Super Mario 64 has a pretty cool legacy. It was the game for the Nintendo 64 and showcased the controller which had an analog stick for movement in a 3D game for the controller which was a new thing at the time. The PlayStation 1 controller didn’t have an analog stick until 1997. PS1 Games before 1997 used the Directional Pad for 2D and 3D games. But Does it hold up nowadays?

Let’s quickly tell the history of this game. This game was supposed to be the launch title for Nintendo’s first console to have 3D games so they had to figure out how to make this type of game fun. They had to do trial and error testing because there was no example for a good 3D platformer at the time. So this game went through a lot of changes throughout its development to make it the way it is. Luigi was supposed to be in the game for a multiplayer mode. That didn’t work out due to cartridge storage.

So let’s move on to the game. What makes it special is that the start screen has a 3D Mario head you can mess around with. You can move certain parts around. It is there to show off the capabilities of the Nintendo 64. Onto the story, Princess Peach has been kidnapped, go stop Bowser. The Controls for this game is awesome. Mario has many movement options for him to perform like the Triple jump done after doing 2 consecutive jumps moving forward which gives the most height. The Long jump moves the farthest but gains little height, done by pressing Z and A during movement. Wall jumping is probably the least good feeling movement option. Mario has to jump into a wall which does an animation where Mario bounces back to the ground. During the start of that animation, you have to flick the stick away from the way to do a wall jump. The animation kinda ruins the feel of that. Back flip is a cool looking option because Back flips are just cool. It has a high height at least. The Dive is a fun movement option for a burst of speed in the air. Mario also has a basic attack by pressing B 3 times. Overall, Mario’s movement is Great overall

Onto the Levels, Mario 64 has 15 of them. This may look unimpressive just by looking at the numbers However, these levels have plenty of objectives for the player to do. For example, Bomb Omb Battlefield is the first level the player goes to and it is a great first level. An open ended area to do one of 6 objectives for a Star to unlock more levels. You can collect 8 red coins, beat King Bomb-Omb and you can go into a cannon to get on a floating island. Racing against Koopa the Quick is fun. Now because Mario has good control, these objectives become more fun as you can try to complete it quickly or do a cool trick because these movement options are fun, even the wall jump. Bomb Omb Battlefield is an awesome level.

Whomp’s Fortress is also a good level in terms of layout. You can go to the top and the obstacles are a little bit more tricky so it should be better. Unfortunately, there are quite a few stars in which the objectives are more linear. The star which requires Mario to go into a cannon and hit a corner of a wall is a bit boring and kinda doesn’t utilize Mario’s movement that much other than going back into the cannon to get the star that pops out. Another star requires Mario to get a star by going into a cannon and aiming at the spot to get a star. That’s also a bit repetitive with the cannon objective stars because it takes up like three of the six stars because there is another one in which you have to get onto a floating island with a star. There are some good stars in this area like beating the big Whomp, getting to the top of the castle and the 8 red coins star which is quite a common objective for almost every level. Overall, Whomp’s fortress has a great layout with 3 repetitive objectives for the stars.

Jolly Roger Bay is the first water level. The setting is a simple underground area filled with water. Swimming controls differently than on the ground. It’s slower and it’s generally less fun than running and doing all kinds of jumps but it controls alright at least. What makes it a good level is the objectives for the six stars. Four of the total stars have unique objectives like exploring a sunken boat and getting the boat back up, getting a star from a giant eel, and getting to the now floating boat. These were quite fun because of the uniqueness of those objectives. The other 2 stars are the 8 red coins and cannon stars. It’s not fun getting the 8 red coins in this one and the cannon is too easy and short. Overall, it’s a good water level and it has calming music which fits.

Cool Cool Mountain is a snowy mountain. It has a simple layout of going down the mountain. This may sound bad when you need to get back up to the top, But there is a cannon you can activate by talking to the Red Bomb-omb. The layout is pretty alright and the stars are also alright. The star for going into an icy slide in the house is pretty alright because you can do awesome shortcuts and shortcuts are pretty fun. The Penguin race star for racing on that icy slide is actually a bit worse because the Penguin doesn’t allow shortcuts. That is pretty lame but it’s still alright. The star where you race down hill against a big snowball to get to the Snowman head and make him a snowman is pretty fun because the Snowball gets bigger adding to the race. The Star where you carry a baby penguin to its mother downhill is pretty alright. Overall, It’s a fun course.

Let’s discuss the Hidden courses. These are very different as they are designed in a more linear fashion compared to the regular levels in the game with only one star. The Bowser courses for example are usually unlocked after a certain star threshold like having 10 stars. These levels have a linear layout and only 1-2 stars, the 8 red coins star and sometimes the star you get after defeating Bowser. The other times, you get a key for unlocking doors for more levels.The Bowser fights are pretty simple, you throw Bowser into the explosives by spinning the control stick and pressing B. They are also the 3 hidden cap courses which have Cap Switches. When activated, the Cap blocks activate for all the levels. The Winged Cap and Invisible cap are in the castle and those courses are pretty alright. The Metal Cap course is found in Hazy Maze Cave and that is neat. The Winged Cap power up is also pretty alright even if the controls are a bit off. Invisible Cap just allows you to go through certain walls. The Metal Cap is actually pretty cool because it turns Mario into metal and that allows for some interesting stuff like not swimming in water and ignoring damage.

Big Boo’s Haunt is okay. It’s a house haunted by Boos in a Birdcage. Mario has to shrink down to enter which is kinda funny. What isn’t funny is the star objectives. Collecting the stars for this level is kinda boring. The only one that was interesting was the one star where you fight King Boo. Other than that, the layout is neat. Overall, it’s okay

Hazy Maze Cave is a course set in a nice cave. The course layout is pretty good. It has good star objectives overall. Even the 8 Red Coin star is good because it’s short and you have a platform that you can move around to get those 8 red coins. There are other star objectives that are good like the metal cap star, going through a Toxic Maze and riding on a dinosaur to get a star. Overall, a good course set in a maze cave.

Lethal Lava Land is pretty awesome because it has lava. The layout is probably the most video game level feel because it doesn’t look that good with how the stuff is placed. While the setting isn’t exactly executed well, a few of the star objectives are pretty fun. The Star where you fight the big Bully enemy is pretty fun. The star where you go into a volcano and go to the top is a fun platforming challenge. That’s pretty much all the interesting stars. Some of the other stars are not interesting. Running on a log to get to the star is a bit uninteresting. The 8 red coins star is there. Nothing really interesting for this area, which is unfortunate. The Only bad star is the slow moving platform star in the volcano. That objective takes a bit and it’s boring. Overall, it’s just okay

Shifting Sand Land is a desert with a pyramid area. The layout is a bit boring and the stars are only just okay. The few memorable star objectives are the one where you go into the pyramid and the other one where you get a star near the top of the pyramid but other than that, it’s pretty boring. Overall, a boring level.

Dire Dire Docks is actually a good level. Another Water Level but this one is better than Jolly Roger Bay. The layout is fairly small which makes it better because you don’t have to spend your whole time underwater. Not only that but the stars are actually pretty good. The Underwater stars like the opening the chests in order star is pretty short. The star where you go to get a star from a high current using the Metal Cap is fun. But you can also stand on Bowser’s Submarine because there are non underwater stars and those are pretty fun. Overall, this is better than Jolly Roger Bay.

Snowman Land is pretty fun. It’s a small snowy area with a giant Snowman in the center and that’s just neat. The star objectives are also neat like going on top of the Giant snowman, going into an ice cube maze, and going into an igloo. The 8 red coins star is also pretty good because you can do it fast and that’s pretty fun. Overall a Great level.

Tall, Tall Mountain is a course. The course is a tall mountain and the layout is boring because of that. The stars are uninteresting and there is nothing to say. It’s a boring level overall.

Tiny Huge Island is a neat level. In this course there are two places, the Huge island where the level is really big and the tiny island where the course is tiny. The layout is kinda boring but the stars are alright. There is the rematch with Koopa the Quick on his home turf and that’s pretty fun. Another one is the star where you go to the top of the huge island and that’s pretty fun.

Tick Tock Clock is the 2nd Worst course in the game. It takes place in a clock and the layout is pretty linear. This course conflicts with Mario’s Controls. Mario controls well enough but the one thing these controls can’t do well is precision platforming. Mario doesn’t stop at a dime and if he jumps into something he bounces off and can’t do anything during that. The level is also mostly vertical so if you fall, you can lose a life and have to get back or lose a lot of progress so it’s just not fun. Overall, not a fun course.

Rainbow Ride is the worst course. The layout of the level is pretty linear and it tries to emulate the auto scroller levels from the 2D Mario games. The carpets act as a slow moving platform on a designated path and it takes up 90% of the course. It just sucks because these carpets go vertically as well so 1 fall is enough to lose a lot of progress on your objective. This level is just so boring and slow overall.

The Final Level is Bowser in the Sky. This level is surprisingly easy. All the Bowser levels are kinda easy but this stands out because it’s the final level. You might think it is because it’s like a victory lap of sorts but the Final Bowser fight is only a bit difficult. Bowser has some new attacks and tricks like launching many fireballs and those staying on the ground. The arena breaks apart to form a star to make throwing Bowser into explosives harder. Bowser can do a quick shoulder tackle. Other than that it takes like 4 explosives to take out Bowser and earn the Big Star.

Overall, the game has aged a bit. This game still has a respectable legacy and while the game aged, it could have been worse. The controls still feel alright and the courses are on average designed alright. You should play it because it is still a good game even now. You can play it on a Nintendo 64 or the Nintendo Switch with the Nintendo switch online expansion pack thing.