Nostalgia: Super Mario 64

A Christmas Present for the Ages

        While reminiscing about Christmas, I realized that the game that I considered my favorite was given to me on that day. Super Mario 64 was released in June of 1996, but I didn't get it until Christmas of 1997. I call it my favorite game ever, but I wasn't very enthusiastic about getting it. Instead, I wanted a Super Nintendo with Super Mario World. My parents got me a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64 and Bomberman 64, and I was super disappointed.

        I hadn't realized that these games were spectacular innovations in video games. My dad wanted me to give it a try before I got all pouty about my Christmas presents. I watched him set it up and turn it on and saw Mario's giant head fly onto the screen. My little six-year-old head couldn't comprehend all the awesome stuff that was happening on the screen.

 
        Since there was no time limit, and no flagpole or goal post to reach, I didn't understand what I was suppose to do once I started playing. So, the first thing I did was run and jump around Princess Peach's front yard, climb trees and chase butterflies around. I finally decided to go inside and check out the castle. When I went inside, I got a creepy message from Bowser telling me to get lost and a desperate plea from Toad asking me to save the princess.

        If I wanted to save the princess, I would need to collect all of the power stars in order to move through the castle. This was a different challenge from other Mario games and from most platformers in general. The worlds were created for exploration, and to find all of the power stars, it would mean revisiting levels and searching every nook and cranny.

        Boss battles were still pretty simple, but involved more than jumping on bigger bad guys. Nintendo really pushed the 3D aspect by involving strategies to beat the bosses that require getting behind them and throwing them around. The battles against Bowser revolved around grabbing his tail, spinning him around, and throwing him into bombs. The bosses were always huge and involved some kind of trick that needed to be figured out in order to defeat them which made each encounter unique.

         There were so many other things that stick out in my memory about Super Mario 64 that I could write a book about. These were just the top three. Honorable mentions include The Mad Piano, flying around with the wing cap, racing Koopa the Quick, sliding down the secret slide, and cruising around on Rainbow Ride. I've played through this game many times and collected every star, and I still love it. I can say that this is, without a doubt, my favorite game of all time, and probably the greatest Christmas present I've ever received.