Overall score on pook's 100-point system (TM): 88 rounded to 9. A masterpiece only held back by a lack in some presentation.
-the breakdown-
Graphics (26/30, judged by era)- Bright and colorful and varied in environments, Mario was reborn in grand style in 3d, along with many favorite other characters. The simple NES sprite worlds come alive in this game. Sadly, a few of the levels were unnecessarily sparse in details. Nothing like walking across a snow field where the screen is nearly entirely white because there's not much else going on….
Sound- FX/Voice (8/10) Mario gets his in-game voice debut courtesy of Charles Martinet. Who would have thought that some 10 years later that voice would become so annoying. Apart from that, the game features a decent set of sounds.
Sound- Music (8/10) While a few of the tracks have since gone on to become classics of the series and gaming in general, there simply weren't enough songs to rate higher.
Gameplay- Length/Lastability/Replay (15/15) It's hard to recall anymore how many hours can be spent on this game, but I recall it being considerable. While the cartridge carried a hefty price-tag through most of the system's life, I do recall being very satisfied by the length of the game, particularly because I tried pretty hard to get every star I could, not satisfied with minimum requirements.
Gameplay- Story (2/5) The minimal story necessary for most Nintendo games. Princess has been captured, go get her from Bowser.
Gameplay- Game Design (29/30)- This many years on it's quite amazing how well this title holds up in the game play department. While I am of the rare breed that thought Sunshine was actually overall the better game in terms of game play (where 64 had more visual variety), I can still say that 64 more than holds its own among other 3d platformers that have come since. For starters, the much-praised controls are indeed excellent. As well, the variety of challenges presented in levels or mini-stages is impressive. While the game isn't all that hard in the sense of running out of lives and encountering a game over, it manages to still have you scratching your head at times. Some of the more purely platforming levels are still excellent examples of level design and hold up well. There are also enough secrets in the game to keep you guessing and intrigued. No one beats Nintendo for putting carrots before you throughout the game that will have you coming back later to see if you've figured out how to access a certain area or whatever.
**Final Thoughts: If the DS had analog control, it'd be a complete no-brainer if you missed out on the n64 version. If you have access to an N64 and never played this, do so at this very moment. If not, the DS version is a decent representation of it, and while it adds some neat stuff, it suffers a bit from going from perfect to somewhat clunky controls.
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