NAME: Super Mario 64
SYSTEM: Nintendo 64
MAKER: Nintendo
PRODUCER: Shigeru Miyamoto
GENRE: 3-D Platformer

GRAPHICS: 8. A lot of camera and pop-up flaws, but still great
MUSIC: 6. A lot more "beep beep boop"-like than I expected
FUN: 9. Excellent
REPLAY: 9. All of the Stars? Not in this lifetime, but you still try your dangdest
DIFFICULTY: 9. Again, getting the Stars is a daunting task
ENDING: 7. A CAKE!? Still, cool music
STORYLINE: 5. Little originality, even if it is the first of its kind. Weird...
MULTIPLAYER: N/A. (One-player)
ORIGINALITY: 9. The first GOOD 3-D platformer
REALISM: 9. Dropping 500 feet and landing unscathed is something you have to see to believe
CONTROL: 9. Fairly intuitive
MATURITY: 4. Like the classics, but more cutesy

This thing could almost be called old. (I said ALMOST!) After playing, in a row, Bros. 1, 
World 1, and 64, you can really see how the game industry has evolved over the years. 
Anyway, if the N64 is your first system, this will be your first real bond to video games. 
However, if you're more "jaded," then you'll enjoy it for a while, then it'll just seem 
like another splatter on the windshield of gaming. Now, I assume that unless you've been 
living in Burma for the last few years, you know all about this game. So what if it was the 
first N64 game? It WAS! The fact that it's now the age of Zelda 64, PokŽmon and Banjo-
Kazooie is a real downgrader. Anyway, if it's still a pack-in, I guess there's not much of 
a downside. Still, if you missed this game, your life will never be complete.

OVERALL: ****** 60%

Reviewed on Thanksgiving, 1998