10 Nintendo Gaming Innovations That Changed Everything

by Tom French

1. Proper 3D Gaming On Consoles

In the mid-90s, gaming was on the cusp of a revolution; side scrolling platformers and 2D fighters were the norm, but with the release of the PlayStation and N64, 3D gaming was on its way.

Nintendo had dabbled with 3D environments on the SNES, with StarFox and F-Zero both providing 3D gaming experiences for the first time on home consoles. They were nothing compared to what was to come: Super Mario 64.

Arguably the finest launch title ever released and a shoo-in for title of the greatest platformer ever made, Super Mario 64 was a ground breaking, hugely innovative game. It created a new archetype for 3D gaming, with Mario moving through all three axes in space seamlessly. It looked great too, with fully rendered 3D polygons as opposed to two dimensional sprites. For a few years, 3D platformers were all the rage. Super Mario 64 laid out the template for how to do 3D gaming right. There may have been other 3D games out first, but none were as important. None changed the gaming landscape in the same way, and no other game showed the world that 3D gaming was definitely the future. Nintendo are the most storied and prolific company of them all - were there any major innovations we missed?
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Tom, simple country boy, scarily close to his 30th birthday. A juxtaposition of sporty and active alpha male with TV and gaming nerd. Newcastle United fan who lives a LONG way away from Newcastle.