jack_package_200
Banned
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)