Super Mario 64 may arguably be Mario's best outing, and even if you think it isn't it's still easily one of the best games of all time regardless. Between the happy-go-lucky music (even when it wasn't trying to be), the play between the N64's blocky graphics and the snappy controls and the sheer thrill of grappling with a 3D space despite limitations, it's hard not to want to instantly go boot up the original cartridge when hearing this. So what would happen if someone decided to remake this classic?
That's what one developer is attempting to do, creating a fan-version remake of the original N64 title in Blender Game Engine while using the model from Super Smash Bros. As seen in the video above, the animation and effects are pretty rough at the moment, manifest in Mario's lack of facial expressions and some unnatural transitions between moves. But if you've played the original game – and you really, really should if for some reason you haven't – the basic animations and actions of Mario performing tricks like the wall-jump, long jump and flip are, structurally, already on the money.
While it's stressed that the basic graphics seen here in the video are just placeholder (one would hope that the somewhat realistically-lit Smash. Bros. Mario would be toned down a bit to match the charmingly flat-shading of the original), it's pretty cool what's already been accomplished. What was great about Mario 64 is that it was a pure joy just to run around and hop through the playground-like environments; if that could be recapture in its original design with up-res'd HD graphics, so much the better.
But if not just play the original already.
[Via Youtube]
