Game so bad the reason most people play it today is because they want to skip most of it
Super Mario 64 is a game that means a lot to me.
It was one of the first video games that I came into contact with! Back when Google Videos was a thing, I remember coming across a TAS Speedrun of this game, and that's how I was introduced to it. I thought that all of the tricks the guy was doing, like backwards long jump, was all part of the game. Silly old me.
I remember when I was in the 4th grade, I used to play with some friends of mine roleplaying us going to various locations in Super Mario 64, and exclamating stuff like "Oh, it's too hot!" or "Brr, it's too cold!" depending on the painting we went to.
Good times.
Funnily enough though, I wouldn't get around to play the original Super Mario 64 until many years later. Before then, I only had access to the DS version, which I'll review one day.
In spite of the many stories I have with this game, and how much it means to me, it's interesting I don't consider Super Mario 64 to be one of my favourite games of all time. I think it mainly stems from other games just having an even bigger impact on me.
Mario makes his jump to the 3rd dimension, having full analogue movement and being able to do all kinds of moves! We've got Double and Triple Jump, the Wall Jump, the Long Jump, the Flip-Jump, a 3-hit punch combo, a Jump Kick, a Slide Kick, and for shits and giggles, we've got the Breakdance move, which I only use to make fun of the game's enemies. lol
It may seem complicated at first, but because all of these moves are tied to only 3 buttons (A, B and Z), you'll get to understand how Mario plays in no time. He's really fun to play as, and I'm glad Nintendo made him how he is!
The level structure has seen a bit of change from Mario's 2D titles. Instead of going to a stage, getting to the goal post, and moving on to the next stage, now in a level, you have Power Stars to get!
Power Stars are scattered all throughout the levels, and to beat the game, you only need 70 of them, out of 120.
Because of this, you have a lot of leeway in how you want to approach levels.
Levels are naturally designed to be sandbox-like in nature. So it's up to you on what you want to do, and how you want to explore a level.
Stages in general, aren't really too big, so most of the stars are easily obtainable.
All of with the exception of the 100-coin Stars. It's exactly what you think they are. They are stars that only appear when you gather 100 coins, and there is one of these in each of the game's 15 levels.
Now, not every one of these stars is hard to get. There are definitely some levels where it's easier to get it than others, like Course 2.
But some of these are an absolute grind!
So, here's some tips from someone who has played this game too much:
1. If you're going for 100%, make these the first stars you get!
I know that sounds odd, considering they're the most pain in the ass to get, but trust me, if you take care of them ASAP, you can comfortably go through the rest of the level without many problems.
2. Red and Blue Coins are extremely important!
Red Coins give you 2 coins, and Blue Coins give you 5. Whenever you see a Blue-Coins button, make sure your surrondings are clear, and that you immediately book to the blue coins that spawn so you don't miss any of them.
3. Unlike other stars in the game, 100-coin stars do not kick you out of the level, so that means you can get the 100-coin star of that level and get another star, like the Red Coin star of that level. 2 birds in 1 stone, as they say.
Outside of that, Princess Peach's Castle acts as your hubworld, and it's relatively small, but pretty fun to travel through. You need stars to unlock more levels, but many of the stars early in the game are relatively easy to get, so this shouldn't be much of an issue.
There are also the 3 Bowser levels, that you'll need to beat. These are more linear than the game's main 15 levels, and they are a great platforming challenge, with a fun boss at the end.
Which leads me into my next point, the boss fights!
They're okay. Yeah, most of these are very simple and don't provide many interesting mechanics of gimmicks. Outside of the Bowser fights... there's not many other bosses that will challenge you.
Even Bowser himself doesn't get challenging until you final encounter with him.
Bowser's model does look a bit funky, but the rest of the game is actually pretty nice to look at! Yeah, some of the game's textures are a bit too simple, but for a Nintendo 64 launch title, I'd say the game's charming low-polygon look still looks decent to this day!
Continuing with the presentation, there's also the soundtrack. A lot of songs here are very iconic, and well composed!
But... there's a lot of repetition, especially later in the game. No, game, I don't need the final 2 levels to have the same goddamn song.
Also, this game was the first one to have Mario speak!... in a mainline title.
Charles Martinet does a really good job as Mario, because inventing the iconic voice we still hear today, even if now we have a different voice actor for Mario.
Additionally, this game was also one of the first games to include a manual camera. Actually, I think it may've been this game that named the concept as a "camera", because Super Mario 64 contextualizes it as a Lakitu recording Mario's adventures on television, and that is really charming!
The camera itself is not bad, but it certainly can get stuck easily in tight spaces. I'll give the dev team a slack, because this was one of the first games to have a manual camera, but it definitely is one of things that hasn't aged gracefully.
In conclusion, there are a lot of things I love about Super Mario 64, but there are also some growing pains in this title that future games would fix. I have a lot of nostalgia with this one, so that's probably this review came out as big as it did, so despite the criticism I have with this game, it still holds a special place in my heart.
Rock on, Super Mario 64!
It was one of the first video games that I came into contact with! Back when Google Videos was a thing, I remember coming across a TAS Speedrun of this game, and that's how I was introduced to it. I thought that all of the tricks the guy was doing, like backwards long jump, was all part of the game. Silly old me.
I remember when I was in the 4th grade, I used to play with some friends of mine roleplaying us going to various locations in Super Mario 64, and exclamating stuff like "Oh, it's too hot!" or "Brr, it's too cold!" depending on the painting we went to.
Good times.
Funnily enough though, I wouldn't get around to play the original Super Mario 64 until many years later. Before then, I only had access to the DS version, which I'll review one day.
In spite of the many stories I have with this game, and how much it means to me, it's interesting I don't consider Super Mario 64 to be one of my favourite games of all time. I think it mainly stems from other games just having an even bigger impact on me.
Mario makes his jump to the 3rd dimension, having full analogue movement and being able to do all kinds of moves! We've got Double and Triple Jump, the Wall Jump, the Long Jump, the Flip-Jump, a 3-hit punch combo, a Jump Kick, a Slide Kick, and for shits and giggles, we've got the Breakdance move, which I only use to make fun of the game's enemies. lol
It may seem complicated at first, but because all of these moves are tied to only 3 buttons (A, B and Z), you'll get to understand how Mario plays in no time. He's really fun to play as, and I'm glad Nintendo made him how he is!
The level structure has seen a bit of change from Mario's 2D titles. Instead of going to a stage, getting to the goal post, and moving on to the next stage, now in a level, you have Power Stars to get!
Power Stars are scattered all throughout the levels, and to beat the game, you only need 70 of them, out of 120.
Because of this, you have a lot of leeway in how you want to approach levels.
Levels are naturally designed to be sandbox-like in nature. So it's up to you on what you want to do, and how you want to explore a level.
Stages in general, aren't really too big, so most of the stars are easily obtainable.
All of with the exception of the 100-coin Stars. It's exactly what you think they are. They are stars that only appear when you gather 100 coins, and there is one of these in each of the game's 15 levels.
Now, not every one of these stars is hard to get. There are definitely some levels where it's easier to get it than others, like Course 2.
But some of these are an absolute grind!
So, here's some tips from someone who has played this game too much:
1. If you're going for 100%, make these the first stars you get!
I know that sounds odd, considering they're the most pain in the ass to get, but trust me, if you take care of them ASAP, you can comfortably go through the rest of the level without many problems.
2. Red and Blue Coins are extremely important!
Red Coins give you 2 coins, and Blue Coins give you 5. Whenever you see a Blue-Coins button, make sure your surrondings are clear, and that you immediately book to the blue coins that spawn so you don't miss any of them.
3. Unlike other stars in the game, 100-coin stars do not kick you out of the level, so that means you can get the 100-coin star of that level and get another star, like the Red Coin star of that level. 2 birds in 1 stone, as they say.
Outside of that, Princess Peach's Castle acts as your hubworld, and it's relatively small, but pretty fun to travel through. You need stars to unlock more levels, but many of the stars early in the game are relatively easy to get, so this shouldn't be much of an issue.
There are also the 3 Bowser levels, that you'll need to beat. These are more linear than the game's main 15 levels, and they are a great platforming challenge, with a fun boss at the end.
Which leads me into my next point, the boss fights!
They're okay. Yeah, most of these are very simple and don't provide many interesting mechanics of gimmicks. Outside of the Bowser fights... there's not many other bosses that will challenge you.
Even Bowser himself doesn't get challenging until you final encounter with him.
Bowser's model does look a bit funky, but the rest of the game is actually pretty nice to look at! Yeah, some of the game's textures are a bit too simple, but for a Nintendo 64 launch title, I'd say the game's charming low-polygon look still looks decent to this day!
Continuing with the presentation, there's also the soundtrack. A lot of songs here are very iconic, and well composed!
But... there's a lot of repetition, especially later in the game. No, game, I don't need the final 2 levels to have the same goddamn song.
Also, this game was the first one to have Mario speak!... in a mainline title.
Charles Martinet does a really good job as Mario, because inventing the iconic voice we still hear today, even if now we have a different voice actor for Mario.
Additionally, this game was also one of the first games to include a manual camera. Actually, I think it may've been this game that named the concept as a "camera", because Super Mario 64 contextualizes it as a Lakitu recording Mario's adventures on television, and that is really charming!
The camera itself is not bad, but it certainly can get stuck easily in tight spaces. I'll give the dev team a slack, because this was one of the first games to have a manual camera, but it definitely is one of things that hasn't aged gracefully.
In conclusion, there are a lot of things I love about Super Mario 64, but there are also some growing pains in this title that future games would fix. I have a lot of nostalgia with this one, so that's probably this review came out as big as it did, so despite the criticism I have with this game, it still holds a special place in my heart.
Rock on, Super Mario 64!
An experienced dev team's first foray into true 3D that, shockingly, gets it right all the way back in June 1996.
Absolutely rock-solid fundamentals which set the tone for the rest of the genre. Analog controls enable precise adjustment of angles which have huge downstream effects. A signature focus on momentum, combined with tricks both intentional and unintentional, birthed one of the most legendary and iconic speedrunning scenes of all time. Systems like this in a casual single player context, balanced to enhance rather than subvert challenges, are rare to find, and even the devs themselves never quite managed to recapture this particular flavor.
The level design here is emblematic of the early 3D era "golden age": enough detail and representation to evoke sense of place, but with the abstraction necessitated by the time's technology both facilitating dense layouts and imbuing the atmosphere with a surreal, dreamlike quality. No established formulas for success existed yet, so levels aren't overly concerned with providing the player a frictionless experience. Each expresses their own quirky character, something felt even more strongly than usual since gameplay is so contextualized by the precise placement of nearby geometry.
Shortcomings mainly occur in obtuse progression/secrets and a handful of stages (more concentrated in the latter half) that don't play to the game's strengths. Luckily, the huge modding scene has leveraged this fantastic foundation and learned from these mistakes to create a veritable cornucopia of visions, both vanilla-like and experimental, for you as a player to explore.
Yup, Quake is a pretty great game!
Absolutely rock-solid fundamentals which set the tone for the rest of the genre. Analog controls enable precise adjustment of angles which have huge downstream effects. A signature focus on momentum, combined with tricks both intentional and unintentional, birthed one of the most legendary and iconic speedrunning scenes of all time. Systems like this in a casual single player context, balanced to enhance rather than subvert challenges, are rare to find, and even the devs themselves never quite managed to recapture this particular flavor.
The level design here is emblematic of the early 3D era "golden age": enough detail and representation to evoke sense of place, but with the abstraction necessitated by the time's technology both facilitating dense layouts and imbuing the atmosphere with a surreal, dreamlike quality. No established formulas for success existed yet, so levels aren't overly concerned with providing the player a frictionless experience. Each expresses their own quirky character, something felt even more strongly than usual since gameplay is so contextualized by the precise placement of nearby geometry.
Shortcomings mainly occur in obtuse progression/secrets and a handful of stages (more concentrated in the latter half) that don't play to the game's strengths. Luckily, the huge modding scene has leveraged this fantastic foundation and learned from these mistakes to create a veritable cornucopia of visions, both vanilla-like and experimental, for you as a player to explore.
Yup, Quake is a pretty great game!
The first time I played Mario 64 was in the Mario 3D All Stars collection back in 2020 and I HATED it, I did not get the appeal at all. A lot has changed since then and as I replayed it and eventually went for 100% on it I realized what makes Mario 64 such a special and groundbreaking game. Truly just a timeless classic.
It's crazy how much Mario 64 defined the next couple decades of 3D Mario platformers. Every 3D Mario since 64 has had the same moveset and a lot of the same game structure, and for good reason - Mario 64 rules.
esse jogo é tão estressante e divertido quanto cuidar de uma criança
e o Mario é uma criança sendo filmada enquanto brinca e se exibe com suas acrobacias
as fases tem literal o mesmo layout de parquinhos de rua, com desafios diversos mas nenhum ponto de progressão muito específico pra seguir
e os mundos serem fictícios dentro do próprio jogo é a materialização da imaginação fértil que o mario tem
eu não acredito nesse jogo, mas eu me encantei com suas brincadeiras.
e o Mario é uma criança sendo filmada enquanto brinca e se exibe com suas acrobacias
as fases tem literal o mesmo layout de parquinhos de rua, com desafios diversos mas nenhum ponto de progressão muito específico pra seguir
e os mundos serem fictícios dentro do próprio jogo é a materialização da imaginação fértil que o mario tem
eu não acredito nesse jogo, mas eu me encantei com suas brincadeiras.
I already knew plenty of things about this game before starting it. In the past few years, I've watched a bit of SM64 content on YouTube, especially speedruns...
It's unfortunate that I didn't go in Mario 64 completely blind, but hey, doesn't mean I didn't have fun!
And since the only speedruns I've watched are any%, I was still very unfamiliar with most of the levels.
I played an unofficial PC port of the game called "Super Mario 64 Plus"
The best additions of this port are the improved movements with Mario, and free camera control.
I've seen everyone and their mother complain about the game's controls, and how poorly they have aged. I guess this port did a wonderful job fixing the controls, because they didn't bother me at any point 👍
I love how fluid the movements are compared to Mario Galaxy, which is the only other 3D Mario game I've played. The Side Somersault especially is so much better. I often found myself using this move into wall jump to reach really high places. These moves are very flexible & satisfying to use.
Yes. I threw the baby penguin in the void after his mama gave me the Star 😈 evil laugh
"File Select", "Inside Peach's Castle" and "Dire Dire Docks" are my 3 favorite pieces of music in the game. It's just so good, I'm not surprised Mario 64's soundtrack has become so iconic!
I like how peaceful the exterior of the Castle is. No music, just the sound of waterfalls, birds & grasshoppers. Very calming ❤
For a game released in 1996, there were very interesting ideas in the level-design:
- The fact that they were already messing with the gravity, way before Sunshine & Galaxy (the tall pillars in Shifting Sand Land)
- In Tiny-Huge Island, the way you teleport to a shrunken version of the level gives the illusion that Mario shrinks after entering the green pipes. It was pretty clever.
- It's cool how some level's layouts change depending on how you enter the paintings! Whether it's Wet-Dry World with the water, or Tick Tock Clock with the pendulum's speed.
This only occured to me after finishing the game, but that's funny how tiny the Worlds are. And what's great is that they all seem to be packed with content. There isn't any wasted space in any of the levels.
I also like how after unlocking the wing cap, vanish cap & metal cap, new stars become accessible in every level. It gave a satisfying feeling of progression.
After obtaining the 120 stars, you can meet Yoshi on the castle's roof and receive a sweet message from the developers. This was such a cool reward for finishing the game.
I don't know if I would have enjoyed the game as much as I did if I played it vanilla. This PC port made the adventure really enjoyable!
To end this review, I felt like ranking each World from most to least favorite:
1) Wet-Dry World
2) Hazy Maze Cave
3) Lethal Lava Land
4) Jolly Roger Bay
5) Big Boo's Haunt
6) Snowman's Land
7) Cool Cool Mountain
8) Tick Tock Clock
9) Dire Dire Docks
10) Tall Tall Mountain
11) Shifting Sand Land
12) Whomp's Fortress
13) Bob-Omb Battlefield
14) Tiny-Huge Island
15) Rainbow Ride
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on April 28th & finished on May 1st 2024]
Playtime: 16 hours
100% Completion
It's unfortunate that I didn't go in Mario 64 completely blind, but hey, doesn't mean I didn't have fun!
And since the only speedruns I've watched are any%, I was still very unfamiliar with most of the levels.
I played an unofficial PC port of the game called "Super Mario 64 Plus"
The best additions of this port are the improved movements with Mario, and free camera control.
I've seen everyone and their mother complain about the game's controls, and how poorly they have aged. I guess this port did a wonderful job fixing the controls, because they didn't bother me at any point 👍
I love how fluid the movements are compared to Mario Galaxy, which is the only other 3D Mario game I've played. The Side Somersault especially is so much better. I often found myself using this move into wall jump to reach really high places. These moves are very flexible & satisfying to use.
Yes. I threw the baby penguin in the void after his mama gave me the Star 😈 evil laugh
"File Select", "Inside Peach's Castle" and "Dire Dire Docks" are my 3 favorite pieces of music in the game. It's just so good, I'm not surprised Mario 64's soundtrack has become so iconic!
I like how peaceful the exterior of the Castle is. No music, just the sound of waterfalls, birds & grasshoppers. Very calming ❤
For a game released in 1996, there were very interesting ideas in the level-design:
- The fact that they were already messing with the gravity, way before Sunshine & Galaxy (the tall pillars in Shifting Sand Land)
- In Tiny-Huge Island, the way you teleport to a shrunken version of the level gives the illusion that Mario shrinks after entering the green pipes. It was pretty clever.
- It's cool how some level's layouts change depending on how you enter the paintings! Whether it's Wet-Dry World with the water, or Tick Tock Clock with the pendulum's speed.
This only occured to me after finishing the game, but that's funny how tiny the Worlds are. And what's great is that they all seem to be packed with content. There isn't any wasted space in any of the levels.
I also like how after unlocking the wing cap, vanish cap & metal cap, new stars become accessible in every level. It gave a satisfying feeling of progression.
After obtaining the 120 stars, you can meet Yoshi on the castle's roof and receive a sweet message from the developers. This was such a cool reward for finishing the game.
I don't know if I would have enjoyed the game as much as I did if I played it vanilla. This PC port made the adventure really enjoyable!
To end this review, I felt like ranking each World from most to least favorite:
1) Wet-Dry World
2) Hazy Maze Cave
3) Lethal Lava Land
4) Jolly Roger Bay
5) Big Boo's Haunt
6) Snowman's Land
7) Cool Cool Mountain
8) Tick Tock Clock
9) Dire Dire Docks
10) Tall Tall Mountain
11) Shifting Sand Land
12) Whomp's Fortress
13) Bob-Omb Battlefield
14) Tiny-Huge Island
15) Rainbow Ride
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on April 28th & finished on May 1st 2024]
Playtime: 16 hours
100% Completion
It might not be the best in mechanical terms, but nothing has come closer to the eerie, adventurous, colorful, diverse, creative aesthetic of it all. Each level has a unique personality, a unique feeling and atmosphere attached to it. You really feel you're traveling to different worlds.
Probably the best game ever just because it's the essence of a videogame taken to its limits: to use mechanical, visual and musical aspects to make you feel in control of things, while also delivering a special, diverse and unique aesthetic experience.
And I always consider a plus the community around a game. The fact that this game continues to be reviewed and analyzed, tier lists and speedruns and unique run ideas like the A Press Challenge (I recommend you watch asap Bismuth's video about such challenge) come out almost every week or the thousands of rom hacks available that add new and fresh ideas are just some signs that this hits the right spot and it does it in a way that shines above similar works.
Probably the best game ever just because it's the essence of a videogame taken to its limits: to use mechanical, visual and musical aspects to make you feel in control of things, while also delivering a special, diverse and unique aesthetic experience.
And I always consider a plus the community around a game. The fact that this game continues to be reviewed and analyzed, tier lists and speedruns and unique run ideas like the A Press Challenge (I recommend you watch asap Bismuth's video about such challenge) come out almost every week or the thousands of rom hacks available that add new and fresh ideas are just some signs that this hits the right spot and it does it in a way that shines above similar works.
first time i actually finished after starting and restarting over and over for probably over a decade at this point. the goat the bible the blueprint ect. the greatest advancement in the phenomenology of video games as far as My Specific Tastes are concerned. wall kicks will definitely work
I personally don't think this game has aged as well as others tell me it has. During my playthrough I constantly found myself baffled at how often the camera was just outside of where I wanted it. Worlds like Tick-Tock Clock are the perfect example of how the camera can sometimes make the platforming feel awkward. However when it works, the platforming is still extremely satisfying, the visuals are extremally colorful and vibrant, and the music is a bop.
One of the most important console games of all time. The legacy of Super Mario 64 is based on the monumental transition of console games from 2D to 3D and, while SM64 was not the first 3D console game ever, it was the first one that was crafted to perfection with the tools and limitations available at the time of its development and release.
This game dropped jaws from its very first playable section outside the castle, which acted as a playground for the player to explore all the new moves that Mario could perform ranging from regular jumps, to acrobatic jumps, crouching, punching, backflips, etc. The physics behind Mario movements was ahead of its time to the point that this game remains a fan favorite for speed runs and it never ceases to amaze me how speedrunners combine all the different moves for a seamless ninja-like progression through the different levels.
Graphics were of course top notch at the time of release with the N64 hardware making use of cleaner and less pixelated textures versus other PlayStation and Sega Saturn games. Soundtrack was also fantastic with tunes that have become timeless and are part of Nintendo's legacy to the industry. Other milestones include Charles Martinet debuting as the voice of Mario and the game featuring limited voice acting (Princess Peach).
The overall game design was excellent with the castle acting as the main hub for levels but at the same time offering its own secrets and areas that were fun to explore. The thematic behind using the castle's paintings as levels/worlds allowed for the design team at EAD to have full freedom in terms of themes for each level which increased variety and replay value (snow, desert, haunted, underwater levels, etc). Furthermore, to increase replay value and varierty, each level features different "missions" to obtain stars which forced full exploration of said levels on behalf of the player. Simply put, if you wanted all 120 stars in this game, you would have to revisit and master each corner of all levels, creating a unique feeling of adventure and feeling of mastering the game.
Better graphics, presentation, and gameplay components have been crafted throughout the years in the 3D platforming world ever since the release of SM64; but the legacy this game left is unmatched and the level of polish and quality that Nintendo provided ended up creating a timeless masterpiece in the gaming universe.
This game dropped jaws from its very first playable section outside the castle, which acted as a playground for the player to explore all the new moves that Mario could perform ranging from regular jumps, to acrobatic jumps, crouching, punching, backflips, etc. The physics behind Mario movements was ahead of its time to the point that this game remains a fan favorite for speed runs and it never ceases to amaze me how speedrunners combine all the different moves for a seamless ninja-like progression through the different levels.
Graphics were of course top notch at the time of release with the N64 hardware making use of cleaner and less pixelated textures versus other PlayStation and Sega Saturn games. Soundtrack was also fantastic with tunes that have become timeless and are part of Nintendo's legacy to the industry. Other milestones include Charles Martinet debuting as the voice of Mario and the game featuring limited voice acting (Princess Peach).
The overall game design was excellent with the castle acting as the main hub for levels but at the same time offering its own secrets and areas that were fun to explore. The thematic behind using the castle's paintings as levels/worlds allowed for the design team at EAD to have full freedom in terms of themes for each level which increased variety and replay value (snow, desert, haunted, underwater levels, etc). Furthermore, to increase replay value and varierty, each level features different "missions" to obtain stars which forced full exploration of said levels on behalf of the player. Simply put, if you wanted all 120 stars in this game, you would have to revisit and master each corner of all levels, creating a unique feeling of adventure and feeling of mastering the game.
Better graphics, presentation, and gameplay components have been crafted throughout the years in the 3D platforming world ever since the release of SM64; but the legacy this game left is unmatched and the level of polish and quality that Nintendo provided ended up creating a timeless masterpiece in the gaming universe.
For me this is the Ultimate Mario adventure. Amazing progress trough 2D to 3D. New additions as metal mario and the flying cap. Moderate difficulty for speed runners and stars collectors. Just an amazing game!
Part of growing up for me has definitely been finally admitting that Super Mario 64 is a legitimately special video game. Not even just for its historical importance, but for what it remains to be to this day. The level of freedom that the player has in which challenges they want to take on, the high levels of player expression that exist within its conceptually limited yet spatially broad acrobatics moveset, the way it's capable of being beautiful, whimsical, moody, or even haunting. I still find myself picking it up and playing it over most other 3D platformers to this day, the allure of its worlds dragging me deeper into my nth playthrough; it's just that intuitively enjoyable.
Sure, the controls take some getting used to, but Nintendo EAD was able to really get the controls down in a way that I don't think they've ever been able to fully replicate. It's less than ideal that stars kick you out of the stage, and some of the later levels don't really mesh with the control scheme in the same way the more exploration-focused early levels do, but none of that matters in the moment. Super Mario 64 lets you make what you want out of it, and that's what keeps it evergreen.
Sure, the controls take some getting used to, but Nintendo EAD was able to really get the controls down in a way that I don't think they've ever been able to fully replicate. It's less than ideal that stars kick you out of the stage, and some of the later levels don't really mesh with the control scheme in the same way the more exploration-focused early levels do, but none of that matters in the moment. Super Mario 64 lets you make what you want out of it, and that's what keeps it evergreen.
Alguns problemas de envelhecimento da câmera e colisão do cenário.Os mundos não estão no ponto, muito difícil ver alguém defendendo que este aqui tem os melhores mapas.Os power ups são um retrocesso e os bosses são mal inspirados, no geral tudo é muito experimental.Mesmo com essas reclamações, este jogo é mágico do início ao fim, apenas por ser divertido, 8.5/10.
cant stand this fucking game
I played this game specifically to spite people in a Discord server who were saying it's bad in one sitting to 100% because I will not take slander towards this absolute gem of a game. Mario 64 isn't perfect. Rainbow Ride is mid, the bosses aren't anything special, some of the stars are tedious as hell and exiting a stage every time you get a star gets monotonous after a while. But despite those issues everything from the controls, to (most of) the levels, to the music, to even the visual style for being one of the first N64 games is absolutely stellar. There's a reason why this game is the golden standart for 3D platformers, and why it's remained that for so long.
i hate discussing this game with fans because they always move the goal posts. no, this isn't the first time i've played an older 3d game, and no, i don't dislike this game because i can't appreciate them. i greatly enjoy and love games like resident evil, tomb raider, crash bandicoot, and sonic adventure; those were all early 3D offerings that were rough around the edges. they had very thought-out mechanics with intentionality behind their level design and were consistently engaging to play. i cannot say the same about this game. super mario 64 is not fun for me play because i do not find the mechanics or level design engaging. additionally, the camera is atrocious and has aged poorly. there's also this weird pseudo-tank controls aspect that changes how mario moves without warning and killed me several times in the later levels like TTC and RR. movement is actively one of the worst parts of this game, which is the kiss of death for a platformer. i don't dislike this game for being old, i dislike this game for being bad.
i respect what it tries to do, and i think there is some level of admiration game devs of the time express for it that i understand. i get why this was such a groundbreaking game in some ways. but, i grew up in this era, and even as a kid, this game didn't connect with me. finally sitting down and playing it as a fully grown adult, i can understand and verbalize what it is that fucks me off from this. am i impressed with the attempt to focus so much on momentum as a platforming principle? yes. do i think this game hits the mark with that lofty goal? absolutely not. again, it's not that this game is old; i had this same exact feeling when it was still a new game. i do not enjoy super mario 64 not because it is dated, because dated things can still be enjoyed. i do not enjoy super mario 64 because i do not enjoy super mario 64.
1.5/5.0 feels harsh, but it's a combination of not enjoying my time with this game as well as resenting this game's legacy. i don't understand how this is still regularly discussed in contention for greatest game of all time. i hate how it's still seen as hipster and contrarian to say this game isn't the second coming of christ. and, most importantly, i am very tired of this idea that the games that we love cannot have flaws and cannot be criticized.
i respect what it tries to do, and i think there is some level of admiration game devs of the time express for it that i understand. i get why this was such a groundbreaking game in some ways. but, i grew up in this era, and even as a kid, this game didn't connect with me. finally sitting down and playing it as a fully grown adult, i can understand and verbalize what it is that fucks me off from this. am i impressed with the attempt to focus so much on momentum as a platforming principle? yes. do i think this game hits the mark with that lofty goal? absolutely not. again, it's not that this game is old; i had this same exact feeling when it was still a new game. i do not enjoy super mario 64 not because it is dated, because dated things can still be enjoyed. i do not enjoy super mario 64 because i do not enjoy super mario 64.
1.5/5.0 feels harsh, but it's a combination of not enjoying my time with this game as well as resenting this game's legacy. i don't understand how this is still regularly discussed in contention for greatest game of all time. i hate how it's still seen as hipster and contrarian to say this game isn't the second coming of christ. and, most importantly, i am very tired of this idea that the games that we love cannot have flaws and cannot be criticized.
It's been a while since I last visited my Retro Games Bucket List. I swear I didn't push off the last entry to coincide with some sort of arbitrary milestone (my 500th review if Backloggd's metrics can be trusted), but it was either this or Sonic Origins Plus. No, I just find it very difficult to discuss Super Mario 64 and have struggled for a while with how I want to approach it.
My apprehension doesn't come from the fact that Mario 64 and its legacy have been so thoroughly discussed, at least not necessarily. That certainly does pose a challenge, after all it is one of the most influential and historically significant games in the medium, and it's been documented to death for good reason. All I can really add is my own personal experiences with it, but that's where the real difficulty comes in, because I've so deeply linked the game to my late grandfather, and framing a whole review for a Mario game around parsing his death just sounds a little bit silly.
I could instead talk about how my first exposure to Super Mario 64 didn't actually come from my grandpa despite how much I tie it to him. When the Nintendo 64 came out, the arcade I used to hang out in had one hooked up to a big TV and roped off with velvet. Ten bucks for ten minutes with Mario, a damn good racket. The save already had all 120 stars unlocked, and the very first thing I did was jump into the cannon outside Princess Peach's castle, which takes you to the castle's roof and face-to-face with Yoshi. The next day I kept insisting to all my friends that Yoshi was in Mario 64. I was called a liar and relentlessly mocked. I knew what I saw, damnit! There's a Yoshi up there! He's gave me 100 lives!!
Anyway, I really hate Yoshi games for some reason.........
It's snowing out, and there are elk roaming in my grandpa's backyard - his house is large and remote, the massive fenced off satellite dish he gets TV from is bordered by miles and miles of pure nature. I'm playing Dire Dire Docks, and by that, I mean I'm mostly drowning to death over and over again, but the music and atmosphere is serene. Grandpa laughs warmly when I die, then he offers some advice, but mostly he just watches and lets me figure it out, as he did whenever we played games together. I don't know it at the time, but I would never be there again.
Ah, yeah, that sounds kinda dumb. But the most insightful thing I have to share about Mario 64 isn't some hot nugget of development history, or a unique perspective on its mechanics, how Mario handles or the way its levels are designed. As much as I would love to tear into it as I would any other game, I can't. Every time I try to write about how important the game was for establishing analog controls or the way it shaped the next several years of 3D platformers, I just get lost in a nostalgic haze, thinking about how much fun I had on the title screen alone, molding Mario's face like that scene from The Hundred Days of the Dragon. Mom walking in, asking "what the hell are you playing," and grandpa answering very curtly, "Mary-oh." I'd correct him. He'd never get it right. To the grave, it was "Mary-oh."
Nowadays, the scene around Super Mario 64 is still lively, though its greatest contributions are so codified in the medium that you'll likely take them for granted. Instead, it lives on more fervently through trite analog horror and speedruns which may or may not be influenced by stray cosmic particles. It occupies such a weird space; one I would've been far more fascinated by as a child. "L is real" captivated me, if you told me back then that every cart was personalized, my eyes would be as wide as saucers. I'm pretty dumb, but I was straight stupid in the 90s.
Super Mario 64 felt like an impossibly huge game to me. Peach's castle was large and full of secrets, and though I eventually got a Nintendo 64 of my own, I could only explore Mario 64 when visiting my grandpa. It was a strange omission from my collection, yet that always left me excited to play more when I visited his house. How much further had he gotten? What cool new things could he show me? What new games did he have, did he get any more promo tapes? The last one had a couple of guys put Mario's head in a damn vice, that was pretty fucked up!
There's a reason Mario 64 was the last game I wanted to get to in my bucket list, as the whole impetus behind making one in the first place was a form of retreat. It felt somehow appropriate to close the whole thing out with it. I really appreciate everyone who stuck with me as I went through my list, reviewing classics like Contra Hard Corps and hot liquid shit like Aero the Acro-Bat. I promise I'll get back to reviews like that soon.
Super Mario 64 is a great game. Bad camera, and it's gotten trendy to write off other parts of it that are antiquated, even despite the fact that for what it doesn't get right, it was still one of the first to do it. But I can't go in on that, even if I see a lot of those rough edges, too. I'm just too emotionally invested in it.
My apprehension doesn't come from the fact that Mario 64 and its legacy have been so thoroughly discussed, at least not necessarily. That certainly does pose a challenge, after all it is one of the most influential and historically significant games in the medium, and it's been documented to death for good reason. All I can really add is my own personal experiences with it, but that's where the real difficulty comes in, because I've so deeply linked the game to my late grandfather, and framing a whole review for a Mario game around parsing his death just sounds a little bit silly.
I could instead talk about how my first exposure to Super Mario 64 didn't actually come from my grandpa despite how much I tie it to him. When the Nintendo 64 came out, the arcade I used to hang out in had one hooked up to a big TV and roped off with velvet. Ten bucks for ten minutes with Mario, a damn good racket. The save already had all 120 stars unlocked, and the very first thing I did was jump into the cannon outside Princess Peach's castle, which takes you to the castle's roof and face-to-face with Yoshi. The next day I kept insisting to all my friends that Yoshi was in Mario 64. I was called a liar and relentlessly mocked. I knew what I saw, damnit! There's a Yoshi up there! He's gave me 100 lives!!
Anyway, I really hate Yoshi games for some reason.........
It's snowing out, and there are elk roaming in my grandpa's backyard - his house is large and remote, the massive fenced off satellite dish he gets TV from is bordered by miles and miles of pure nature. I'm playing Dire Dire Docks, and by that, I mean I'm mostly drowning to death over and over again, but the music and atmosphere is serene. Grandpa laughs warmly when I die, then he offers some advice, but mostly he just watches and lets me figure it out, as he did whenever we played games together. I don't know it at the time, but I would never be there again.
Ah, yeah, that sounds kinda dumb. But the most insightful thing I have to share about Mario 64 isn't some hot nugget of development history, or a unique perspective on its mechanics, how Mario handles or the way its levels are designed. As much as I would love to tear into it as I would any other game, I can't. Every time I try to write about how important the game was for establishing analog controls or the way it shaped the next several years of 3D platformers, I just get lost in a nostalgic haze, thinking about how much fun I had on the title screen alone, molding Mario's face like that scene from The Hundred Days of the Dragon. Mom walking in, asking "what the hell are you playing," and grandpa answering very curtly, "Mary-oh." I'd correct him. He'd never get it right. To the grave, it was "Mary-oh."
Nowadays, the scene around Super Mario 64 is still lively, though its greatest contributions are so codified in the medium that you'll likely take them for granted. Instead, it lives on more fervently through trite analog horror and speedruns which may or may not be influenced by stray cosmic particles. It occupies such a weird space; one I would've been far more fascinated by as a child. "L is real" captivated me, if you told me back then that every cart was personalized, my eyes would be as wide as saucers. I'm pretty dumb, but I was straight stupid in the 90s.
Super Mario 64 felt like an impossibly huge game to me. Peach's castle was large and full of secrets, and though I eventually got a Nintendo 64 of my own, I could only explore Mario 64 when visiting my grandpa. It was a strange omission from my collection, yet that always left me excited to play more when I visited his house. How much further had he gotten? What cool new things could he show me? What new games did he have, did he get any more promo tapes? The last one had a couple of guys put Mario's head in a damn vice, that was pretty fucked up!
There's a reason Mario 64 was the last game I wanted to get to in my bucket list, as the whole impetus behind making one in the first place was a form of retreat. It felt somehow appropriate to close the whole thing out with it. I really appreciate everyone who stuck with me as I went through my list, reviewing classics like Contra Hard Corps and hot liquid shit like Aero the Acro-Bat. I promise I'll get back to reviews like that soon.
Super Mario 64 is a great game. Bad camera, and it's gotten trendy to write off other parts of it that are antiquated, even despite the fact that for what it doesn't get right, it was still one of the first to do it. But I can't go in on that, even if I see a lot of those rough edges, too. I'm just too emotionally invested in it.
this game is super cool. it's a high-grade experiment that barely cares about the (already not that established) Mario tropes in exchange for nonsense tiny playgrounds that have more ideas than they have "levels" inside them. i think that's cool. it barely feels like you're playing a videogame sometimes. the floating pieces of land that you walk on are there almost entirely to take advantage of a piece of Mario's movement options, so they actually feel like those 2D Mario levels where every single thing is there in the name of the core game. but i unfortunately kinda hate that part.
i've never been a fan of nintendo's utilitarian approach to design. it just means that areas must be in some way useful more than they are actual places. in 64 this means that you're forced to care about Mario's (conceptually cool) moveset at every opportunity. i can't even enjoy my abstract nothinglands in peace without having to engage with some random setpiece to get a star.
it's the structure as well… yuno.. i'm not one to usually care about intricate challenges when a game cares about it more than anything. even considering how loose some star objectives are, they're still filled with specific little challenges that completely ruin any sense of hanging out i could've had. yeah, i also really dislike the way almost all stars kick you out of the levels. they sometimes linearly change the level to different versions of themselves that make other stars possible and some others impossible, but sometimes that just makes the levels way too bite-sized to make an impact. like, i have to get at least 70 stars in this thing, so i have no time to keep playing around because that shit takes time to do. i get a similar feeling when i'm done with 4 worlds in 2D Mario games and i know that i still gotta make my way through another 4 worlds. i'm already dreading to do the rest before i'm even there.
when you get used to a level's flow in Mario 64, it gets a little better - but then you gotta consciously go through that all over again and see some new tiny setpieces in another level. and it's gonna really suck when you realize that you can only get all the red coins (of which you already spent some time looking for) when the level changes to another star and a path to that last one opens up.
but it's such a magical game with magical lands… these understated little boxes of characters and structures made tangible only by Mario's presence are a thing to behold. the level Tall, Tall Mountain, for example, is just this huge chunk of a mountain that you gotta climb multiple times to get different stars in different situations. it feels monumental because it's one of the few levels that takes the game's trend toward up/downhill climbing to the foreground of the play. in this level specifically, stopping to smell the roses feels positively uncanny because, since everything is there for a mechanical purpose, it loses itself in the absence of interaction. that's kinda awesome but it makes my head hurt a little.
it irks me because i genuinely enjoy the landscapes in here. they're the extreme version of the visually agnostic Mario levels that feel completely alien because of how random and generic their assets are. by setting the levels up as these random paintings that you stumble onto and not holding on to even some basic staples like the turtle guys and pipes, they made something that feels really uncanny.
i don't really get how people frame some games like Majora's Mask as being "mysterious" when they feature some really charming and normal-ass writing, full-on cutscenes, and NPCs with schedules walking around the world. it feels way more deliberate than the surprising nothings that Mario 64 gives players. there's a vague sense that Bowser took over Peach's Castle but absolutely nothing that contextualizes the bonkers structure. for me that's what makes it interesting! it just really loses me when those cool aspects are stuck with nintendo's approach to games.
Mario 64 is stuck in an impossible equation in my head bc it's at once the coolest game by nintendo that i've touched because it's made by them and also a game that i dislike playing because it still tries to follow their design pillars so much. goddamnit now i wanna play more nintendo games to satisfy my curiosity. please help me
i've never been a fan of nintendo's utilitarian approach to design. it just means that areas must be in some way useful more than they are actual places. in 64 this means that you're forced to care about Mario's (conceptually cool) moveset at every opportunity. i can't even enjoy my abstract nothinglands in peace without having to engage with some random setpiece to get a star.
it's the structure as well… yuno.. i'm not one to usually care about intricate challenges when a game cares about it more than anything. even considering how loose some star objectives are, they're still filled with specific little challenges that completely ruin any sense of hanging out i could've had. yeah, i also really dislike the way almost all stars kick you out of the levels. they sometimes linearly change the level to different versions of themselves that make other stars possible and some others impossible, but sometimes that just makes the levels way too bite-sized to make an impact. like, i have to get at least 70 stars in this thing, so i have no time to keep playing around because that shit takes time to do. i get a similar feeling when i'm done with 4 worlds in 2D Mario games and i know that i still gotta make my way through another 4 worlds. i'm already dreading to do the rest before i'm even there.
when you get used to a level's flow in Mario 64, it gets a little better - but then you gotta consciously go through that all over again and see some new tiny setpieces in another level. and it's gonna really suck when you realize that you can only get all the red coins (of which you already spent some time looking for) when the level changes to another star and a path to that last one opens up.
but it's such a magical game with magical lands… these understated little boxes of characters and structures made tangible only by Mario's presence are a thing to behold. the level Tall, Tall Mountain, for example, is just this huge chunk of a mountain that you gotta climb multiple times to get different stars in different situations. it feels monumental because it's one of the few levels that takes the game's trend toward up/downhill climbing to the foreground of the play. in this level specifically, stopping to smell the roses feels positively uncanny because, since everything is there for a mechanical purpose, it loses itself in the absence of interaction. that's kinda awesome but it makes my head hurt a little.
it irks me because i genuinely enjoy the landscapes in here. they're the extreme version of the visually agnostic Mario levels that feel completely alien because of how random and generic their assets are. by setting the levels up as these random paintings that you stumble onto and not holding on to even some basic staples like the turtle guys and pipes, they made something that feels really uncanny.
i don't really get how people frame some games like Majora's Mask as being "mysterious" when they feature some really charming and normal-ass writing, full-on cutscenes, and NPCs with schedules walking around the world. it feels way more deliberate than the surprising nothings that Mario 64 gives players. there's a vague sense that Bowser took over Peach's Castle but absolutely nothing that contextualizes the bonkers structure. for me that's what makes it interesting! it just really loses me when those cool aspects are stuck with nintendo's approach to games.
Mario 64 is stuck in an impossible equation in my head bc it's at once the coolest game by nintendo that i've touched because it's made by them and also a game that i dislike playing because it still tries to follow their design pillars so much. goddamnit now i wanna play more nintendo games to satisfy my curiosity. please help me
Soundbox Companion
Ok you can so what you want about this being another dumb Nintendo game or just a shitty outdated platformer or a childrens game or whatever but let me speak my truth here.
Teaching somebody the 16 star speedrun at my dingy home would unironically be more intimate than the most depraved sexual fantasies I could think of. Teaching somebody how to BLJ would be so hot, I would kiss their feet after they succeeded at it.
This is not a joke, if you haven't tasted the speedrunning world of this game you're missing out on a huge part of its appeal. If you're a really close lady friend of mine I would show you how to do it no questions asked. I been thinking this in the back of my head for over a month now. It will probably be a genuine part of my dating life going forward and I'm not sorry for that in fact the reason I'm even saying this is to make room for the fact other people might also feel like that. It also has the best sound design I've ever heard in my entire life. They gave the pirahna plant a lullaby theme song that you activate by stepping into its aura. This is an incredibly experimental sound design decision that you dont see in contemporary gaming. They would try to imitate this lullaby effect 10 years later with Galaxy via a cutscene transition into Rosalina reading a book for to the lunas but because of the diversion in interactivity, it left Rosalina feeling like a maternalistic overlord. In this way I would argue a lot of contemporary game design is extremely parental, its having an event happen towards you that you have to accept. The pirahna plant lullaby is spontaneous and you only have to accept it as long as you are within the boundaries of that space, you can leave it whenever you're tired of it. I think there's a genuine romance in the design of SM64 that's worth exploring, but it cant be done by me alone.
Ok you can so what you want about this being another dumb Nintendo game or just a shitty outdated platformer or a childrens game or whatever but let me speak my truth here.
Teaching somebody the 16 star speedrun at my dingy home would unironically be more intimate than the most depraved sexual fantasies I could think of. Teaching somebody how to BLJ would be so hot, I would kiss their feet after they succeeded at it.
This is not a joke, if you haven't tasted the speedrunning world of this game you're missing out on a huge part of its appeal. If you're a really close lady friend of mine I would show you how to do it no questions asked. I been thinking this in the back of my head for over a month now. It will probably be a genuine part of my dating life going forward and I'm not sorry for that in fact the reason I'm even saying this is to make room for the fact other people might also feel like that. It also has the best sound design I've ever heard in my entire life. They gave the pirahna plant a lullaby theme song that you activate by stepping into its aura. This is an incredibly experimental sound design decision that you dont see in contemporary gaming. They would try to imitate this lullaby effect 10 years later with Galaxy via a cutscene transition into Rosalina reading a book for to the lunas but because of the diversion in interactivity, it left Rosalina feeling like a maternalistic overlord. In this way I would argue a lot of contemporary game design is extremely parental, its having an event happen towards you that you have to accept. The pirahna plant lullaby is spontaneous and you only have to accept it as long as you are within the boundaries of that space, you can leave it whenever you're tired of it. I think there's a genuine romance in the design of SM64 that's worth exploring, but it cant be done by me alone.
One of the best video Games ever made. i can play it infinitely and be charmed every time i open it up. the visuals sound effects and music set up an amazing and unique atmosphere, and the levels are each so fun to explore. the game fills you with a sense of wonder no other game can replicate. there was no game even remotely close to this ones quality when it came out, and there probably never will be one again.
Eu acho que é a primeira vez que platino a versão do N64. A primeira vez que joguei SM64 foi no remake de NDS, o qual platinei diversas vezes. Alguns anos depois emulei a versão original e zerei algumas vezes, mas a platina só tenho certeza que fiz dessa vez. Mais do que um mero espírito completionista, o que me motivou mesmo é que esse jogo é bom demais. Marios seguintes evidentemente trouxeram mais polimento e um visual mais aprimorado, mas em relação ao level design e game feel SM64 não deve nada a seus descendentes. Jogão.
A groundbreaking game that still holds up today. Fascinating levels with wonderful movement and jumping abilities. Nothing feels stilted even though the game is like 20+ years old
Was worried this would severely show its age, but it was surprisingly innovative and incredibly fun.
el b3313 es mejor castillo pero el final de mario 64 -> felicidad pura, majia potajia, peak
a veces pienso que en cuanto a sensibilidad estos de nintendo fueron prácticamente insuperables en los 80s y 90s dentro de este medio. cosas tan pequeñitas como ayudar o jugar con los npcs en tus viajes para que luego los créditos tal cual álbum de fotos te recuerden a los amigos que encontraste en el camino, y terminar con la despedida, de mario, la princesa, los kinopio (y por consiguiente el juego, como un amigo) despidiéndose alzando los brazos como si de alguien partiendo en un viaje lejano en tren o barco se tratase mientras la cámara lentamente se aleja al cielo
"can you hear the princess calling?"
perdón por el post webon después de ponerme a shorar con el final del juego por décima vez, para mañana recapacito
a veces pienso que en cuanto a sensibilidad estos de nintendo fueron prácticamente insuperables en los 80s y 90s dentro de este medio. cosas tan pequeñitas como ayudar o jugar con los npcs en tus viajes para que luego los créditos tal cual álbum de fotos te recuerden a los amigos que encontraste en el camino, y terminar con la despedida, de mario, la princesa, los kinopio (y por consiguiente el juego, como un amigo) despidiéndose alzando los brazos como si de alguien partiendo en un viaje lejano en tren o barco se tratase mientras la cámara lentamente se aleja al cielo
"can you hear the princess calling?"
perdón por el post webon después de ponerme a shorar con el final del juego por décima vez, para mañana recapacito
The famous mario 64. A game that is still fun but also it's mechanics aged like milk.
Now, to give credit where credit is due level design is really good. Not just good also it's consistent. The most consistent 3d mario even(didn't play odyssey). There is gimmick sections like slides or bowser's linear sections but they are rare compared to the other mario games gimmicky sections.
Level design is good because almost every level designed to be find lots of discoveries in every part of the level. Also choose your own level idea supports it's freedom to it's fullest. You only need to get some number of stars to get to the next section. You don't have to collect everything and I respect this decision a lot. Because the option of skipping a level if I don't like it is nice, because some levels are just not fun.
But gameplay mechanics are like... Ice levels on crack. They are daaaamn slippery it's like every surface mario walks on is made on ice. Also this makes mario 64's slopes the worst. If you are on a slope, you are dead. Because slope's momentum is so strong that mario's jump isn't enough to recover yourself, no it's actually makes your painful mistake intensify and send you faster to your death and I hate it.
Another thing I hate is moving platforms don't add to your jump speed compared to the 2d titles. So if you are on a platform and decided to jump, say bye bye because platform pasts mario underneath while you are on the air and it's too late to realize you need to move now. Because mario's movement in the air just sucks.
Yeah mario's movement in the air suddenly becomes rigid as heck. You can only move forward or backwards for a little bit. That's it. Again compared to the 2d mario's, his air movement just suck ass.
Also who decided to put mario a u-turning animation??? WHOOOOOOOOOO!!???
I CAN'T COUNT HOW MANY TIMES I FALL TO MY DEATH BECAUSE GARBAGE MARIO DECIDED TO NOT TURN INSTANTLY BUT DO A U-TURN ON A SMALL PLATFORM
Yeah I hate the movement and think every mario 3d sequel is superior to this game on movement mechanics. But at least level design is good so that makes this game not a bad game I guess
Now, to give credit where credit is due level design is really good. Not just good also it's consistent. The most consistent 3d mario even(didn't play odyssey). There is gimmick sections like slides or bowser's linear sections but they are rare compared to the other mario games gimmicky sections.
Level design is good because almost every level designed to be find lots of discoveries in every part of the level. Also choose your own level idea supports it's freedom to it's fullest. You only need to get some number of stars to get to the next section. You don't have to collect everything and I respect this decision a lot. Because the option of skipping a level if I don't like it is nice, because some levels are just not fun.
But gameplay mechanics are like... Ice levels on crack. They are daaaamn slippery it's like every surface mario walks on is made on ice. Also this makes mario 64's slopes the worst. If you are on a slope, you are dead. Because slope's momentum is so strong that mario's jump isn't enough to recover yourself, no it's actually makes your painful mistake intensify and send you faster to your death and I hate it.
Another thing I hate is moving platforms don't add to your jump speed compared to the 2d titles. So if you are on a platform and decided to jump, say bye bye because platform pasts mario underneath while you are on the air and it's too late to realize you need to move now. Because mario's movement in the air just sucks.
Yeah mario's movement in the air suddenly becomes rigid as heck. You can only move forward or backwards for a little bit. That's it. Again compared to the 2d mario's, his air movement just suck ass.
Also who decided to put mario a u-turning animation??? WHOOOOOOOOOO!!???
I CAN'T COUNT HOW MANY TIMES I FALL TO MY DEATH BECAUSE GARBAGE MARIO DECIDED TO NOT TURN INSTANTLY BUT DO A U-TURN ON A SMALL PLATFORM
Yeah I hate the movement and think every mario 3d sequel is superior to this game on movement mechanics. But at least level design is good so that makes this game not a bad game I guess
WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!
liked it a lot more this time than I did on my last playthrough but tiny huge island is still godawful and I probably still prefer most of the other 3d Marios lol
liked it a lot more this time than I did on my last playthrough but tiny huge island is still godawful and I probably still prefer most of the other 3d Marios lol
A timeless classic! While the game has certainly aged, it's still quite fun nonetheless. The retro feel of the gameplay, music and style really holds the game up, even to this day.
There is a reason why it's still an active speed-running scene to this day.
i had fun :)