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So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10^th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties. To commemorate Mario Day this year, I’ve made March “Mario Month” and am spending each Wednesday talking about everyone’s favourite Koopa-flattening plumber.

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Released: 18 September 2020
Originally Released: 19 July 2002
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Also Available For: Nintendo GameCube

The Background:
After the success of Super Mario 64 (ibid, 1996), a sequel had been in development for several years; however, despite a title apparently in line to be released in the early days of the Nintendo GameCube’s release, Nintendo opted to focus on Mario’s brother, Luigi, for the GameCube’s launch. Beginning life as a tech demo tentatively titled Super Mario 128, Super Mario Sunshine was retooled to both expand upon the mechanics and gameplay of its predecessor and to have Mario utilise a water pump as both a weapon and to navigate his environment. Upon release, the game garnered widespread critical acclaim for its presentation, music, and gameplay, though some did criticise the game’s camera and more frustrating moments. For my part, I had been attempting to buy a copy of the game for many years, having only found it to be extortionately expensive for such an old title, so I was delighted when the title was included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Nintendo, 2020) for the Nintendo Switch, which is the version I’ll be looking at today.

The Plot:
Mario arrives at Isle Delfino for a vacation with Princess Peach, her long-time steward Toadsworth, and several other Toads. However, upon arrival, they find that the once-pristine island has been polluted and plastered with graffiti and Mario, as the prime suspect, is charged with cleaning up the graffiti, recovering the missing Shine Sprites, and uncovering the mystery of his shadowy doppelgänger.

Gameplay:
Like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine is a 3D action/platformer. However, while Super Mario 64 had you leaping through magical paintings inside of Princess Peach’s castle, Mario finds himself jumping and hopping around the tropical island resort of Isle Delfino and its surrounding areas. While, at first, it seems as though Mario retains all of his abilities from Super Mario 64, this isn’t actually the case; Mario can still run, jump, double-, and triple-jump, wall jump, and perform a sideways jump to reach higher areas but he can no longer duck, crawl, long jump, or perform a backwards somersault. This is massively problematic coming into this game right after playing Super Mario 64 as you don’t realise how helpful those abilities are until they’re missing.

Also, Mario can no longer punch or kick enemies. He can still perform a running dive (and can now use this to slide away like a rocket if he dives onto wet ground) and a ground pound, which is useful, but his primary mode of attack and manoeuvring is to utilise Professor E. Gadd’s Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device (“F.L.U.D.D.”), a water-blasting jetpack, of sorts, that not only allows Mario to clean up toxic waste, sludge, and graffiti but also to blast at enemies to stun them or topple them over and hover short distances. Mario gains a slight amount of height the longer you hold the jump button to help him reach higher areas but it’s an awkward and cumbersome system, one that makes platforming and jumping far more frustrating than it needs to be as Mario tends to spiral off like a madman, spewing water everywhere, or fall just short or reaching far away (or high up) platforms thanks to F.L.U.D.D.’s limited tank and the game’s bothersome controls.

Since Isle Delfino has been polluted and graffitied by “Shadow Mario”, and the population holds Mario himself responsible, you’ll be spending a lot of your time spraying your environment with water. Entering any of the many (many) bodies of water allows Mario to not only swim and dive but also refill F.L.U.D.D. Even when F.L.U.D.D. is full, though, you can’t just spray until the tank is empty; instead, your water will sputter out after a short time whenever you try to spray stuff for a long time. If you get muck on you, you can wash it off in water or by wriggling the control stick, which can also double as a whirlwind-like jump that I, honestly, found little use for.

As in Super Mario 64, Mario has a health meter, this time measured by a glowing sun. While health can be replenished by collecting Yellow Coins, you’ll no longer instantly regain health by entering water, though you can keep yourself from drowning by collecting Coins and sucking in air bubbles. Also, while you’ll still find Red and Blue Coins in the game’s various stages, these won’t refill your health, though Mario is far less likely to plummet to his doom this time around since there is always a massive body of water to break his fall. Rather than being confined to a castle, Mario has the run of Isle Delfino, a bright and lively seaside port town that is populated by Piantas (goofy little characters who offer vague hints and task you with bringing them fruit) and a few of Peach’s Toads. Still, the general premise is the same; explore a hub world and enter into one of the game’s eight stages, seven of which featuring eight missions (known as “Episodes”) that allow Mario to recover one of Isle Delfino’s 120 Shine Sprites.

Mario can, again, also find Shines in the hub world and by collecting 100 Coins in each of the stages (and easily keep track of any missing Shines using the map/totals screen) but, unlike in Super Mario 64, each Shine can only be obtained in its corresponding Episode (the Red Coins, for example, don’t appear in every Episode) and you’re still unceremoniously spat out of the current stage every time you collect a Shine (even a 100 Coin Shine), all of which means that, while each stage changes in various ways from Episode to Episode, there’s a lot less freedom and choice to how you recover the Shines. To recover the Shines, you’ll be tasked with performing such familiar tasks as defeating bosses, collecting eight Red Coins, or racing against another character. Each Episode also has you chasing after Shadow Mario, spraying him as you go until he yields a Shine, while some have you collecting another eight Red Coins in a startling example of laziness on the developers’ part. Other times, you’ll be running around in circles desperately trying to figure out what you need to do; each Episode opens with a short cutscene to help guide you in how to obtain its Shine but a lot of the time it’s very difficult to figure out what you need to do. Other times, you’ll be racing or collecting Red Coins against a time limit, returning to previous stages with new upgrades and abilities to get missing Shines or be tasked with performing needlessly difficult tasks, such as rolling watermelons to a pier or surfing on a Blooper without touching anything as you’ll have to start all over again or lose a life, respectively!

While the game is much prettier and far more aesthetically pleasing than Super Mario 64, the same blocky visuals make an unwelcome return in the game’s many obstacle course stages; these hidden areas are found in each stage and see Shadow Mario steal away F.L.U.D.D., leaving you to run and jump across various moving, rotating, and temporary platforms without the aid of your water jet or Mario’s more useful jumping skills from the previous game. Generally, you can find at least one, if not two, 1-Up Mushrooms in these secret stages and you are going to need them as, while the game’s camera allows for full 360 degree control and is much improved over the last game’s camera, it’s still sometimes painfully difficult to get a decent angle, to say nothing of Mario’s continued slipperiness and instability (seriously, it’s like he doesn’t even try to stay on or hang from ledges!) Add to that the fact that you’ll have to frantically run around long rotating platforms, try not to slide off of cog-like blocks, and be reliant on Piantas throwing you to far away or high up platforms in these stages and it all amounts to the game’s most frustrating moments by far.

While Isle Delfino is a much livelier and visually interesting environment, with lots to see, do, and find compared to Peach’s Castle, the variety in the game’s stages leaves a lot to be desired. It sounds stupid but the game really does rely way too much on F.L.U.D.D. and its tropical island theme; this means that every stage is full of water and such clichés as beach fronts, theme parks, and ports. While it’s nice that you’re far less likely to fall down a bottomless pit and that you can see the other stages way off in the distance, it got pretty tiresome and boring quite quickly as all of the game’s stages felt far too visually similar. Super Mario 64 was full of stage variety; one minute you’d be exploring sunken depths or sliding about in an ice and snow world, the next you’d be flying through the clouds or exploring a gas-filled maze. While some Episodes in Super Mario Sunshine inject some variety, with a haunted hotel being the focus for most of Sirena Beach and Pianta Village featuring a distinct (if frustrating) cage maze beneath it, I never got the same feeling of diversity while playing through the game and, when it did try something new, it was often frustrating shit like clambering up temporary platforms, trying to not slide off of moving and twisting fairground rides, or shooting yourself into the air using spontaneous sandscastles.

Graphics and Sound:
If there’s one thing Super Mario Sunshine has going for it, it’s its bright, colourful, and attractive graphics and presentation. In keeping with the tropical theme of the game, Mario is wearing a short-sleeved shirt and will not only doze off when left idle but also wipe sweat from his brow when in the shade. He, and all of the game’s characters, also have a plastic, action figure-like quality to them and are far more expressive thanks to the game’s greater processing power. While I grew tired of the tropical theme pretty quickly, the developers definitely went all-in with it; the water effects are amazing, with waves rippling, rising, and falling in the many instances of sea, and the lighting effects really make it feel as though you’re caught in the unrelenting heat of tropical sunshine.

Each of the game’s worlds, and the hub world, are populated by Pinatas, all of whom have funny little reactions to being squirted or jumping on and offer vague hints to your goal for that Episode, which really helps to make the place feel alive compared to Peach’s Castle, which was basically deserted. Though each stage doesn’t really deviate from the overall tropical theme, there are some distinctions to help them stand out; you’ll be traversing ropes and running up a hill in Bianco Hills, fly on the back of a stone bird through the skies of Gelato Beach, and dive into the polluted depths of Noki Bay, with different Episodes offering slightly different variations on each stage in an attempt to spice things up. Things don’t really become visually different until you reach the eighth and final stage, Corona Mountain, which is a volcano full of instant death spikes and lava and awkward boat steering sections. The game relates its incredibly basic story with beautiful, fully voiced cutscenes. While Mario still only communicates through pantomime and characters use the tried-and-tested speech bubbles outside of the cutscenes, it’s refreshing to see Mario embracing full motion cutscenes for a change. As for its soundtrack, long-time series composer Koji Kondo and Shinobu Tanaka largely eschew the traditional Mario themes for an appropriately tropical theme which, while fitting for the game’s aesthetic, wasn’t quite as memorable to me as Super Mario 64’s music.

Enemies and Bosses:
Despite taking place in an entirely new environment, Super Mario Sunshine sees the return of a number of Mario’s traditional enemies, though many have undergone a slight aesthetic change to better fit in with their tropical locations. This means you’ll be coming across Bob-ombs, Boos, Bullet Bills, and Piranha Plants but you won’t just be able to smack them or jump on the to take them out this time. Instead, you generally must make use of F.L.U.D.D. to clean them off, whittle them down, expose them, or stun them to toss them at other enemies. You’ll also come across a number of new enemies as you explore Isle Delfino’s sun-drenched locations, many of which are rather troublesome to take care of: Chain Chomplets must be doused with water until they cool off and then ricocheted into water to dispose of them; Cataquacks will fling you into the air when you get near and must be stunned with water so you can butt stomp them; and the Electrokoopas will throw their electrifying shell at you and are only vulnerable for a short time. By far one of the worst obstacles, though, are the swirling clouds that appear in various Episodes; these will dart at you and are very difficult to dodge, meaning you’ll probably be knocked out of the air mid-jump or sent plummeting off a high ledge to have to climb all the way back up again.

Super Mario Sunshine features far more bosses than its predecessor; some of these are more like mini bosses, such as the aforementioned chases against Shadow Mario, the Piranha Plants made of sludge that need water sprayed into their mouths until they are defeated in order to open up new areas, and the Monty Moles who incessantly shoot Bob-ombs and Bullet Bills at you from cannons. Twice in the game you’ll have to contend with Petey Piranha and Glooper Blooper in Bianco Hills and Rico Harbour, respectively. The first time you battle Petey, it’s in an enclosed area and he shoots gunk at you that spawns enemies or headbutts you if you get too close. The second time, he’s flying around Biano Hills and must be shot out of the sky but, in both battles, you must frantically squirt water into his mouth to make him reel over and vulnerable to a ground pound. Glooper Blooper, meanwhile, sits there spitting ink at you and trying to squash you with its tentacles; you must ground pound all (or most) of his tentacles to give yourself enough time to pull out the cork stuck in his mouth and send him flying away (though you can make this easier by pulling off his tentacles in the same way).

As in Super Mario 64, you’ll also battle Wiggler and King Boo; this time around, Wiggler is a far more troublesome foe as he stomps around Gelato Beach in random patterns and can only be toppled over by causing sandcastles to spring up beneath his feet, leaving him open for a ground pound or three. King Boo is also far more formidable; this time, you have to content with three spinning rings and a roulette, which will see enemies, Coins, and fruit tossed into the arena. The only way to damage this King Boo is to grab a spicy red pepper, toss it at him, and then toss a different fruit at him three times, which isn’t immediately obvious when you first drop into the arena.

Two of the game’s more unique, if frustrating and troublesome, bosses, for me, were Sirena Beach’s Phantamanta and Noki Bay’s Eely-Mouth. The Phantamanta is little more than a shadow that glides over the sandy beaches and resort leaving icky sludge in its wake; spraying it with water is the key to defeating it but, every time you do, it splits into smaller and smaller parts which, combined with the life-sapping sludge, can make this a tricky battle. Eely-Mouth is a giant eel fought in the dark depths of Noki Bay; Mario dons a diver’s suit for this battle, which means you are constantly fighting with the controls as Mario bops and hovers and darts all over the place seemingly at random, slowly drowning as time passing, and you’re desperately left trying to clean the eel’s foul, rotten teeth with F.L.U.D.D. to unearth a golden tooth that is your true goal without drowning or being eaten up.

Though a prominent force throughout the game, you never actually battle Shadow Mario in a boss battle; after being revealed to be Bowser Jr in disguise, you take on a giant mechanical version of Bowser in Pinna Park. In this battle, you’re forced into a rollercoaster and must shoot rockets at Mecha Bowser while also blasting Bullet Bills out of the sky. While this is good practice for a particularly annoying timed Shine mission that has you shooting balloons with just as little control, the rollercoaster’s constant speed and spinning means getting a clear shot is easier said than done and that’s without factoring in Mecha Bowser’s fire breath. After finally getting through the treacherous Coronoa Mountain, you’ll go head-to-head with Bowser once more; this time, he’s grown to giant size and is sitting inside of a jacuzzi tub full of caustic water. Bowser tries to fry you with his fire breath and burn you with the acid-like sludge while Bowser Jr shoots homing Bullet Bills at you. The only way to win this battle is to use F.L.U.D.D.’s rocket nozzle to perform five rocket-powered ground pounds at the five spokes of the arena. However, while this eventually leads to Bowser’s defeat, it causes the already-unstable arena to further crumble and the two dragon-turtle’s attacks to increase in speed. Still, probably the hardest thing about this boss battle is not slipping or tumbling from the arena and to your death.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
Although Mario can still collect 1-Up Mushrooms for extra lives, Yellow Coins for health, and both Red and Blue Coins for Shines, there are no invincibility power-ups to be found this time around and, after swapping flowers and capes for special caps in Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine primarily revolves around you making good use of F.L.U.D.D. to traverse the game’s various tropical environments. Though versatile, F.L.U.D.D. is largely more of a pain in the ass than an asset thanks to some awkward controls and mechanics at times. However, you can acquire a couple of additional nozzles to make things a bit easier; the rocket nozzle allows you to charge up and release a burst of water to go flying high into the sky and the turbo nozzle allows you to blast away across both land and water, both of which are incredibly useful for reaching new areas and out of reach or temporary Blue Coins.

After being relegated to an after-game cameo in Super Mario 64, clearing the fourth Episode of Pinna Park will see Yoshi eggs appear in each of Super Mario Sunshine’s stages (with the exception of Corona Mountain) and the hub world. If you bring the egg the fruit it asks for, it will hatch and you’ll finally be able to ride either a pink, orange, or purple Yoshi! Yoshi can eat up fruits and certain enemies with his long tongue, use his flutter jump to reach platforms, and each Yoshi can create goopy platforms of a different nature (ascending, stationary, and forward-moving, respectively). As great as it is to actually be able to ride on Yoshi, though, there are some drawbacks; the first is that you can’t ride the traditional green Yoshi, then there’s the fact that he can’t spit fireballs and his supply of fruit drains over time, and, of course, the glaring flaw that your Yoshi will explode when it comes into contact with water, which is particularly frustrating when trying to reach a secret Shine in Delfino Plaza.

Additional Features:
Similar to how Mario’s brother was left with a purely solo adventure for his GameCube outing, this is once again a solo adventure for Mario; even after clearing the game, you can’t unlock any additional characters to play as, which is a real shame considering we missed out on playing as Luigi in Super Mario 64. If you talk to the various Pinatas in the game’s Episodes after collecting enough Shines, they’ll eventually gift you a pair of sunglasses that slightly darken the game’s presentation. After clearing the game for the first time, you can pair these with a super snazzy Hawaiian shirt (though neither of these can be worn outside of the Episode you are playing, unfortunately). Clearing the game once also allows you to return to the Delfino Airstrip to collect eight Red Coins for another Shine. While that’s slightly more than in Super Mario 64, it’s still a bit disappointing; once again, you don’t need all 120 Shines to clear the game but having them all slightly changes the ending you get. However, obtaining them all is no mean feat; I finished the game with 90 Shines, which was all eight stage-based Shines, all 100 Coin Shines, and a handful found around the hub world but, to get them all, you’re going to need to find all of those Blue Coins and secret stages, which can be needlessly frustrating.

The Summary:
I was super excited to finally play Super Mario Sunshine; I missed out on it back when I was playing the GameCube on the regular and have been putting off getting it for ages (literally years). The bright, colourful graphics and my fond memories of Super Mario 64 really appealed to me and fuelled my desire to finally get my hands on this game. Yet, despite a promising start, I was left disappointed. There’s a lot to see and do and to like; the graphics are gorgeous, the F.L.U.D.D. concept is interesting (if flawed), and it’s great to be able to ride Yoshi again but there are so many frustrating elements to the game that really let it down. There’s very little stage variety, too many missions per stage (with too many repeating, such as the Red Coin challenges), too much water for my liking (no matter how fitting it is for the game’s setting), and just far too many instances where you slip or fall from platforms, ledges, or ceilings or fail to make jumps because of an awkward camera angle or Mario just deciding to miss or fall. The secret obstacle course stages are an absolute ball ache and, just as the game seems to be getting interesting, it’s over in uncharacteristically anticlimactic fashion, leaving me feeling disheartened and drained rather than encouraged to hunt down the last few Shines.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What are your thoughts on Super Mario Sunshine? Did you play it on the GameCube back in the day or, like me, did you first experience it on the Nintendo Switch? What did you think to F.L.U.D.D. and the game’s tropical island setting? Were you also frustrated by the controls, mechanics, and over-reliance on the setting or did you, perhaps, enjoy the different direction the game took and the challenge it offered? Were you glad to be riding Yoshi again and did you manage to find all 120 Shines? What other setting would you like to see Mario placed into? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below and pop back next Wednesday for the final instalment of Mario Month!

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So, for no better reason than “Mar.10” resembling Mario’s name, March 10^th is widely regarded as being “Mario Day”, a day to celebrate Nintendo’s portly plumber, an overalls-wearing mascot who literally changed the videogame industry forever and shaped the home console market of the nineties. To commemorate Mario Day this year, I’ve made March “Mario Month” and am spending each Wednesday talking about everyone’s favourite Koopa-flattening plumber.

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Released: 18 September 2020
Originally Released: 23 June 1996
Developer: Nintendo
Original Developer: Nintendo EAD
Also Available For: Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS (Remake), Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console)

The Background:
By the end of 1983, the videogame industry was dead after crumbling under the weight of countless overpriced consoles and poor quality titles. From the ashes, Nintendo stepped in and pretty much single-handedly rebuilt the industry with the release of the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom)/Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), a machine marketed not as another home videogame console but as a more market-friendly “Entertainment System”. The videogame industry was resurrected from the dead with the NES and the blockbuster success of Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, 1985) and given a massive kick into overdrive following the release of the SEGA Mega Drive and Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 1991). The “Console Wars” of the mid-nineties resulted in some of the greatest 8- and 16-bit releases, a series of videogames that defined an entire generation, and ensured that videogames were big business once more. Very quickly, though, the story became about which developer could be the more innovative than the other and who would crack 3D gaming first. SEGA attempted to break into the 32-bit arena with a series of expensive add-ons for the Mega Drive while Nintendo played the long game, discussing various CD-based options with both Sony and Panasonic and inadvertently creating one of the industry’s biggest gaming powerhouses, the PlayStation, when talks with Sony fell apart. Initially developed as the “Ultra 64”, the Nintendo 64 was Nintendo’s first fully-3D home console and was officially announced to the world on 24 November 1995; although the console favoured more expensive and limited cartridges over CD-ROMS, this dramatically sped up the load times of its titles and helped to reduce piracy. The console also utilised a unique (and massively under-rated) controller that included an analogue stick for full 360⁰ movement and could be fitted with Rumble and Memory Paks, and the system launched a number of first- and third-party titles that would be exclusive to the console. One such title was, of course, Super Mario 64. Developed over the course of three years, Super Mario 64 sought to showcase exactly what the Nintendo 64 was capable of by offering large, open 3D worlds that allowed for exploration, experimentation, and offered a diverse field of view. The game was a massive critical and financial success and is still the best-selling Nintendo 64 videogame of all time; just as Super Mario Bros. had set the standard for 2D sidescrolling platformers back in the day, so too did Super Mario 64 set the standard for 3D platformers in this new era of gaming. The game was later ported to the Nintendo DS in what is, in my view, the definitive version of the game thanks to the additional elements it provides but it was also included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Nintendo, 2020) for the Nintendo Switch, which is the version I’ll be looking at today.

The Plot:
Princess Toadstool (finally referred to as “Peach” for the first time outside of Japan) invites Mario to her castle with the promise of cake but, when he arrives, he finds that the diabolical Bowser, King of the Koopas, has kidnapped the Princess and hidden the castle’s Power Stars within a series of paintings throughout the castle. Never one to back down from a challenge, and motivated by the promise of a sweet treat, Mario leaps into the castle’s magical paintings to retrieve the Stars and rescue Peach and the castle’s Toad guards from Bowser’s clutches.

Gameplay:
I think it’s safe to say that everyone who owned a Nintendo 64 back in the day also owned Super Mario 64; it was the first (and, for a long time, the only) Nintendo 64 title I had when I got the console and all of my friends had it, too. Thanks to the realities of life, it was also the first Nintendo home console I owned and the first main-line Mario game I had ever owned and, honestly, it was a pretty great way to experience of Mario’s unique world and cast of characters (not to mention mind-boggling through its crisp 3D models and tight controls). Super Mario 64 is a 3D action/platformer in which you play as the titular Mario. The game takes place entirely within Princess Peach’s Castle and the grounds outside of it; within the castle are a series of magical paintings that lead Mario to a total of fifteen Courses, each with six mission-based Power Stars to collect and one hidden Star. You can also find a number of additional secret Stars in other paintings and mini Courses scattered throughout the castle and you’ll need to collect a certain amount in order to open doors to more Courses. Once you have enough Stars, however, Courses can be attempted in any order you wish but you may be limited in what you can do if you haven’t unlocked the game’s three cap-based power-ups and you’ll need a boss key to access the castle’s upper and lower areas, plus at least seventy Power Stars to battle the final boss and all 120 to see the game through to 100% completion.

When you enter a Course, you must select a Star Mission to tackle; at first, you’ll only be told of the first mission but, once you’re in the Course, you can generally attempt to obtain any Star you wish (with some exceptions). This means that you can free the Chain-Chomp instead of racing Koopa the Quick, for example. Each Star comes with a vague hint about how to acquire it (“Lil’ Penguin Lost” or “Shining Atop the Pyramid”) but it’s not always massively clear what you have to do to obtain these Stars, encouraging exploration and experimentation (or a quick Google search). Collecting one hundred Yellow Coins in every Course will also award you with a Power Star and, sometimes, you’ll have to revisit secret Courses to obtain another Star you may have missed but, generally, the Star Missions are quite similar across all courses (battle a boss, find five secret areas, utilise a cap, scale to the top, etc). As in his 2D outings, Mario’s primary form of traversal and attacking is his ability to jump but this ability has been expanded exponentially to allow for a far more diverse means of movement and to showcase the capabilities of the Nintendo 64. Pressing jump once will see Mario perform a hop; press it again and he will jump higher, and press it a third time while running and Mario will somersault even higher, allowing him to reach out-of-reach ledges with ease. If you press the R button while running and then press jump, Mario will throw himself forwards to cover faster distances in one dramatic leap, which is great for reaching faraway platforms or navigating Mario at a faster pace. It doesn’t end there, either; Mario gains momentum as he runs and jumps, meaning if you jump onto an enemy’s head while running, you’ll get a boost upwards and jump further.

Mario can also perform a wall kick to scale vertical shafts quickly but not, it has to be said, with a great deal of ease; as will come up numerous times in this review, the wall kick is somewhat hampered by the game’s janky camera and how difficult it can be to properly judge your perspective and alignment to certain walls and objects. When you can pull it off though (which, to be fair, is more often than not and can be perfected with practise), it’s a nifty little trick that you can combine with long jumps and triple jumps to move Mario’s pudgy behind at a break-neck pace. For what I believe is a first in the series, Mario can also perform a series of melee attacks to fend off his foes. Pressing the attack button once will see him perform a punch but press it twice more and he’ll perform another punch followed by a big ol’ kick to send enemies flying. You can also perform a sweep kick while crouching, a jump kick, and a diving attack by running, jumping, and hitting the attack button, a ground-pound (where Mario will flatten enemies with his butt), and also pick up certain blocks and even enemies to toss them at other enemies. It’s quite a deep control scheme, to be honest, offering a range of smooth and crisp combat and movement options; you can run Mario in any direction at full speed and, with a twitch of the analogue stick and a press of the jump button, side-flip around to get the drop on enemies, wall kick your way up to otherwise inaccessible areas, or backflip your way to another Power Star with ease.

Mario can also grab onto ledges to save himself from accidental falls and pull himself up from tricky jumps; however, this isn’t as reliable as you might think and it’s just as easy to bounce head-first off of a platform or ledge and fall to your death or go careening down a bottomless pit or into a river of butt-burning lava. Similarly, the game’s camera can sometimes get stuck behind other objects, which can cause it (and Mario) to freak out a bit; Mario also stutters and jitters if positioned too close to an edge and will most likely fall to his death if you don’t quickly tap that jump button. Thankfully, Mario is far more durable than in the majority of Mario videogames; he has a life bar (represented be a colourful pie chart) that loses a segment each time he takes a hit or other damage. Once all segments are drained, Mario loses a life and is unceremoniously spat out of the Course he was in and will have to attempt the Course over from the beginning. Luckily, Mario can refill his health by running through spinning Hearts dotted around each Course, collecting Coins, or taking a dip in water and is only dependant on Mushrooms to gain an extra life. Take care when swimming, however, as Mario’s health will slowly deplete and he’ll eventually drown unless you collect Coins or suck in an air bubble and he’s also not capable of surviving being sucked into quicksand. Compounding matters is the fact that certain enemies and hazards will cause Mario’s iconic cap to fly off; if you lose your cap, be sure to collect it as quickly as possible as you’ll take double damage without it!

Graphics and Sound:
Even now, after the release of so many technically superior 3D action/platformers, Super Mario 64 holds up ridiculously well. It’s a testament to how diligently Shigeru Miyamoto and his team worked to showcase the power and capability of the Nintendo 64 as character models still look spot on to this day, seamlessly retaining their quality and stability (unless you move Mario too far away from the camera, of course), and the game is just as silky smooth as ever. Sure, Bowser doesn’t look so great these days (and he, along with all of the character models, were vastly improved in the DS remake) but it’s cute to see all of Mario’s eccentricities, from his enthusiastic shouts when he hops around, his triumphant cry of “Her-r-re we go-o-o!” whenever he grabs a Star, and the way he falls into a mumbling sleep when he’s left idle for a short time.

Having said that, though, there are some issues that are more noticeable with the benefit of hindsight. The game’s Courses vary wildly in their scope and quality; the first, Bob-omb Battlefield, is basically a tutorial area where you’ll quickly get to grips with the game’s controls and mechanics. As user friendly as you could like, Bob-omb Battlefield features some basic enemies and hazards and is completely devoid of bottomless pits, something the vast majority of the game’s other Course cannot say. Courses like Whomp’s Fortress, Cool, Cool Mountain, and Tall, Tall Mountain are all much more limited in their scope, substituting a quasi-sandbox arena for vertically-themed stages that hover over a bottomless pit, meaning you’re always one stupid mistake away from falling to your death. Things don’t get really frustrating, however, until you reach the game’s final Courses; Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride suspend you over a vast, empty void that will truly test your skill and patience thanks to the game’s dodgy camera and some very tricky and frustrating platforming elements. Other stages, like Jolly Roger Bay and Hazy Maze Cave, also feature an abundance of water; this isn’t a massive issue as Mario is quite a capable swimmer but he’s not exactly a fast swimmer and the game’s controls noticeably lag when he’s under water. Combine this with the aforementioned camera troubles and how easy it is for the camera to get stuck behind objects and these Courses can be difficult to navigate. The camera is serviceable for the most part, to be fair, and automatically and diligently following Mario around to provide the optimal viewpoint but Nintendo really should have integrated full 360⁰ camera control into the Switch version to correct this one glaring flaw.

Still, the game offers a fair amount of variety in its Courses; Big Boo’s Haunt and Lethal Lava Land are standouts for me thanks to their unique mechanics and visual presentation but, at the same time, it lacks variety in a number of other instances. For example, Jolly Roger Bay and Dire, Dire Docks are essentially the same stage with the same music and, as much as I like Snowman’s Land, did we really need two snow/ice-themed stages? Plus, playing the game now, it’s really hard not to notice how basic a lot of the stage geometry is; everything is very angular and blocky, which isn’t surprising given it was a Nintendo 64 launch title, but it’s one of the many reasons why I prefer Banjo-Kazooie (Rare, 1998) since it improved and expanded upon everything Super Mario 64 pioneered. The game only really has a handful of cutscenes, all of which are rendered using the in-game graphics and are simply there to establish the game’s simple plot, relay that you’ve opened up new areas or discovered a Star, and convey the game’s ending. These are accompanied by a few instances of voice acting from Peach as Mario, Bowser, and other enemies are limited to a few sound bites, grunts, and yelps, which adds to the game’s cartoonish charm. Finally, Super Mario 64 is bolstered by a bombastic and catchy soundtrack from long-time Mario and Nintendo composer Koji Kondo; a lot of the tracks are re-used on multiple Courses but they’re so fitting and memorable that I can forgive it and if you don’t find yourself humming along to the main castle theme then you honestly have no soul.

Enemies and Bosses:
If I’m being brutally honest, Super Mario 64 doesn’t feature much in the way of enemy variety; within the first handful of Courses, you’ll have encountered pretty much all of the enemies and hazards the game has to offer but, to be fair, these are all used sparingly and to great effect. They’re generally present to cause you some issues when trying to jump and clamber up to new areas rather than being formidable challenges in their own right; you’re far more likely to get bumped off a ledge and to your death rather than beaten to a pulp by these enemies. You’ll come up against classic Mario enemies such as Goombas (who now hop up in alarm and charge at you head-first when you cross their eye line), Bob-ombs (who chase you relentlessly as their fuse ominously burns down before exploding in a shower of Coins), Boos (who turn incorporeal when you face them so you’ll have to sneak up on them from behind or perform a backflip into a ground-pound), Koopas (give them a thump to ride their shell like a skateboard), and Shy Guys (annoying little bastards that buzz all around you shooting fireballs your way and send Mario into a whirlwind spin if he jumps on them). Each of these has been brought to life with a snazzy 3D makeover that imbues them with simple, but charming, attack and movement patterns and characteristics.

You’ll also come up against some new enemies; Amps will spin around in a tight circle and electrocute Mario if he touches them, Bubba will swallow him whole if he enters the water while exploring the “Tiny” side of Tiny-Huge Island, three different varieties of Bullies will try to knock Mario off platforms and to his death, Chuckyas and Heave-Hos will also try to throw Mario to his doom, and Klepto and Ukkiki will steal Mario’s cap if given half a chance. You’ll also have to sneak up on the sleeping Piranha Plants to knock them out without getting bitten and watch out for that Goddamn piano in Big Boo’s Haunt as it’ll randomly spring to life to scare the piss out of you! Not every Course in Super Mario 64 has a boss battle but nine out of fourteen isn’t bad. The first one you come across, King Bob-omb, teaches you the fundamental mechanics Mario will need to defeat not only Chuckyas but also Bowser himself as you’ll have to run around the King to grab him from behind and then throw him three times without being thrown off the top of his mountain to defeat him. The second boss, the Whomp King, is even easier to defeat; simply run beneath him or dodge out of the way when he tries to squash you and ground-pound his back three times and he’ll burst into pieces to award you a Star.

In Big Boo’s Haunt, you’ll do battle with three Big Boos but, despite their intimidating size, they’re as easily dispatched as any other Boo with the only troublesome one being the Big Boo you battle on the balcony at the top of the haunted house because of the risk of falling. You’ll also encounter a large variant of the Mr. I enemy in this Course but, again, it’s defeated in exactly the same way as any other Mr. I (simply run around it until it gets dizzy and explodes). You’ll also encounter larger variants of existing enemies in Lethal Lava Land and Snowman’s Land, in this case the Bullies; again, though, the hardest thing about fighting these guys is making sure you don’t accidentally slip off the small platform you fight them on or let them push you into the molten lava or freezing water, respectively. Finally, you’ll have to do battle with the Eyerock inside the pyramid in Shifting Sand Land and a Wiggler on Tiny-Huge Island; the Eyerock is probably the most challenging boss before the final battle with Bowser as it constantly shields its one (well, two really) weak point (the eye) in its rock-like fists, tries to squash you at every opportunity, and can easily shove you off the platform and to your death (luckily, though, you’ll restart right before this battle if you immediately enter the painting again). The Wrigger is pretty much the same basic deal as the Whomp King; although he looks intimidating due to his size, he only looks big because you’re small and you simply ground-pound him three times to take him out, making sure to dodge him as he wriggles around the arena faster and faster with each hit.

The game’s true boss is, of course, Bowser, Mario’s long-time enemy and most persistent foe. You’ll battle Bowser three times and each time you must have the correct number of Stars to access a troublesome mini Course that leads to the Warp Pipe into Bower’s arena. Each time you face Bowser, the general strategy is the same; avoid his attacks and run around him to grab his tail, then rotate the analogue stick to swing him around and then press the attack button to send him flying into one of the many bombs that line the outskirts of each arena. The first time you face Bowser, he’s pretty weak; he’ll stomp around in a circle, slowly spitting fireballs at you, and isn’t much of a threat as long as you don’t run into him, get hit by his burning flames, or fall off the platform and you’ll only have to toss him into a bomb once to take him out, making him functionally weaker than King Bob-omb. The second battle ramps things up a bit; Bowser can still be defeated with one bomb but he’ll now jump up and come crashing down on the platform, tilting it into a steep angle that will send you sliding into a bomb yourself or down to the fiery depths below. Bowser also now teleports across the arena if you get too close to him to prolong the battle and will tilt the stage each time he leaps up to the arena from a missed throw so make sure your accuracy is on point when you send him flying. The final battle is where Bowser really brings his A game; the music is far more ominous and foreboding and Bowser can now charge at you, spit a slew of fireballs onto the arena (including blue ones that bounce all over the place) and produce shockwaves that must be jumped over every time he lands from a jump. To make matters worse, Bowser must now be thrown three times before he is defeated and, after taking two hits, will stomp around the arena in a tantrum, causing parts of it break off until it resembles a Star and limiting your options for escape and movement. It’s not all bad, though; some of Bowser’s flames will produce Coins to replenish your health and, technically, the strategy remains the same; as with every Bowser battle, it’s just a question of patience and getting your shot lined up to throw him into the final bomb and finally get your cake!

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
Although Mario can still collect a 1-Up Mushroom for an instant extra life and three different types of Coins (Gold, Red, and Blue, each offering different increments to your total Coin count), no other traditional Mario power-ups are present and unlike in other Mario videogames where Mario would collect a Super Mushroom to grow bigger and gain an extra hit or a Fire Flower to throw fireballs at enemies, Super Mario 64 takes inspiration from Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Nintendo R&D1, 1992) and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (ibid, 1994) by giving Mario access to three different caps to aid his progress.

The Wing Cap gives Mario the ability to fly after performing a triple jump or being shot out of a cannon; by diving and pulling up, you can fly higher and further but just make sure you land before it wears off or you’ll suffer a damaging fall. The Vanish Cap turns Mario invisible and incorporeal, allowing him to walk through enemies and wired cages and the Metal Cap allows Mario to walk underwater and renders him functionally invincible at the cost of his speed and more elaborate jumping mechanics. Each cap must be activated by ground-pounding giant switches inside three different hidden mini Courses and are essential to collecting all 120 Power Stars but, it has to be said, their use is surprisingly sparse and you’ll be relying on Mario’s base moveset for the vast majority of the castle’s challenges.

Additional Features:
As big and involving as Super Mario 64 is, there’s sadly not a whole lot of replay value to be had especially compared to the DS remake, which featured four playable characters, additional Courses and Stars, and mini games to pass the time. You can mess around with Mario’s big, goofy 3D face on the title screen, stretching and distorting it at your leisure, which is a nice touch, and the game also allows you to have four different save files and to erase or copy each one, allowing for multiple playthroughs. Additionally, while you only need seventy Stars to take on the final battle against Bowser and clear the game, you won’t get 100% completion unless you collect all 120 Stars. This is easier said than done, especially on Courses like Wet-Dry World, Tall, Tall Mountain, and Rainbow Ride which have lots of difficult platforming sections, bottomless pits, and barely enough Coins for you to get those hidden one hundred Stars. You’ll also need to search the castle thoroughly for hidden Courses (like the Princess’s secret slide), talk to the Toads scattered throughout the castle, and catch Mips the Rabbit to find some hidden Stars.

Stars are also obtained by finding eight Red Coins in the cap and Bowser stages and other hidden Courses around the castle; luckily, you can track your progress from the pause menu and from the file selection screen so you always know where you might have missed a Star or two. Sadly, though, finding all 120 Stars doesn’t really offer much in terms of a reward. If you defeat Bowser with all 120, he’ll have some slightly different dialogue to acknowledge your efforts and, after reloading your completed save file, you’ll find you now have access to a cannon on the castle grounds. Use this to blast yourself onto the castle rooftop and you’ll find Yoshi, who has a special thank you message from the developers and awards you with one hundred lives before buggering off. Unfortunately, though, this is completely redundant as you’ve beaten the game and acquired every Star so there’s no real incentive to explore the completed Courses again with your abundance of lives. Perhaps it would have been better to have Yoshi be accessible from a new save file, or even placed within Courses to offer a new Star challenge. Hell, I would have even accepted a ‘New Game+’ mode where the entire game is mirrored but, instead, you get a tantalising cameo and a whole shit load of extra lives that are basically pointless as you’re more likely to just start a new game from scratch than to go back through stages you’ve already completed to 100%.

The Summary:
Super Mario 64 is still an absolutely gorgeous and incredibly fun gaming experience; even now, some twenty-three years after its release, it still holds up remarkable well as one of the tightest, slickest, and most engaging 3D platformers ever. While the likes of Banjo-Kazooie and Sonic Adventure (Sonic Team, 1998) are technically far superior games, Super Mario 64 set a standard for all 3D platformers to strive to achieve and which many failed to match. It cannot be denied, however, that the game does still have some lingering issues; the camera, for all its diversity, is the most glaring and Mario’s tendency to get a bit stuck on platform edges or to hug walls when standing too close to them as well as his willingness to just slip to his death can all lead to some frustratingly unfair deaths and game overs but, for the most part, all of the game’s shortcomings can be overcome with the right degree of patience, skill, and experience. Once you master the game’s simple controls and mechanics, you can perform all kinds of nifty tricks and feats to aid your progress and you’ll find that the game has given you more than enough tools to find all 120 Stars if you’re skilled enough. With its stunning, colourful visuals, tight and responsive controls, catchy music, and addictive gameplay that is easy to learn and master, Super Mario 64 is positively brimming with gameplay variety. There’s always a new area to unlock and explore, new Courses and hidden Stars to discover, and the attention to detail is staggering for a Nintendo 64 launch title. My only regret is that Nintendo didn’t add in a widescreen feature or patch in that two player co-op mode they had planned or even the ability to play as Luigi after finding all 120 Stars in the Switch version but none of that diminishes the fundamental appeal of Super Mario 64.

My Rating:

Fantastic

Did you play Super Mario 64 back in the day? Was it your first game for the Nintendo 64 or did you pick it up later? Perhaps you first experienced it on the Nintendo DS; if so, which version of the game do you think is the best? Which of the game’s Power Stars, Courses, enemies, or bosses caused you the most (or the least) hassle? Do you think Yoshi and his one hundred lives was a good enough reward or would you have liked to see something else; if so, what? What are your fondest memories of the Nintendo 64? Perhaps you hated the system; if so, why (and what’s wrong with you?) Whatever you think, comment below and let me know and don’t forget to come back next week for more Mario content.