Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) review "So, anyway, Mario 64 showed the gaming world how to turn your 2D hit into a 3D smash it that humans could actually play."

Revolution. Just getting that word out of the way, because I'm sure I'll be expected to use it at some point in this off-the-cuff review. Nintendo shot for the stars with the Nintendo 64, an undernourished but potential laden console held in reserve by poor driver and developer support. Mind you, it didn't help that cartridges were absurdly expensive compared to competing media. Oh, how poorly we knew ye, beleagured console.

So, anyway, Mario 64 showed the gaming world how to turn your 2D hit into a 3D smash it that humans could actually play. Without the Z-buffering limitations of the competing console (cough), the Nintendo 64 could display objects in a way we could understand and hope to navigate with the smartly designed analog stick-sporting N64 controller. How is it that they've had such bad luck with analog controls?

Some things never change. Thankfully, nearly everything that needed to change was wholly revamped for Mario's first 3D adventure in a big, bold new world. There's a whole lot to get used to for players accustomed to pressing right while holding run and being asked to jump every once and a while. The first of these is so important that Lakitu, that shelled, eyeglassed kid on the cloud, is going to demand your attention after Princess Peach has invited you over to her castle for snacks.

Camera controls! That's what those yellow buttons at the top right of the controller were always intended for, because the N64 was based on hardware that specialized in implementing 3D designs and environments. Once you've told Lakitu to shove off, you're going to spend a while trying to get the camera to behave. This is mainly because the camera, or rather its programmers, haven't figured everything out yet.

In my mind it really was a necessary stopgap until three dimensional environments became more natural for developers and players to build and navigate, respectively. Now that we're on the subject of navigation, you've got a whole playground to explore. Popping out of a green pipe was no accident or convenience; you just got a quick tutorial in how Mario interacts with the world.

Now its your turn to climb trees, jump off of ledges into pools of water, swim under bridges and learn just how quickly Mario can pull off a U-turn. He's got a respectble wheelbase for someone of his...uh, anyway, what was I saying? Right. World interactables.

Eventually you're going to discover the Castle entrance and Bowser's going to laugh in your face, taunting you to chase his haughty tail. Not really, but that's what happens when you seal all of the worlds accessible from the castle behind doors activated by stars in specifically counted numbers. That's more reasonable in practice than it is in text.

One of those world pathways is open to you immediately, and all you have to do is jump into a painting. That's actually a lot more natural than it sounds when you're experimenting with Mario's physical reality. Once you're in there's a whole range of tasks to complete, but if you only jump in once and head somewhere else for more stars you won't know that.

Each painting has multiple stars to be obtained, which means re-entering the space repeatedly until you've collected all stars on offer. The world beyond the painting may be the same each time, but each task is explained to you and aids you to learn the new mechanics of Super Mario 64. You'll begin by throwing a big fella onto his rump until he explodes.

Lost in translation, but it's fun, I promise. Then there's the race against the fastest koopa ever, and so forth. Having exhausted the supply of stars, you'll open a door that leads to a more traditional platforming experience, but in three dimensions. Trust me, Mario can clear those gaps, and there are undocumented means of getting around that will make your perilous journey even easier.

Spacial reasoning isn't the only alteration to your survivability. Mario has a health bar borrowed and adapted from Super Mario Bros 2. It's a circle with three pie slices, each of one representing one point of damage. Three hits and you'll expend an extra life. Another mechanic borrowed from SMB2 is the utility of mushrooms to upgrade your health.

Just one is all it will take to grant you six total hits, but beware that the total will reset if you die or complete the level. That's par for the course for all powerups you'll obtain in this game. On that point, there are a few: The cape wing cap that grants flight, a metal powerup that turns Mario into some variety of alloy to deal with poison, and...just a couple more. The list is pretty short, but these games aren't known for their variety.

It's enough to contend with, because so much of what makes the game fun to play is its variety of level design, item collection and secrets. Red coins hidden throughout the levels give you a new way to obtain extra lives. Tackling Bowser is its own windmill, as well as the other minor bosses you'll defeat along the way.

To its detriment, Mario is the only Action Hero in this title. Luigi and others would get their chance, eventually, but whenever there's a major technological leap, it seems that Mario is the only one offered the chance to go the distance. Even so, it was Nintendo's thoughtful development of user-friendly mechanics and controls that provided many users and developers a chance to learn just how to design games in a real world like space. Something we take for granted.

I'm sure you're wondering how I passed over Koji's stand out soundtrack. Every theme is longer and somehow manages to be just as memorable as games before. The audio fidelity of the N64 is superior to its predecessor, the Super Nintendo, in every respect. Many people have a soft spot for the soundfont they chose, but I have to admit that I'm not one of those.

The SNES implemented MIDI-like audio playback, but had extremely limited memory and low fidelity storage for its samples: 64KB at best, usually much less thanks to notation and effects eating up memory as well. The main drawback of the N64's audio system was that every sample channel commanded 1% of the CPU's capacity.

That doesn't sound like much until you consider that the average song on the N64 could have as many as 16-30 channels playing at once. This was the main reason that music was often limited in complexity compared to its competing console cousins. The poor CPU of the N64 was overloaded, and a delicate balancing act for developers trying to create large three dimensional spaces that includes physics, puzzles and other interactables.

Super Mario 64 might not be your favourite title, but it's worth respecting its transformative place in gaming history and the fun that Nintendo intended for us to enjoy.

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Community review by hastypixels (October 16, 2025) Retro, and moreso all the time.