Super Mario 64

In my adult life, I don't have the time I used to for gaming. There's work to do, bills to pay, errands to run, and chest high walls I just can't seem to get around.  However, I always seem to find time to replay Super Mario 64. My first experience with the game was at a friend's sleepover in the fifth grade. While my fellow company of developing boys were more interested in watching late night Cinemax (I recall some movie about a possessed semi-truck and some rather tasteful pornography involving body paint), I just wanted to keep playing Mario 64 (to be fair, we had just reached Big Boo's Haunt, which was both exhilarating and terrifying in the dead of night). Much in the Nintendo way, this game was a proof-of-concept for its new console, with finely refined controls, excellent level design, and a brilliant level of polish.

Even the box is exciting!

Super Mario 64's controls are perfect. Let me say that again: The controls are perfect. They are natural, intuitive, and they flow like the greatest poetry, offering incredible control over Mario and the camera. These controls are the pinnacle of gaming, the gold standard we developers should hope to replicate. Once more with feeling, Super Mario 64's controls are perfect.

Gaze upon perfection!

The difficulty curve has never been better. Each level unfolds like intricate origami, slowly introducing you to the tricks Mario is capable of in this brave new dimension. Each mechanic is like a new toy, with which the levels show you what fun you can have with it, in both expected and unexpected ways. Basic movement becomes its own game in the races and time trials and slides, with every jump and shortcut becoming a new toy in your arsenal. As your toybox fills, Nintendo presents new obstacle courses for you to play in, each of which stretches your skills into new territory.

Oh the places you'll go.

Everything is fun in this game. Every action, no matter how small, is full of polish, juice, whatever-you-want-to-call-it. You move, and Mario jumps to life; particles fly, and some joyful sound effect fills the air. Simple effects and graphics sorcery are tied to the sounds and controller. Everything produces audio and visual excellence. Every button does something, and even not pressing buttons results in Mario animating (specifically, he curls up for a quick nap).

Particles everywhere!

The game is just a beautiful ballad of perfect controls, brilliant level design, and phenomenal polish. The incredible attention to detail makes this game a work of pure love and joy. It is purely the best of its kind. You can feel the devotion Nintendo poured into the leap to 3D. Every time I play it, I'm a kid again, starstruck by the purity that is Super Mario 64. This game is fun, and that really sums it up. The game IS fun. It does not have fun. Fun is not a property of the game. Super Mario 64 IS fun, and even though I can't always make time for gaming, I can always find time for fun.

<3 Bryce Walton, Game Development Engineer