For some reason the music got attributed more to Dire Dire Docks. Which is weird because that came later.
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
What were your impressions of Mario 64 when it was released?
- Thread starter urfe
- Start date
For some reason the music got attributed more to Dire Dire Docks. Which is weird because that came later.
Little details like the percussion entering the mix depending on if you were in land or in water (or in the tunnel etc) were just amazing.
Because an action platformer is the same thing as a turn based RPG?
FF13 doesn't involve jumping puzzles. Crash and M64 do. A fixed camera in a 3D environment is far better for a platform game than a free roaming camera. Which is still used today for platform games.
Such as Mario 3D Land and World.
BigJonsson
Member
First impression was wow........and then annoyance at the camera lol
Bending_Unit_22
Member
I didn't like Mario 64 when it came out. I wanted an amazing 2D platformer and instead I got a 20 FPS at best 3D game. I know, even though the N64 and PS1 were terrible at 3D it's what gamers wanted. It was a good game, just not what I wanted at the time.
Swinging Bowser by the tail... Simply the best. What a perfect gimmick for a boss fight playing out in polygonal 3D. It takes full advantage of 360 degrees, the Z-axis, etc. It was a fight that played out in true 3D space, delivering on the promise of the N64.
And it was a terrifying encounter -- Bowser never looked more evil or more powerful than when he lumbers onto the scene like the T-Rex out of Jurassic Park, or leaps 10,000 meters into the air after you misjudged a throw and launched him past a bomb. Also, his laugh is bloodcurdling nightmare fuel.
I love Bowser, he's my favorite Mario character, and he's still great, but I kind of miss the edge he had then.
And it was a terrifying encounter -- Bowser never looked more evil or more powerful than when he lumbers onto the scene like the T-Rex out of Jurassic Park, or leaps 10,000 meters into the air after you misjudged a throw and launched him past a bomb. Also, his laugh is bloodcurdling nightmare fuel.
I love Bowser, he's my favorite Mario character, and he's still great, but I kind of miss the edge he had then.
Really.... Crash vs Mario? Back to elementary school! WOHOO!!
Everyone knows M64 shits all over Crash. The freedom, the adventure feel, exploration... etc. Its not only about platforming, its about everything I mentioned. Crash can't even touch that.* A single game changed the way video games were played. Just like that. Boom bam. Its fantastic and timeless. I can still get those 120 stars! It hasn't aged that well, but its a classic.
*I loved Crash and had a blast with it.
Everyone knows M64 shits all over Crash. The freedom, the adventure feel, exploration... etc. Its not only about platforming, its about everything I mentioned. Crash can't even touch that.* A single game changed the way video games were played. Just like that. Boom bam. Its fantastic and timeless. I can still get those 120 stars! It hasn't aged that well, but its a classic.
*I loved Crash and had a blast with it.
astarisborn94
Member
You reminded me of the Nintendo 64. My god I love that system to death.
I remember playing this game all the time as a child. Every time, this game would sink me in for hours upon hours of enjoyment. It was this investment into this game that made it so unforgettable. This is the game that defined my childhood and an experience I will never forget, especially since it was the first game I ever owned. Even after it has shown its age, it is still a fantastic journey down memory lane.
Super Mario 64 has been and will always be my all-time favorite video game.
I remember playing this game all the time as a child. Every time, this game would sink me in for hours upon hours of enjoyment. It was this investment into this game that made it so unforgettable. This is the game that defined my childhood and an experience I will never forget, especially since it was the first game I ever owned. Even after it has shown its age, it is still a fantastic journey down memory lane.
Super Mario 64 has been and will always be my all-time favorite video game.
evilromero
Member
It doesn't matter what the genre is, Mario 64 is one of the greatest games of all time. It defined 3D platformers for many, no matter how much you argue otherwise. Even if today we can't call it a "platformer," who cares? It's brilliantly crafted right down to the precision controls and beautiful worlds. It totally spoiled my experience with games like Crash and Tomb Raider, which just couldn't stack up in my eyes. Mario 64 was the GTA3 of its time- big bold levels to tackle in a variety of ways. It was massively ambitious. Crash seemed more focused, like something that would come between a classic 2D platformer and what we got in Mario 64.
Barrel Cannon
Member
"This game is great but it really needs a tropical setting and a water gun jetpack"
It's not fixed in 3D World, though.
spookyfish
Gold Member
I think that was his point.
Totally hated it, for two reasons:
1) I didn't see how this was any better than a 2D Mario game. I didn't want 2D Mario to be dead, and at that time it sure as hell seemed that way.
2) I had already been playing first person shooters on PC for many years, and the concept of 3rd person 3D seemed completely stupid to me. Why the fuck would you make your character block the view??? It's only until many years later when dual analog because standard that I accepted 3rd person 3D, because full camera control compensated for it.
1) I didn't see how this was any better than a 2D Mario game. I didn't want 2D Mario to be dead, and at that time it sure as hell seemed that way.
2) I had already been playing first person shooters on PC for many years, and the concept of 3rd person 3D seemed completely stupid to me. Why the fuck would you make your character block the view??? It's only until many years later when dual analog because standard that I accepted 3rd person 3D, because full camera control compensated for it.
xplicitone
Member
I loved this game (and console) to death. I remember the first times I saw the N64 with this game in the BX on base and was just in awe at how beautiful and awesome it was. And when I first got it I was forever hooked. As someone who grew up on NES and Super Mario 1-3, this was pretty amazing. It'll always hold a special place in my heart.
evilromero
Member
It's not full control though. You have a limited range of movement.
dcx4610
Member
I was a die hard Nintendo fan thanks to the NES and SNES but I became a PC snob after that and was too busy playing...
When I finally saw Mario 64 in Toys R Us, I was disappointed with the graphics, the camera was horrible and it was hard to get used to the analog joystick after having perfect control with the mouse+keyboard.
Of course I still bought an N64 and enjoyed it for the most part but it was the beginning of the end of my love for Nintendo.
When I finally saw Mario 64 in Toys R Us, I was disappointed with the graphics, the camera was horrible and it was hard to get used to the analog joystick after having perfect control with the mouse+keyboard.
Of course I still bought an N64 and enjoyed it for the most part but it was the beginning of the end of my love for Nintendo.
evilromero
Member
My group was hardcore into Doom and Duke 3D at the time but Mario 64 still blew us all away. The worlds were so big and seamless. The experience was just so smooth and pulled off with finesse. Hell, even with Quake that year there was nothing like Mario 64.
captmcblack
Member
Mario 64 was like the rules of the world at large being re-written.
I'd been playing 3D PC games for a while, so it wasn't specifically the 3D or the perspectives that crushed it for me. It was the sensation of being in total control of this space, of being able to explore Mario's world fully in a way that had never happened before that just took this game to mythical levels.
I spent hours just trying to see how far I could shoot myself from a cannon, or if I could swan dive perfectly onto the tip of a tree. I tried to figure out how high I could scale Whomp's Fortress, and how many tricky jumps I could chain together on those 3D penguin race slides. I marveled at liquid-metal Mario, and went ape-shit again - well after Mario 3 - when the scale of the worlds switched from tiny to HUGE...but in fully-rendered 3D. The controller too was part of the charm; analog control with full freedom of motion? This was like 9D in 1996 coming from regular controllers and arcade sticks and WASD.
I'd been playing 3D PC games for a while, so it wasn't specifically the 3D or the perspectives that crushed it for me. It was the sensation of being in total control of this space, of being able to explore Mario's world fully in a way that had never happened before that just took this game to mythical levels.
I spent hours just trying to see how far I could shoot myself from a cannon, or if I could swan dive perfectly onto the tip of a tree. I tried to figure out how high I could scale Whomp's Fortress, and how many tricky jumps I could chain together on those 3D penguin race slides. I marveled at liquid-metal Mario, and went ape-shit again - well after Mario 3 - when the scale of the worlds switched from tiny to HUGE...but in fully-rendered 3D. The controller too was part of the charm; analog control with full freedom of motion? This was like 9D in 1996 coming from regular controllers and arcade sticks and WASD.
All right, I have held my peace on Crash vs Mario for 15 years (or however long it's been) but enough is enough.
You can't compare the games, they are completely different. One is a fairly revolutionary free roaming adventure performer (with flaws), the other is a pretty basic fixed camera traditional performer with fancier graphics.
They're not comparable in an apples vs apples debate.
You can't compare the games, they are completely different. One is a fairly revolutionary free roaming adventure performer (with flaws), the other is a pretty basic fixed camera traditional performer with fancier graphics.
They're not comparable in an apples vs apples debate.
Mitsurux
Member
Was about 17 at the time that i first saw it at a Toys R Us, display.. trying to drum up pre-orders... needless to say after spending just a few min with it, i got a pre-order slip for a N64 and SM64.
I would make quite a few rips back to TRU to play the demo unit before the system was released...
Despite playing at the store, (with its time limits if i remember right), getting it home to play on my TV was INSANE, the graphics were so awesome, and the game seemed soo big... tons of secrets etc.
No sooner did i get it home did i find my room crowded with friends wanting to get a try at it... fun times and just an amazing game.
I would make quite a few rips back to TRU to play the demo unit before the system was released...
Despite playing at the store, (with its time limits if i remember right), getting it home to play on my TV was INSANE, the graphics were so awesome, and the game seemed soo big... tons of secrets etc.
No sooner did i get it home did i find my room crowded with friends wanting to get a try at it... fun times and just an amazing game.
Muffdraul
Member
Super Mario World was the game that almost single handedly made me a born again gamer (I had lost virtually all interest around the time of the Crash) so I was totally hyped for the next proper Mario game long before Mario 64 was announced. From the time it was announced until the day of the N64 launch was one of my highest hype periods of my entire gaming career. I remember going to Blockbuster about a month before launch and forcing myself not to play the demo kiosk, but I was OK with watching other people play it for a few minutes. When it finally came out and I played it, it surpassed my hype. One of my happiest and most satisfying gaming experiences. I played through it so many times. Too many times. When it came on the Wii VC, it had been years since I last played it. I downloaded it and started playing it again, but I was still totally burned out and could only stomach it for a few levels. I feel like I still know the entire game by heart.