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callofcthulhu6's Super Mario 64 (N64)
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| [January 19, 2008 08:15:45 PM]
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Gameplay
So, my girlfriend and I did the classic "play until you die or beat a level, then switch" method for determining who was alotted how much gametime. As it became apparent that my skill was dramatically dwarfed by that of my girlfriend's, much of my gameplay experience was spent replaying levels to farm for 1UPs so we could progress through the game. If we had had a memory stick the necessity for this would have been lessened, but as it stood I was hearkened back to my days of playing Super Mario World, playing the first level over and over again for the same reason.
I found myself growing less and less nostalgic, and more and more frustrated as I remembered why I stopped playing 2D platformers, and why I never got into 3D platformers. Jump...grab...jump...grab. A fine way to kill 10 minutes, but not something I'd do for hours on end, at least not without the appropriate company. But the compulsion I felt to get the 30 stars needed to continue onto the next leg of the game was undeniable. There's just something about it, the need to save the Princess, beat King Koopa, to see at LEAST one star out of each of the levels. So I kept playing.
Design
As I said, this is one of the first 3D platformers ever made, and so its shortcomings are forgivable in light of its innovation. That being said, there are shortcomings. Movement is clunky, being manipulated by the awkwardly located control stick. The lack of an independently controllable camera is responsible for countless nightmare spots. The fact that there are no checkpoints in the levels means a wrong jump puts you at the beginning of the level. Throughout the game are a couple "bonus stages" involving sliding downhill. These games are difficult and tedious, and seem completely out of place. The basic gameplay is simplistic, often too simplistic, and usually every task that needs to be completed is explicitly spelled out in exact detail, leaving out much of the joy of discovery, and accomplishment when a task is completed.
However, Super Mario 64 does many things that even the platformers of today don't do right. The facts that many levels have more than one set path to beat them, that each level has different objectives to complete to gain stars (often mutually exclusive except for the extremely skilled), and that levels change depending on your progress in the game adds a great deal of replayability. Each level can be completed for the max number of gold coins, to complete the set of red coins for the level, to beat the boss of the level, or to complete the "quests" certain characters offer in the level. As I already mentioned, the goofy humor is spot on, and goes hand in hand with the cartoony, childlike feel of the game as a whole.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 19th, 2008 at 20:25:25.
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| [January 19, 2008 05:41:05 PM]
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Summary
Super Mario 64 is a "jump 'n' grab" platformer, and was one of the launch titles for the Nintendo 64. As in previous installments of the Mario series, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach, and it's up to the harshly stereotypical Italian plumber to jump, smash, and collect his way to freeing her. It seems she's a prisoner in her own castle, the key to her cell locked in a different room. Mario has to adventure through the paintings hanging in the castle (which have been corrupted by Bowser's minions), finding stars hidden throughout the levels. These stars will allow him to unlock different doors in the castle, eventually unlocking the room that has the Princess's key in it.
Gameplay
Having never owned a Nintendo 64, this was my first experience with this game. I have fond memories playing 2D platformers as a child, Mario games among them, but the 3D variety have never been my style really. The music kind of grated on me--I found myself longing for the original Super Nintendo midis. The straightforward gameplay, if not incredibly deep, was as addictive as it was simple. The ancient desire to get all the coins was instantly reawakened within me. The addition of the kick/punch abilities seemed a little out of place, but I suppose there's enough difficulty controlling the character without relying on precisely placed jumps to defeat any enemies.
The dialogue (or perhaps more accurately monologues) that take place when characters or signs communicate with the player throw bits of oddball humor that I found myself chuckling at. Playing with a friend, the classic "ohhhh!"'s of those barely missed platform hops and slides into oblivion made for some fun moments, even if those misses were caused by awkward controls and camera angles.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 19th, 2008 at 20:21:20.
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callofcthulhu6's Super Mario 64 (N64)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got frustrated
GameLog started on: Saturday 19 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Saturday 19 January, 2008 |
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