Happy 20th anniversary, Super Mario 64

I almost can't believe Super Mario 64 made its way onto Japanese store shelves 20 years ago today.

I say almost because, well, it some ways it totally feels like it's been two decades since I first played this classic platformer.

It helps, I'm sure, that the above-mentioned experience took place during my freshman year in college. No matter how young I may (think I) look or feel, that was some time ago, and I know it.

That said, my memories of my initial Super Mario 64 playthrough are as clear as yesterday. My parents gave me a Nintendo 64 system and a copy of this game as a birthday gift. I hooked up the former as soon as I returned to my dorm room, after which my best friend and I put Super Mario 64 through its paces while it snowed like the dickens outside.

To say we were in awe of what we saw and heard and felt that night would be a massive understatement. Sure, Mario's first three-dimensional adventure was far from gorgeous--even then--thanks to the bevy of blurry textures on display, but its polygonal characters and environments still caused my pal and I to slobber like rabid dogs.



Far more thrilling to either of us than this game's graphics, though, were its controls. Using an analog stick to make Mario tiptoe, walk, run, jump and slide around each stage wasn't just a revelation, it was a blast. It was so much fun, in fact, that we didn't pull ourselves away from it until early the next morning.

In the ensuing days, weeks and even months, I spent more time than I probably should admit simply running and jumping and prompting Mario to yell "yahoo!" I also heard so much of its glorious soundtrack that to this day I regularly hum its boppy "main theme."

Admittedly, I haven't played much of Super Mario 64 in the last decade or so, despite my fond memories of it. As such, I can't really say if it's aged at all well. I suspect it hasn't, but even if that's the case, it aptly served its purpose back when it was the best thing since sliced bread, and that's more than enough for me.

How about you? Do nostalgic thoughts of this Nintendo 64 launch title cause you to feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Also, have you checked in with it in the last few years to see if the game is as great as you remember it to be?

Regardless, please share your own anniversary-fueled Super Mario 64 memories in the comments section that follows.

More like Mesmerizing Man

My only beef with the video below is that it lasts just 55 seconds and, thus, feels a bit unfinished.

Other than that, though, I think it's fabulous.



I especially like how the three panels at the beginning of the video match up with the different parts of whichever Mega Man tune is playing in the background. (The one on the left goes with the bass notes, the one in the middle goes with the melody and the one on the right goes with the synth-y notes the float above it all.)

By the way, if you didn't get your fill of mash-ups featuring the Old Spice Man and a random game song by watching the video above, you may want to watch this one, too.

(Via dorkly.com, by way of gonintendo.com)

10 video games that made my life gayer (#6): Super Mario 64

Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo of Japan sure hit it out of the park when they moved Mario into the third dimension, didn't they?

I remember being absolutely amazed by Super Mario 64 when it was unveiled at Nintendo Space World in 1995. A year later, after receiving a Nintendo 64 and a copy of the game as a birthday gift, I was even more amazed as my college roommate and I played through it during a wintry Thanksgiving weekend.

The fact that my roommate played it at all was amazing in its own right, as he was (and still is, I believe) otherwise completely repulsed by the idea of playing video games. (He's a twink, what else would you expect?)

If that doesn't speak to the game's accessibility, I don't know what does.

I didn't include Super Mario 64 on this list because it's accessible, though; I included it on this list because it's enjoyable. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it is one of the most enjoyable games--if not the most enjoyable game--I've ever played.

The aforementioned roommate and I played an awful lot of Super Mario 64 that year, and the next year my new roommates (all five of them) and I played it even more--and all the while we had huge smiles plastered on our faces.

Sure, we liked how the game controlled and looked and sounded (especially that wacky, hillbilly-meets-Mario "Secret Slide Theme"), but what kept us coming back for more (and more and more and more) was that the game was fun with a capital "f."

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts