Super Mario 64's historical impact is undeniable, but even more than that is the impact it had on several-year-old me over two decades ago. It felt at the time like a revelation, a sign of the potential of videogames to build immersive environments, living worlds littered with secrets and promise. I'd go on to 100% the game many, many times through my teenage years.
Returning to the game now, over a decade since I last played it, it's unsurprising that Super Mario 64 doesn't hold quite the same sense of wonder that it did when I was young; it has been outdone many times over and so cannot possibly hold that same sense of promise. The potential of the medium has been pushed so much further since its release.
If there's any individual regard in which Super Mario 64 does hold up however it's in the expressiveness of Mario's moveset which puts most 3D platformers of the era to shame, and is deeply enjoyable even now; the moveset is so varied, offers so much flexibility, and often leaves you with multiple solutions to any problem.
Sadly the controls aren't great. This moveset is wonderful for exploring some of the more open areas in the game, but when it comes to treacherous precision platforming they can struggle at times. This isn't aided by the horrendous camera controls which made me deeply thankful for the now-industry-standard of dual analog sticks, so often you end up desperately trying to wrangle the camera angle into any vaguely helpful position only for it to then send you flying into a pit regardless.
All of the above makes me very fond of stages like Bob-omb's Battlefield that act as safe little sandboxes to mess around in, whilst making me tire of the game's near-fetishisation of bottomless pits in the later levels that undo all your progress at a moment's notice. Rainbow Ride and Tick Tock Clock are particularly at fault here, although at least you can skip those levels if you're not interested in 100%ing the game.
Bottomless pits and dreary swimming sections aren't the only problems I have with the level design with going for 120 stars leading to a lot of repeated content, a few different levels making you to take the exact same route at the beginning for 3 or 4 of their stars. That said there are moments of magic that still persist. Controlling how high the starting water level is in Wet-Dry World (incidentally one of my favourite safe-sandboxes in the game) will never stop being cool, no matter how many years pass. There are moments here that have and will continue enduring for a long time.
Returning to the game now, over a decade since I last played it, it's unsurprising that Super Mario 64 doesn't hold quite the same sense of wonder that it did when I was young; it has been outdone many times over and so cannot possibly hold that same sense of promise. The potential of the medium has been pushed so much further since its release.
If there's any individual regard in which Super Mario 64 does hold up however it's in the expressiveness of Mario's moveset which puts most 3D platformers of the era to shame, and is deeply enjoyable even now; the moveset is so varied, offers so much flexibility, and often leaves you with multiple solutions to any problem.
Sadly the controls aren't great. This moveset is wonderful for exploring some of the more open areas in the game, but when it comes to treacherous precision platforming they can struggle at times. This isn't aided by the horrendous camera controls which made me deeply thankful for the now-industry-standard of dual analog sticks, so often you end up desperately trying to wrangle the camera angle into any vaguely helpful position only for it to then send you flying into a pit regardless.
All of the above makes me very fond of stages like Bob-omb's Battlefield that act as safe little sandboxes to mess around in, whilst making me tire of the game's near-fetishisation of bottomless pits in the later levels that undo all your progress at a moment's notice. Rainbow Ride and Tick Tock Clock are particularly at fault here, although at least you can skip those levels if you're not interested in 100%ing the game.
Bottomless pits and dreary swimming sections aren't the only problems I have with the level design with going for 120 stars leading to a lot of repeated content, a few different levels making you to take the exact same route at the beginning for 3 or 4 of their stars. That said there are moments of magic that still persist. Controlling how high the starting water level is in Wet-Dry World (incidentally one of my favourite safe-sandboxes in the game) will never stop being cool, no matter how many years pass. There are moments here that have and will continue enduring for a long time.