. And let's not forget the characters. Mario, Bowser, the Princess all come across great in their nice, shiny, new 3D selves. This should be how all classic series to new 3D game conversions should be done. The sounds and music are also near perfect. The music has a definite "Mario" feel to it. And the sounds are quite good. Whenever Mario says "Let's a go," it just really sounds cool.

And what pulled this amazing 3D adventure together? The controls. Most 3D adventure games lose any respect I may have had for them when the controls turn out to be beyond crappy. Most are too difficult and stop being fun. On the other hand, Super Mario 64 features precision control that allows you to run, jump, slide, kick, punch, and even stop on a dime and perform a backflip. And why shouldn't you? The N64 controller was designed for this game. Super Mario 64 was also notable as the first game to implement analog control. Meaning that if you little press the control stick, you'll tiptoe forward. But if you push it all the way down, you'll start sprinting. If that isn't a giant step forward, I don't know what is?

But the key was something else entirely. The X Factor. The fact that this game was incredibly fun. Running, walking, jumping, the slide levels, all of it were really, really fun. And that can make any game better than it looks like it has any right to be. But Mario looks good and is fun, a bonus in today's gaming age. Even playing with Mario's face in the opening screen can get you at least 5 minutes of good fun.

So this game looks like it has it all. But unfortunately there were two small details that couldn't be ironed out. First the camera sometimes loses you and locks itself into this weird angle so that you can't see anything. This is easily fixed by taking several steps backwards, but still it shouldn't really be there at all. And finally, where is Luigi? Mario's brother and constant companion through all his previous adventures is strangely missing from this go-around. Nintendo, if you're out there listening... We the video gaming public demand Luigi be in the next Mario Brothers game, or there's going to be trouble. Or those handles on the GameCube will be perfect for swinging it at some heads.

So if you are one of the three N64 owners in the world that don't own a copy of this monumental game, you should go and get it right now. It's classic, it's amazing, and most importantly, it's cheap (only $19.99 and most stores). It's a game that should be in every Nintendo 64 gamers library.

This little exercise in video game history was brought about by Epinions resident game hound, awoolcott. Today is Mr. Woolcott's first anniversary at the big E and this write-off was to review something in one of his areas of Advisorise (Games or Computer Software). So I thought why not review the 2nd greatest video game ever created to honor Epinions 2nd greatest writer. After all Epinions greatest writer is of course, myself (humble little bugger ain't I? Everybody thinks that they're the best, I'm just stupid enough to admit it). So let's all raise a glass to Adam. We're not letting you leave.

And do please check out some of the other people particpating in the awoolcott lovefest (wait, that came out wrong...):
KingJFS, Bluehawq, 29th_Candidate, Jenni1396, Elorraine, Caleo & awoolcott

And by the way, for anyone interested. The greatest game ever is The Legend of Zelda for the old NES.