Game report 2255 words

Super Mario 64 the

Canon Game
by Jenny Tao
Super Mario 64-Canon Game 2

Mr. Grant, who selected Super

Mario Bros 3, said the game was
important for its nonlinear play, a
mainstay of contemporary games,
and new features like the abil-
ity to move both backward and
forward. [1]

Due to it’s difference from the

other games during that period
of time, it makes Super Mario 3
unique enough to create its won
type of genre with a great style
and impression in audience’s
sight.
Out of curiosity- what makes a
game a canon game anyway? Are
G ame Canon is a list of video
games that has been preserved
The name of “Game Canon” was there certain criteria or rules of
originally an idea of preserving a canon game? It is hard to say.
video games and video-game ar- Unfortunately as the explana-
and proofed by the Library of
tifacts in 1998 by Henry Lowood. tions/reasons of the selected
Congress. The Library of Congress
Years after, Mr. Lowood has noted canon games haven’t been pub-
is the largest library that preserves
that video games are something lished yet. “Well, the criteria were
a universal collection of knowledge
worth to preserve. discussed within the group, but
and creativity for future genera-
not openly because there was no
tions. Henry Lowood brought up
A proposal of this idea was sub- open forum. Recall that it was a
the idea of Game Canon, follow
mitted to the Library of Congress GDC event, then it became a web-
by a group of four legend game
in Sept 2006. In 2007 the idea of site after that. If we continue the
designers Steve Meretzky, War-
“Game Canon” was proven by the project with a mode of presenta-
ren Spector, Matteo Bittanti and a
Library of Congress and was an- tion more focused on
journalist, Christopher Grant.
nounced in the Game Developers dissemination over the web and
Conference in San Francisco. documentation, that would give
Super Mario 64 on the other hand
The initial Game Canon list con- us an
should also be consider as a canon
tains 10 video games, each game opportunity to explain the crite-
game. It is a platform game, devel-
is considered to represent the ria” says Henry Lowood. [2]
oped and published by Nintendo
beginning of it’s own genre. List
for the Nintendo 64. It was the
of game names: Spacewar, Star However a ‘canon game’ still has
first game fully converted from 2D
Raiders, Zork, Tetris, SimCity, Su- its reason and potential to be-
to 3D. The design of this game is
per Mario Bros.3, Civilization come a canon game, based on its
excellent. It shows the player ex-
I/II, Doom, Warcraft series and history, popularity, contents, the
ploration in travel, follows through
importance of making an impact
a 3D space, contains multiple dif-
Sensible World of Soccer. on the video game industry, and
ficulty levels, includes rewards the
Although these games are from how different it is from the other
player in terms of making them
years ago and haven’t games, even to be good enough
happy and to enjoy the game.
applied the newest technology, to start its own genre. In this case,
These five points are essential to
however they still vital in the Super Mario 64 has succeeded all
judge and to determine whether
video game industry. Most impor- of the above, and the game itself
a game is an AAA game, and
tantly they represent the begin- proof that it is a canon game.
whether it has the potential to be
ning of genre. For example
preserved in a game canon list. In
which meaning the Super Mario 64
is definitely the one to preserve.
Super Mario 64-Canon Game 3

History---

Before analyzing Super Mario 64, it is important to

understand where Mario was first created and how
the character was fully developed over time, what
has changed and how are these histories important
in computer gaming in general. Mario has appeared
in over 200 video games since his creation. Though
originally only appearing in platform games, Mario
currently appears in varied video game genres such
as racing, puzzle, role-playing, fighting, and sports.
[3]

Mario originally was named “jumpman” when it was

first created, his popularity started to sire when the
arcade game was popular.
Donkey Kong. The ape, who brought Mario famous
at the very first stage of Mario history. Donkey Kong
escapes and kidnaps jumpman’s girlfriend (early (Mario and Yoshi image 003)
days she was known as the ‘Lady’). The player must
play the Mario role, avoiding obstacles and climb
up to the highest bricks to rescue his girlfriend. The
style and his personality were well developed in
audience’s first impression.
In 1983, Jumpman’s younger brother Luigi
was introduced in Mario Bros, he was por-
trayed as an Italian-American plumber.
Because of Luigi’s Last name “Mario” the
original ‘jumpman’ was given the name as
“Mario”. Since, the name of Mario Brothers
became more popular over time.

During 1989-1995 Nintendo were continuous-

ly releasing new versions of Mario brothers
games including ‘Super Mario Land’ rescu-
ing princess Daisy. Followed by ‘Super Mario
World’. Mario and Luigi are introduced to the
Yoshis (The cute green dinosaurs) they help
rescue Peach by allowing Mario and Luigi to
ride them.

(Donky kong screen shot image 002)

Super Mario 64-Canon Game
Popularity--
Each version of Super Mario series was introduced
with new features, ability, and new story line. It also
includes dynamic level design with different level of
difficulties, and different missions depending on the
story line. However the style of playing these series
were quite similar, until finally Super Mario 64 came
out, it became a total new thing to the Mario fans.
Backwards and forwards moving has totally changed
to free controlled camera, controlling independently
of the character, and a freedom of exploration, since
then, there was no more 2D Mario. The features
were something fully new to the gaming industry.
This is something that’s worth becoming a part of
the gaming history. In fact Super Mario 64 was the
best selling in Nintendo 64. The number has reached
around 11.8 millions copies. As of September 25,
2007, it is the seventh best-selling video game in the
United States with six million copies sold. By June
2007, Super Mario 64 had become the second most
popular title on Wii’s Virtual Console, behind Super
Mario Bros. [4]
Super Mario 64 has been praised in the gaming
press, and is still highly acclaimed. It has collected
numerous awards, including various “Game of the
Year” honors by members of the gaming media, as
well as Nintendo’s own best-selling Player’s Choice
selection. In addition, Super Mario 64 has been
placed high on “the greatest games of
4
all time” lists by many reviewers, including IGN,
Game Informer,[14] Edge, Yahoo! Games, Game-
FAQs users, and Nintendo Power. Electronic Gam-
ing Monthly awarded the game a Gold award in its
initial review, and in Edge magazine, Super Mario
64 was the first game to receive a perfect score. [5]
For it’s own popularity sake, there’s nothing to be
against that Super Mario 64 isn’t a canon game.
Contents---
Super Mario 64 3D version was released in 1996.
When it was first released, people desperately
wanted to give it a trial, because it was the first 3D
fully converted from 2D game, and it was so dif-
ferent from the previous Super Mario series. The
objective of Mario 64 is to gain as many stars and
coins as possible as each level requires a number
of starts to enter. The player will need to find out
ways to finish the level by fighting enemies, defeat-
ing the level boss, and gaining gold stars. Some
stars only appear after completing certain tasks.
There are also a several ways to collect the stars in
one level. Therefore it is definitely a game involves
solving puzzles techniques and very challengeable.
Its advanced level design has absolutely made it a
classic canon game.
Super Mario 64-Canon Game 5

Level Design analyze

Freedom in travel--

Within the game, it contains several courses

in the game. Each level is an enclosed world.
The player is free to explore, discover the en-
tire world and environment without limits. It
gives the player an opportunity to experience
in the open space and finding out hints by
reading notice board or asking friendly crea-
tures like ‘peace loving Bob-ob Buddies’.
( Sign reading image 002 )
(see image 002,003)

However there are several hidden path and

entries, as well as hidden mini-course in the
world, to find out where they are and what
they do, the player will need to seek them out
to complete the course entirely. Warren Spec-
tor, former lead designer at Ion Storm Inc.,
stated it was “not possible to squeeze this
much gameplay into a single game” and “no
game has done a better job of showing goals
before they can be attained, allowing players
to make a plan and execute on it”. He also
praised the exploration aspect of the game,
commenting that “ allowing players to explore
the same spaces several times while revealing ( Sign reading image 003 )
something new each time is a revelation”.

Through out a personal experience in the

game, it was challenging enough to find out
six ways or more to gain the stars in one level.
I was only able to figure one way to gain the
stars, which was defeating the level boss.
(picture 004, Level 1, defeatgin boss)
However I was surprise how many people
have been playing Super Mario 64 and have
been making a ‘level bible’ on youtube. It
would surely take me more than a month
to figure out how to collect all the stars in
one level without those tutorials, because
the game itself was so challenging and well
designed in terms of freedom exploring in the ( Level 1, defeating boss Image 004 )
open space worlds. Exploring the world freely
has definitely added a level of difficulty to the
game, allowing the players to be challenged
and work out their ways to complete the
game. Once the player finishes the level, it
Super Mario 64-Canon Game 6

3D space--

The entire game is made out of 3D with

polygons, including the world and envi-
ronments. The purpose of making it into
3D is to allow the players to picture them
in a virtual world while role-playing. It
carries more realism in terms of visual-
izing. In the virtual world, the player gets
to do things that they cannot do in real
life, especially in a 3D environment. The
space looks real and referential to the
real world, but players are allow to jump
up walls like a ninja, or do special tricks
that we can’t normally do. Plus the free
control camera of Mario can turn 360
degrees. This has made a huge difference ( Environment - Level 3 The Cool Cool Mountiain 005)
between in viewing just in flat 2D inter-
face, and ability to view all surroundings.

Multiple Difficulty levels--

There are 15 levels in the entire game.

The direct designer of Super Mario 64,
Shigeru Miyamoto thought they could
come up with 40 levels, but unfortunately
they’ve only camp up with 15 levels.
Although they didn’t make it to 40, it still
contains 15 classic levels with incredible
environments that you would never think
of. Michael Grayford of Liquid Entertain-
ment stated he was initially “very turned ( Environment - Level 3 The Cool Cool Mountiain 006)
off” by the openness of the game the
first time he played it. Upon playing it
later, he was “highly pleased” and stated,
“each level brought some new unique
cool gameplay element and I was never
bored”.

There is a youtube video that explanis how to gain

all the stars in the Cool Cool Mountain level. Excel-
lent tutorial.

Level 3 Cool Cool Mountain. One of the best help

Tutorial.
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LKaoyAsYqAo

( Environment - Level 3 The Cool Cool Mountiain 007)

Find the lost of the small panquin gains a star.
Super Mario 64-Canon Game 7

Rewarding the player--

Every time a player has complete a level, it unlocks a

“reward level” with full of coins to collect. For exam-
ple in level 2, there are 2 doors in level 3. One with an
open world (Level 2- Under the sea - picture 008) and
the other one is for rewarding the player. (Level 2- a
sliding path for coeelecting coins -picture 009)
Collecting coins becomes addictive when it is an
objective. Due to its difficulty to collect 100 coins in
a level but when there are loads to collect, it does
reward the player, and motivated them to continue
playing. ( Environment - Level 2 Under the sea 008)

Super Mario 64 is a game that has influenced other

games. Because of its style, conversion, and the
unique design level it has. These have impacted the
industry and some other games in the industry. For
example, GamesTM noted many game companies,
including Nintendo, have tried to develop a plat-
form game to match up to Super Mario 64. Super
Mario 64 was notable for its sense of freedom and
non-linearity. A central hub, where controls can be
learned before entering levels themselves, has been
used in many 3D platformers since. In addition, the
game’s mission-based level design was an inspiration
for other game designers. For example, Martin Hollis,
who produced and directed GoldenEye 007, says, ( Environment - Level 2 sliding to collect coins 009)
“the idea for the huge variety of missions within a
level came from Super Mario 64”. [6]
(see image 010-Goldeneye’s play screen)

In conclusion, Super Mario 64 is surely a classic canon

game. It has a great impact in the video game indus-
try, and has deeply inspired some of the recent video
games. It is an original seed that started a different
kind of game play, very unique, challenging and in-
spiring. It contains important elements of an advance
level design. Super Mario has changed over time
though its development, however the evolution of
it’s developing is what makes it popular and adorable.
Therefore Super Mario 64 is certainly a classic canon
game with out doubt.
(Goldeye playing mode screen shot 010)
Super Mario 64-Canon Game 8

References

[1] (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/arts/design/12vide.html?_r=4&ref=technology&oref=slogin&oref=
slogin&oref=slogin)

[2] (Project Discussion: Digital Game Canon, Mon Jan 26 16:28:19 EST 2009 http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/
game_preservation/2009-January/000803.html)t

[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario)

[4] (Thorsen, Tor (2007-06-01). “Wii VC: 4.7m downloads, 100 games”. GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.
com/wii/action/supermario64/news.html?sid=6171850. Retrieved 2007-10-22.)

[5] http://quiz.thefullwiki.org/Super_Mario_64

[6] (“The Making of GoldenEye 007”. Zoonami. 2004-09-02. http://www.zoonami.com/briefing/2004-09-02.

php. Retrieved 2006-02-11.)