Why Super Mario 64 is one of the 100 greatest videogames
Mario is Charlie Chaplin for the videogame generation: Both are
taciturn, mustachioed icons who defined the early days of an
emerging art form. Whether it was the original Super Mario Bros.
(1987) or the more recent 3-D world of Mario 64, these games are
exasperatingly cute, unimpeachably addictive, and imbued with
enough rich and varied play to make a funny-speaking plumber
synonymous with transcendent gaming.
FACE-OFF In the early 1990s, more kids recognized Super Mario than Mickey Mouse. (Nintendo 64, 1996)
