By: Max Cannon
A lot of different games flash across my TV, some of them good and some of them are not so good. If you're looking for a great gaming recommendation you are reading the right article. Each and every month I'll give you the update on my favorite game I played over the last 30 or 31 days. Some of these games will be newer releases and some will be ancient games that I dug out of my dusty old cabinet but they'll always be something I'm passionate about.
This month's game is...
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 Box Art
In preparation for Super Mario Odyssey, I decided to put on one of the most inspirational games for Mario's latest adventure: Super Mario 64. Like many of these stories I share each month, Super Mario 64 is a game of significant importance to me. One of the first game's I ever played on the Nintendo 64 I got for my 6th birthday, Mario 64 was a game of serious mystery to me as a child. The open and expansive castle, the secrets hidden in the walls and paintings, and the 3D perspective wasn't just new to me as a gamer but to the medium of video games as a whole. Whenever I'd tag along with my family to Wal-Mart I would always make sure to pass by the electronic section to try a little bit of Super Mario 64, I even had an embarrassing moment that will haunt me forever where I wet my pants waiting in line to try the game.
When I finally had my own copy of the game it was months, years even, of slowly uncovering the secrets of Peach's Castle. As an adult, I could probably breeze through the game in a matter of days or weeks at the most but when I was a kid I was still learning the nuances of playing a game and having fewer titles in my library meant that I took my time with everything that I plugged into my N64. In fact, when I replayed the game this month I played on my childhood console, with my childhood game, and the file from my childhood with 100% completion.
Super Mario 64: 120 Star Walkthrough: Level 2
What Started it All... in 3D
While Mario games have heavily evolved since the days of 64, especially titles like Odyssey and Galaxy, the foundation of everything was laid down in Super Mario 64. A hub world that expanded into other open environments with specific missions became a template that other games used, even games outside of platformers. The evolutions in Super Mario 64 made the gameplay feel truly evolved and they're staples that we still have.
I can already hear the music from Bob-Omb Battlefield.
Instead of merely shifting the traditional 2D Mario gameplay to a 3D plane, the core gameplay took massive leaps forward, pun intended. The jumps you'll use in the game are still used in modern Mario's, long jumps, triple jumps, dives, and slides. But the collection heavy gameplay became synonymous with the Nintendo 64 era of gaming. And while games like Yooka-Laylee sought to bring the genre back, it looks like it's up to the king to show us how it's done with Super Mario Odyssey.
Have Your Say!
What great games did you play this month? Are you planning to play Super Mario Odyssey or have you played Super Mario 64? Comment below!
