#SUPER MARIO 64... BUT DIFFERENT ART FULL#
#SUPER MARIO 64... BUT DIFFERENT ART FREE#

Of course Mario would arrive where the something is happening with Bowser (otherwise there would be no game). Super Mario 64 spends its opening moments giving explanations for things that exist because they need to for the game to happen things that if they went unmentioned, very few players (if any) would question. But why is any of this important? And, more to the point, why bring it up if it isn’t directly related to the possible lore of the game? So, before entering Peach’s castle, we learn Mario is there because he was promised cake, and that there is a news camera following him around. Not only does this moment with Lakitu explain the camera that follows Mario throughout the game, but it is also the explanation for why it can’t be moved into certain angles (which becomes incredibly frustrating at times, but, I digress). “Diegetic” referring to something existing within the world of the game rather than simply being there for the player (unlike something like the health meter, which is purely for the player and does not exist in any real way inside the world of the game). It is a necessary part of a video game, and not often given any kind of diegetic reasoning. The game camera is something that is taken for granted. Basically, that they will be filming everything Mario does to keep this news up to date. At this point a Lakitu floats down on his cloud holding a camera and explains that they are here reporting on the news of what is happening inside the castle.

#SUPER MARIO 64... BUT DIFFERENT ART FREE#

This isn’t a huge reveal, it doesn’t hold any particular meaning on its own, but this is only the start (literally).Īfter Mario arrives in front of Peach’s castle, the player is free to run, jump, and generally just mess around, until they decide to head toward to castle door. It tells him to come to the castle because she is baking him a cake. Contrasting this norm, Super Mario 64 starts with a letter that Mario has received from Peach. You start Super Mario Bros just walking right and have no explanation for a purpose until you reach the first of Bowser’s castles. For an example: in nearly all the preceding Super Mario games, Mario is on an adventure to save Peach from Bowser. There are certain things that were often just true in Mario games. Setting Expectationsīefore getting into any possible lore in Super Mario 64, it is worth talking about how the opening moments of the game sets expectations. I discovered that there is definitely a deeper lore to this world, but it is a far more implicit one one built almost entirely out of level design and only a few written lines that build it up along the way. This time I read everything there was to read.

#SUPER MARIO 64... BUT DIFFERENT ART FULL#

I went off and did another playthrough of the full game. Is there a deeper lore to Super Mario 64? And this realization led to a wonderance: In all these years, though it has always been one of my favourite games, I don’t remember ever doing more than just skimming (or skipping) the signs or dialogue in this game. But, recently, it has come back into common consciousness with the release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which collects Super Mario 64 along with Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy.Īfter a recent playthrough on the Unsupervised Nerds Twitch channel (VODs available here), it got me thinking. Even after all these years, it would be hard to argue that this game has ever become completely irrelevant, thanks to its milestone status in the world of 3D gaming. Super Mario 64 has been around for over 24 years, with an initial release all the way back in July of 1996.

Super mario 64... but different art