Developed by: Nintendo | Published by: Nintendo | Played: 8/31/02

+

Brilliant work with the look and feel. It captures the fun filled charm of the original Mario, and adds in some new bells and whistles that give it new dimension. This game will bring a smile to a child's face, and to the child in all of us.

This time, there are more plot elements and role playing elements in the game. In Super Mario 64 it was just running around and collecting stars, but this time there are towns with people, characters with personalities, and all of it is wrapped up in the mario feel.

Basic Mario role-playing elements are still there: fight the evil guy and save the girl. Plus there is also the whole helping out the townspeople thingie.

Lively environment with top quality graphics and animation, which are also demonstrated very well. There is somewhat of an ooo-aaaahhh factor. It's kinetic.

Each level takes you through very exciting obstacle courses and rides: sliding down hills, riding on rollercoasters and shooting rockets... etc. There is tons of variety at every turn.

Plenty of new gameplay elements that make it extremely unique to any other Mario game: the water thingy and all it's power ups, the tropical island resort place feel, all the different obstacle courses are unique, unique sound, different areas.

It has a very open-ended structure. From the central town area you can go to any of the other areas. Within each area you can roam around freely and find all sorts of goodies in places. The obstacle courses are seamlessly integrated into an open area.

The areas are really big, open, and full of awe, especially when looking down from a high place.

The beginning of the game has a nicely designed get-used-to-the-controls area/level. Having to talk to some people, jump around, and clean up the paint with your water cannon.

120 Shines and other power ups give the game a nice amount of depth.

-

Text instead of voice acting.

Like most of Nintendo's games, it's a little bit too much for kids. In the western world, a happy cute feel doesn't go over well with adults when it is sustained thoughout the whole thing. It also doesn't deal with subjects that are complex enough. It's too simple.

Lack of storytelling. This feels much more like a game than another world to escape into. I can't feel the emotions of the characters. They are all happy and cutesy all the time.

This game is much more frustrating than fun. Underwater controls are terrible.

There are many times when one tiny mistake can send you way back. This is especially annoying when the mistake seems unavoidable, such as hitting something that is obstructed from view or your momentum sending you flying off the edge of a cliff when you are pointed a couple of degrees in the wrong direction.

It lacks some fundamental elements that would make it substancially better, and more innovative, than Super Mario 64. The basic structure of the game is basically the same as Super Mario 64 - just with better graphics, you can talk to people, and the obstacle courses are new and cooler. There is a fundamental innovation in game design that is missing.

During the secret obstacle courses, the background music and the gameplay do not go together well. The music makes me feel happy, excited, and curious, but the gameplay make me feel weary, affraid of hights, and on edge.