|
Hunter.Requiem's mario 64 (N64)
|
| [February 18, 2008 09:28:02 PM]
|
GAMEPLAY
After my first log, I used a number of glitches to put the final levels at my disposal (I'll talk about a few of these later on). The final levels though, are amazing to play. Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Road are two probably two of the most skilfully designed levels ever. First is Rainbow Road. With the slightly bizarre tone of rainbow riding flying carpets and lots and lots of instant death bottomless pit (veritably, the entire level is floating in the sky) the level forces the player to think and jump quickly in order to stay alive. The other level, Tick Tock Clock, is even more interesting. Since the entrance to this level is a giant clock face, depending on what time it "is" (the clock moves absurdly fast), the level will be different. If you enter at 12, the moving parts in the level will stop. At 3, they move at normal speed. At 6, they move at absurd speed, and finally, at 9, they move backwards. With relatively normal objectives of getting to various areas of the clock, the level keeps you interested with an amazing theme and multiple modes within the level itself.
DESIGN
Without a doubt, Mario 64 is one of the greatest video games ever created. With huge, thematic levels and lots of replay value for each, the game keeps a player going until he or she is done. That said, Mario 64 also pushed the N 64 to its limit graphics wise. As a Nintendo product, Mario 64 could have no load times, since Nintendo games almost never break the 4th wall or do anything to cause their gameplay to not be seamless. This, however, forces developers to take some short cuts. The glitches I used to advance into the game are some such short cuts. One is in a stairwell on the way up to some of the higher areas of the castle. The ceiling, although it appears to be solid, is, in fact, not, and can be jumped through using mario's famed wall kick. Another such glitch allows you to pass through doors by using a jump glitch that propells you backwards. As you need to "talk" to a door to pass through it, the dialogue that should have come up could not come up, and game physics brought me flying through the door. The other thing I find interesting are mario's many moves and jumps. Though easy to understand, the many jumps are all needed in different ways in order to progress. A puzzle may require you to jump onto a platform high above you, and in order to do it, one might have to combine jumps, such as a side jump and a wall kick. In addition, mario's attacks all seamlessly flow from and into his jumps, allowing you to perform some sort of attack at any point.
read comments (1)  -
add a comment 
|
| [February 18, 2008 09:09:18 PM]
|
SUMMARY
Mario 64 is the first effective 3D platformer. The player controls our favourite portly plumber, Mario, as he gathers stars and fights bowser to save Princess Peach and get his cake(which, coincidently, is not a lie). The player progresses through the game by going to different worlds from the central world (Peach's castle) which has links to all of the other worlds. Each level has 8 stars hidden within it, which are used to unlock more levels. There are also a number of levels with Either two stars, or a star and a power up (such as the three bowser stages, the three cap stages, and the famous "slide" level). To obtain a star, the player must do a variety of things, from simply jumping up (or across) a number of platforms to the star, beating a boss, collecting all of the 8 red coins in a level, and many other things. The most obvious aspect of Mario 64 is its level design: almost every level is non-linear, allowing many different approaches to obtaining each star.
GAMEPLAY
As a long-time veteran of Mario 64, I decided to simply start a new game. As usual, my first star came from bob-omb battlefield. Since I wanted to talk about the level design of the more interesting levels, I went ahead and sped through the first set of available levels. The one level that I'd like to point out, though, is the first of Mario 64's two snow levels. In this level, there is the so called "ice slide." I have to note that the ice slide has probably claimed more lives from me in my time playing Mario 64 then any other area. Especially as a kid, attempting to control a skidding mario on a snow and ice slide, and, even worse, actually turn with some accuracy, was quite difficult.
After beating bowser, I went along to the Haunted House level in the basement garden. Interestingly, this level was one of the most difficult for many people to find, and is also the only one that is actually contained IN an enemy. The level can't be properly executed without the vanish cap, a power up that allows Mario to pass through some walls. Activating the Vanish cap can be difficult, requiring you to complete a treacherous jumping puzzle. The Haunted House level has a number of interesting stars to be collected, such as the star that requires you to find your way to the very top of the house.
add a comment
|
|
|
 |
Hunter.Requiem's mario 64 (N64)
|
|
Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 18 February, 2008
|
|
