Super Mario 64

I originally was gifted a Nintendo 64 in the summer of 1997 for getting "straight A's." Technically, I got an A- or two, but my parents were nice enough to grant me my desire anyway. Along with the system, I was gifted the obvious game for the system: Super Mario 64.

That summer was filled with great memories. I got Mario Kart 64 later, and then Star Fox 64 after that. I did tend to focus on one game at a time right after I got it, but in the case of Super Mario 64, I plugged away at the game for the entire summer, trying to get 120 Stars. I got close. I ended up with 118 Stars, after which I quit. The "Wing Mario Over The Rainbow" Star in particular gave me massive frustration and most directly led to my quitting.

After summer was over, I did not play the Nintendo 64 as much, and back then, I was still guilt-ridden with the fact that everything cost money, and when I got bored of the Nintendo 64 and its games, I gave the system and games back to my dad for him to rent out at his video-store.

A year or two later, I did eventually get the Nintendo 64 back after much begging, along with Super Mario 64. The copy I have still has rental-stickers all over it.

Over the years, I did replay the game many times, and beat the game multiple times, but I never "completed" the game. Until today.






Over 20 years later, I finally got 120 Stars in Super Mario 64, one of my favorite games of all time, and still my favorite 3D platformer ever.

For the last few Stars, I did look up some help online, and I don't really regret it. Gone are the days when I can just spend an entire day figuring out how to get a particular star by exploring all over the place and trying everything I can.

This achievement has haunted me for 20 years. I was so close, and then I gave up. I think it took great courage, perseverance, and willpower to do this. I started and stopped so many times. I would say "This is the save-file that I will finally get to 120 Stars," and then I would stop mid-way. This save-file, in particular is a product of one of those failures. This time, I decided not to delete it. I resisted having that fresh feeling of starting over from scratch, and instead plugged away at this save-file and finally I have done it.

Many people have already accomplished this achievement. One of my friends from high-school got 120 Stars when the game first came out, so getting 120 Stars is probably child's play for people like him, but for me, this meant a lot. It means a lot that I came back and accomplished something I have wanted to accomplish for a long time. There aren't many things that I have wanted to do - things that have haunted me, but this was one of them. This marks the end of a chapter in my life, and gives me inspiration for the next.

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