Super Mario 64
1996 three-dimensional platform video game developed by Nintendo
Super Mario 64 is a 1996 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the first Super Mario game to feature 3D graphics, combining traditional Super Mario gameplay, visual style, and characters in a large open world. In the game, Bowser invades Princess Peach's castle, kidnaps her, and hides the castle's Power Stars in different worlds inside magical paintings. As Mario, the player traverses levels and collects Power Stars to unlock areas of the castle, reach Bowser and rescue Peach.
Director Shigeru Miyamoto conceived a 3D Super Mario game during the production of Star Fox (1993). The team spent about one year on design and twenty months on production, starting with the virtual camera system. The team continued with illustrating the 3D character models and refining sprite movements. Yoji Inagaki recorded the sound effects, and the score was composed by Koji Kondo.
Super Mario 64 was highly anticipated, boosted by advertising campaigns and showings at the 1996 E3 trade show. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997 to acclaim, with reviewers praising its ambition, visuals, level design, and gameplay; however, some criticized its camera system.
The public source identifies “Super Mario 64” as 1996 three-dimensional platform video game developed by Nintendo. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Super, Mario and three-dimensional.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q216995. The Library of Congress control number is sh97000427. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 1993 and 1997.
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This entry incorporates text from “Super Mario 64” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.