The first time I got to 120 stars was after playing nonstop with my best friend's brother every chance we got 17 days after the Nintendo 64's launch in 1996. Once I figured out how to emulate Nintendo 64 on a PC, I cleared it again. I picked up a hacked original Xbox in Korea back in 2006 which emulated Nintendo 64 well and cleared it for the third time. Super Mario 64 emulated fast enough on a hacked PSP and I cleared it on that more than once, but this is the first time I've gone for the 120 ⭐ using a phone and touchscreen controls.
If I couldn't complete any of the slide levels, then there wasn't any point in even attempting this road to 120 again. Going from Nintendo's NES and Super Nintendo 2D + up, down, left, right + controls to the N64's 3D analog stick took some getting used to. Getting Mario to move and jump right using touchscreen controls felt like being a rookie N64 player all over again.
OK, Mr. Penguin. Let's do this!
Made it to ten stars quickly and easily. Let's get airborne!
This is where I missed using the actual Nintendo 64 analog controller the most. It just doesn't feel right without it. It took me over twenty tries to get all 8 red coins this time.
If I couldn't beat the first Bowser level, then this is where I was definitely was going to give up.
You ready for me Bowser?
The Controls +
I know there are good Bluetooth controllers that would make this a whole lot easier, but I don't have one. I'm in Laos. It's not like I can drop by Wal-Mart or order it on Amazon and the local shops all say I need to ride down to the capital city, a twelve-hour drive, to find one. It took over a year for my son's 2019 Christmas gift to arrive from Florida. I would still like to read any suggestions on controllers in the comments though.
The only thing that is difficult to do with the Z button at the top left is long-jumping. It's still possible, but you'll mess up if the pressure's on or you haven't gotten used to it. My last phone couldn't process more than one touch on the left side at the same time, so I had to learn how to play without long-jumping at all. The D-pad is missing which isn't a big deal unless you're playing Starfox 64 which needs it for certain moves. For most N64 games, it isn't used at all or does the same thing as the analog stick.
Slow Motion -
One of the ways I dealt with the frustration of touchscreen controls not being as responsive to the real thing was by cheating. I would try to beat the penguin without cheating, but he's a really sticky AI. If you thrash down at full speed, he'll catch up and if you let him have a head-start, he'll slow way down for you to catch up. I found 40% game speed was best for beating slides.
Slide for 100 ⭐️
I wasn't looking to beat Mr. Penguin this time. I was on the quest to find 100 coins in the level. The star appeared near the end of the race. I couldn't long-jump to it so I went down again. When I came back down, the star wasn't there. I should've collected coins from the slide first then scavenged the leftovers to 100 around the mountain. Now I have to do it all over again. The save game cheat can't help in this situation.
I honestly wasn't sure if I'd have the patience to clear this with annoying touch screen controls, but as you can see from my screenshots, it is possible. Super Mario 64 emulates well even on very old Android phones. I got it to work fine on a jailbroken iPhone 5 a long time ago, so I'm sure it works well today too. Do people still jailbreak iPhones? If you want to play this on a phone, I highly recommend using a Bluetooth controller, but I got pretty good at controlling Mario and even doing multiple wall jumps by the end of the game using the touchscreen. I wonder how long it is until our VR headsets can just read our thoughts and our gameplay will be seamlessly linked with our intentions.
I don't think there was ever a bigger jump in quality gameplay than when Nintendo added the 3rd dimension with this classic gem. If I could travel back in time and meet my teenage self, it'd be fun showing myself how good I am at this game now. I'm sure I'd ask my future self about my favorite game and GTA would be the answer. I would explain how fun GTA is, but my past self would be shocked that the same game lasted over seven years and spanned three gaming generations. I'm 40 years old now. Does that mean GTA 6 VR Online with an Oasis account will be the final version for my lifetime? After talking about video games, I'd advise my young self to still join the army, but not the navy. That my 30s will be better than my 20s. To buy lot's of Google and Amazon stock as well as 2 million Bitcoins. One to shadow Satoshi's original million and one million BTC to play around with and enjoy life. That everything will be fine, just look out for the year 2020!
Dear Nintendo,
I sent an email to you when I found out about the Wii U. It was a failed system because most people confused it with the original. In my email, I suggested calling the new machine: Super Wii. My suggestion still stands. It would be a marketing home run of a name especially if it were back-compatible with old Wii games and used that fancy new AI that makes old games look 4K. Anyways Nintendo, I love you and am a fanboy for life. Thanks for all the great memories.
