[#01] Super Mario 64 (N64)


Genre: Platform
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original release: September, 1996

One of the most revolutionary games in the last 15 years, Super Mario 64 is widely known as one of the first real 3D games. Taking all of the great characters from previous Mario installments, Mario 64 brought gaming to new heights with its clean graphics, intuitive design and realization of the world's most beloved 2D character. Introducing an all-new array of jumping mechanics, Mario was able to bounce off of walls, dive into dirt, triple jump, butt slam and even kart wheel his way into a new direction. This, along with the Nintendo's N64 joystick made for what is perhaps the biggest leap in gaming, ever. Imagine, one minute you're on a SNES playing Super Mario RPG, thinking it's the most beautiful thing in the world, and the next thing you know you're flying through the clouds in full 3D and swimming with Jesus-Arachnus spiders from a painting inside of a massive castle. Pretty substantial I'd say for sure.

But we have that all now. We have 3D environments and fully directional controller joysticks, so why do you want this game? Well, for the same reason you want every game on this list - they're down right good games, many of which transcend their own time. Outstanding accomplishments in gaming history aside, Mario 64 offers a pretty expansive and entertaining world. Just like most Mario games, it will take a good amount of your life to complete to where you're satisfied, and some would argue that Mario 64 is even better than its GameCube brother Mario Sunshine. Everything from the characters to the levels are what make Mario 64 a timeless classic. The open-ended do-what-you-want-when-you-want game play allows for players to take the game as fast (or as slow) as they please. And there's absolutely no better Wii Virtual Console title confirmed for 2006 that will get you more bang for your buck. Super Mario 64 is quite simply the best damn Wii Virtual Console Game of 2006.


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