Super Mario 64
1996 · Platform · Nintendo 64
Overview
Super Mario 64 was the first fully 3D Mario game and one of the most influential games ever made. Mario's movement — the triple jump, wall jump, long jump, and ground pound — was so responsive and satisfying that subsequent 3D platformers used it as the reference standard. 120 Power Stars hidden across 15 worlds made it the defining 3D collect-a-thon.
Deep Dive
Super Mario 64 was directed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi at Nintendo EAD. The game's movement system was designed before any level was built — Miyamoto's team spent months iterating Mario's physical responses until the movement felt correct, then built levels around what the movement made possible. The camera system — Lakitu following Mario at a distance — attempted the difficult problem of following a player character in three-dimensional space.
Developer Story
Super Mario 64 was directed by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo EAD as the N64 launch title. The game's development focused first on getting Mario's movement right before building any levels. The N64's analogue stick was designed specifically to support the game's three-dimensional movement requirements.
Did You Know?
- Super Mario 64's development team spent approximately six months perfecting Mario's movement system before designing a single level — Miyamoto's philosophy that the movement had to feel correct before the levels could be built.
- The game's camera system was nicknamed 'Lakitu's Camera' — the cloud-riding character was re-canonised as the camera operator.
- Super Mario 64's source code was accidentally leaked in 2020, revealing development remnants including incomplete worlds and early versions of the movement system.
- The game launched with the N64 in Japan in June 1996 and sold 11 million copies — the second best-selling N64 game after Mario Kart 64.
