Man, I have so many memories from this game. I remember that my cousin was the one who had it first among us. I had a Nintendo 64 with Mario Kart to start with. But that’s another story for another post.
Super Mario 64 was the first Mario game that I played as a party often. I mean, we would all take cracks at a level in turn. It was just amazing at the time to start the game and get immersed in this 3D world. Then having to go save the princess because she’d baked a cake for us.
I think that what warped my mind the most at the time from this game was the fact that so many portraits had hidden worlds by just going through them. That chime is timeless.
This is my Nostalgia/Games of My Life series, so it’s not just memories of this game. It’s all the good ones as well. I couldn’t twirl the control stick fast enough at the time and always had to ask dad to take care of any Bowser. It was a collaborative effort. Dad would let me play around in his file to get as many starts as possible for the next Bowser.
Then as I discussed the game with friends, we’d start reading strategy guides that one of them had. That’s where I learned about the hidden coins, hidden stars, hidden PORTRAITS. My mind was forever blown. (Until I got to play Ocarina of Time some years later)
One of the best things about that game wasn’t just all the fun about trying to get 120 stars to find Yoshi on top of the castle. Speaking of, I never got to that point. Always ended up playing something else after reaching the big 100 stars.
It was the damn start menu. Playing with Mario’s face and contorting it was hilarious. I turned that mustache into sunglasses, pull those ears around, stretch that hat to the high heavens, and so much more.
I remember there was even an article compilation of all the faces a writing team had been able to make. I don’t know how much time my friends, my sister, and I spent trying to recreate those faces.
What about you? Do you have a favorite Super Mario 64 memory?
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