Pulling it back a little but I want to revisit a game from my childhood that I think most people my age loved to play. Super Mario 64 was one of the first games I had for the Nintendo 64. Holy cow did I have a blast playing it. Now I’ll be the first to say that my parents picked my games growing up until I was old enough to really look for myself. I really enjoyed the concept of free roam when most of the games I had played to that point were fixed position cameras and just get to the end.
I wanted to collect every corn, every star, I’m guessing this is where people with OCD started to go nuts. It felt revolutionary to my young self. I played so much of this game and never minded revisiting it. However, it was very hard for me. I don’t think I ever beat it on the N64, which is something I may have to revisit when I get time to sink into it.
I did however, praise its re-release on the Nintendo DS. I’d even go as far as to say I like it even more than the original. The graphics got a little overhaul, but not so much as to make it feel like a different game. I loved the game tweaks to add different characters. Most of all though, was the fact I could take this “full game” on road trips! I was about 14 when the game came out on DS. Cellphones still weren’t really a thing, so when we’d go places it was nice to have a game on standby I could play. The wireless play on this cartridge was also extremely nice. If my friends didn’t have the game that was fine, just do the download play for the mini games.
I think most people would agree that although playing games is fun, playing games with friends is even better. I’m guessing that even by todays standards, this game would still be well received by younger kids. The game is just challenging enough to keep them engaged, but I don’t think its hard enough to make them put it down. Then again, most new Nintendo games really are easy and have focused more on flashiness than straight up gameplay. Time will tell.
EK Creates 