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[jack_package_200]

Despite being someone who grew up with a N64 instead of a Playstation, I didn't have this game as a kid. My family got the Diddy Kong Racing bundle for my brother for christmas one year. I didn't end up playing this until I bought it from Game Crazy when I was 10 maybe 6 months prior to the release of the Nintendo Gamecube. I dug it then and still dig it now.

In preparation for Sonic Mania, I decided to get weird and replay Super Mario 64 on the Wii Virtual Console. SM64 still has that magical feel to it. The music and the worlds and the various boss fights fill me with nostalgic joy.

I adore all of the movement tech in this game. The long jump is such a fun technique to use to boost my movement speed. Wall jumping is fun but a bit underused.

Today I decided to attempt a Any% speedrun and finished the game at about 5.5 hours.

Where the game does not feel magical is the fucking camera constantly bugging out during tougher sections that required precision. The swimming controls (like most games) are awful and I think the game has too many levels/missions focused on swimming which is a bit of a chore to play through.

Here is what I would rank all of the worlds from best to worst

Whomp's Fortress
Bomb-Omb Battlefield
Lethal Lava Land
Big Boo's Haunt
Tall, Tall Mountain
Tick Tock Clock
Cool, Cool Mountain
Hazy Maze Cave
Shifting Sand Land
Wet Dry World
Snowman's Land
Tiny Huge Island
Jolly Roger Bay
Dire Dire Docks
Rainbow Ride (Fuck this level)

 

[hydrophilic attack]

level design in this game is so boring, it's mostly about exploration, but in terms of platforming challenges, it's just really dire

it's my least favourite mario

i have more fun with super mario run

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

Played this co-op recently and had a blast.

 

[1upsuper]

The mechanics are so good that it's still my go-to game to just chill and play every now and then. I know every inch in and out and it's just so much fun to play twenty years later.

 

[Mejilan]

Well done!

It's not close to my favorite Mario, 2D or 3D, and it wasn't even when it first came out. A revelation, in some respects, but still more unrealized potential than manufactured refinement.
That said, I 120'ed a few times on the N64 over the years, and then 150'ed it on DS a decade or so ago. No regrets. None at all.

I'm not that displeased that Super Mario Odyssey appears to be channeling some things that are quintessentially SM64 in spirit. I GREATLY prefer the later 3D games over SM64. Especially the pair of Galaxy duology. But there are things from SM64 that those later titles left behind that are worth revisiting in more modern dressing.

 

[SkyTurnsRed]

God, I remember getting this game. I was 8 at the time. This was my first 3D game ever and my mind was utterly fucking warped at what I was seeing. I have so much nostalgia tied up in this game. I haven't replayed it in years, and I am frankly nervous to because I don't want to ruin that perfect image of it that I have in my head.

 

[theWB27]

Experiencing this as a youngin was amazing. One of those defining moments in gaming for me.

 

[jack_package_200]

God, I remember getting this game. I was 8 at the time. This was my first 3D game ever and my mind was utterly fucking warped at what I was seeing. I have so much nostalgia tied up in this game. I haven't replayed it in years, and I am frankly nervous to because I don't want to ruin that perfect image of it that I have in my head.

As far as a launch N64 game goes, it holds up pretty well.

It shows its age but it still very enjoyable.

 

[MulderYuffie]

It was my 4th birthday about a week after the N64 came out and i got this and the N64 on that great day will never forget.

 

[Enzo88]

level design in this game is so boring, it's mostly about exploration, but in terms of platforming challenges, it's just really dire

it's my least favourite mario

i have more fun with super mario run

Worst first post in Gaf`s history?

 

[HIUHAU]

Played this co-op recently and had a blast.

Wait, what? How? I want it.

 

[butman]

level design in this game is so boring, it's mostly about exploration, but in terms of platforming challenges, it's just really dire

it's my least favourite mario

i have more fun with super mario run

how old are you? 10?

 

[hydrophilic attack]

how old are you? 10?

29 so basically a dinosaur

 

[danm999]

Huge leap forward for 3D gaming and for me in games personally and from what I remember controlled great.

Cons were the camera and I found the exploration lacking sometimes. Think Banjo did a better job on that front.

 

[mrkgoo]

My favourite 3D mario, because it had a sense of exploration and puzzle solving. the actual game design was genius at the time, like the way you had challenges in each world, the set ones like red coins and 100 coins etc.

Sure it has aged, but i loved it so much.

Sunshine was the last of that kind of gameplay, and I'm hoping odyssey is more like that than the galaxy games.

 

[jack_package_200]

My favourite 3D mario, because it had a sense of exploration and puzzle solving. the actual game design was genius at the time, like the way you had challenges in each world, the set ones like red coins and 100 coins etc.

Sure it has aged, but i loved it so much.

Sunshine was the last of that kind of gameplay, and I'm hoping odyssey is more like that than the galaxy games.

Sunshine would have blown 64 out of the water if it weren't for the blue coins and requiring all of the Shadow Mario stages in each world be completed before advancing to the final area.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Not my favorite Mario but I still enjoy it and think it holds up better than most N64 games.

 

[VendettaRed07]

First 3D platformer somehow still has the best controls and physics till this day

Fuckin blows my mind

 

[added_time]

it's my least favourite mario

i have more fun with super mario run

Oh god. Please be satire.

 

[Undead Fantasy]

By far my favorite 3D Mario game.

Sunshine was good but it didn't reach 64 greatness and both Galaxies are boring to me.

Thank god for Odyssey!

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Oh god. Please be satire.

I'm just an old fart who prefer 2D-era platforming game design to SM64 style 3D-era platforming game design.

Plus Banjo & Kazooie did the 3D platforming collectathon thing much better, anyway

 

[Madame M]

Worst first post in Gaf`s history?

Seconded

 

[Dr. Carroll]

level design in this game is so boring, it's mostly about exploration, but in terms of platforming challenges, it's just really dire

Mario 64 is not specifically about platforming. It is about completing objectives in an open/sandbox-style world. Its particular design philosophy directly inspired GoldenEye, which is not specifically about shooting people.

Does Mario 64 feature platforming? Yes it does.
Does GoldenEye feature shooting? Yes it does.

But platforming/shooting is merely one of several means of engaging with the game world in order to accomplish the objectives presented to you. The game isn't trying to challenge you with platforming and part of the reason for this is Nintendo discovered that platforming in 3D space has depth perception issues. They partially solved them with Mario's blob shadow, but precision platforming in 3D wasn't mechanically tight and reliable enough to allow the game to be built around platforming. Just think about how many people struggled to butt stomp on the log holding the Chain Chomp in place in the first level.

The reason this is particularly interesting in Mario 64's case is you have things like people completing the game by only pressing the jump button once. The act of jumping -- the core mechanic of the "platforming" genre is fairly low on the list of "things that actually matter" in Mario 64.

It comes down to a matter of taste. Mario 64 really isn't a "platformer" in that traditional sense, anymore than Donkey Kong 64 was. One of the N64's greatest legacies was taking established genres and either pissing on them or forcibly hybridizing them with another genre.

 

[prag16]

When I was around 12 I played this on a KB Toys kiosk for about 5 minutes (holding the analog stick wrong no less, pincer grip) and it absolutely melted my face off. This was the most blown away I've ever been by any game, to this day.

Oddly enough, when I finally got an N64, I got Shadows of the Empire with it. And then Mario Kart 64. And then Goldeneye. And THEN finally Mario 64. Can't remember why it took me so long to get the best game on the system.

The N64 didn't have a huge library. But the aforementioned games plus the AKI wrestling games plus maybe Rogue Squadron and Conker alone made the console MORE than worth owning.

 

[pixelation]

I am just now starting to play this game since it has that "legendary" status. But i just don't see it... i guess if people grew up with it they're able to appreciate it best. I personally grew up with Jak and Daxter TPL and i consider that the best platformer ever made, but then again its possible that people who didn't grow up with J&D might not see all the fuzz about it either.