The first game on the podium is 'Super Mario 64'. A game which needs no introduction as it is one of the most well known and important games ever made. Even today, this game is just as amazing as it ever was, but back in the day, it was lightyears in front of anything we had seen up until then. Just title screen alone, where you could mold Mario's face by tugging and pulling it. Mindblowing.
Of course, it didn't stop there. Each level was a revelation of gaming, there was freedom in this game that was unprecedented. The game includes 15 courses, each with six Stars to collect, along with a bonus-Star when the player collects at least 100 coins in a level. Aside from these, there's the 'Castle Stars' which are found in secret levels or by completing some small task in the hub-world. It's essentially an open world game, where the player has every freedom to choose what course or what Star to tackle next. The only obstacle that blocks your progress are the Star Doors, which require a certain amount of Stars to open. Behind these, there's the Bowser level, which gets you a key to open the door to next floor in the castle.
The game got a remake on the DS handheld, which added extra levels, new Stars to collect, mini-games and extra playable characters. The remake renovated the art direction of the game to fit with more modern Mario games, and added touch-screen control in place of the monumental analogue stick controls. The remake's controls scheme couldn't match the original's though and often, even in new games, I find myself thinking developers should have taken a better look at 'Super Mario 64', when it every so often still does things better.
There's nothing to fault in this game, and for all intents and purposes, it's a perfect game. Polished to where you didn't think was possible. One would have thought Nintendo couldn't possibly outdo the achievement of 'Super Mario 64', but only a little later, we already knew better. The Nintendo 64 is truly the greatest video-game system ever released.
