1 Player
Graphics: 9/10
For being one of the first is not THE first N64 game it still has some pretty nice graphics.
The character movement is very nice and dynamic. Pario is quite fun to watch as he runs
all over. All the old 2 dimensional enemies make the transition to 3D very well. The
effects are also very cool. My one complain is the camera. It can often move in wierd
angles making it difficult to navigate the world. This happens the most when you are
underwater.
Music and Sound: 8/10
The music is pretty good. Some of the old familiar tunes show up in new formats. The
sound effects are pretty nice too, You can usually hear the sound of enemies approaching,
though it can sometimes be hard to find exactly where they are approaching from. Mario
yells a lot of stuff as he jumps around but it’s not repetitive or bad enough to get
annoying. There are only two voices in the game, Mario and Princess Toadstool. They
are OK I suppose, it’s more that the dialogue is kind of crappy.
Gameplay: 10/10
The great thing about this is that I think almost anyone could play this game. Also it’s
a lot of fun. I replayed this game for this review and I had forgotten how fun it was.
Mario has so many moves and combinations you may find yourself just running around jumping
on things for the sake of running around jumping on things. The early levels are also
easy enough that the game keeps your attention early on. The later levels get a bit more
difficult and do tent to sort of repeat the earlier levels only more difficult. Also it’s
easy enough that you shouldn’t get stuck anywhere for long and if you do then chances are
there are a dozen other levels you could play instead. The controls are pretty nice but
tend to seem a bit too loose for tight situations that require precision movements.
Overall: 9/10
This game was released to sell the N64 and it does a good job of it. It shows off a lot
of the abilities of the system. It’s probably one of the better N64 games and it’s one
that anyone could play and have fun. I would recommend this game if you have an N64.
Tip: There are 120 stars all together. Then you collect them all look for a new cannon
and head to the top of the castle for a meeting with an old friend.
