Introduction:

Super Mario 64, Super Mario's first 3-D appearance on a Console. This was a much anticipated game. Like myself , I think most people were very excited about this game, but also a little worried. It is hard to bring a 2-D Character into a 3-D world. I was worried that it would be the same Mario character, but he wouldn't retain his classic Mario style. Well, this game is a huge success. They pulled it off. Super Mario 64 preserves the Classic Mario game style, but in a great new 3-D world. I got this game the Christmas it came out, I love it, and still play it. This is one of the best Super Mario Games ever made.

Story:

The Story is the classic Super Mario Story, Super Mario must save the Princess. He has to go through the Princess's Castle and collect Stars.

Gameplay:

The Gameplay is phenomenal. You will have to use Super Mario's Classic Jump style. But this is a new 3-D world, so he has new 3-D jumps! He will do back flips, Long Jumps, Wall Jumps, Triple Jumps. You will have to use the classic Mario Jump and Move style to win at this game. An incredible idea in this game was to start Super Mario outside the Princess's Castle, and let him freely move around inside and outside the castle. Once he enters the Castle he will be informed that he has to collect Stars from various mini-worlds. He will be able to freely run and jump around inside of the castle. Although at the start of the game ,some areas of the castle are locked, and you will have to collect stars to unlock them. You will enter these mini worlds. Once inside them, there will be 7 ways to get stars from each mini-world. There are 6 missions, they will change depending on the mini-world. The 7th way to get a star will be to collect 100 Coins. This might seem easy, but it is hard to get 100 coins. Although, some coins are worth 2 and some are worth 5, but there are very few of these coins in each mini-world. You will see classic enemies, such as Goombas, but they will be 3-D. You will have to run and jump, fly through the air, swim and much more to save the Castle's hostages. There are 120 Stars in total in the game. But you do not need to collect all 120 Stars to defeat Bowser and save the Princess. But, you can collect them all for fun. I love the game style in this game, its so fun to just run and jump around these mini-worlds. I love to just put this game in, jump on a Koopa's shell, and surf around the stage, that's a lot of fun. This game will keep you entertained from the start until the finish, it will actually be entertaining after you beat the game.

I give the gameplay: 10/10!!!

Graphics:

The graphics in this game are good. They might look slightly choppy to some people. Super Mario Looks perfect. He looks exactly like you would expect 3-D Mario to look. He still has his short chubby legs, his mustache, and his big round nose. The enemies look very good, especially Bowser, he looks almost scary in 3-D, well, not scary, but very cool looking. The environment looks good, that is the thing that might look choppy to some, I think it's fine.

I give the graphics: 7/10

Sound:

The sound is of course legendary. This sound is in the classic Mario style, one thing is, 2-D or 3-D, the great Mario Sound Style can stay the same. Oh Ya, I just thought of the Sound FX, this is the first game we get to hear Super Mario's Voice. Well, do I think that it sounds good? Is it how you would expect Mario's voice? Well, the first time I turned this game on, (It was also the first time I turned my N64 on.) and I heard Super Mario voice, "Itsa me, MARIO." I was astounded, I loved the voice. It's perfect, better than I thought. It sounds exactly like Mario should sound. All the other Sound FX in the game are great.

I give the sound: 10/10!!!

Replayability:

The replayability of this game, is of course excellent. All Super Mario Games are. You can play this game and beat it, and just play it over and over again. I have played this game for years, and it's still fun.

I give the replayability: 10/10!!!

Challenge:

The Challenge is good. The game will get harder as you progress. Also, when you start to go for all the stars, it will get really hard. You have to get those last few stars. The challenge will be of those missions that you skipped, because they were too hard before, and you didn't need that star to save the Princess.

I give the challenge: 8/10

Value:

The value of this game is excellent. I got this game when it was new and still play it. I would think you would have to buy it used. Now, if you don't have this game, and you want it, I would pay up to 50 Dollars for it. That may seem steep, and I'm sure you can buy it for A LOT less, that is what I would pay for it, if I didn't have my copy. But that's because it's on my top 10 Nintendo Game of All Time. That is hard list to get in, since there are so many great Nintendo games.

Overall:

Overall this game has extraordinary  gameplay, the graphics are good, the sound is incredible, the replayability is superb, the challenge is good, and the value is great. This game is legendary, it is one of THE BEST Nintendo games ever made. I think everyone should try it.

I give Super Mario 64 : 10/10!!!

Conclusion:

Super Mario 64 made us know that Super Mario was going to have a long life in the 3-D world. It showed us a new type of Mario game. There were so many new possibilities for Mario in a 3-D world. They could have given him a number of new things. They had to pick what was best for Mario. I thought of something, Mario doesn't shoot Fireballs in this game, but I think that's a good thing, it wouldn't have fit in with the game. The creators of this game had to know what to add, what to keep, and what to lose, to make this game work. This game is one of my all time favourite Nintendo Games. I had to keep playing it until I got all 120 stars, and I still play it. This game is indescribable, it is simply brilliant.

Written by: Joey Anderson

Date Written: April 7th, 2004