Nintendo 64 Games Console Ad

This advertisement was submitted by Nintendo in a competition for television ads of over 30 seconds. It shows Tim Ferguson from comedy trio the Doug Anthony Allstars, who ‘recreates’ Mario’s moves from Super Mario Bros. Mario zips, slides and leaps across fluorescent landscapes, and the ad trumpets his ‘freedom to move in a 3D world’. Ferguson’s stunt efforts, however, fall flat – a deliberately comic contrast to Mario’s superhuman feats. 

With its intentional lo-fi production values, Tim's ridiculous costume and empty proclamations ('Fear is for those who are scared'), the advertisement has a distinctly Australian-underdog sense of humour that would have appealed to local consumers. Extended cutaways to gameplay also effectively promote the product the advertisement is selling.

Super Mario 64 was the first in the Super Mario series to feature three-dimensional gameplay.