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Speaking of Super Mario 64, how does the game hold up after 18 years?

andymcc

Banned
Mario.jpg






Neither are these shots from n64 hardware, that's not my point. Mario 64 looks pretty plain in comparison, but not bad by any means. BK still looks great for a n64 game, I played it again this June. It suffers somewhat from frame rate here and there, but that's expected.

I'm saying SM64 looks fine by comparison, BK looks over designed, messy and uses drab colors.
 

Shimesaba

Member
It's still the best 3D Mario.

Sunshine's level design is a bit less satisfying and lack of long jump hurts, especially in the "Secret" levels. I also don't like the change in wall jumps (from Sunshine on) where Mario slides down the wall. Having to kick off quickly makes them more satisfying in 64 and breaks momentum less.

Galaxy and Galaxy 2 lacking pounce (or dive, or whatever you want to call it. Run -> B) makes everything feel painfully slow, the midair spin attack hurts the platforming more than it helps anything, and the controls aren't as tight as 64 or Sunshine.

64 is ugly but it plays so well.


BK/BT are fun but for the most part the movement is much less enjoyable. The lack of forward burst movement options (long jump, pounce) slows everything down. Tooie's roll attack makes up for this a little bit.
 

oni-link

Member
It holds up better than almost every other PS1 and N64 game that wasn't turn based

Which is amazing considering it was a launch title. I've tried to replay BK a few times in the last 5 years and it's just too slow and it runs too poorly to keep me motivated to go on

The greatest achievement Mario 64 made was simply controlling Mario was fun, it didn't matter if a level was empty, or if you were stuck, simply moving around the game world was bliss, how they nailed that with their first shot is mind blowing

Compare it to Tomb Raider, another game with great level design. Mario moves in such a simple and elegant way (Just watch someone speed run it)

Turning around in Tomb Raider was like reversing a truck, both are great games, but Mario 64 aged so much better and still holds up to this day
 
The last time I played it was a few years ago, but it held up really well. It would be probably the only remake game I'd be excited about, if they updated the graphics and textures of the Wii U.
 
I can't think of any 3D game from 1996 that aged as well as Super Mario 64.

In 1996 we had... Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Nights into Dream, Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall, Bubsy 3D ( :) ), Wipeout 2097, Tomb Raider. There's no lack of great games released in 1996. If I had to pick the one I feel aged best after Mario 64, or just as much, it would perhaps be Crash Bandicoot and although it's very fun, it's certainly not as engrossing or innovative as Mario.

It's easy to look back on Super Mario 64 now and say: "Oh yeah, it looked very bland" and make remarks on how dated it looks, but when you put it into context to the type of games being released both on PCs and consoles at the time, it was quite an eye opener and it's still one of the most influential games in terms of design ever made.

Super Mario 64 did for 3D action/platform games what the iPhone did for phones.
 

Dimmle

Member
I haven't played it since 2004 but I'm going to guess it's still a joy to play. Good Mario platformers just feel good and I'm not sure you can date that.
 
I just pulled this out to play Boo's level over Halloween weekend and the game holds up extremely well, especially in the controls department. I don't think Mario has ever controlled so tightly or responsively as he did in Mario 64. The game is an absolute blast to play mostly because of the awesome controls and sense of play.

I realized playing it that Mario 64 is still the best simply because it's more fun to play on a very basic level. The game was engineered at such a high level and with such an incredible amount of attention to detail that no Mario since has come close to its level of movement or responsiveness. In short, it's still far and away the ultimate Mario experience. It's got a very mysterious atmosphere with the strictly ambient sounds outside the castle- birds chirping, wind, water flowing. It's brilliant. It took Mario in a very interesting direction. I want to see Nintendo return to this brave direction someday.
 
Pretty good. Played a bunch of the DS remaster on my 3DS a month or so ago. Kinda wish Nintendo would do a quick port with analog controls, texture filtering and 60 frames on the 3DS.

Not just kinda wish, REALLY wish. Day 1 from me if Nintendo remastered if for 3DS.

Frankly, i'm shocked they havent. Guaranteed sales they're missing out on there.
 

Neff

Member
It's timeless. Any game that was ever as good as Super Mario 64 was will always be good.

I've been playing 3D World a lot lately, and it's the closest I think a game has ever come to feeling the same as 64.

I agree. Maybe it's the fact that we're back in a fully 3D Mushroom Kingdom, or maybe it's the fact that the long jump is good again, or maybe it's the way multiple stars are hidden in every stage, or the blatant Slider levels, but there's something tangibly 64-esque about 3D World.

As good as the Galaxy games are, and as logical a sequel to 64 (and arguably more effective than Sunshine) as they were, 3D World fleetingly brings home that feeling of playing on a N64 in 1996, even if it can't quite match it.

Pretty good. Played a bunch of the DS remaster on my 3DS a month or so ago. Kinda wish Nintendo would do a quick port with analog controls, texture filtering and 60 frames on the 3DS.

3DS or (preferably) Wii U. Either way, I'm good. It's something I need in my life.
 
Ouch. Zelda 1 is borderline unplayable these days, whereas I'm confident that most players could happily dethrone King Bob-bomb and have a decent time.


I think there are plenty of challenging platform moments, such as the early lava levels, or the later areas with the clocks.

They definitely missed the mark with the non-platforming sections, and any sense of spectacle has been greatly diminished over time. This non-platforming stuff was much of the reason that Mario Sunshine is such an awful Mario game.

I agree with that, 64 is no where near as obtuse as Zelda 1 is. SM64 is definitely the better experience, and unlike Zelda 1 I'd actually recommend SM64 to people who actually wanna get into 3D Mario. lol

Also, yeah there are definitely some interesting platforming challenges sprinkled through the main courses (Like the mission where Mario has to go inside the volcano or the one in the pyramid) but they are so far and few between that it leaves me wanting so much more.
On the subject of the non-platforming challenges, I agree about the sense of spectacle being lost over time. The Eel is a great example, I'm sure it was impressive looking back in the day but once you get passed that it's pretty elementary from a design perspective; the same goes for the "Blast Away the Wall" mission in "Womp's Fortress" (That mission almost feels like padding.)

I still love The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario 64 and will play them to this day with unbridled joy. For me, mechanics are king. I think it's why I love Destiny so much, and your review here reminds me of the reviews for Destiny.

I haven't paid any sort of attention to Destiny (so I'm not sure how my analysis is like any of the reviews), but the mechanics and level design in the post-Sunshine 3D Mario games completely obliterates SM64 as a full gameplay experience.

Nothing in 64 comes close to Bouy Base Galaxy or Melty Monster Galaxy from a platforming/design perspective. Forget all of the aesthetic stuff which 64 can't compete with; I don't care about that right now, so don't think it's coloring my perspective. The level mechanics, obstacle design, power-up/item design, and level pacing within the post-Sunshine 3D Mario games completely stomps anything I've experienced in 64. EAD has learned a lot since then, and it shows.

Good player mechanics (Jumping, running, etc.) can only take a platforming game so far; things like level design are equally as important to the gameplay experience, and SM64 seems to forget this a lot of the time.
 

Nose Master

Member
I rented the import version from a local place when I was pretty young, so it'll always have a special place in my heart.

Objectively, though? Eh. There are some awesome mechanics that are now utilized by speedrunners (first frame wall jumps and the like) which give it some points. A lot of the levels are kind of drab, though. It's also ridiculously easy.
 
Wow. 3D World is that good? Do you have New Super Mario Bros? I've been considering trading it in toward 3D World since, while the first world is fun, I'm not liking the platforming (which is odd since I loved Super Mario World back in the day).

It is that good for me. I absolutely love this game. I also like NSMB, but the platforming in 3D World is so good. It's really a blast if you can find someone else to play with, too. Multiplayer is awesome.

I agree. Maybe it's the fact that we're back in a fully 3D Mushroom Kingdom, or maybe it's the fact that the long jump is good again, or maybe it's the way multiple stars are hidden in every stage, or the blatant Slider levels, but there's something tangibly 64-esque about 3D World.

As good as the Galaxy games are, and as logical a sequel to 64 (and arguably more effective than Sunshine) as they were, 3D World fleetingly brings home that feeling of playing on a N64 in 1996, even if it can't quite match it.

I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I recognize the Galaxy games as really good titles, but they never grabbed me the way 3D World has. No game has since 64 and I love that Nintendo managed to reproduce some of the old magic.
 
The gameplay is timeless, it's still amazing today. I always play a bit of it every now and then for that fix only this game can provide. Graphics are dated sure, but that's to be expected for an almost 2 decade old game.
 

Willing

Neo Member
The game still is pretty great in my book. After five pages of posts I don't have any new points to add, but let me reinforce the fact that the movement of Mario plays an extremely large role in the fantastic feeling this game gives the player. It is such a joy to navigate through Peach's castle and the different courses.

In February I did a 100% of SM64DS, just last week I was playing the original in a friendly (and far from pro -- we don't know any of the glitches) speedrun competition with a friend and now I'm actually playing through the DS version again.

As far as the N64 vs DS version goes, I am actually a big fan of the DS rendition. The extra stars are cool and the models look better (the coins are actually 3D now). I have mixed feelings about the different characters though, I appreciate the diversity they bring in but I don't like having to walk back through the castle to switch between them. The caps that are found inside courses help a little, but there are situations where you are required to be a character and where wearing a cap won't do. This character switching works against the feeling of freedom, since you are not able to gain stars in the order that you might want without switching.

I've never had problems controlling the DS version, not on the original DS and not on the 3DS XL I play the game on nowadays. Movement in 8 directions has always been fine for me in the Mario 64 universe. I actually tend to fall off edges more often in the Nintendo 64 original.

I would love a 3DS or Wii U remake. But yeah, bottomline, still a great game to play after 18 years. And you can fly through the thing pretty fast if you've played it before, which is a lot of fun I think.
 
Not very well. The camera is among the worst in 3D platforming history and the levels are completely barren, devoid of challenging platforming and filled with mundane objectives. Play Banjo Kazooie instead.

This is plain wrong, and you chose to namedrop the game that has much weaker platforming:

IA lot of the platforming challenge from Banjo imo stems from the endurance of having to suss out where the notes are, then acquiring them all without dying. The actual platforming itself is usually very simple. Compare how static most of the jumps are in Click Clock Wood to Tick Tock Clock. TTC features a lot of moving parts and obstacles designed to keep Mario from just moving straight and lining up leaps. In Banjo the climb up CCW is still dexterious and perilous but you can stop and line up every jump since theyre all "static" and its main non-jump obstacle is remembering to tap attack during some jumps to clear out bird enemies.

I guess to sum up imo Mario has the more difficult platforming because even though 64 isnt as platforming dense as later entries, when they do challenge you with its with specifically designed tricky jumps and obstacles meant to challenge your skillset directly. In Banjo the platforming is usually very simple in design but the challenge stems from metachallenge of gathering all of the notes without dying or else you have to start over again. I prefer the more direct challenge of 64.

If you look at Banjo Kazooie and Sunshine (in the main stages) you'll notice one peculiar thing: an almost complete lack of traditional platforming obstacles.

Rotating platforms. Spinning blocks. Sinking stands. Ground that slips away and falls beneath your fit. From what I remember of Banjo, it has almost none of this. Sunshine has a bit more, but it's few and far between, and it rarely places a series of them deliberately between you and your objective.

The (top part) of the Pianta village level is pure Banjo. A flat, square grid with a bunch of hills placed haphazardly around the map. No platforming obstacles . Certainly nothing resembling a path you have to take. Gelato beach is the same thing. It's as if Rare and then EAD decided to make a bunch of hub levels as the main levels.

Mario 64 on the other hand is an extremely clever little bastard. Many of the levels are spirals with strong vertical elements. A hilltop. A fortress. A snowy mountain. A tall tall mountain. A clock. It takes a star, and it puts it at the top, or sometimes at the bottom of the level. You've got to work to get it. You have to pass the traditional obstacles the designers purposefully put in front of you on an obvious path. Off the beaten path are opportunities for exploration and hence your other stars.

But, that's only half the story. The tight spiraling structure of a Whomp's Fortress or Tick Tock Clock means endless opportunities for creative platforming. And Mario's mechanics allow you to take full advantage of them.

Mario 64 never forgot it was a platformer. Maneuvering up and down Whomp's Fortress, with its vertical structure and obstacles and enemies which are all trying to kill you, is a lot more interesting to me than meandering around Gelato Beach with its static trees and static beach houses and static mountain path. I still think Mario 64 is the only game to get open 3D platforming stage design correct.

---

Mario 64, of course, holds up extremely well today due to the level design and flawless execution of controls and physics in the platforming context. The way you can naturally string together dozens of combinations of moves still stands out today and never feels awkward or stilted, or like the game is "pushing" you along. Like someone posted earlier in the thread there's no nonsense in how the collision detection works, it's down to your mastery of the controls and physics.

I am still disappointed whenever I see debates about the DS version ignore the fact that that version messed with the game's level designs and challenge and expected less from its players.
 

FRS1987

Member
Great game but it's age really shows in controls, graphics and camera. If it was ever remade with all of these fixed it would be really up there. The levels were always fun.
 

King_Moc

Banned
The camera could be better and it's 30fps, but the game mostly holds up. Prioritising gameplay leads to timeless games.
 

cacildo

Member
Best game ever. Needs to be released again in HD and with more content (maybe the content from the DS version - ive never played this one because of the controls)
 
Agreed that there needs to be a faithful remake, and if it ever does happen I hope it's handled in-house. I'm more amazed tha

Best game ever. Needs to be released again in HD and with more content (maybe the content from the DS version - ive never played this one because of the controls)

Wouldn't mind seeing the DS content but it should be handled like Star Fox 64 3D or OoT 3D with a "classic" mode and a "Switch" mode. Wasn't a huge fan of the changes made to the levels in 64 DS, and the new characters messed with the way they were balanced around Mario's moveset:

Forget considering either version based on extra content, or controls, those are only skin-deep comparisons. It goes further than that.

The DS version messed with the level designs to accommodate the ill-suited controls (some platforms were made larger for example) but everything else added either did nothing for the game or took away from it. For example, the extra characters mess with the carefully designed level structures - one platform in Snowman's land once required Mario to bounce off an enemy and twirl gracefully towards it, now it can easily be circumvented using Luigi. Likewise a lot of the challenge was dumbed down, perhaps patronisingly so. Balloon power-ups were placed in locations where Mario once had to deftly wall jump, among other changes. Basically, the DS version asked less from its players, in a game that's totally about experimentation and mastery of the controls.

And the overall aesthetic of Mario 64 DS lacks the charm of the original. Mario 64 had textures that were designed to be blurred, and DS lacks texture filtering. The new textures change the look of the game a tad too much in some areas. Likewise its character models are a product of a time when Nintendo was finding its feet with 3D rendering and design.

Mario 64 DS is still a great game. But it's just such an awkward adaptation, back when Nintendo was probably unsure of what the DS was actually for.

tl;dr: You should play the N64 original. The DS version fundamentally waters down the level designs and expects less from you, the player.
 

Duffk1ng

Member
If you played it when it came out or around then and have nostalgia, pretty damn well probably. If you didn't and don't you probably won't like it very much. It's basically the foundation that every other 3D platformer has built and iterated upon over time, but I never played it when it came out and when I eventually played it on emulator I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I'm glad I played it, but I have no desire to ever play it again.
 
The game holds up marvelously, but some aspects of it haven't aged as well IMO(like having to restart stages)

Coincidentally enough I just ordered the rumble pak version of the game(Japanese) this weekend. Planning to replay the game in October once it arrives.
 

hotcyder

Member
This thread is bumpin'

This is plain wrong, and you chose to namedrop the game that has much weaker platforming:

Mario 64, of course, holds up extremely well today due to the level design and flawless execution of controls and physics in the platforming context. The way you can naturally string together dozens of combinations of moves still stands out today and never feels awkward or stilted, or like the game is "pushing" you along. Like someone posted earlier in the thread there's no nonsense in how the collision detection works, it's down to your mastery of the controls and physics.

I am still disappointed whenever I see debates about the DS version ignore the fact that that version messed with the game's level designs and challenge and expected less from its players.

I've been replaying Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie for a potential video where I compare the two - and yeah, this totally knocks the nail on the head.

Just by the inclusion of a wall-kick, SM64 has given players an allowance not to follow the prescribed path - that platforms aren't just a "platform" that paths are drawn across but they can be interacted with on a more physical level.

The thing that gets me is just how much allowance there is for players to solve objectives however they want. The caged star in Thwomps Fortress?

You can ride the owl over to drop in
You can use a cannon to shoot yourself in
You can perform a series of tricky jumps to land in

and this kind of lateral thinking applies to pretty much every objective. If you're willing to be risky, you can achieve a lot with a mario's small set of inputs.

The reason I think people Banjo-Kazooie more fondly was just in how many abilities they gave you - walking up slopes, flying, high jumping, turning into different characters with different physics.

The problem is that they're all incredibly shallow - at most you'll only use these abilities to just grab items out of reach, or to active switches or engage in simple mini-games (that could have been designed to be completed by your core characters).

DK64 is the worse offender of this though. 5 characters with different weapons, instruments and abilities, but all rare ask you to do with them is push buttons.

Super Mario 64 totally holds up, BK does not.
 
The game holds up marvelously, but some aspects of it haven't aged as well IMO(like having to restart stages)

Coincidentally enough I just ordered the rumble pak version of the game(Japanese) this weekend. Planning to replay the game in October once it arrives.

I was thinking of stage restarting too but the levels were built with this in mind.

Think of how Cool, Cool, Mountain has several routes down the hill. Think about how Dire Dire Docks basically is a one-way-route through to the treasure caves. Think about how the levels change depending on which star you pick. Think about how Tick Tock Clock changes depending on what the second hand is showing when you enter.
 

Galang

Banned
Such glowing reviews. Maybe I need to try this game again. Absolutely absolutely hated it when I was younger, but love SMG 1, 2 and 3D World on the other hand. Maybe I'll approach it differently now
 

hotcyder

Member
I was thinking of stage restarting too but the levels were built with this in mind.

Think of how Cool, Cool, Mountain has several routes down the hill. Think about how Dire Dire Docks basically is a one-way-route through to the treasure caves. Think about how the levels change depending on which star you pick. Think about how Tick Tock Clock changes depending on what the second hand is showing when you enter.

This is absolutely the case - they could rework levels to better fit objectives.

Sunshine sort of doubled down on this more by having objectives and levels be more linked (such as the Haunted Hotel level, or how the Dockyard becomes more built up every time you visit). Galaxy is like the most extreme case of this - where objectives and levels have become a single entity, much like the older 2D games.
 
This is absolutely the case - they could rework levels to better fit objectives.

Sunshine sort of doubled down on this more by having objectives and levels be more linked (such as the Haunted Hotel level, or how the Dockyard becomes more built up every time you visit). Galaxy is like the most extreme case of this - where objectives and levels have become a single entity, much like the older 2D games.

They definitely seem to be doing this with Odyssey which is rather interesting, since you'll definitely know which parts of a level have changed and which ones haven't, whereas it was less obvious in 64.

I like that you mention Sunshine - that game's camera flyover at the start of each Shine serves as a hint about what may have changed since last time or what you should focus on.
 

Joey Ravn

Banned
pannenkoek2012 (aka the "half-pressed A button guy") continues to publish a few videos every couple weeks detailing new strategies to get faster times in specific sections of the game.

I have to say, I have never seen a game as thoroughly explored and dissected as Super Mario 64.
 

compo

Banned
I've owned this game since christmas 1997, but I never got past the first few worlds until last summer, when I finally beat it at 120 stars on the Wii U.

I don't know why the game never really appealed to me in my childhood enough to beat it. I think it was the fact that you had to replay levels multiple times, which didn't really suit my short attention span.

But I enjoyed my play through last summer, and I would say the game still holds up. The fact that this game has reached legendary status in the nostalgia factor helped redeem it in a few categories. For example, the graphics obviously don't hold up anymore, but nostalgia redeems them. The sound effects and music are not really bad, I wouldn't say they're amazing either, but the nostalgia factor makes them legendary at this point. The movement controls are pretty spot on, even by today's standards.

There were a few cons. The camera controls are irredeemably shit, and I'm still not really a fan of the whole replay the same level multiple times thing. But overall, I enjoyed the game in 2016, and would say it still holds up.
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
I'm going with BotW personally, but still phenomenal.

My problem with BotW as the best launch title is that it didn't appeal to everyone. Mario 64 was playable by just about anyone who likes video games. BotW is a very specific game that, while incredible, is inaccessible to more casual gamers.

As for SM64, it still remains my favorite video game of all time. It's just SO good and makes me smile every time I play it.
 
Great game but it's age really shows in controls, graphics and camera. If it was ever remade with all of these fixed it would be really up there. The levels were always fun.

how wrong can you be? galaxy games and 3D world stripped away any control you had in a 3D mario.
 

tkscz

Member
MonsterReborn-YGLD-EN-C-1E-C.png


This is quite the necro-bump

OT: The game as aged well. Camera was really the only issue, but it was an issue even back then.

Great game but it's age really shows in controls, graphics and camera. If it was ever remade with all of these fixed it would be really up there. The levels were always fun.

Controls never age. They were either never good, or you've gotten use to a different control scheme.
 

hotcyder

Member
They definitely seem to be doing this with Odyssey which is rather interesting, since you'll definitely know which parts of a level have changed and which ones haven't, whereas it was less obvious in 64.

I'm sort of a little apprehensive about Odyssey - but the way I'm thinking is the fact that EAD are going at it after having done nearly 10 years of Galaxy style Mario games, where they've figured out how to do both interesting objectives and classic obstacle course design.

Hopefully they can apply that kind of focused sensibility to objectives.

From what I've seen so far - they've kind of gone with levels themselves being hubs towards more linear platforming, with some scavenger hunt design between. As a kind of compromise between both, that's absolutely fine by me.

Still, interesting that Nintendo and (ex)Rare(developers) would decide to return to this style of games around the same time - and how Nintendo have seemed to understand what made the original work where Playtonic really had no idea.

how wrong can you be? galaxy games and 3D world stripped away any control you had in a 3D mario.

You're joking right? Every 3D Mario game has pretty much the same inputs they established in 64 - you can wall kick, long jump and climb trees. Only thing they rolled back in 3D land was the triple jump - which was fine as I can't think of many challenges in the original that asked you to use that ability - it was just there for funsies. Analogue movement is a staple of Galaxy - and the 3D land games managed to apply that sensibility to Mario's tradition d-pad and run button movement.
 

Angry Fork

Member
95% of games from back then don't age well but somehow SM64 is still great and still the best 3D mario and it's not even close. The level of control, freedom and variance in the levels hasn't been repeated. Galaxy series was boring as fuck in comparison.
 
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