Introduced 4 mechanics · Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
Solved analog 3D movement and the follow camera at once, and nearly everyone copied both.
Mechanics this game introduced
These are recorded as first appearing here. Each links to a full history of where the idea went next.
Space & Locomotion · 1996
Analog Free-Roam 3D Movement
Analog free-roam 3D movement lets a third-person character run in any direction at any speed through an open volume, w…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Space & Locomotion · 1996
Hub-and-Spoke World Access
A hub-and-spoke world is a central space connecting outward to self-contained levels, letting players choose what to a…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1996
Trailing Follow Camera
A trailing follow camera is a viewpoint that chases the player character with its own physics, collision and framing r…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1996
Graded Analog Input
Graded analog input reads how far a stick is pushed rather than whether a direction is pressed, so speed, angle and pr…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Mechanics it built on
Ideas Super Mario 64 inherited rather than invented — each traceable back through the ontology to a root.
The Super Mario series in this dataset
1996
Super Mario 64 this page