Stupid Sony... they forced 3D games out before anybody was ready. Nintendo was forced to cancel many Super Nintendo games (Doom FX, Star Fox 2, Mario FX) and release the Nintendo 64. Many popular 2D games failed in full 3D. Castlevania, Mega Man... they failed and have not been revived. Did Mario succeed? YES! This game is a legend. I heard about it in 2009 (not 1996) in a Nintendo Power magazine simply titled "Mario". I did not own a Nintendo 64 (this was 2009). The only system I had was an original Wii that we used for Mario Kart. I was somehow able to persaude my parents to buy me a Wii Point Card with 2000 points on it (enough for Mario 64 and Super Mario Bros 3). I downloaded it and was greeted with a happy Mario face that said "HELLO!". Soon I was distorting him to where he had no moustache and had big ears. Then I started the game and got a message from Peach. In her girly princess voice she read the letter, which told Mario she had baked a cake for him. The plumber could not resist and jumped out of a warp pipe onto the castle grounds. I had never played a 3D Mario Game. I stuck to Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, My Sims, and Wii Sports (I was 8 years old). After a little bit of exploring I entered the castle. Instead of a cake Mario got a scary message from Bowser (Who ate cake, I guess). Soon I was hiking up a hill to meet a giant king bomb complete with a moustache and crown. He told me (using fancy king words) that in order to get the bomb I had to defeat him. I defeated him and moved on to the next level, a giant fortress ran by slabs of concrete with faces. Then I started level 3, a snow level. What a level that was! Finding baby penguins, building snowmen, sliding down a slide. Then my parents walked in. My mom said "YUCK! What are those dots supposed to be?". Those dots were snow flakes. My dad said "Are those graphics... 64 bit?" I had not even realized the graphics were bad because I was lost in the creative levels. Each level had an original design with interesting puzzles and obstacles put in the way of the star. Each boss was different and interesting. The graphics are outdate, so what? This, along with Mario 3, really changed my view of video games. Now (in 2012) I have almost no respect for high-powered consoles like the Xbox 360. Kids should play these old games. How hard is it to get kids a $20 card so that they can enjoy a unique classic like this? The challenge is not too much. If you get stuck on one level you can try another. This is a beautiful game that put the Nintendo 64 to its limits.