Super Mario 64 Development
The journey behind one of gaming's greatest innovations
In the early 1990s, Shigeru Miyamoto envisioned a 3D Mario game while working on Star Fox (1993) for the Super Nintendo. Initially planned for the Super FX chip, the idea was later developed for the Nintendo 64 due to its more advanced controller.
Development began on September 7, 1994, and lasted until May 20, 1996, with a team of 15–20 developers. The team prioritized Mario’s movement, refining animations before designing levels. To improve depth perception, they added a shadow beneath objects for better visibility.
Super Mario 64 was one of Nintendo’s first games with internally produced illustrations. The game was animated by Yoshiaki Koizumi, who faced the challenge of animating 3D models without any prior references. The developers initially planned a multiplayer mode with Mario and Luigi but removed it due to hardware constraints.
Super Mario 64 became a groundbreaking 3D platformer, influencing future games and setting a new standard for movement and level design.
The music was composed by veteran composer Koji Kondo, who created new interpretations of familiar melodies as well as new material. Yoji Inagaki was responsible for sound design, producing hundreds of sound effects. He and Kondo felt that music and sound effects were equally important.
According to Inagaki, the average Nintendo 64 game had about 500 sound effects. He compared this to Ocarina of Time with 1,200 and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask with 2,000.
Super Mario 64 was also one of the first games to feature Charles Martinet as the voice of Mario and Leslie Swan as the voice of Princess Peach.
Super Mario 64 Release
Super Mario 64 was first showcased in November 1995 at Nintendo Space World. At that stage, it was only 50% complete, with just 2% of texture mapping finished. Originally planned to feature 32 courses, Miyamoto hoped for 40, but the final version was reduced to 15 levels.
Miyamoto’s dedication to quality played a key role in delaying the Nintendo 64 release from Christmas 1995 to Summer 1996. According to Howard Lincoln, this decision was necessary to improve the game. Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi supported the delay, stating, "Game creators can finish games quickly if they compromise, but users have sharp eyes." He granted Miyamoto an additional two months to perfect the game.
At E3 1996, multiple Nintendo 64 consoles were set up for attendees to try the game. However, the intense development process caused some programmers to quit or transfer to different departments due to stress.
Advertising & Sales
Nintendo positioned Super Mario 64 as the killer app for the Nintendo 64, launching a $20 million marketing campaign. This included videotapes sent to 500,000 Nintendo Power subscribers and TV ads on MTV, Fox, and Nickelodeon.
The game was released in Japan (June 1996), North America (September 1996), and Europe/Australia (March 1997). Within three months in North America, it sold over 2 million copies, grossing $140 million, making it the best-selling video game of 1996.
From 1995 to 2002, it remained the best-selling game overall. By early 2001, sales reached 5.5 million units, increasing to 5.9 million by September 2002.
At the 1999 Milia Festival in Cannes, Super Mario 64 won the Gold ECCSELL prize for generating over €21 million in revenue in Europe (1998). By 2007, it was the second most popular game on Wii’s Virtual Console, trailing Super Mario Bros.
By March 2008, total sales hit 11.8 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Nintendo 64 game. By 2015, it ranked as the 12th most sold Mario game, with 11.91 million copies sold.
Super Mario 64 Re-Releases
In 2004, Super Mario 64 DS was released as an enhanced remake for the Nintendo DS. The game retained the original's Power Star collection and Princess Peach rescue plot but introduced Yoshi as the starting character, with Mario, Luigi, and Wario as unlockable characters. It featured improved graphics, new areas, power-ups, enemies, more Power Stars, touchscreen mini-games, and multiplayer mode. While critically praised for its visuals and content additions, some reviews criticized its controls and multiplayer mode. By September 2021, it had sold 11.06 million copies worldwide.
A special Rumble Pak version was released in Japan (1997), fixing bugs, adding English voice acting, and supporting the Rumble Pak peripheral. In 2003, it was ported to China's iQue Player as a limited-release demo.
The game was released on the Wii Virtual Console (2006) with enhanced resolution and compatibility with GameCube and Super Famicom Classic controllers. In September 2020, Super Mario 64 was included in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection for the Nintendo Switch, featuring upscaled textures, 720p resolution, and a new control scheme. It was later patched to support the Nintendo 64 controller for Switch Online. In October 2021, it was re-released again as part of the Nintendo 64 lineup for Switch Online + Expansion Pack.