DAY 110 / GAME 110
Super Mario 64
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When the Nintendo 64 was released, as a Sega boy I was hesitant. For those of you who owned consoles back when you were younger, you remember the 'console wars'. See, when you were a kid and couldn't afford to spend all your money on games, you had to make a choice. You had to decide between Sega and Nintendo, because your parent's sure weren't going to buy you a Genesis and a Super Nintendo and when the next generation was released, you had to decide between Sega, Sony and Nintendo. On the upside, since I had a brother, we managed to each end up with our own console. My brother sided with Sony and got a Playstation, but I was still a Sega diehard and got a (and to a certain degree regretted) a Sega Saturn.
Now, the Nintendo 64 was still new when we had our consoles and neither of us were big on any Nintendo properties outside of Mario so we didn't push for an N64. But I remember people talking about Mario 64 when it was released. Unlike any other game at the time it offered a true free-roaming 3D world including, best of all, flight. PlayStation had Crash Bandicoot, but it wasn't released yet and wasn't full free-roaming 3D. Sega had Nights, which offered a bundled controller that included an analogue stick to match N64's, but most of it was 'on rails' and so also not true free-roaming 3D.
Eventually my brother saved up enough money and bought himself a Nintendo 64. I can't remember if he actually owned Mario 64 or not, but at the very least I borrowed a copy from a friend and made my way through as much of it as I could. Like Super Mario World before it, this was a launch game for Nintendo's new console and with it the number 1 selling point. The Super Nintendo was the console you bought so you could play Super Mario World and the Nintendo 64 was the console you bought so you could play Mario 64.
As far as I was concerned, Mario 64 did a proper job of translating a classic 2D game into a 3D world. Nintendo created a new world that took all the right elements from past games and pushed them into these perfect new adventures as you made your way through Princess Peach's Castle. Hopping into various paintings and other portals that led you into a wide variety of bite-sized worlds each with a number of different goals to complete. Some of the most interesting and memorable worlds came from this game including the swirling sands of the desert levels, the floating levels in the sky, the foggy sunken pirate ships, snowy mountains and the Hazy Maze Cave, (ok, I just really love that name.)
There's so much that's enjoyable about this game. It's just a real fun game that's full of hidden bits and pieces and is just a blast to roam about in. There is a ton of available levels to find in the castle, which is something I felt was lacking in comparison with Super Mario Sunshine. It also included a memorable score some of which made it's way into Super Mario 3D Land; in fact, it may even be my favorite Mario soundtrack. I don't still own an N64, but luckily I am able to own this in a couple versions. Both the remastered copy for the Nintendo DS portable and a copy on my Wii through the Virtual Console system.
Super Mario 64
Now, the Nintendo 64 was still new when we had our consoles and neither of us were big on any Nintendo properties outside of Mario so we didn't push for an N64. But I remember people talking about Mario 64 when it was released. Unlike any other game at the time it offered a true free-roaming 3D world including, best of all, flight. PlayStation had Crash Bandicoot, but it wasn't released yet and wasn't full free-roaming 3D. Sega had Nights, which offered a bundled controller that included an analogue stick to match N64's, but most of it was 'on rails' and so also not true free-roaming 3D. Eventually my brother saved up enough money and bought himself a Nintendo 64. I can't remember if he actually owned Mario 64 or not, but at the very least I borrowed a copy from a friend and made my way through as much of it as I could. Like Super Mario World before it, this was a launch game for Nintendo's new console and with it the number 1 selling point. The Super Nintendo was the console you bought so you could play Super Mario World and the Nintendo 64 was the console you bought so you could play Mario 64. As far as I was concerned, Mario 64 did a proper job of translating a classic 2D game into a 3D world. Nintendo created a new world that took all the right elements from past games and pushed them into these perfect new adventures as you made your way through Princess Peach's Castle. Hopping into various paintings and other portals that led you into a wide variety of bite-sized worlds each with a number of different goals to complete. Some of the most interesting and memorable worlds came from this game including the swirling sands of the desert levels, the floating levels in the sky, the foggy sunken pirate ships, snowy mountains and the Hazy Maze Cave, (ok, I just really love that name.)
There's so much that's enjoyable about this game. It's just a real fun game that's full of hidden bits and pieces and is just a blast to roam about in. There is a ton of available levels to find in the castle, which is something I felt was lacking in comparison with Super Mario Sunshine. It also included a memorable score some of which made it's way into Super Mario 3D Land; in fact, it may even be my favorite Mario soundtrack. I don't still own an N64, but luckily I am able to own this in a couple versions. Both the remastered copy for the Nintendo DS portable and a copy on my Wii through the Virtual Console system.
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