Super Mario 64 is a 1996 platform game created and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was the first Super Mario game to use 3D gameplay, combining the game’s usual style, characters, and levels in 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 Princess Peach.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the game’s director, had the idea for 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 creating a virtual camera system. They then worked on drawing 3D character models and improving how characters move on the screen. Yoji Inagaki recorded the game’s sound effects, and Koji Kondo composed the music.
Super Mario 64 was highly expected, with advertisements and previews shown at the 1996 E3 trade show. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and in PAL regions in 1997. It received praise for its creativity, visuals, level design, and gameplay, though some critics pointed out issues with the camera system. It became the best-selling Nintendo 64 game, with nearly twelve million copies sold by 2015.
Super Mario 64 is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential video games. Many developers have said it inspired 3D platform games, especially its camera system and 360-degree control, which set a new standard, similar to how Super Mario Bros. influenced side-scrolling games. Its impact can be seen in games like Spyro the Dragon, Banjo-Kazooie, and Psychonauts. It was later remade as Super Mario 64 DS for the Nintendo DS in 2004 and has been released on other Nintendo consoles. The game has inspired many fan-made versions, mods, a large speedrunning community, and ongoing discussions about its features and development.
Gameplay
Super Mario 64 is a 3D platformer and action-adventure game where the player controls Mario through different levels. Mario has more abilities than in earlier games. He can walk, run, jump, crouch, crawl, climb, swim, kick, grab objects, and punch using the game controller’s analog stick and buttons. He 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 adjust the camera, which is operated by Lakitu, a character who is broadcasting Mario’s actions. The camera can switch between first-person and third-person views.
Unlike earlier games, Super Mario 64 uses a health point system shown as a pie with eight segments. If Mario takes damage, he can restore his health by collecting yellow, red, or blue coins. Yellow coins restore one segment, red coins restore two segments, and blue coins restore five segments. Health can also be restored by walking through a spinning heart or jumping into water. Underwater, Mario’s health represents 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, disappearing if not collected.
Instead of power-ups like the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, translucent red, green, and blue blocks appear in many levels. Three switches of the same colors, located in secret areas within the castle or levels, turn their matching blocks solid. These blocks allow Mario to collect special cap power-ups 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 noxious gases, allows him to move underwater, and gives him unlimited air underwater. The Vanish Cap makes Mario partially invisible and invulnerable, letting him walk through obstacles. Stomping a Koopa Troopa leaves a shell that Mario can use to run over enemies or move across 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 containing Power Stars. Collecting Power Stars unlocks more areas in the castle. Each of the 15 levels has seven Power Stars (six from missions and one by collecting 100 coins). An additional 15 Power Stars are hidden as secrets, totaling 120 Power Stars.
Levels include enemies and friendly creatures that help or ask for favors, such as Bob-omb Buddies, who help Mario access cannons. Some Power Stars appear only after completing tasks, such as collecting 100 yellow coins, defeating a boss, racing an opponent, or solving puzzles. The final level is blocked by endless stairs similar to the Penrose stairs concept. Mario can climb them after collecting 70 Power Stars. The music in the endless stairs before collecting 70 Power Stars sounds like a Shepard scale. Hidden mini-courses and secrets in the castle may contain extra Power Stars needed to complete the game. Collecting all 120 Power Stars allows players to find Yoshi on the roof of Princess Peach’s Castle. Yoshi gives a message from the developers, 100 extra lives, and an improved triple jump.
Plot
Princess Peach asks Mario to visit her castle to receive a cake she has prepared for him. When Mario arrives, he finds that Bowser has taken over the castle and locked up Princess Peach and her servants inside using the power of the castle's 120 Power Stars. The Power Stars are hidden in the castle's paintings, which act as gateways to other areas where Bowser's helpers guard the Stars. Mario explores the castle and enters these areas, 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 the curse that blocks the way to Bowser's final hiding place. When Mario defeats Bowser in the final battle and Bowser escapes, promising to return, Mario receives a special Power Star that gives him the Wing Cap, letting him fly back to the castle's courtyard. Princess Peach is freed 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.
Once Mario collects all 120 Power Stars, he can use a cannon on the castle grounds to reach the castle's roof, where Yoshi is waiting. 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, imagined a 3D version of Mario while working on the game Star Fox (1993) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Star Fox used a special chip called the Super FX, which made the game run faster. Miyamoto thought about using this chip to create a game called Super Mario FX, which would have gameplay similar to "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 a code name for the Super FX chip. Miyamoto later changed his idea to develop for 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 3D animation of Mario’s head that could talk. 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. According to Miyamoto, the development team had about fifteen to twenty people. Development started with designing characters and the camera system, and months were spent choosing the view and layout. The original idea was to use a fixed path like in Super Mario RPG, but the team changed to a free-roaming 3D design, with some linear paths to guide players to Bowser’s lair, as explained by Giles Goddard.
"There were no jumping actions in 3D we could reference at the time, so we shared in the enjoyment of going through all the trial and error with Mr. Miyamoto and other team members. It was arguably tough work, but that feeling was overtaken by the joy of innovating in a new field."
Super Mario 64 was one of the first games for which Nintendo created illustrations internally instead of hiring outside artists. The graphics were made using N-World, a tool based on Silicon Graphics (SGI) technology. The team focused on Mario’s movement first, testing and improving his animations on a simple grid before creating levels. The 3D illustrations were created 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, made a 3D drawing of Mario from different angles and directed the creation of the character models. In an interview with The Washington Post, Yoshiaki Koizumi said his challenge was animating 3D models without any examples to follow. To help players see depth, the team added a fake shadow under each object, no matter the lighting. Koizumi called this feature an "iron-clad necessity" because it 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 interactive cartoon. Mario was made highly expressive to "create the feeling of controlling something that's really alive," which Miyamoto was inspired to do after letting his pet hamster loose in his room. Some details were based on the developers’ personal lives, such as the Boos, which were inspired by assistant director Takashi Tezuka’s wife, who, as Miyamoto explained, "is very quiet normally, but one day she exploded, maddened by all the time Tezuka spent at work."
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 processors. The rabbit was included in the final 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 more than two years later, some puzzles were used for 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 difficulties in making the mode work led to its removal.
The music was composed by veteran composer Koji Kondo, who created new versions of familiar melodies and new music. Yoji Inagaki was responsible for sound design, creating hundreds of sound effects. He and Kondo believed music and sound effects were equally important. Inagaki said that the average Nintendo 64 game had about 500 sound effects and compared it to Ocarina of Time, which had 1,200, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, which had 2,000.
Super Mario 64 is 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 Super Mario 64, 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 visual details were finished. It had 32 levels. Miyamoto wanted to create more, possibly up to 40, but the number was reduced to 15. Howard Lincoln, chairman of Nintendo of America, said 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 have sharp eyes. They soon know if the games are compromised. [Miyamoto] asked for two more months and I gave them to him unconditionally." The game was later shown at E3 1996 with multiple Nintendo 64s set up for people to play. Giles Goddard said the stress of the project caused some programmers to quit or move to different 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 more than 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. During its first week of sale, it sold about 200,000 copies. In its first three months in North America, it sold more than 2 million copies and earned $140 million in the United States, becoming the best-selling video game of 1996 by dollar 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, behind 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 Wii’s Virtual Console by June 2007, behind Super Mario Bros. By March 2008, Super Mario 64 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. Unlike the original, Yoshi is the starting character, with Mario, Luigi, and Wario as unlockable characters. It has 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 critics praising the graphics and added features but criticizing 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 other changes.
In November 2003, it was released as a limited demo on China’s iQue Player. In late 2006, it was released on the Wii Virtual Console service, which added better resolution and compatibility with GameCube and Super Famicom Classic controllers. In September 2020, Super Mario 64 was one of three Super Mario games included in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on Nintendo Switch. This version was based on the Rumble Pak iteration, updated the presentation to display at 720p resolution on both the Switch’s docked and handheld modes, used upscaled user interface assets and textures, and included a new control scheme for the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controller. It was later updated to support the Nintendo 64 controller used with the Nintendo Classics service. It returned to the Nintendo Switch in October 2021 as part of the Nintendo 64 lineup for the Nintendo Classics service.
Reception
Super Mario 64 received a lot of positive attention before it was released. GamePro noted that the 1995 version of the game felt smooth, and the action was described as fun, even though the game was only half finished. Ed Semrad of Electronic Gaming Monthly agreed, praising the new 3D animation of Mario characters, which had only been shown in 2D before. Larry Marcus, a source analyst for Alex. Brown & Sons, remembered Super Mario 64 being the most anticipated game at E3 1996, with teenagers competing to try it out first.
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. Another review site, GameRankings, scored it 96%, and ranked it the eighteenth best video game of all time based on twenty-two reviews.
Reviewers praised the game’s design, controls, and use of 3D gameplay. Maximum magazine highlighted the freedom players felt and the game’s replayability, comparing it to Super Mario World and noting its similar feature of unlocking new areas by finding switches. One of GameFan’s reviewers, E. Storm, called the water levels “overjoying” and said the game explored a new kind of gaming. Official Nintendo Magazine described the game as “beautiful in both looks and design.” Doug Perry of IGN said the game successfully moved the Mario series into 3D. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game’s levels for their size and difficulty and later ranked it the fourth best console game of all time, saying it changed 3D gaming completely.
Paul Davies of Computer and Video Games magazine praised the 3D environment, saying it made the game more interactive. He also called the controls easy to use and flexible. Total! magazine said the gameplay was imaginative and varied, and their reviewers remained interested in the game even after a month. Jonti Davies of AllGame noted the variety of activities in each level. Corbie Dillard of Nintendo Life called the game’s variety its greatest strength. Nebojsa Radakovic of GameRevolution said Super Mario 64 was one of the few true 3D platform games. N64 Magazine compared the game to a large 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 the signs.
Reviewers also praised the game’s graphics. Chris Hudak of VideoGameSpot said the graphics were “clean yet simple” and did not distract from the game world. GamePro highlighted the game’s technical performance and art design, calling it “the most visually impressive game of all time.” Paul Davies said the graphics were so impressive that players would stop to admire them. Jonti Davies called the visuals outstanding and the frame rate good. Doug Perry said the graphics were simple but beautiful, a view shared by Next Generation. Hyper reviewer Nino Alegeropoulos called it the best-looking console game at the time, saying its high resolution and frame rate made it look “infinitely better than a cartoon.” Total! said the graphics had no pixelation or jagged edges, making them look like they came from a top-of-the-line graphics workstation.
The camera system received mixed reviews. Next Generation said the game was harder to play than previous Mario games because the camera sometimes moved unpredictably or had poor angles. Nebojsa Radakovic and Doug Perry added that the camera sometimes got blocked by or passed through objects. Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers Dan Hsu, Shawn Smith, and Crispin Boyer each reduced their scores by half a point, saying the camera sometimes failed to move to the right angle or shifted suddenly. This criticism was repeated in Electronic Gaming Monthly’s list of the 100 Best Games of All Time. Game Informer said the camera would be considered broken by today’s standards. Nintendo Power noted the difficulty of learning to use the shifting camera. In contrast, Corbie Dillard said the camera worked well and helped players navigate complex areas. Total! agreed, saying the camera rarely had poor angles. Paul Davies said he had some issues with the camera’s positioning but called it a small problem in an otherwise revolutionary game.
Super Mario 64 won many awards, including “Game of the Year” honors from various media outlets and was included in Nintendo’s Player’s Choice selection. It was ranked highly on “the greatest games of all time” lists by reviewers from IGN, Game Informer, Edge, Official Nintendo Magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendo Power. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a Gold award 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 the runner-up.
Legacy
Super Mario 64 was considered one of the most important games ever made, and some people even said it could change the world in ways beyond gaming. While most consoles needed many different games to attract players, Nintendo found an exception. A single game with groundbreaking 3D gameplay could draw attention to the entire system. Super Mario 64 played a major role in the success of the Nintendo 64. Lee Hutchinson, who worked at Babbage's, noted that the game's popularity surprised many, as it showed that a single strong title could succeed even without many other games. Over time, the Nintendo 64 lost market share to Sony's PlayStation, partly because of design choices like its cartridge and controller, which were influenced by Super Mario 64.
In 2012, Super Mario 64 was included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's The Art of Video Games exhibit, which highlighted its importance. The game set many standards for 3D platformers, a type of game where players jump and explore in three dimensions. It introduced a central hub world, a safe area where players could learn and choose levels, which became a common feature in later games. As the genre evolved, many games focused more on exploration than traditional jumping. Some developers, like Martin Hollis of GoldenEye 007 and the team behind Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, credited Super Mario 64 for inspiring their work. Dan Houser of Grand Theft Auto said that no 3D game developer could claim they didn’t take ideas from Super Mario 64 or Zelda. Tom Hall of id Software called it a masterwork that defined the 3D platformer genre. Square Enix said that a chance meeting with Disney employees led to the Kingdom Hearts series, which was inspired by Super Mario 64's 3D environments. Michael John of Spyro the Dragon and Chris Sutherland of Banjo-Kazooie also cited Super Mario 64 as a major influence. Gabe Newell of Valve said it inspired Half-Life by showing how to make 3D spaces fun to explore. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag used Super Mario 64's hub world design for its open world.
Super Mario 64 introduced a camera that could move independently of the player, allowing for more freedom in exploring 3D spaces. This camera system became standard for later games. Nintendo Power and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time were praised for their camera innovations, which helped shape the 3D era. The game also used an analog stick, which allowed for more precise movement than the digital buttons on other consoles. This control system was so effective that Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked Super Mario 64 as the most important game since 1989.
In 2021, a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1,560,000, the highest price ever paid for a video game. A sequel, Super Mario 128, was planned but canceled due to lack of progress and the failure of the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive. Later games like Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Odyssey built on Super Mario 64's ideas. Super Mario Galaxy 2 included a remake of one of its levels. Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World focused more on traditional platforming.
After its release, rumors spread, including one that Luigi could be unlocked. In 1996, IGN offered a prize for finding Luigi, but no one succeeded. Players later discovered glitches, like a coin that could not be collected normally. Speedrunning techniques, such as skipping a camera tutorial or using a glitch to move through walls, became popular. Some glitches were patched in later versions of the game. YouTubers like Vinesauce and Pannenkoek2012 created content about the game's technical aspects.