Virtual Console Reviews

this is the best game ever, or best mario game, unfortuanatly i never completed this on the n64, but 3 years ago when i got my ds on the first day it was out in the entire world there were 4 games u could buy with it, the only good one being mario 64 ds. which i completed and enjoyed very much, i hope all of you who havent played this give it a try.

truly the first good 3-D video game... but... am I the only one who found the ending to be a little lack-luster? i mean, all you get is 100 hundred lives and that queer sparkle jump thing. but other that that i give 5 stars for this game all around

I already own this and have played it all the way through twice and I still think this is well worth a purchase - just for having it on the Channels screen. I occasionally load it up just hear him say "It's a me, Mario!" and play with his face.

"It's a me, Mario!" just love that bit.

I remember playing this game when I was about six - spent most of my time playing it. Apart from OOT, this is my favorite and most memorable game of all time... I completed it twice on the N64, again on the DS, and I'm half way through the VC version

The PAL version does NOT run as fast as the NTSC version. I've timed this by running the full length of the path surrounding the castle. In the PAL virtual console version this takes about 26 seconds. In Project 64 running the NTSC version it takes about 21 seconds. 26/21 is more or less equal to 60/50, so I am concluding that the PAL virtual console version is NOT speed corrected in any way.

The only part I hate about this game is how in the WII version there is no way of getting to the top of the castle with 0 stars and how the glitches don't work anymore. Aside from that, MARIO IS BACK BABY!

Kim. Wow. Words fail me. Way to prove a point.

I can't play this a thrid time...
I played it on the N64, on the DS and now it is enough - although it is one of the best games ever.

yes like all nintendo lovers i bought this game and completed it already on 64--- as well as gettin all nostalgic with the ds.. but now im a dad being able to simply download this great game onto my wii is amazing.. nintendo's innovation when going to town on this game put other games of its time to shame! So when my kids enjoy playing this game i can tell them this was first of its kind! And they appreciate it all the more- and so should you!

I played this, and it has got to be one of THE most amazing. Can't wait for SM Galaxy.

This is a good, nay great game IF you haven't already played it. Everyone who moans, no-one's forcing you to buy and complete it on every single console it comes out on.
The hilarious tweaking of Mario's face FTW I don't know anyone who can't help but grin like a little kid when they do it.

I never had an N64 so playing this is amazing, i have downloaded it and it is much better than the DS version.

This is one of my favorite all-time games. It is definetly worth 1000pts! I agree, the ending is weak: "Let's bake a cake for Mario" - so lame!!! The game was so ahead of it's time and has massive replayability.

going for all 120 stars was a real challenge. A fantastic game full of amazing platform action and still looks very nice to this day. Much better than the very dissapointing super mario sunshine for the cube. Lets hope super mario galaxy is good when it comes to the wii in a few weeks

Ah, What a classic. I got this some ten or eleven years ago when it came out and just now got 120 stars on VC. (I was only three or four when I got it!) Great game, most highly recommended for any young people who never had a chance to see it in its original glory and any like me that just want to relive it.

My parents got this game for my brother about ten years ago. I've played it a lot since then and it is one of the best games ever in my opinion. The n64 copy is still fully functional but I got it for the vc for convenience sake.

Man, I love this game... I remember playing it for hours on end as a kid.

My best friend and I played it to death. We actually figured out that you could exploit a couple of glitches to beat the game in about 20 minutes with only 16 stars, if you were good enough. I only ever managed to do it twice, though... I wonder if it's still possible on the VC, or if the glitches were fixed. If they were, i have to admit it'd be a shame.

The biggest parts of this kind of speed run were the bunny trick and the backwards long jump stairs. The bunny trick, you ask? Well, you remember that one bunny in the basement that gives you a star when you catch it? If you pick it up again, you can carry it around, and if you set it against a doorway just right, it will push Mario through doors he shouldn't technically be able to open yet.

And the backwards long jump stairs? Once you get to the 3rd floor, you can start a long jump in front of the stairs to the 4th floor, facing away from them, and then long jump backwards up the stairs and through the door. You can do the same thing up the 'never-ending' looping stairs to the Bowser in the Sky course. If you can do all this fast enough and in the right order, you can cheat the game.

Good times... How we loved abusing the mistakes of hapless programmers...

MARIO 64 IS FREAKING AWESOME! YEAH! WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! i think im in love. its seriously, the greatest thing on the planet. NO game is better, especially on n64.

I sold my DS version to GAME for £20. I bought 2000 wii points with it. Got this to replace the DS verson. Got Lylat wars too. Still Had £5 spare. I Iz a Bizznezz Man!

This one should get 120 stars, really
Every star in the game, is worth one star here ;D

This game probably ties with the 2 Zelda's as the best N64 game ever. Everyone should play this game.

Should I get this game if I already have the DS version?

Great game! but is it worth downloading even if you have the remake on the DS?

^^ Yes !!
The DS Version is different in many ways. e.g, in the DS version, we are given Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario and Princess Peach, whereas in the N64 version we only have Mario and Princess Peach.

Fantastic Game, though I found it a lot easier to get all 120 stars than I did when I was younger on the original N64 cartridge...

Its over ten years since this game was released, and it shines brighter than ever. One of the true all time greats, anybody with even a passing interest in videogames should own this title
1000 points? Bargain of the year.
Genius.

best platformer EVER!!!!loads better than mario sunshine on cube,i've been playing this since 1996 and showing no sign of getting bored,mario64 kicks ass,can't wait for mario galaxy!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never played this but i did LOVE super mario sunshine- is it worth downloading it?

pocki this is infinitely better than sunshine any day!

For those who are asking, the DS version has 39 new stars added to the game and deleted 9 of the original 120 stars, including one of my favorites in Course 10 with the Ice Maze!

I can't see buying it myself because I already own both the N64 and DS versions, but I rate it a 5, because if you haven't already played the game, it is a true masterpiece!

If you only have the DS version, I would also suggest downloading it, because the controls are much more fluid in the N64/VC version!

I've got every version of mario 64 and i have to say this one's the best. With a higher resolution than the original plus infinitely better controls over the ds this is a bargain for 1000 pts.

has anyone downloaded this who hasn't played it before? what do you think of it? (i actually prefer sunshine!)

i bought it last night and am not really impressed with it- i've fought the bob-omb and thwomp and have had enough. don't really see myself playing it again until i've finished the other games i have and that'll only be to get my £7 worth.

my rating for now is 2/5... i won't set that in stone as i may change my mind later!

Perhaps it wasn't a good idea for you to play sunshine first... Obviously Mario 64 has smaller worlds, simpler graphics and stuff but it was revolutionary for the time- practically the first 3D platformer. So maybe you have to enjoy the original back in 1997 to believe that this is the better game

Mamma Mia, I have the original N64 version of Super Mario 64! And how revolutionary this game was and still is after its arrival in 1996. The game defined the 3D platform genre and it's about the simple times when you guide Mario through fantastic worlds and collect stars. I also played the DS version (though never owned) at some point, but neither the touch and traditional D-pad controls work better than a control stick. A Nintendo classic that MUST be downloaded for VC, not played on DS!

Not only the best Mario game ever but the best Video game ever.

Who has high hopes that Galaxy will be better than this or sunshine? Anyone??

awesome game! one of the best games i've played...a true masterpiece. I remember getting this game with my Nintendo 64 back in the day when i was about 5. i was afraid of bowser back then lol anyway, i definitely recommend this game to anyone! i've now got all 3 versions, N64 (which still works), DS, and now VC! This goes to show that it is still fun to this day and I wouldn't mind beating it a fourth or fifth time either! This game, Zelda, and Starfox 64 (Lylat Wars) are my favorite games of all time! 120/5!

Absolutely loved the game (I was always a Playstation guy and never played it the first time round), and have managed to get all the stars, but for some reason I can't save the game after completing Bowser, the game just hangs on the picture at the end of the credits. Has anyone else experienced this (I have looked everywhere to no avail) or know what to do?

I have to say, I would(in my honest opinion) even perfer a First-Person Adventure of mario. I use some weapons from Metriod Prime 3 for example: The Missiles could be bom-ombs, and the plasma beam could be his well-known fireballs. And we could pretend that Hypermode could be the Mario Finale from Brawl.

I think this is how Mario games should be like more often. To tell you the truth, Mario games were a whole lot better on the N64 then they are on the Gamecube. I'm sorry to say this but Mario games on Gamecube just aren't that fun.

This game was incredible but I already played it to death on N64.

I've played it to death and carried on playing it even after death! And I'll carry on playing it until the end of the universe!

And Mii be you if you want a fps mario game why dont you go search for some mod of Doom or something- I know somebody has modded Doom to give it weapons enemies and sound from mario games.

is anyone else getting no poles on dire dire docks red coin star? i have all other stars on that level but the poles are not showing not even their shadows

To tank2tank: When I said that, I meant it in more terms of metroid. Like a First-person Super Metroid.

Hate to be a heretic, but I always felt this game was a bit overrated. It's a technological breakthrough, but it traded in Mario's "hop to the end of the level" gameplay for "collect 120 of the exact same item" gameplay, and that just never felt very compelling to me. It's a quality title, but it set up the conceit of performing tasks to collect so many stars/bananas/notes/shines/precursor orbs that gave the first wave of 3D platformers a really repetative feel. Rayman 2 was the first 3D platform game that I really loved, largely because it was more traditional and action-oriented. Hopefully it'll make it to the VC at some point.

Somehow I missed out on this in the N64 era... even though I had one. (Although I did at one point rent it(. This game is worth every penny you spend. Its very challenging on some levels.

SM64 is a hit to me it olmost blew my mind with those grafics butt
they could of made it better like Luigi wasint in it I would have
loved it if they made a second one.Butt eclesst we have the DS
verson!

I enjoy this game Mario 64 more than Mario Sunshine.

I must be insane. I cancelled my SMG pre-order and decided to get this instead. All I wanna do with my Wii is play VC games.

You sound just like my brother, but in a good way.

If you haven't played this game yet, download it immediately! You owe it to yourself.

. . . Actually, I think I noticed that the framerate is not as smooth on this version as it used to be.

Though I'd still tell someone who hasn't played Mario 64 to download immediately, of course!

Ah... This was the game I grew up to (I'm 13 so I don't really remember life without it)... I'll never love another game in the same way. Hm... I didn't remember that his face looked so... I unno, old... Not that I don't love N64 graphics. I just love the way they look choppy (o.O), to the point that I even avoid smancier graphics.

this is a great game. i really wish that they had fire mario as one of the box power ups, like metal mario, invisible mario, and flying mario.

wouldnt that be awesome?

my childhood would not have been the same woithout this game. thanks myamoto. (cant spell)

Yeah this game really put me into the mario series. If I never had this game, I'd be a different person, seriously.

The best game on the N64 (thats saying something with the likes of Goldeneye and Zelda O of T). Not too differcult to complete, but to get the full 120 stars, that will take you a while.
On a side note please Big N, release a wii compatible N64 controller. This game (like alot of N64 games) was built around the N64 controller. The classic & gamecube controllers are fine, but just don't feel right.

Best 3D platformer ever...
this game was a historic event...
I still remember when it came out...
EASY 5/5!

Easily ne of the best games ever made and easily the 2nd best mario game, but 2nd to Galaxy only. The controls are still up to todays standard, better than allot of third party releases nd easily better than anything on the 360. fIf you havn't got this, shame on you.

You're right, robbie - it doesn't feel right with the classic controller. i haven't tried gamecube controller yet.

Bass X0 it's pretty good with the gamecube controller.

Great game, but like Zelda OOT, too over-rated. Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 and 3 are a zillion times better.
Mario Galaxy too is way better that this one. This game feels small.

Excellent game, it just proves that most games made by Nintendo are made to last! Download it right now! Like some people said:
1- the GameCube controller is indeed a better option than the Classic Controller, the Z button makes all the difference IMO;
2- the DS version has more content, but really, this games was meant for playing with smooth analog control and a good ol' TV, specially if it's a 480P compatible one ;
On another note, just a few weeks ago, a couple of cousins of mine came to visit me, they're about 9 and 10 years old, never heard of Mario before (amazing, I know!!), and just played some Playstation 2 games. I tell you, after 10 minutes at Mario 64, they were hooked! Now I have to keep making excuses for then not to come over so I can play my Wii without distractions !!

I gave away my DS version when I sold my DS last year, because I knew this was coming out! Now I need to buy a DS so I can play my unopened copy of Phantom Hourglass!

I've noticed a glitch. (at least on my system) Sometimes, when you hit start during the game, there aren't any options to exit the course, or do anything else. It just tells you the level name and stuff.

If you hit start 2-3 times though, all the options eventually appear.

There's better mario games out there, and there's also worse.

@ toaster;

The options do not appear while Mario is still in movement
Hope i helped you out

@ Nigel

Mario is missing anyone? Or Mario sunshine anyone? lol.

It's hard to choose between this or Galaxy.

The game that got the whole ball rolling...there was no point owning Mario without an N64, but it's almost as bad as to have an N64 but no copy of Mario to play on it. Nigh on faultless. The N64's greatest accomplishment, now the VC's crowning jewel.

This game really brings back memories. I finished the game when I was a kid,but I couldn't get all 120 stars. Now I dowloaded this game and managed to collect all the stars. It seemed a lot easier doing that now then when I was a kid.

One of my favourite Mario games! The first time I played this game, I was about 6 or 7 I think. I have played it over and over again. I have also played the DS version, which is also fun. But the N64 version is the best, I think. The graphics are so good and I love the music. And the stages are so cool! I just love it, I love the game. 5 stars

Absolutely magnificent game. I loved playing this game and still do. i bought the DS version, which is great but it just wasn't the same unfortunately. Still, it provided a new way to play the game and i loved it. The N64 version i thought originally didn't have the best graphics but that never mattered, the gameplay was magnificent, the controls worked really well and i was generally addicted to it, even after getting all 120 stars. a magnificent piece in gaming history whoch deserves a download, even if you've got the original and the DS versions.

Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Ocarina of Time, DK 64-- all best games on N64!! You can't go wrong with a classic 3-D adventure starring a well-known character. I must have beaten both versions about 15 times, and still enjoy another run-through from time to time. The DS version had more courses, more stars, more characters, and better graphics, but I still like the original version better. It is the only game that receives the credit for successfully revolutionising the Mario series, and set the standards of a quality 3-D video game.

This is gaming perfection. Superb level designs and a beautifully colorful art pallet make this game an extremely charming N64 masterpiece. Great controls (with a few minor friction problems) mixed with impressive visuals for it's time are why this is one of the greatest pieces of any media ever. If only there were more levels... Anyway, a must buy X 10 for anyone and their grandmothers. If you own a Wii, you need to download this game. -Scott L. (5 out of 5)

I didn't really like it, but I suppose I just have really bad memories of the times I played it. Videogames aren't fun when you have an ulcer.

It's okay, 2hip2beskware. I respect your opinion.

Best Mario adventure game ever

@ BJ: I might dowload it again to see if I actually like it while in normal health.

A great game that I originally had on my Funtastic orange N64.
Controls are a bit wonky however. I have always wondered how everyone can play this and not notice that Mario always moves like the entire playing field has been covered with oil. He slips and falls WAY too much and when he does there are nutty sliding physics in the game that go on for WAY too long. Same for some of the coins that he's collecting from the enemies. Why does so much of the game move like the surfaces are covered with ice, no matter what the surface Mario's running on? Sand, grass, bridges....it's all way too slippery.
Aside from that (which is a BIG detraction for me - makes the game seem unpolished and goofy) the game is pretty much a fun fest. WAY cleaner picture than on the N64. Also, game works much much better with the Gamecube controller than with the Classic.
Download it if you don't already have it on a working N64 - otherwise, it's not that different and you can spend your points for something you don't have.

3rd most valued game on the Virtual console if you ask me.

1. Zelda Oot
2.Paper Mario
3.Mario 64
4. Super Metroid.

do not stare at my list, go get this masterpiece! 5/5

Didn't really appreciate this game that much. Not that the gameplay isn't enjoyable in some parts, but this is the game that turned the series into: Super Mario Fetchquest. 2/5.

This game is absolutely fantastic and was the benchmark for 3D games for a long time following its release. Download this now, 5 stars.

Good game, but nowadays, not the best. I can respect the fact that this was a graphical revolution in gaming, but the beauty that is no longer present makes it a chore to go around collecting stars. the first 40 stars or so are very fun, but visiting the same level 7+ times gets boring... 4 stars

this game is the gretest game in the world!!!!!!, except for Super Mario Galaxy, but it beats Super Mario Sunshine and every other Mario game except Super Mario Galaxy, never tried the old version, even on VC because i can't access it. But the ds version is great, however you can't use an action replay or gameshark to cheat in the game as much, no glitches, just 1 character, except for the guest appearence of Yoshi, and less stars are on the VC version and N64 version. But nevertheless the classic is always as good as the remake.

love this game. 5/5

I think it's about time I download this. I haven't played the N64 original in ages and instead I've had to deal with the DS version, which isn't nearly as good.

200th vote: 5 STARS!

I have played this game at least three times through on the N64 (one time with 120 stars) but I'm still getting this for VC so I don't have to trouble myself setting up N64 everytime I want to play this game. Also my N64 controllers aren't in top notch condition anymore, unlike my Gamecube controller.

When this came out, I remember standing at the N64 display in Toys R Us for hours playing it.

I collect consoles. I have a Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 is the only game I have for my Nintendo 64.