Super Mario 64: Nintendo's Foray into 3D Gaming

    By 1991, Nintendo had ended its brief partnership with Sony in a less-than-professional betrayal, announced on the second day of CES. Following this fallout, Sony began work on their standalone venture, which would ultimately culminate in the creation of the original PlayStation. Meanwhile, it wasn't until roughly 1993 that Nintendo began developing its next-generation video game console, the Nintendo 64 or N64 for short. The N64 was championed as one of the first 64-bit video game consoles, boasting revolutionary 3D graphics that pushed the industry forward. The game that helped usher in this new era of 3D gaming was Super Mario 64. This is the story of how Super Mario 64 not only redefined the platforming genre but reshaped the video game landscape as a whole.

    

    One of Nintendo's first forays into 3D gaming was Star Fox on the Super Famicom/SNES. Because the Super Famicom/SNES wasn't designed to handle 3D graphics natively, Nintendo needed to find a way to bring these advanced visuals to the system. Nintendo's solution was the creation of a custom chip called the Super FX chip, designed to enhance the console's graphical capabilities in select games. Star Fox became the first game to utilize the Super FX chip. Developed by Nintendo EAD in collaboration with Argonaut Games, Star Fox was released in 1993 to overwhelmingly positive reviews, laying the groundwork for Nintendo's future in 3D gaming. 

    The next Major Nintendo game to take advantage of 3D graphics was Donkey Kong Country (1994). However, unlike Star Fox, Donkey Kong Country didn't utilize the Super FX chip. Instead Donkey Kong Country took advantage of pre-rendered 3D models in a 2D space. Rare, the developer of the game was able to create highly detailed 3D models and convert them into Super Famicom/SNES sprites with very little loss of detail. The result was a graphical marvel that pushed the system to its limits, making Donkey Kong Country one of the best-looking and most technically impressive games on the Super Famicom/SNES.

    Nintendo had seemingly already decided that 3D graphics were going to be the future of gaming and in 1993, they started developing their next generation video game console called the N64. During development and late into advertising for the release of the N64, the console went by a different name: the Ultra 64 in the West and the Ultra Famicom in Japan. Shortly before release, Nintendo decided to change the name of the console from Ultra Famicom/Untra 64 to the Nintendo 64 to unify the global branding. The N64 was originally planned to be launched in 1995 but was delayed until 1996.

    One of the first games released for the N64 was Super Mario 64. Super Mario 64 was different than past Super Mario Bros games as it was no longer a 2D sidescrolling platformer. This was Mario's first 3D platforming adventure. Because this was Mario's first leap into 3D, Nintendo wanted the game's world to feel immersive and explorable without feeling empty. They achieved this by creating multiple diverse levels with unique themes, such as Bob-Omb Battlefield, Jolly Roger Bay, and Lethal Lava Land.

    These levels were accessed through a central hub world, Peach's Castle, where players would jump into paintings scattered throughout the castle to enter each stage. Every level contained multiple Power Stars that could be collected by completing various objectives. This design encouraged players to gradually explore each world at their own pace, making every environment feel alive and full of secrets. Super Mario 64 went on to sell almost 12 million units worldwide.

    Even though Super Mario 64 was a huge success for Nintendo, the company faced other challenges. Since the N64 was Nintendo's first fully 3D video game console, they needed to design a controller that could properly navigate 3D environments. Their solution was the Nintendo 64 controller, an unconventional design featuring three grips. It included a D-pad on the left grip, two face buttons and C-buttons (camera buttons) on the right grip, and a newly introduced analog stick positioned on the center grip.

    While the controller was innovative, it was also as clunky as it looked. The camera controls were awkward and often frustrating to use, and the analog stick was prone to wearing down over time, becoming loose and flimsy with extended use. Despite its flaws, the N64 controller laid the groundwork for how future controllers would integrate analog sticks into 3D gaming.

    Another major issue the N64 faced was Nintendo's decision to use cartridges instead of CDs, which were quickly becoming the industry standard for video game consoles. While CDs were cheaper to produce, offered significantly more storage, delivered superior sound quality, and allowed for full-motion video, Nintendo stuck with cartridges out of fear of piracy and a desire to maintain faster load times.

    This decision ended up costing Nintendo a lot. Their new rival, Sony, fully embraced CDs with the PlayStation, a move that attracted both developers and players alike. One of the biggest losses for Nintendo was Final Fantasy, a long-time second-party franchise, which jumped ship to the PlayStation with the release of Final Fantasy VII. The PlayStation went on to sell over 102 million units worldwide, while the N64 only sold 32.93 million units worldwide, making it one of Nintendo's weakest-performing home consoles of all time.

   Even though the N64 didn't sell as well as Nintendo had hoped, it was still a revolutionary leap forward for the future of video games. With its advanced 3D graphics and the introduction of the analog stick, the N64 paved the way for how players would navigate video games in a 3D space. Games like Super Mario 64 were able to lay the groundwork for the video games and the video game controllers that we interact with today.