This may be the fifth time that I’ve gotten all 120 stars in this game, although it could be more. My brother bought this at release in the US as we happened to be there on holiday at the time. It was just unbelievable at the time, such a leap forward in video games. I really doubt we’ll ever see anything like it again. The last game I played Jumping Flash! only came out the year before and the difference in controls and depth is incredible.
I bought myself an N64 when F-Zero X came out in the UK, and got a copy of Mario 64 then too. I also played through it on the DS port with the strap that had the little thumb nub. I’m pretty sure I played it on the Wii Virtual Console as well.
So many games copied this, but just had large levels with lots of things to collect. This game is surprising, each level has unique ideas from the changable water level in Wet Dry World, to switching between sizes in Tiny Huge Island, to spending the level on a magic carpet.
One thing that really has not aged well is the camera, you don’t have anywhere near the amount of control that you have in modern games and it seems determined to swerve around when you’re in tight spots.
