Super Mario 64: Every Level Ranked From Worst To Best

The game’s final world offers Super Mario 64’s greatest challenge by far. The margin for error on this level is practically non-existent. Much of the world is spent leaping from rotating platforms to magic carpets and back, with flamethrowers and floating foes ready to knock Mario into the infinite abyss.

At its best, this is a stern test of the player’s platforming skills accumulated over the course of the game, and when you pull it off it’s great - taking the magic carpet ride through the entirety of the level, or boarding the pirate ship, is very satisfying indeed.

That’s all well and good when the game is tough but fair, but as often as not an error will be made due to the camera rather than player incompetence. For those looking to 100% the game, this is particularly irritating, as gaining the 100 coins star on Rainbow Ride is an extremely tense undertaking, one false move undoing all your hard work.

Still, Rainbow Ride gains points for its visuals, which are among the game’s strongest, full of detail and disparate sections.