Super Mario 64

Dear reader, should you be the gaming type--and I'm assuming you are, considering you're reading a video game blog-- let me ask you this: if you could, would you take on the impossible task of playing a game forever? Personally, there would be far too many earthly pleasures to give up for such a venture: while the luxuries of drinking Welch's White Grape Juice and stroking cats could simply be delivered to me, the simple pleasures of taking afternoon walks, watching cat videos and reading weathered One Piece and Eyeshield 21 volumes would simply be too much to give up.

And yet, a number of games pop readily to mind. I remain endlessly entertained by Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, for example, and I've yet to grow bored of Splatoon even on the eve of its sequel. I've never tired of the cathartic seas found in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and my fascination with Bubble Bobble on my beloved NES Classic Mini hasn't ceased. I've lost count of how many times I've completed Star Fox 64 and Tales of Symphonia; in fact, I'm at the tailend of a playthrough for the latter right now.

Biweekly Music Wednesday! No. 47 ~Inside the Castle Walls~ (Super Mario 64)

Origin: Super Mario 64
Plays In: Peach's Castle
Status: Original Composition
Composed By: Koji Kondo

A new Nintendo console is coming in just over a week! How's everyone handling the suspense?

For me, the anticipation for a new Nintendo console is unlike anything else; of course, other company consoles have come and gone with some great hype periods as well, but there's just something magical about your favorite home team ready to unleash five-years worth of untold adventures, dreams and memories to the public. Nostalgia will be cultivated in young one as us grown-ups revel in the magic that's kept us coming again and again for the past thirty decades. With how much Nintendo is banking on the Switch to last and the ever-changing expectations of the game industry, perhaps we'll enjoy all those and more in a longer cycle.

One of my favorite gaming memories is the time I surely first laid eyes on a Nintendo 64...we were in a Blockbuster (remember those?), and I couldn't stop staring at the demo station in the corner.  It was playing Super Mario 64, and everything about it was a marvel: the new 3D graphics not found in my Super Mario World game at home, the way Mario hopped and swam about with precise ease, how the controller echoed to me that of Mario's gloved hands...everything about it was a mystifying magnet to six-year old me, one that screamed "play me!". It was then the seeds of my gaming passion were certainly born.;

Switch might not have a Mario 64 of its own; in fact, that it's launching with a Zelda game and a title introducing the system's controls (1-2 Switch) recalls more to that of the Wii, a system that captivated many because of how it played rather than the context and dynamics of the games themselves. Certainly, the Switch is set to sail a similar course: a system that captivates the public through one central gimmick. In this case, a hybrid that brings people together and encourages outdoor player is highly appealing.

And yet, I am always reminded of Super Mario 64 and its gardens and castle walls whenever a Nintendo system launches, no matter what the goals it sets for itself. The Wii's motion controls may've defined its respective generation, but Super Mario 64 changed everything on such fundamental levels that its heartbeat still lingers in every 3D title today. Even now, when we're about to be introduced to a Zelda designed to demolish everything we've associated with the series for the sake of a proper open-world experience, I can only think of how Super Mario 64 did the same for the purpose of revolutionizing gaming.

Well, that, and how it looks godly and it may very well be the game to finally surpass the N64 Zelda duo and A Link to the Past, but the point here is that while envisioning a new Super Mario 64-esque impact on the industry is near-impossible, I can't help but see its footsteps being followed here. Yes, Breath of the Wild was built as a Wii U game from the ground-up, but like Twilight Princess before it, it'll be largely associated with the new console. And that already renders it the most exciting Nintendo launch title in over a decade.

Next Friday will surely be something special.

Final Thoughts: Or, hey, maybe it's that Super Mario Odyssey is going back to the original 3D template for Mario? Easily the best thing to come out of last month's conference; I already can't wait to hop around for the heck of it!

Biweekly Music Wednesday! No.4: ~Cave Dungeon~ (Super Mario 64)

Origin: Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64, 1996)

Composer: Koji Kondo

Plays in: The entirety of Hazy Maze Cave and Wet-Dry World, Shifting Sand Land's Pyramid, Snowman Land's igloo, the Metal Cap Cavern, and the interior of Tiny-Huge Island. 

Status: Arrangement

For all the love that Super Mario Bros.'s main theme is showered with, everyone seems to have just as much fun loudly humming the counterpart Underground Theme, which originated in the same game. While not at the same level of popularity, it's certainly regarded with the same level of fondness by Nintendo, as the song makes numerous appearances in many of Mario's adventures. Personally, it never got stuck in my head like the main theme did, but it's not like I'm complaining.

Presented above is the rendition that is my personal favorite, although not in a very hummable appearance at all. The Cave Dungeon song, which plays in the Hazy Maze Cave/Wet-Dry World levels along with several sub-sections, arrived in a time when Nintendo's musicians (that is, Koji Kondo himself) realized that the game music should take on a more dynamic nature so as to complement the more active 3D gameplay of the Nintendo 64; in other words, certain songs would appropriately transit into versions that would better fit for whatever happening's onscreen (tension or calmness, for example). If you listen to the full song above, you'll notice how the song moves from a "cryptic headscratcher" tone to a choir-esque piece that reeks of forgotten mystery. Awesome, right?

Naturally, this is a perfect fit for Hazy Maze Cave, as the level's many twists and turns lead to various scenarios, more dangerous or mysterious than the last. The first half plays when the level starts out, as Mario slides on poles, guides floating platforms with navigable buttons, smoothly hangs on red metallic bars, and dodges boulders Indiana Jones-style. Things take a different turn when, after a long downwards elevator ride, Mario finds himself in an underwater cavern that is solely populated by a lone sea monster, whose un-cartoonish, yet gentle appearance instills a mystifying feeling into the player.

I used to come up with all these weird game theories when I was a kid, and I feel it's appropriate that I share mine for Super Mario 64. See, there's a reason why Peach's Castle, the main hub of the game, has no bedrooms, kitchens, or furniture: it's because the game takes place in an separate dimension. While the game did happen in the canon series of Mario events, the truth is that the Power Stars he collects are the source of the magic of the Mushroom Kingdom, and due to this nature are locked away in a secluded, magical realm that has a secret entrance (via warp pipe) locked deeply within Princess Peach's castle. It is this very power that Bowser covets, and after he kidnaps Peach, invades this dimensions, steals all the stars, and seals the victims within the castle's walls (the last two of which are the only actual canonical events).

Numerous plot-holes and unexplained elements aside, think about what this means for a moment. In this scenario, Mario is completely alone. Yes, he interacts with the Toad guards and the odd friendly character here and there, but they have been eternally bound to this realm and are thus unfamiliar with the famous plumber. This unease would no doubt eat away at Mario's sanity, and while I cringed at the thought of my childhood hero combating the fears and hallucinations of loneliness, this dark twist added so much more to my perception of the game. Much like the "Spring Breeze" fiasco I detailed in my last post, it's another childhood fact I have trouble distancing from (then again, it was my favorite theory, so I don't mind very much).

Now, why is this all relevant? You guessed it, it's all thanks to that awesome second half of Cave Dungeon. You know how a suspenseful movie reveals some huge secret around the climax and you can feel your blood run cold? That's is what this part represents to me. I always feel like I've stumbled across some kind of forbidden secret, locked away from modern knowledge and forgotten to the sands of time. I'm always alone when I do so. It's scary, but it's so mysteriously thrilling that you can't turn your eyes away from it. What's the deal with the sea monster? What happened to the lonely, toy-like town in Wet-Dry World? I was no longer a player; I was a universal explorer who seeped through dimensions in-between and discovered the unknown.

That a song could inspire and even enrich the perception/enjoyment of a video game is wonderful. It's one aspect of video game music I'm always grateful for.

Final Thoughts: Man, I swear the beginning of the song sounds different than it does on the official soundtrack (which the embedded song above is ripped from). Like, really! Anyone else notice this? Used to bother to hell out of me as a kid.

Also, I always thought it would be awesome if an even creepier version was composed. Shame it never happened.