Super Mario 64: Every Level Ranked From Worst To Best

Perhaps the best pure platforming experience in the game, this world will put to the test Mario’s full arsenal of jumps, flips, leaps, and dives. Admittedly Tall, Tall Mountain does suffer from the familiar issue of having to retrace your steps quite a bit to gain stars - four out of the seven are found essentially at the level’s peak - but this world is so much fun to navigate that you won’t mind.

It’s a primarily vertical level but with neat detailing throughout, like the red coin challenge requiring Mario to hop between airborne mushrooms and alcoves in the cliff face, and a mischievous monkey that will steal his signature red hat.

Then there’s the slide, another great hidden challenge buried in a wall. This one is more challenging than the slides that precede it, with forking paths that will send the player to their death, but even so, there’s little more fun than a slide in a Mario game.

The repeated climb to the summit won’t be to everyone’s taste, but for platforming fans, this is one of the finest stages Nintendo have come up with to date.