Super Mario for Nintendo 64

Full title: Rick's a strange one: or How I stopped worrying and learned to love Mario

This write-off is devoted to the video game mascots we all know and love or hate. Check out the other reviews - Alkaiser, Billservo, mskills, Shampoo_Girl, Guile176, Slusy, and jameswong. You must check them out - all your base are belong to us.

I'm sure most gamers have some history with Mario. I started out, way back in the day, on Donkey Kong, back before he was even called Mario. Since then, he has become video gaming's ambassador. He has blazed trails, from sales figures to being one of the first video game characters with merchandise outside of the video game itself.

Oh, but I've had my dark moments with the erstwhile Jumpman myself. Right around the release of Super Mario Bros. 3, which I beat in around a week, I started to feel the charm of a construction worker turned plumper turned 'shroom eater wane. I then plunged into the moment that all hardcore gamers hit - my anti-platformer days.

I found plenty of fault with a character named after one of Nintendo's landlords from their early days. Platform games were so linear. The characters didn't make any sense. The best one, Super Mario Bros. 2, had a formula that wasn't repeated. There was no story. I'm sure those complaints sound familiar to everyone.

Really, it wasn't until this game, Super Mario 64, came out that I finally made my peace with Mario. It took several steps, but now, I'm comfortable with a rotund man in red overalls.

Now, I'm sure that you're familiar with the basic plot fo the game. Bowser, king of the Koopa tribe, has kidnapped Princess Toadstool, now referred to by her Japanese name, Peach. Specifically, Bowser has taken the magic stars that allow access to his realms, hidden in paintings and other objects, and Mario has to get them back, keys to finally rescuing the fair princess.

One thing the game gives you to start off is that Mario finally gains some sense. Finally, he can punch his enemies, which is obviously much more convenient than trying to jump on them. Or punch the bricks that they are standing on. No, Mario finally learns Plumb-Fu, the ancient art of self defense and drain clearing.

Of course, the other controls are fairly clean as well. For the viewpoint, you are generally aloowed to choose how the camera focuses on you, or even to take a first person view. There are some levels which trap you into one view for challenge purposes, but generally, the camera moves fluidly and slowly, allowing you a fairly simple time in trying to negotiate areas.

Moreover, unlike some companies' pitiful excuse for a mascot (*cough* Crash *cough*), Mario actually moves fully in three dimensions, and not just in cardinal directions and diagonals. Mario has a full range of movement. While it does take some time to get used to, and it still is difficult to control at times, this game may be still the most fluid 3-D action game made.

Moreover, the sound is right about what you'd expect from a Mario game. I know that there are some out there who will die a horrible, flaming death if they ever hear the infamous Mario theme one more time. But it is classic, and whether you love it or not, literally two generations of gamers have grown up with that music having left an indelible mark on them. I bet that if you ask anyone between the ages of 10 and 30, they can hum or whistle that theme without a problem. It is, in a way, one of the few things that we all share. I'm sure those out there that still hate Mario are stomping their foot in frustration, because they know I'm right.

The graphics are fairly solid, although as this is one of the first 3D games, the polygons are still rough, but they are fairly smooth compared to the Playstation's usual output. That's simply because the N64 and the Playstation are built for different kinds of games. In particular, the opening screen, in which Mario's face in there and you can manipulate it to a small extent, is a decent show-off of the system's capabilities.

Of course, often considered the coolest graphical acheivement of the system is the Metal Mario outfit. One power-up is a metallic hat, which will temporarily turn Mario into a metallic version of himself, complete with the classic 'invincibility' music. Indeed, the reflections off of Mario's mercuric body do look pretty cool, which is part of the reason that Metal Mario returns as a boss in Super Smash Bros.

The sound effects are, for the most part, as cartoony as you'd expect. You get lots of boings and squishes, and I imagine that the gamer who thinks he's more 'mature' than all that won't like the game too much. Screw that, it's fun to hear. Although I've always wondered why I never heard any major outcry from Italian groups about the digitized voice of Mario, which sounds like he just got off the boat from Rome. I know Italians, and none of them speak with that strong of an accent. Well, it could be that he is a very popular hero, and as such popular with Italian groups. I'll have to ask one day.

As for the game's challenge, that really depends on what you are looking for. If you want, you are free to just pick up the easy stars and run through the game. On the other hand, several of the stars are annoying, at best, to try to find, and several you'd have to be a video game savant to find without help. Yes, there was one star that I needed help to find. On the second world, no less. But it was not intuitive at all to find.

Finally, the most fun is with one little glitch that makes the game look unfinished. If you do get all 120 stars, a cannon opens up outside of the castle that will blast you to the roof. Once there, you get a full stock of lives and a Flying cap. Take the cannon again to blast off, and you can reach the center spire of the castle, which Mario will actually fall through. You'll perenially be trapped on the wrong side of doors. Totally useless, but funny.

However, the game does have other glitches, which unfortunately, all polygonal games also decided to imitate. At several points, polygons can only partially appear, obscuring vision or not letting you know where you are blocked off. Sometimes, you cameraman will get caught behind an obsticle, and the game won't let you swing the camera around to a better viewpoint. Both of these glitches can quickly become absolutely maddening.

Finally, though, after playing through this game about a half dozen times, I finally came to the conclusion as to why everyone plays the Mario games, and why the are so successful. First, they are the best constructed games in the whole genre. I've played all the pretenders to Mario's throne - Sonic, Crash, Bubsy, Aero, even Alex Kidd. None of them have ever been as consistently as entertaining or as solid as Mario. Heck, Mario is the only one of them that has managed to put together more than two good games.

But it isn't simply that. I mean, if that was the case, Mega Man would be a force equal to that of Mario (not like Mega Man is any slouch when it comes to games). No, the simple fact is that Mario creates a child-like fantasy world. And somewhere, deep inside, no matter how misanthropic you may be, we all want that. Nintendo, as shrewd as ever, knows that. That's why they keep catering to that, with games derided by many gamers as 'kiddy games.' But Nintendo knows that we still want those 'kiddy games.' Granted, they're finally getting a clue and making more mature games, but they'll never abandon games that appeal to the five year old in us all.

After finally coming to terms with this part of me, I could finally enjoy playing a Mario game again. Maybe it isn't the best game available. Maybe it is childish, and a bit old. And yes, it is on a system that Nintendo has apologized about to game manufacturers. But the simple fact remains that it is still a fitting update to one of the most classic series in video gaming history. As long as Nintendo makes games of this caliber, no matter how much the anti-Nintendo factions will grumble, the Big N will be here.