Super Mario 64 HD - A Great Revival The base game, Super Mario 64, was my childhood. Before continuing on with this review, I would very much like to state this fact
plain and simple for anyone reading. So many hours spent running around the castle and it's halls and collecting stars while playing
this with and for family. With that being said, I will be more than happy to take off the nostalgia goggles and give this game serious
once over along with it's HD elements for this specific version.
GRAPHICS
Naturally, in order to really understand the graphics in Super Mario 64 you have to put yourself in the shoes of a kid and/or young
adult in 1996 when the game originally came out. The switch from side-scrollers and 2d graphics to 3d was absolutely jarring and the
word "polygon" when referring to video games wasn't necessarily a common thing at the time. Today, the graphics be it textures or
models are severely outdated, but to many (myself included, honestly and not biased) they still hold up well due to the cartoonish
nature of the Mario franchise.
Now, what we have here is Super Mario 64 HD. Today, putting HD in front of something means a lot more than what this game has
done. You won't find higher resolution models or added ambient occlusion or the ability to have more entities rendered on screen than
the original base game. Instead, what you have here something much more simple- Textures.
That's right, the HD in this version of the classic is HD textures. The models, as I said have not changed, but weirdly enough it actually
doesn't look very bad, despite the realistic style chosen instead of a more cartoon-styled approach that might have made more sense. The
trees look like real trees, though they remain 2d. The brick looks like real brick. And the grass actually looks nice and verdant, though it's
darker than the original.
While the effect is surprisingly good, it sadly doesn't effect every inch of the game. I was astounded at the surroundings and couldn't wait
to see how Bowser in The Dark World (a personal favorite) had changed- it didn't. The textures and the blurry jpeg skybox hadn't been touched, though the first fight with King Koopa definitely got the HD treatment, at least. A few graphical errors remain, though that may very well be due to the emulator used more than the texture pack present.
SOUND
The sound hasn't changed at all, and that is entirely fine with me. The soundtrack in this game, to this day, is still absolutely amazing. I could just as easily fall a
sleep to the Dire, Dire Docks theme today as I could way back in the late 90's. Not a single soundbite has been touched from Bowser's deep and menacing laugh (which is just a Boo's laugh pitch shifted lower, fun fact) to the strange "pew" of a dot shooting fire at Mario.
The music is beautiful and the voice work from Mario and Peach is entertaining and very well done considering the time in which it was recorded.
ADDICTIVENESS
Oh man, is this game addictive. Seems like every Mario game has the ability to make you lose hours and hours trying to get past a single level. Maybe not so much for the older audience who know the in's and out's of this game like the back of their hands, but as a kid there were levels that had me stumped for days- WEEKS in some rare cases. While the controls may be clunky, it doesn't take very long to get used to them and before long you're a maniac jumping all around the levels inherent in Peach's Castle.
And considering the game's secondary goal of finding all 120 stars (with a secret 7th star in every level and around 15 secret stars not in any of the main levels) this game can eat up your time even when you're not trying to reach the end of the game.
STORY
Well, I'm not entirely sure what exactly you were looking for here. You're Mario. Bowser is a jerk and he likes to steal Peach, and sometimes he enjoys taking a handful of star-shaped objects along with her. It's your typical Mushroom Kingdom affair in Super Mario 64, so there's not much to be said. Put on your best overalls and get ready to save the damsel once again.
DEPTH
As a great subject of speedruns, it can technically take you just a couple hours (if that, even) to finish the game. However, if you're aiming for a perfect ending with every little star and a hundred coins in every main level, you're looking at a venture that'll probably take you the better part of a day if you want to do it all in one sitting and you know what you're doing.
Just recently, before writing this review I spend a good seven maybe seven and a half hours streaming this game from start to finish with 100%. But, if you're looking at this game for the first time then you've got one heck of a ride in front of you! It's not exactly Ocarina of Time level, but you'll definitely be spreading this out over a couple of days at the very least.
DIFFICULTY
This game is not difficult per se. Nor was it meant to be, necessarily. The difficulty that IS present in this title stems mainly from the slightly clunky controls and the camera system that REALLY likes to mess with you when you're trying to mess with it. As long as you're careful when changing views, though it shouldn't be much of a problem. And once you've received your first 2-3 stars in the castle, the controls begin to feel a bit more fluid so it's a bit of a non-issue really.
Otherwise, the difficulty would likely be in the stage hazards found in a few of the games levels. Whether it's an annoying quicksand trap that you couldn't quite jump out of or you slipped too far into a lake of lava, you're bound to have a couple accidents. But, hey, it's not hard to find 1-up's in this game so feel free to grab a mushroom and jump right back onto the levels head!
Graphics
9 Sound
10 Addictive
9 Depth
10 Story
6 Difficulty
6
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