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Just look at this box art. There is so much I can say, and yet it's hard to think of just one at a time. It was 1996. The Super Nintendo was in full swing, as was the newly launched Sega Saturn, the Playstation, The Genesis, and even the older consoles of the 8 bit era. In other words, it was as golden as the golden era could be. I remember at that time I was transitioning to a new school and a new environment. I was 11, and my family and I had moved to the Bronx. I had to make all new friends, but I soon fit right in. Me and a few friends would trade Gameboy games and talk about the latest Super Nintendo games, reading the game magazines together. In those days, the internet was scarce to non-existent. But we didn't care, because it wasn't necessary.
Super Mario RPG came out the same year. I remember taking my time and playing through that game when I got it. I loved it, and all of the content they packed into that cartridge. When it comes to Mario 64, when it came out, I was aware, due to friends at the time having copies. They had it, but they never seemed to play it much. There was only one friend of mine, who was a year younger than I, who played the game thoroughly and would convey his frustration to me during the time he was working on the game. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but I remember reading the Nintendo Power magazine which detailed the game heavily. That's where I saw the most of the game actually. I remember being blown away by all of the moves that Mario had.
A couple of years later, I had Nintendo 64 myself. Oddly enough, I never got the chance or mind to purchase Mario 64. I don't know why to this day. I had every wrestling game I could want, and a few FPS's. But if I recall correctly, I didn't have a long run with my 64. Shortly after I acquired the 64, I used it as a trade in to get my Sega Dreamcast. I don't regret that, but I wish I had gotten a 64 back sooner. I ended up getting a Gamecube when it came out, and I played and beat Super Mario Sunshine, which was a spiritual successor to Mario 64. I loved that game, and still do, but I always resented how they got away from the combat controls and gameplay of the 64 game.
By the time I got around to really considering Mario 64 again, I was into emulators, and determined to get a rom of it on my handheld. Eventually I did, and not long ago, I began the playthrough of the game. What really blew me away, is that even on a reproduced rom, the visuals are stunning to this day. They hold up extremely well, and are lush and vibrant with every bright scene in the game. This is something that others don't agree with, but that is the honest truth. This generation is full of tech snobs, who look at anything 4K and down, as ugly and inferior. That blows my mind. If you take Perfect Dark from the 64's final few games, and Black, which was a late Xbox release, under no circumstances are those games anything less than beautiful. If you look at Assassin's Creed Brotherhood on Xbox 360, how can you say that it's so ugly to look at, that it's unplayable? That's what these tech heads say. I guarantee you, you will be stunned by how Mario 64 holds up, if you take the game for what it is. I was actually super shocked by how many varied worlds there are in this game. They're all lush, bright, and don't cheat you on area size. They all have tons of secret areas and objectives. I was playing through this game for quite some time, and put in dozens of hours. I could have put in twice as much. That's how huge this game is.
I don't like the fact that whenever you start the game, you're outside the castle and have to go inside, all the way back to the dungeon or world you were working on. The game was actually super frustrating to play. I'm not sure how much of that is to blame on the PSP controls that I played it with. I honestly think the mechanics for Mario in this game, are about the stupidest I have ever seen. He moves like a friggin tank. Areas that require intricate movement in tight spaces, will have you dying randomly or having to sweat bullets while you crawl with Mario at -200 mph! There were some jump sequences in the game, where after carefully doing everything correctly, Mario would jolt additionally, as if he had turrets syndrome, and throw himself off of a ledge, ending the entire level. This often happened on stages that were already extremely long and dangerous. This frustration is where all my issues lie with the game, along with the idiotic camera, that positions itself to worsen whatever situation you are in. There are areas of the game where you are over a deadly cliff, and need to see where you are going. Not only will the camera zoom in and away from where you need to see, but it will flip, as you gingerly try to navigate a turn, causing you to throw yourself to your death.
In all honestly, that's what made me eager to get to the end. I loved the game, the beauty of it all, and the depth of the adventure, but I can't see anyone having the patience to collect all 120 stars without sacrificing a system. Once I had the minimum of 70 stars, I bolted for the last fight with Bowser, which was insanely difficult as well. In each Bowser fight, you have to get him by the tail and throw him into one of the spiked bombs hanging around the stage. The timing you have to use to swing him into the spikes doesn't exist. At least it doesn't in the version I played. Bowser spins way too eratically and jerky to time the swing. In fact when he was lined up for it, my game wouldn't even have that instance within a frame, so I had to guess which time to let go. It took forever, and at one point, I had to resort to save states to get through this game. I hated doing that, but without it, I would have blasted the system.
All in all, I'm glad I played and beat the game. It holds a special place in history, and this year marks its 20 year anniversary. Better late than never. I would rate this game a 8/10
