Super Mario 64 Review

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Ah the transition to 3D... Some game series' handled it very well, (Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy) others didn't make the leap quite so gracefully (Castlevania, Sonic). Today I'm going to talk about one of the best 2D to 3D transitions known simply as Super Mario 64.

The plot of Super Mario 64 is standard. Princess gets kidnapped, Mario must save her by going from level to level solving puzzles, killing bad guys and jumping over obstacles to find stars. Unoriginal, but it gets the job done. Where it really shines is in the gameplay.

I find the way they turned 2D plat-forming into 3D plat-forming absolutely brilliant. They managed to keep the classic Mario feel, but at the same time changing a lot. The bright, happy, cartoonish world feels exactly the way it should, and even though the primitive, polygonal graphics are technically outdated it adds a charm completely unique to the N64.

Of course it's not all good. The camera angles can be incredibly frustrating. You can tweak it with the yellow buttons on the top right side of the controller but sometimes that just doesn't cut it. Leaving you completely blind for a few seconds, longing for the days of simple right to left side-scrolling. But that doesn't last long and soon you're back in the action, able to see what's going on and enjoying it as much, if not more, than the 2D games.

So in conclusion this game is awesome. Play it... NOW!

9/10

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