Mario's Moves:
(And Camera Control Techniques)

Last Updated: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

 

For a very cool view of Mario while swimming, hold down one of the C buttons!  For example, go to Course 3, and start swimming at the surface as fast as you can.  Keeping the rhythm, start to hold down C-RIGHT (you can use your forefinger instead of your thumb).  It will look like one of those cool side-view camera shots of Olympic swimmers as they race for the gold!

 

You can use the same technique above while flying!  If you hold C-UP, you'll get a really awesome overhead view of Mario (great for the "Cannonball Fall" tricks!).  You can also combine the buttons, so for example, you could hold C-UP and C-RIGHT, for a "diagonal" view that is a little above and a little to the side of Mario!

 

Usually the camera works pretty well, considering the full 3-dimensional freedom offered in Super Mario 64.  Sometimes, though, you can get a better view if you help the camera along a bit.  There are two main camera modes, plus a "fixed" mode, which is usually useless.  

The normal camera mode is "Lakitu Cam".  With this camera mode, Lakitu will try to find the best, clear view of Mario.  

An alternate camera mode is "Mario Cam", which you can normally activate by pressing R.  This camera tries to stay behind Mario at all times, so that you can see what is coming up.  It won't rotate while you are jumping, though, to make it a bit easier to keep control after the jump.

One other mode is "Fixed Cam".  If you pause the game while standing still in a level, you can switch the alternate camera mode from "Mario Cam" to "Fixed Cam".  Then, when you press and hold R, the camera will lock into place (it will only rotate to point at Mario, but not move toward Mario).  This is mostly useless, but it can be pretty cool to enable this before flying, then fix the camera at a high point in the sky.  Then you can get a "high in the sky" view of Mario as you fly in circles.

 

Find a slope that Mario would normally slide down.  Start at the base of the slope (or start while sliding down), then jump and keep holding A to get a really high jump.  Move backwards up the slope during the jump.  At the peak of this jump, press B to kick for an extra burst of movement up the hill.  

Now comes the tricky part for very steep slopes.  Once Mario lands on the slope, he will start to slide down, and if it is very steep, you may lose more than you gained.  You have to immediately jump again!  However, if you press A slightly too soon (before Mario touches the ground), Mario won't jump.  In that case, you have to let go of A, and try again, but for some slopes, you don't have the time to make that correction.

You can practice this move on the slopes in Course 1.  If you think you are very, very good at this move, then you might be ready to try "Castle Top Via Left" (good luck!!).

"Bye Bye Bob-omb" 

Grab a Bob-omb, then press Z to watch it walk away in a straight line, then explode!