Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64 - 1996)

Nintendo SIXTY-FOOOOOUUURRRR! I was there, and I was hyped. Games were going to be in three dimensions! Controls were going to be analog! There was going to be sixty-four bits! And most importantly, Mario was back and bigger than ever.

"Mario runs around like a hamster in this game. In fact, I had a pet hamster around this time!"

~Shigeru Miyamoto

It was 1996. We were entering another console war. Only this time, it was Nintendo vs. a newcomer - the company that made your VCR and Discman. At one time, these two entities were working together; the Nintendo Playstation was being developed. Of course, kids didn't know anything about that back then. That's some deep-level nerd shit that we learn later. It's not even important to the story - I'm just setting the scene.

This was the 5th generation of video game consoles. For most kids my age, it was the 3rd or 4th (4th for me). This generation was special - it had a solid gimmick that clearly made it stand out. The 5th generation was the 3D generation. The NES and SNES used 3D as a buzzword when a game used isometric angles, pre-rendered sprites, or Mode7 to simulate a world with a y-axis, but we weren't fooled. We prayed for the day we'd be immersed in glorious polygons and we got it with the '64, the 'station, and the 'Saturn.

Okay, I never had a Sega Saturn. I'm adding it to my bucket list. Alright, no more tangents. I promise.

Super Mario 64 was the showcase launch title for the Nintendo 64. I mean, you have to launch a Nintendo console with Mario... except they haven't really done that since, except for the Nintendo DS, where they launched it with... *checks notes* Super Mario 64 DS.

Alrighty.

Super Mario 64 was a milestone. It was the first 3D Mario game. It was the first mainline release where Mario was given a voice. Nintendo had to change the formula and develop a whole lot of new rules and standards with the hopes that they worked with players.

The hype train for the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D Super Mario game hit young Lynk hard. I read this magazine cover to cover several times.

It covered more than Super Mario 64, it showed off other launch titles like Pilotwings 64 and Waverace 64. It spoke of Mario 64 like it was a work of art, comparing the animation to a Saturday morning cartoon, and the level of freedom is "more extensively perhaps than any other game we've seen." This magazine was my grail diary to prepare me for this new generation of gaming, and it gushed over the glorious future that I was only a few months away from. The wait for the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 seemed like a lifetime.

Little did I know that my mom, who despises and refuses to understand video games to the greatest extent possible, fought through torrid crowds at 7 am at our local Wal-mart on the day the Nintendo 64 was released. She was accompanied by my friend C.J.'s mom. I imagine the two of them separated the teeth from other rowdy parents that chilly October morning in order to claim a console for their beloved children.

C.J. didn't have to wait until Christmas. C.J.'s mom ruled extra hard. I was a little shit about waiting until Christmas, but the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 finally came.