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Vayle's Super Mario 64 (N64)
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| [February 20, 2008 09:49:21 PM]
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Entry #2
GAMEPLAY
Super Mario 64 is a game full of puzzles. The primary ones involve finding a way to reach or uncover several stars from each world. Its clear the designers put quite an amount of thought into these puzzles, for they hardly ever feel repetitive. From having to get to the very top of a level to fighting some big baddy to collecting hundreds of coins to races against opponents or time to using a multitude of hats that have varying effects on Mario - flying, turning to metal, becoming intangible... Really, the list of challenges presented to the player is quite large. With all the variety presented to the player, it makes sure the game never feels dull or repetitive. Sure, you are always collecting more stars, but it always feels like you are making progress and having fun while doing it.
The camera system is handled very cleverly in this game, both in explanation and actual player interaction. As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a brief introduction of the camera at the beginning of the game. What exactly is going on is you find out you actually have a little camera man following you around on a floating cloud, documenting your trip through the castle. It shows him at the beginning, and later in a room with a mirror, you can see him reflected and following closely behind Mario, a cute addition in my opinion. As for actual controls, the player is allowed easy access to rotating the camera as well as being provided different modes. The first and default mode keeps its distance but centers on Mario, allowing a good view of surroundings and anything that may be charging in your direction. The second gets in close and stays directly behind Mario, used for situations that need more carefully handled and precise controls, such as crossing a narrow pathway. I feel this allowed a lot of control over the camera for the player, minimizing annoyance and making for a more overall fun gameplay.
DESIGN
I like how the game set up access to all its levels and how easy it is to traverse and go back and forth between different zones. First, there is the castle area that serves as the main, central point. Withing the castle, there are several portraits, all portals to the separate levels. At first, the player is limited to only one world beyond the castle. However, as they further gameplay and get more stars, slowly more possibilities open up to them. They can either chose to see a world through to the end, collecting every star and finding every secret, or they can skip a world all together, or somewhere between the two extremes. It is possible to complete the game without ever having visited certain worlds. It is also possible to skip ahead a few worlds then decide you want to go back and explore another world further. So, in a sense the story is fairly linear, but the player is allowed a fair amount of control to the point of picking and choosing what they want to do and playing through the game in a different order than may have been intended.
In this game, Mario got a serious upgrade from his past incarnations. In previous games, he was mostly limited to one kind of jumping, one kind of punch, and a few power-ups, such as shooting fireballs. But when Mario got introduced to the 64, a whole new slew of attacks and special abilities came with him. No longer limited to a simple hop, the player can now do several different amazing leaps, all unique and useful in their own way. For example, Mario could now long jump, throwing himself across a large, gaping abyss. He could also wall hop, leaping into a wall and bouncing off and being able to do so repeatedly, going higher and higher, allowing access to the tallest of structures. I think it was great that this was designed into the game. It made exploration more fun and interesting for the player, as well as providing several tools for puzzle solving. Plus, it was a very unique aspect to the game, practically turning jumping into the series' trademark.
Flying in the game gave me mixed feelings. When Mario 64 was first introduced, the flying was actually rather impressive. This feeling of gliding through a free, 3D environment among the clouds was quite a sensation. However, the controls were always rather frustrating. They are in fact quite similar to the Super Mario World, involving attempting to keep Mario afloat by waggling the joystick up and down to a certain rhythm, all the while watching nervously as you slowly lost altitude. I'm not sure if there was really a better way to handle it, making it more fun and yet still challenging. However, I will say that there were several hours lost to the bonus level solely made for flying among the towers and nothing below you but endless blue.
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| [February 19, 2008 12:39:01 AM]
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Entry #1
SUMMARY
Super Mario 64 is a third-person platformer starring none other than Nintendo star, Mario, the little plumber out to battle the evil forces of Bowser and save Princess Peach. This game introduces large expansive zones for the player to explore in a colorful, 3D environment, along with the player having several ways to explore, including dashing, swimming, shooting through a cannon, flying, and multitudes of hops, skips and jumps.
GAMEPLAY
I have played this game before, but it was a really long time ago. It was good back then, and it's still fun to play now.
The game starts you off by putting you in control almost immediately. There is an invitation to the castle by Peach, a quick introduction of the camera, and then the player is free to take off with Mario. Upon entering the castle, you find that Bowser is up to his old mischief again, and then you're bouncing off to your first world. I personally liked this quick introduction. It may be a bit flimsy on the story side, but it's Mario, it never really needed that big of a story. And for games with simple controls like this one, it does not need a big long introduction, so I like being thrown into the action almost immediately. Plus, there are the helpful signs everywhere with little tidbits of info or instructions on how to perform special jumps. It's all very clear, clean and easy, making for a very enjoyable introduction for any player into the game.
From the first world, Bomb-omb Battlefield, a player can quickly learn what to expect from the game. There's a wide, open area to run around in with bright backgrounds and several odd creatures that could either be friendly or could be enemies ready to jump into action as soon as Mario runs up. I like that there are lots of small secrets to discover as well, such as running a quick circle around a flower patch could cause a life-up to pop out, or pressing up against the back of a small alcove teleports you to the top of a mountain. And the openness of the world gives a certain amount of freedom to the player. Sure, there is a clue each time you enter a zone as to where you should go, but the player is in no way obligated to follow that clue. They can go running off in another direction and find other things to explore and enemies to bash.
In Super Mario 64, you find that you have to return to worlds a lot to collect stars. I liked the way they designed this, adding a nice amount of replayability to each zone and the game as a whole. It encourages the player to explore more and interact with those that could help you. It also helps the player looks at things in new ways, possibly finding new uses for tools - like the cannon - that they may have not thought of before. This in itself makes the game a fun sequence of discoveries.
I would just like to add that the soundtrack for this game was excellently done. Each world has music that feel very appropriate and helps draw you into the game a little more. The bright, grassy first level has bouncy, upbeat music that fits in with your surroundings, whereas the haunted house level has spooky - yet cartoony - music. Water worlds have this slow, soothing tune that can only be described as aquatic. Slide levels have energetic, almost gameshow sounding music that gets you raring to go. All in all, it was implemented well and was a nice enhancement to the game.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Feb 20th, 2008 at 21:56:56.
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Vayle's Super Mario 64 (N64)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 18 February, 2008
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