Balder
Supreme Overlord
Trying to cut down the amount of movies I watch
Posts: 6,827 
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Post by Balder on May 26, 2020 9:34:22 GMT
This week: Super Mario 64 Year: 1996 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platforms: N64 Chosen by: PimpjiraNext: MeleeMaestro 2x, stratogustav, Balder |
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Post by ModeratorNumber2 on May 26, 2020 9:38:34 GMT
Kind of weird we never discussed this one.
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Bogard
Night Raider
Posts: 584
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Post by Bogard on May 26, 2020 9:44:17 GMT
One of the greatest games ever made. Although my least favourite out of the main 3D Mario games because i'm burnt out on it, Mario 64 did for 3D platformers what the original Super Mario Bros did for 2D platformers.
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scipioafricanus
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Sega Does What Nintendon't... except the 32X
Posts: 3,571
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Post by scipioafricanus on May 26, 2020 10:05:16 GMT
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Pimpjira
Guardian Force Shooter
Posts: 1,102
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Post by Pimpjira on May 26, 2020 22:51:33 GMT
I'll have more to say on it later but first time playing SM64 for me was about like this.  |
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stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
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Post by stratogustav on May 27, 2020 8:40:28 GMT
PC people play the remaster, and yes it looks great, but honestly the original is a 10 out of 10.
I agree about the whole mind blowing thing. I actually saw it a tech convention my family participated before I played it, and my mind as kid was blown away.
I still remember that feeling of playing it at the booth, and beating the first boss. Collecting a star for the first time is a feeling so unique, and incredible, nothing has come close to that after.
Except for Resident Evil VII VR, but keep in mind it was only because I was coming from Samsung VR, and it was a complete different experience, I feel bad for the people wearing glasses that couldn't get the same experience.
Hopefully field of view will improve in VR so people with glasses can enjoy it too.
Now that I mention that, it reminds me that Odyssey has a VR mode. I need to get myself a Labo kit just for the heck of experiencing that. Although I already know it is not the same as a high end VR like HTC or a Valve, but I can say no to that.
Back to topic, again, 10 out of 10, I can't stress that enough, it changed the way we see and understand games forever just like the first Super Mario did.
You have to realize before Super Mario Bros. 1 there were side scrolling games, but they didn't full convey that experience, the adventure, and the visual refinement.
Well, the same happened, 3D gaming existed, but it wasn't fully fleshed out until this title came out, that gave you the proper freedom, with such tight controls, and the amazing use of the thumbstick that was introduced properly for the first time.
This game changed the gaming world forever just like its precessors did, and there was no way back after that. That said, the 2D Marios will always remain as the ultimate Mario experience simply because the limitation of the hardware pushed developers to be extra genius designing the detail in those games, but that doesn't take away the reality that Super Mario 64 is a timeless masterpiece, of the likes no one was been able to defeat it other than Mario himself.
A big reason of this is the character, the personality of Mario, his vibe, there is something special about him as a character, that cannot be surpassed for some weird reason, and I have to applaud Nintendo for being able to capture that essence moving from 2D to 3D, that is not easy at all.
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centipede
CGR Undertow Groupie
It was just one soy latte, I swear!
Posts: 2,697 
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Post by centipede on May 28, 2020 1:49:31 GMT
I was very slow to warm up to SM64 when it first came out. Mainly because I was still a Sega loyalist and the game's camera angles often put me off. Like, I wanted to go in a straight line to line up a jump, then go off track because of it.
Camera angles were a pain from the old ages. I haven't played any recent titles, made in this last ten years, but any game in this style needs to be designed so the player doesn't have to worry about camera angles. New Super Mario World on the Wii U solved this with just a set camera.
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stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
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Post by stratogustav on May 28, 2020 7:52:53 GMT
I was very slow to warm up to SM64 when it first came out. Mainly because I was still a Sega loyalist and the game's camera angles often put me off. Like, I wanted to go in a straight line to line up a jump, then go off track because of it. Camera angles were a pain from the old ages. I haven't played any recent titles, made in this last ten years, but any game in this style needs to be designed so the player doesn't have to worry about camera angles. New Super Mario World on the Wii U solved this with just a set camera. I think that has a lot to do with how people minds work, like for example people that doesn't need inverted controls. In other words your brain cannot work around it, at least not with ease: Well, there are some people that have trouble platforming in 3D environments when the perspective change. You would be surprised how many people found it completely normal at the time, including me. But it isn't surprising that not everyone was able to do it, at least not with ease. Like when I saw this video I thought it was a joke: But nope, there are people that have a legitimate problem walking that path without falling, and need that level of trickery just to do that simple task. There is a reason why that is designed into that game early on, but even then, Nintendo knew not everyone's mind works the same way, so they introduced "Z targeting" in the game, for those that couldn't. So slowly over time developers have been able to incorporate many different things too accommodate the biggest amount of people with all their differences, and I'm not against that, I do believe some people benefit from those things. And even then, I'm pretty sure many new games still fall outside the realm of those people, and won't be able to appreciate them as much. I for example need my inverted controls, and for a while I didn't have them. That's probably why I couldn't get into many shooters after inverted controls were no longer considered normal, which coincidentally started happening in many games after the N64. |
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Cervantes
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
A former Incompetent Evil Commander (XP: 2423)
Posts: 2,820
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Post by Cervantes on May 29, 2020 15:14:56 GMT
It's not my favourite genre, I never got used to the slightly slippery controls or the camera, but damn, Mario 64 is still one of the most impressive games ever made, it simply defined how 3d games should look and play. It might be the single most important game in the history of 3d gaming - Tomb Raider, the other big 3d release that year, was awesome and all, but it didn't really show how 3d games could go head-to-head with 2d ones - it was Mario that convinced everyone that the bigger 2d franchises had to go 3d if they wanted to stay relevant.
A quick anecdote: I remember my father saw the game a few days before me and kept joking that it felt so real that, in the water levels, he was afraid the tv was going to leak, hahaha! Interestingly, when given the chance to buy a console from that generation, he went with the Saturn due to CDs and having more mature games in his perspective (I'm glad, since the Saturn have many more games in the genres that I like). He liked games like Resident Evil, Alien Trilogy and Tomb Raider; at the same time, we hadn't heard much about Sony yet (it was always Sega or Nintendo), so he didn't consider the PS1 a choice. But I don't think he was ever as much impressed by a game than he was by SM64, and the same probably goes for me: the two times that I remember being so amazed by a game were with SM64 and Half-Life 2, and SM64 was just something else, as it was my first experience with a polygonal 3d game. So, even if I don't like SM64 that much nowadays, I still consider it one of the games that impressed me the most.
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Pimpjira
Guardian Force Shooter
Posts: 1,102
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Post by Pimpjira on May 29, 2020 23:18:38 GMT
One of the greatest games ever made. Although my least favourite out of the main 3D Mario games because i'm burnt out on it, Mario 64 did for 3D platformers what the original Super Mario Bros did for 2D platformers. Nice thing about this is that there are good rom hacks of it out there. Star Road and Last Impact are the ones that I have enjoyed. |
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Post by winnersdontusedrugs on May 30, 2020 2:49:06 GMT
Getting this out of the way first since I think this game is a 10/10. My beef with Mario 64, aside from the camera, is how Mario controls. Mario, for the most part, is a very responsive character, but sometimes his behavior is unintuitive in terms of what the player is trying to do. As an example, ever notice how if you're standing still, and you shift the analog stick downwards as if to go back, Mario will usually walk in a half-circle to reorient himself as opposed to just turning around? I can only guess that this was the devs way of giving Mario a sense of weight, as opposed to having him feel too snappy. This kind of control plus the shoddy camera makes it hard to do any precision platforming, which there's hardly any of in SM64, but I think that's to it's detriment. Mario 64 was very forward-thinking in terms of movement abilities, but the system they have set up in this game makes it hard to do basic things sometimes.
Most of the level design in this game doesn't give you the fast-pace platforming challenge of the 2d games. In fact, most of the levels and platforming challenges are quite simplistic. Even in these more mundane sections, SM64 has a way of beckoning players to explore more of the level and find more stars, without having to tell the player directly what to do at all. In this way, the level design is genius.
PC people play the remaster, and yes it looks great, but honestly the original is a 10 out of 10. Mustard race here, I never fuck with those goofy UE4 remakes of Nintendo games. I mean, good on those people who can manage to put together something like that, but I don't think they'll ever compete with the originals. They're still learning about shaders and some of the artistic choices seem like placeholders, so even visually I don't think they hold up. Most people on PC are emulating SM64 and maybe playing some romhacks while they're at it. Nice thing about this is that there are good rom hacks of it out there. Star Road and Last Impact are the ones that I have enjoyed. This. Star Revenge 3.5 also gets a recommend from me. |
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