We all know that Super Mario 64 is a great game. It’s one of those games which ever since it’s release has been spoken of as a contender for the greatest video game of all time. It’s also widely seen as perhaps the greatest launch game on a console of all time.
The big question for this review is whether the Switch version that has been released as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack is a good version to play, and more importantly if the game still holds up today or if we’re just viewing it through the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia.
The game sees you play as Super Mario who must once again rescue Princess Peach from the grips of Bowser, but for the first time ever the gameplay was in full 3D. Instead of a ton of levels where you run form point A to point B as the Super Mario Bros games had proceeded, you instead have 15 courses which were large open areas where you would be able to explore and collect multiple Power Stars as the goal of each stage.
It’s extraordinary to think how well Nintendo nailed the new concept of a 3D platformer with their first effort. It arguably took other developers years to catch up to what Nintendo did first try as most Playstation, Saturn, Dreamcast and even other N64 platformers didn’t have the depth, controls, or camera system as well tuned as Mario 64.
The controls for Mario are every bit as good as they were years ago. Mario has lost a few of the moves he had in this game over the years, and maybe gained a few (mostly through power ups) but the template for Mario’s movement that he uses to this day was laid out here. Jump, double and triple jumps, somersaults, wall kicks, crawling, climbing, swim, and most revolutionary at the time analogue movement. Mario can tip toe at a snails pace if you want, or he can walk, trot, jog or run.
Mario get then get power ups which allow him to walk through objects, become invincible and like a T-100 terminator, and most impressively of all, fly. All his moves and special powers are taught to the player cleverly throughout the game which creates scenarios where you will have to use every one of Mario’s skills.
The game can be beaten in a few hours if you are a veteran of the game, or quicker if you’re a speed runner, but for new players you can expect a good few play sessions to learn the maps and beat each of the 15 worlds within.
Something Mario 64 got so right was the variety of levels and the exploration that would be needed to conquer them. Each level features 100+ gold coins which once collected will grant Mario a bonus Power Star. These coins help guide you through the levels like bread crumbs leading to clues and help keep the players from getting lost as each Power Star will have you tackle a level in a different order.
There are cutesy green field like levels with trees and mountains, as well as lava and snow levels, under water based levels and more.
The graphics are dated, but the clean clear art style hasn’t aged anywhere near as badly as most early 3D games from the 32-bit and 64-bit era. The cartoony world still looks great and whilst it isn’t Toy Story level as later Mario 3D games are, it has the same ageless feel as the 8-bit Mario games have in that it feels a familiar art style choice now.
Some levels have a gimmick, like a level set in a clock where depending how you enter the level the speed of how things in the level moves is affected. There’s also a level where you can see the same areas shrunk down or blown up large and again it’s just so impressive that there was this amount of imagination in the first big 3D platform game.
Now, if there’s one area of the game which perhaps hasn’t aged as well by modern standards it’s the game’s camera system. On the original Nintendo 64 controller you only had one analogue stick and you would use this to control Mario. To control the camera you would have the C-Buttons which were like a D-pad which wasn’t fully formed so each direction was it’s own button. Pressing these would zoom in or out on Mario, and rotate around him. Without analogue controls that you would have with a stick the camera will jut across like hitting the different numbers of the face of a clock meaning you don’t have full 360 degrees of movement. This can mean that some times the camera will be slightly off the ideal position and it’s also true that some times the camera will feel like it’s getting stuck. If you come to this game after most modern games where you can fully move the camera with the right stick it will seem a bit aged, but it’s not too bad.
The game features 120 Power Stars that must be collected from the 15 levels and also from secret bonus areas in Princess Peach’s castle which acts as a hub world between levels. You only need 70 to complete the game’s main story mode, but as most will know you do need all 120 to see a bonus cameo at the end of the game. Like I said there will be many players who can get through this in a few hours or certainly a few days should see the game completed, and once done there isn’t anything in terms of bonus content or multiplayer to get you to come back.
Of course, this is Super Mario 64 we’re talking about here and time has told us that every few years this game will get another rerelease and players will get this again and again and that is a huge sign that whilst it lacks additional post story mode content, it is a game you’ll likely revisit more than once.
In terms of this Switch edition I didn’t notice any issues, although I’m aware of whispers on the internet of troubles across the whole range of Nintendo Switch Online Nintendo 64 games. For me I played the game from start to finish with no worries and although many players will have already played this game on Switch a year ago as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection this is still a great game to have in this form. The Collection was a limited time thing, so this just means that everyone now has another chance to revisit Peach’s castle and enjoy it on the go in handheld mode.
Conclusion
Super Mario 64 is one of the best games ever and this release does nothing to change that. Having it on the Switch means you can enjoy it in handheld mode to take with you anywhere and I would highly recommend you play it. It’s one of those famous historical games which I would say you should play for understanding video game history, but I’d also say just play it for the fun of it too. Because there’s a lot of fun to be had!
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