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[Emarv]

Hey, Gaf.

I was talking with a friend recently about how neat the Super Mario 64 hub world was as a successor to the classic level screen but also giving the player something to explore and experiment with the player mechanics.

Note that to me this concept feels different than an "open world" but still may have mysteries or shortcuts but generally just gives you a place to explore between levels.

The only one I could think of was Diddy Kong Racing on N64.

Are there more cool examples of this type of explorable hub world?

 

[Erekiddo]

Banjo Kazooie did this. I loved the dynamic music change throughout.

Demon's Souls and Bloodborne to a lesser extent.

 

[Attleborotaco]

Banjo Kazooie
Banjo Tooie
Donkey Kong 64

 

[TheDeadHeroAlistair]

Sonic Adventure did it as well.

 

[ZiZ]

Donkey Kong 64

Didn't Conker's Bad Fur Day have something similar?

 

[facelike]

Didnt Spyro the Dragon have this also?

 

[DarknessTear]

Demon's Souls! The Nexus is definitely a hub world like SM64.

 

[Heroman]

Sonic 06 had one.

 

[WeWereGiants]

Gex had this, you jumped into tv's to enter the world of movies and shows

 

[Ganondorfo]

Medievil had that also

 

[KJRS_1993]

Rocket: Robot on Wheels kinda did. Not quite as good as the Castle though!

 

[finalflame]

Bloodborne.

 

[Noobcraft]

Bloodborne.

The Hunter's Dream is a pretty basic hub world compared to the examples in the OP though.

 

[tearsofash]

No More Heroes

 

[FistOfSyn]

Mario sunshine and mario galaxy 1 ?

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Monster Hunter?

 

[RoyalFool]

Phantasy Star Online had the space station (Pioneer 2)

 

[Mountainmohawk]

Vexx had one iirc.

 

[PetrCobra]

Beyond Good And Evil if I remember that game well (it's been too long)

 

[TDonk]

Rayman Legends

 

[Simbabbad]

If I remember correctly, Rocket: Robot on Wheels (aka the N64's best platformer) had one.

 

[WX3]

I think Majula (from Dark Souls II) would fit with its branching outward paths and a limited amount of exploration in the area itself. I consider it the hub since you need to return here to level up etc. What do you guys think of that?

 

[KnockOneOff]

Sonic adventure!!! Removing that is what I felt fucked sonic adventure 2 etc

 

[Goro Majima]

I remember Wolfenstein 2009 having a hub world if that's the kind of thing you're talking about.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Monster World IV

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

Guacamelee! Its fantastico

 

[Mysterious]

Delfino Plaza.

 

[Dion Blaster]

I'm playing Sly for the first time and I like that the first "mission" had its own hub connected to 6 levels. I hope every mission is like that. Not as explorable as peach's castle though.

 

[2+2=5]

Hubs are a lot older than mario 64...
Addams Family for example

Edit:
James pond 2 codename robocod

chakan the forever man

and i'm sure others.

 

[Arcana Wiz]

Crash Team racing had hub worlds, but much more simple.

All spyro PSX have hub worlds too, being collect a ton games, it would have a lot of little secrets and pathways, and one or two secret gates per world.

 

[FistOfSyn]

paper mario games also have great hub worlds with a ton of stuff to explore in them.. especially paper mario 1 and TTYD.

 

[Later Alligator]

demons souls

 

[Nosgotham]

Glover has a hub world if I recall

 

[Arc Christelle]

.

 

[evilromero]

I love Diddy Kong's hub world. It's so much more Intersting than the one in DK64. I hope we get a real sequel that takes place in the same place but with vastly updated visuals and you can get out of your car to climb trees, etc.

 

[evilromero]

OP looking for hubs similar to Mario 64. Not what came first.

Banjo 1
DK64
Glover
Galaxy 1

 

[TheMoon]

Rayman Legends

WTF? lol