Super Mario 64 is a 1996 platform game created and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 system. It was the first Super Mario game to use 3D gameplay, blending the series' traditional style, characters, and levels into a large open world. In the game, Bowser attacks Princess Peach's castle, captures her, and hides the castle's Power Stars inside magical paintings in different worlds. As Mario, players explore levels and collect Power Stars to unlock parts of the castle, reach Bowser, and save Peach.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the game's director, planned a 3D Super Mario game while working on Star Fox (1993). The team spent about one year designing the game and twenty months making it, starting with a system that helps players view the game world. They then created 3D character models and improved how characters move. Yoji Inagaki recorded the game's sound effects, and Koji Kondo composed the music.
Super Mario 64 was highly expected, with advertising and appearances at the 1996 E3 trade show increasing interest. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and in PAL regions in 1997. Reviewers praised its bold ideas, visuals, level design, and gameplay, though some criticized the camera system. It became the best-selling Nintendo 64 game, selling nearly twelve million copies by 2015.
Super Mario 64 is seen as one of the greatest and most influential video games. Many developers have said it inspired 3D platform games, with its camera system and 360-degree control setting a new standard, similar to how Super Mario Bros. influenced side-scrolling games. Its impact can be seen in games like Spyro the Dragon and Banjo-Kazooie. It was remade as Super Mario 64 DS for the Nintendo DS in 2004 and later ported to other Nintendo consoles. The game has inspired many fan-made versions, mods, a large speedrunning community, and ongoing stories about its features and development.
Gameplay
Super Mario 64 is a 3D game where players jump and explore different levels. The player controls Mario, who can walk, run, jump, crouch, crawl, climb, swim, kick, grab objects, and punch using the game controller's analog stick and buttons. Mario can perform special jumps by combining a regular jump with other actions, such as double and triple jumps, long jumps, backflips, and wall jumps. The player can change the camera view, which is controlled by a character named Lakitu, and switch between first-person and third-person perspectives.
Unlike earlier games, Super Mario 64 uses a health system shown as a pie divided into eight parts. If Mario takes damage, he can restore his health by collecting coins: yellow coins restore one part, red coins (worth two yellow coins) restore two parts, and blue coins (worth five yellow coins) restore five parts. Health can also be restored by walking through a spinning heart or jumping into water. Underwater, Mario's health shows how long he can hold his breath, which decreases while underwater and increases when he surfaces. Completing a level gives Mario an extra life for every 50 yellow coins collected. Extra life mushrooms are hidden in places like trees and poles. These mushrooms may fly through the air or fall to the ground and disappear if not collected.
Instead of power-ups like the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, three types of see-through blocks—red, green, and blue—appear in many levels. Three switches of the same colors, found in secret areas within the castle or levels, make the matching blocks solid. These blocks allow Mario to collect special caps throughout the game. The Wing Cap lets Mario fly after a triple jump or being shot from a cannon. The Metal Cap makes Mario immune to enemies, fire, and harmful gases, and allows him to move underwater and stay underwater longer. The Vanish Cap makes Mario invisible and able to walk through some obstacles. Stomping on a Koopa Troopa leaves a shell that Mario can use to run over enemies or travel on water, lava, and quicksand.
The main area of the game is Princess Peach's Castle, which has three floors: the lobby, the main tower, and a basement. There is also a moat and a courtyard outside the castle. The player's goal is to find paintings that lead to levels with Power Stars. Collecting Power Stars unlocks more areas of the castle. Each of the 15 levels has seven Power Stars (six from specific tasks and one by collecting 100 coins). There are also 15 hidden Power Stars, for a total of 120.
Levels include enemies and friendly creatures that help or ask for help, like Bob-omb Buddies, who can launch Mario into cannons. Some Power Stars appear only after completing tasks, such as collecting 100 coins, defeating a boss, racing, or solving puzzles. The final level has "endless stairs" similar to the Penrose stairs concept, which Mario can climb after collecting 70 Power Stars. The music in this area sounds like a Shepard scale until 70 Power Stars are collected. Hidden mini-games and secrets in the castle may contain extra Power Stars needed to complete the game. If all 120 Power Stars are collected, Yoshi appears on the castle roof and gives the player a message from the developers, 100 extra lives, and an improved triple jump.
Plot
Princess Peach sends a letter to Mario, asking him to visit her castle to receive a cake she has made for him. When Mario arrives, he finds that Bowser has taken over the castle and locked Princess Peach and her servants inside using the power of the castle's 120 Power Stars. These Power Stars are hidden in the castle's paintings, which act as gateways to other places where Bowser's enemies guard the Stars. Mario searches the castle and enters these other places, unlocking more rooms as he collects more Stars. Mario finds three keys by defeating Bowser in secret areas, which allow him to open doors to different floors of the castle. After collecting at least 70 of the 120 Power Stars, Mario breaks a curse that causes infinite stairs to block the way to Bowser's final hiding place. When Mario defeats Bowser in the final fight, Bowser escapes and vows to get revenge. Mario then receives a special Power Star, which gives him the Wing Cap, allowing him to fly back to the castle's courtyard. Princess Peach is released from a stained-glass window above the castle's entrance and rewards Mario by kissing him on the nose and giving him the cake she promised.
After Mario collects all 120 Power Stars, he can use a cannon on the castle grounds to reach the roof, where Yoshi waits. Yoshi praises Mario for collecting all 120 Power Stars and gives him 100 extra lives to continue playing.
Development
In the early 1990s, Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario, thought of a 3D Mario design while working on the game Star Fox (1993) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Star Fox used a special graphics chip called the Super FX, which made the game more powerful. Miyamoto considered using the chip to create a game called Super Mario FX, which would have gameplay based on "an entire world in miniature, like miniature trains." Dylan Cuthbert, an engineer who worked on Star Fox, said that Super Mario FX was not a game but the name for the Super FX chip. Miyamoto later changed his idea to use the Nintendo 64, not because it was more powerful, but because its controller had more buttons for gameplay. At the January 1993 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where Star Fox was first shown, Nintendo's booth displayed a talking 3D animation of Mario's head. This later inspired the interactive Mario face on the game's title screen, which was programmed by Giles Goddard.
Production of Super Mario 64 began on September 7, 1994, at Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis & Development division and ended on May 20, 1996. Miyamoto said the development team had about fifteen to twenty people. The project started with creating characters and the camera system. Months were spent choosing how to view and arrange the game. The original idea was to use a fixed path like in Super Mario RPG, but the team changed it to a free-roaming 3D design, with some linear paths to guide players to Bowser's lair, according to Giles Goddard.
"There were no examples of 3D jumping to follow at the time, so we worked through many trials and errors with Mr. Miyamoto and the team. It was difficult work, but the joy of creating something new made it worthwhile."
Super Mario 64 was one of the first games where Nintendo made its own illustrations instead of hiring outside artists. The graphics were created using N-World, a tool based on Silicon Graphics (SGI) technology. The team focused on Mario's movement and tested his animations on a simple grid before designing levels. The 3D illustrations were made by Shigefumi Hino, Hisashi Nogami, Hideki Fujii, Tomoaki Kuroume, and Yusuke Nakano. The game was animated by co-director Yoshiaki Koizumi and Satoru Takiwaza. Yōichi Kotabe, the illustrator and character designer for the Mario series, created a 3D drawing of Mario from different angles and oversaw the character models. In an interview with The Washington Post, Yoshiaki Koizumi said his biggest challenge was animating 3D models without any previous examples to follow. To help players see depth, the team added fake shadows under objects, regardless of lighting. Koizumi called this a "necessary feature" that made the game easier to play, even if it wasn't realistic.
Miyamoto's design goal was to include more details than earlier games by using the Nintendo 64's power to show "all the emotions of the characters." He compared the style to a 3D cartoon. Mario was made expressive to "create the feeling of controlling something that's really alive," an idea inspired by Miyamoto letting his pet hamster roam freely. Some details came from the developers' lives; for example, the Boos were based on assistant director Takashi Tezuka's wife, who, as Miyamoto explained, "is usually quiet but once became very upset when Tezuka spent too much time working."
Super Mario 64 was first tested on an SGI Onyx emulator, which only copied the console's software, not its hardware. The first test for controls and physics involved Mario interacting with a golden rabbit named "MIPS," after the Nintendo 64's MIPS architecture. The rabbit later appeared in the game as a Power Star holder. Super Mario 64 has more puzzles than earlier Mario games. It was developed at the same time as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but since Ocarina of Time was released two years later, some puzzles were moved to Super Mario 64. The developers tried to add a multiplayer mode where players could control Mario and Luigi in split-screen, but hardware limits and technical issues caused it to be removed.
The music was composed by Koji Kondo, who created new versions of familiar melodies and new songs. Yoji Inagaki designed the sound effects, creating hundreds of them. He and Kondo said music and sound effects were equally important. Inagaki noted that the average Nintendo 64 game had about 500 sound effects, compared to 1,200 in Ocarina of Time and 2,000 in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Super Mario 64 was one of the first games to feature Charles Martinet as the voice of Mario and Leslie Swan, who was then senior editor of Nintendo Power and the English localizer for the game, as the voice of Princess Peach.
Release
Super Mario 64 was first shown as a playable early version in November 1995 at Nintendo Space World. This version was only 50% complete, and only about 2% of the game’s texture mapping was finished. It included 32 levels. Miyamoto wanted to create more, possibly up to 40, but the number was reduced to 15. According to Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America, Miyamoto’s desire to add more levels was a major reason for delaying the Nintendo 64’s release from Christmas 1995 to Summer 1996. Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi later said: "Game creators can finish games quickly if they compromise. But users notice if games are compromised. Miyamoto asked for two more months, and I gave them to him." The game was later shown at E3 1996 with multiple Nintendo 64 systems set up for people to try. Giles Goddard, a programmer, said the project’s stress caused some workers to leave or switch to other departments.
Peter Main, Nintendo’s vice president of marketing at the time, said Super Mario 64 was meant to be the most important game for the Nintendo 64. A $20 million marketing campaign included sending videotapes to over 500,000 Nintendo Power subscribers and showing advertisements on MTV, Fox, and Nickelodeon.
Super Mario 64 was officially released in Japan in June 1996, North America in September, and in Europe and Australia in March 1997. It sold about 200,000 copies during its first week. In North America, it sold over 2 million copies in its first three months and earned $140 million in the United States, becoming the best-selling video game of 1996 by sales. In the first three months of 1997, it was the second-best-selling console game, with 523,000 units sold, behind Mario Kart 64. According to the NPD Group, it was the fifth best-selling video game of 1998 by unit sales, after GoldenEye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Gran Turismo, and Banjo-Kazooie. By early 2001, it had sold 5.5 million units, and 5.9 million by September 2002.
At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, Super Mario 64 won a Gold ECCSELL prize for earning over €21 million in the European Union in 1998. It became the second most popular game on the Wii’s Virtual Console by June 2007, after Super Mario Bros. By March 2008, it had sold 11.8 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Nintendo 64 game. By 2015, it was the 12th most sold Mario game, with 11.91 million copies sold.
An improved version, Super Mario 64 DS, was released for the Nintendo DS in 2004. Like the original, the story focuses on collecting Power Stars and rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser. In this version, Yoshi is the starting character, with Mario, Luigi, and Wario as characters you can unlock later. It includes better graphics, slightly changed levels, new areas, power-ups, enemies, more Power Stars, touchscreen mini-games, and a multiplayer mode. Reviews were mostly positive, with praise for the graphics and additions but criticism for the controls and multiplayer mode. By September 2021, 11.06 million copies had been sold worldwide.
A version of Super Mario 64 was used as a technology demonstration for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive (64DD) floppy drive at the 1996 Nintendo Space World trade show. Like Wave Race 64, Super Mario 64 was re-released in Japan on July 18, 1997, as Super Mario 64 Rumble Pak Version, which fixed bugs, added support for the Rumble Pak peripheral, included English voice acting, and made other changes.
In November 2003, it was released as a limited demo on China’s iQue Player. In late 2006, it was added to the Wii Virtual Console service, which improved resolution and made it compatible with GameCube and Super Famicom Classic controllers. In September 2020, Super Mario 64 was included in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on the Nintendo Switch. This version was based on the Rumble Pak iteration and updated the display to 720p resolution on both the Switch’s docked and handheld modes. It also used improved interface assets and textures, added a new control scheme for the Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controller, and later supported the Nintendo 64 controller through the Nintendo Classics service. It returned to the Switch in October 2021 as part of the Nintendo 64 lineup for the Nintendo Classics service.
Reception
Super Mario 64 was very well received before it was released. GamePro noted that the 1995 prototype had smooth gameplay, and the action was described as "a blast," even though the game was only half finished. Ed Semrad of Electronic Gaming Monthly agreed, saying the new 3D animation of Mario characters, which had only been shown in 2D before, was impressive. Larry Marcus, a source analyst for Alex. Brown & Sons, recalled that Super Mario 64 was the most anticipated game at E3 1996, with many teenagers competing to try it out.
Super Mario 64 received high praise from critics. Metacritic, a review website, gave it a score of 94 out of 100 based on thirteen reviews. GameRankings, another review site, gave it a score of 96%, ranking it the eighteenth best video game of all time based on twenty-two reviews.
The game's design, controls, and use of 3D gameplay were praised by video game publications. Maximum magazine said the game's strongest features were the sense of freedom and its replayability, comparing it to Super Mario World and noting its similar feature of allowing access to new areas by finding switches. One of GameFan's four reviewers, E. Storm, called the water levels "overjoying" and said the game explored "an entirely new realm of gaming." Official Nintendo Magazine described it as "beautiful in both looks and design." Doug Perry of IGN said it transitioned the Mario series to 3D perfectly. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's levels for their size and challenge in their initial review and later ranked it the fourth best console game of all time, saying it had broken new ground in 3D gaming while working almost flawlessly.
Computer and Video Games editor Paul Davies praised the 3D environment, saying it improved player interaction and described the controls as intuitive and versatile. Total! magazine said the gameplay was imaginative and so varied that their reviewers were still "hooked" after one month. Jonti Davies of AllGame noted the game's diverse gameplay and the many activities available in each course. Nintendo Life's Corbie Dillard agreed, calling the variety the game's "greatest genius." Nebojsa Radakovic of GameRevolution described Super Mario 64 as one of the few "true" 3D platform games. N64 Magazine compared it to an enormous playground that was fun to explore, but said the number of hints and tips slightly reduced the sense of discovery. Victor Lucas of EP Daily agreed, praising the freedom but suggesting players "skip all the sign posts."
Super Mario 64 also received praise for its graphics. Chris Hudak of VideoGameSpot said the graphics were "clean yet simple" and did not distract from the game's details. GamePro highlighted the combination of technical performance and art design, calling it "the most visually impressive game of all time." Paul Davies said the graphics were "so amazing to see, you find yourself stopping to admire [them]." Jonti Davies called the visuals phenomenal and the frame rate respectable. Doug Perry said the graphics were simple but magnificent, a view shared by Next Generation. Hyper reviewer Nino Alegeropoulos called it the best-looking console game to date, saying its high resolution and frame rate made it look "infinitely better than a cartoon." Total! said the graphics had no pixellation or jagged edges, making them look like they came from a "top of the range graphics workstation."
The camera system received mixed reviews. Next Generation said Super Mario 64 was harder to play than earlier Mario games, as the camera sometimes moved unpredictably or did not offer the best angles. Nebojsa Radakovic and Doug Perry added that the camera sometimes got blocked by or passed through objects. Electronic Gaming Monthly's Dan Hsu, Shawn Smith, and Crispin Boyer each reduced their scores by half a point, saying the camera sometimes failed to move to the desired angle or shifted quickly in an unwanted way. This criticism was repeated in Electronic Gaming Monthly's list of the 100 Best Games of All Time. Game Informer said in a 2007 re-review that, by modern standards, the camera "would almost be considered broken." Nintendo Power also noted the difficulty of learning to navigate the shifting camera. In contrast, Corbie Dillard said the camera had no problems and helped players move through complex environments. Total! agreed, saying the camera was rarely at a poor angle. Paul Davies acknowledged that the camera was sometimes hard to position ideally but called it "one hiccup" in an otherwise "revolutionary" game.
Super Mario 64 won many awards, including several "Game of the Year" honors from gaming media and was selected as a top-selling game in Nintendo's Player's Choice collection. It has been ranked highly on "the greatest games of all time" lists by many reviewers, including IGN, Game Informer, Edge, Official Nintendo Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendo Power. Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded it a Gold rating in its initial review and named it Game of the Year for both editors' and readers' choices, as well as Nintendo 64 Game of the Year, Adventure Game of the Year, and Best Graphics. At the 1997 Computer Game Developers Conference, it received Spotlight Awards for Best Use of Innovative Technology, Best Console Game, and Best Game of 1996. Maximum magazine gave it a "Maximum Game of the Month Award" before its international release, calling it the best game the magazine had ever reviewed. Digitiser ranked it the best game of 1997, ahead of Final Fantasy VII as runner-up.
Legacy
If the gaming press was correct, Super Mario 64 was expected to be the best game ever released, and it might also have helped cure cancer and feed hungry children.
A rule stated that a console needed many different games at launch to attract North American players. However, Nintendo found an exception: one outstanding game with well-designed 3D gameplay, which most players had never experienced, could be enough to make the system successful.
Super Mario 64 played a major role in the early success and excitement for the Nintendo 64. Lee Hutchinson, a former Babbage's employee, noted that the game’s popularity was driven by enthusiastic press coverage and that its success challenged the belief that many launch games were needed for broad appeal. Later, the Nintendo 64 lost much of its market share to Sony’s PlayStation, partly because of its cartridge and controller design, which were reportedly chosen by Miyamoto for Super Mario 64.
In 2012, Super Mario 64 was part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s The Art of Video Games exhibit, which included 80 entries.
Super Mario 64 set many examples for 3D platformers, becoming one of the most influential video games. It is known for its open, nonlinear design, which has been praised by developers and journalists. 1Up.com highlighted its central hub world, which acts as a safe tutorial and level selector, a feature now common in 3D platformers. As the genre evolved, many traditional platforming rules were rethought, focusing more on exploration than jumping. Some argued it created a new genre for the series. Its mission-based level design influenced creators like Martin Hollis of GoldenEye 007 (1997) and the team behind Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Dan Houser, a key figure in Grand Theft Auto, said, “Anyone who makes 3D games and says they haven’t borrowed from Mario or Zelda is lying.” Tom Hall, co-founder of id Software, called it “the masterwork that set the standard” for 3D platformers. Square Enix said a chance meeting with Disney employees inspired the Kingdom Hearts series, influenced by Super Mario 64’s 3D environments. Michael John of Spyro the Dragon and Chris Sutherland of Banjo-Kazooie both cited Super Mario 64’s design as a benchmark. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag director Ashraf Ismail based his open-world design on Super Mario 64’s hub world.
Super Mario 64 introduced a free-floating camera that could be controlled independently of the character. To improve exploration and movement in 3D, designers created a dynamic camera that moved with the character’s actions. This system became the standard for 3D platformers. Nintendo Power praised the camera alongside The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s lock-on camera, calling both games pioneers of the 3D era. PC Magazine’s K. Thor Jensen said Super Mario 64 was the first truly realized 3D platformer, with camera control central to its gameplay.
Super Mario 64 used the analog stick for more precise and wide-ranging movement than the digital D-pads of other consoles. At the time, 3D games often limited players to fixed camera angles or character perspectives. Super Mario 64’s fully analog controls allowed 360-degree motion in 3D space relative to the camera, enabling precise control over details like running speed. In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked Super Mario 64 the most important game since 1989, noting it was the first to perfect 3D controls.
In July 2021, a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1,560,000, the highest price ever paid for a video game. Heritage Auctions called the game “impossibly important” to video game history.
A sequel, Super Mario 128, was planned for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive but canceled due to lack of progress and the drive’s commercial failure.
Later games, such as Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, built on Super Mario 64’s design. Super Mario Galaxy 2 included a remake of Super Mario 64’s Whomp’s Fortress level. Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World shifted focus to 2D-style platforming. Super Mario Odyssey returned to open-ended design, featuring references to Super Mario 64, such as the “Mario 64 Suit” and “Mario 64 Cap.”
After release, rumors spread, including one that Luigi was an unlockable character. In 1996, IGN offered a $100 prize for finding Luigi, which was never claimed.
Over time, players discovered glitches to reach hidden areas, such as a coin unattainable in normal play. Speedrunning techniques include skipping a tutorial dialog, using a bloated Bob-omb to clip through walls, and a backward long jump glitch. These glitches were patched in later re-releases. In 2013, YouTuber Vinesauce shared glitch compilations, and Pannenkoek2012 created detailed analyses of Super Mario 64’s mechanics. The game has also inspired challenges, such as completing it without pressing the A button.