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Monday 18 February, 2008
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.
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