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How do you like Super Mario 64...
Best. Game. EVAR. 0 (0%)
It's great, a classic. 6 (37.5%)
It's good, maybe a bit overrated though. 5 (31.3%)
It's just ok, it had a lot of cameral and control problems. 3 (18.8%)
Not that great. 2 (12.5%)
It sucks. HARD. 0 (0%)
Total Votes: 16
How do you like Super Mario 64?; In honor of his re-release on the VC...
Topic Started: Dec 8 2006, 07:59 AM (283 Views)
Runeslash
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109th Star of Destiny
Well, since all you Wii owners can now download SM64 for $10 on the VC, I figured I'd make a poll about this beloved game. What are your feelings on it? Does it stand the test of time? Or did it suck to begin with?

Personally, I fired up the game on my actual N64 recently, and I have to say, it's still pretty good. In a way, it's actually better now that I've had more experience with 3D platforming games.

I voted "It's good, maybe a bit overrated though." I dunno, I think it's a fine game and all, I just never quite understood the world shattering hype it seemed to have. The camera still sucks though. :P

BTW, this is my first poll. Hope you have fun with it! :D

EDIT: As you can see, I misspelled "camera" in the poll, and didn't catch it in time. If there's a way to edit it out, just tell me how and I'll be more than happy to fix it.
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Darkstalker
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~ The QUEEN ~
It was alright, I guess. While I thought it was great for its time, it hasn't aged all that well. So either it wasn't all THAt great to begin with, or I've become harder to please over time. :P

A few control/camera issues, yes, so I voted for that one.
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Deleted User
Deleted User

Fantastic game, pretty much defines classic.

I'm still happy to say I got all 120 stars on my own with no guide and such. :D
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Pervan
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Genetic Failure
I went for "It's just ok," though my real opinion is somewhere between that and the one above it. It did indeed have a ton of camera and control problems, and personally I've never been a huge fan of 3D platformers. I'm not sure whether it's my nostalgic childhood memories of 2D platformers or if 3D platformers just aren't for me. I also blame it for turning platformers into "collecting" games where you have to find a thousand [insert item]s before moving on to the next stage. Sure, Donkey Kong Country had that long before SM64, but it still didn't take it to that degree, and after SM64 came out, it seemed like every platformer went in that direction.
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Renegade
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what
I think it's a classic. Great game all around. I can still play it to this day and age and still have fun. It's one of the few 3D platformers that got it all right... much like Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot.
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Pervan
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Genetic Failure
I love Crash Bandicoot, oddly enough. It's the only 3D platformer I really enjoy. Probably because it plays more like a 2D platformer. The later ones were pretty mediocre, though.
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Renegade
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what
Yeah, 3D platforming died last gen.
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RumourMaker18
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The Transcendent Pig
WHAT?!

*throws Ratchet and Clank 1+2, Jak and Daxter and the Sly series at your face, HARD*

Anyway, it's a really good game. Or it was. It isn't really now, but it was when it came out; it was the first game to really nail 3D (in the sense that for the first time there weren't any mind-numbingly stupid mistakes or issues regarding camera/control that killed the game) and the level design is brilliant, if a bit too... open for my tastes.
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Renegade
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what
Jak and Daxter looked nice but it was not fun. Sorry, I got bored of endless collecting with the N64. Jak 2 & 3 were not any more fun with it's forced 'mature' theme and GTA cloning and difficulty. There is a difference between fair difficulty and "oh if you step on THIS particular tile you die lol!". I don't think I played it for more than a couple of hours with my cousin before we decided to just stop.

I don't see Ratchet & Clank as platformers. You spend a large majority of the game shooting things so it's more of an action game than anything else.

And Sly... well... I didn't think all that much of that series either.
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Deleted User
Deleted User

Yeah, I'm turned off by most 3d platformers. Still, it is a solid game. Not ground-breaking, but good. I may be one of the few people in the world to think that Sunshine is better.
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Killer Kitty
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Wizardry 9
*Agrees with RM*

It was a great game back in the day and it was one of the first games to get 3D right. But I do think that it's since been outclassed by current platformers like the Jak and Rachet series.

Oh and the Crash Bandicoot games for the PSX kicked ass.
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Runeslash
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109th Star of Destiny
Quote:
 
I may be one of the few people in the world to think that Sunshine is better.


I'd be one of them myself if it weren't for one thing... in Sunshine, the game never tells you that the ultimate goal is to defeat Shadow Mario in each of the main stages... which itself is a big change from Mario 64's more open-ended structure. So after a while, if you don't consult a guide, you just start wondering WTF is the point of everything you're doing. Whereas in Mario 64, you always know what your overall objective is AND you get more freedom to pursure it.

That aside though, I thought Sunshine was vastly superior in all other aspects, especially how much better the control was (not to mention how much Fludd helped with jumps and such). They may have screwed the overall objective, but boy did they fix everything else to the nth degree.

Still, I can't overlook a problem as big as the game never telling you your goal though, so Mario 64 gets the very slight nod.

EDIT: Changed "get all the stars in each of the main stages" to "defeat Shadow Mario in each of the main stages" for reasons obvious to anyone who's finished Super Mario Sunshine.
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Kimimi
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Teikokukagekidan: Hanagumi official tea maker :)
I went for "Good, but overrated", although I do also consider it to be a milestone of 3D gaming at the same time. 3D platformers just don't do anything for me, and Mario 64 strayed away from what I enjoyed so much about the older games even if I can quite nail down what that "thing" was.
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RumourMaker18
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The Transcendent Pig
OMG I <3 SMS. Best Mario game EVAR.

Quote:
 
Jak and Daxter looked nice but it was not fun. Sorry, I got bored of endless collecting with the N64.


I didn't really think of it as collecting, really. I mean, you could collect, but it was really just following a series of objectives.

Quote:
 
Jak 2 & 3 were not any more fun with it's forced 'mature' theme and GTA cloning and difficulty. There is a difference between fair difficulty and "oh if you step on THIS particular tile you die lol!". I don't think I played it for more than a couple of hours with my cousin before we decided to just stop.


Yeah, I don't really like the last two that much... But the first one was really fun...

Quote:
 
I don't see Ratchet & Clank as platformers. You spend a large majority of the game shooting things so it's more of an action game than anything else.


The first two, at least, had a great deal of actual platforming, though. In the third one the focus was definetely on shooting, which was why I didn't mention it, but the first two were largely platformers.

Quote:
 
And Sly... well... I didn't think all that much of that series either.


BWA?!?!?!?!?
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Carbunkle Flux
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Abyssian Legend
Mario 64's pretty much a classic to me, no questions asked. It was one of those games that I didn't really start to appreciate as a whole until I went back to play it after Super Mario Sunshine though. I own the DS port proudly, even if it takes a little too many liberties with the original progression.
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sharc
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wandering slacker
rumour said:
 
it was the first game to really nail 3D (in the sense that for the first time there weren't any mind-numbingly stupid mistakes or issues regarding camera/control that killed the game)


wut

*throws jumping flash! series at your face, HARD*

anyway, i'm in the "good but overrated" camp as well. though jumping flash is not as...robust a game, it came along first and, for me, stole some of sm64's thunder in terms of whimsical design and well-executed 3d. i don't know what's up, but i never felt any magic with mario 64. it's well made and charming, i like it...just didn't love it.

i'd love super mario sunshine, were it not for the presence of stages like the balloon-popping rollercoaster stage that have nothing to do with the game at large and are just an obnoxious departure from what i bought the game for in the first place.

i'm kind of harsh with 3d platformers in general, though. i tend to prefer the 2.5d games like klonoa, tomba or the first crash bandicoot, since they at least lack the camera problems that plague true 3d titles. sly cooper though, that's definitely my favorite of the big names this generation. what didn't you like about it, ren?
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Carbunkle Flux
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Abyssian Legend
You're a fan of Jumping Flash! too, Sharc? XD

That's actually one of the reasons I couldn't really appreciate Mario 64 until after Sunshine. At the time, Jumping Flash! and Jumping Flash! 2 were simply stealing its thunder for me.

I wonder if there will ever be an update to those games, because they were just awesome. FPS+extremely quirky platforming = Win.
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sharc
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wandering slacker
jumping flash! was one of the games that sold me, not just on a playstation, but on 3d games as a whole.

there is the enigmatic jumping flash! 3: robbit mon dieu, but it wasn't made by exact like the first two and seems somewhat lacking. there's a great review for it on gamefaqs if you're interested.
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RiotGrrl
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Errant Dreamer
I definitely feel that SM64 is a classic for me. It was the first game that I owned for any system after the NES (not counting handheld titles), and having missed the entire 16-bit era, you can imagine it was quite the revelation for me. I adored the layout of the castle, and the levels were just fun.

SMS was indeed a great game, I just disliked all the cleaning that you had to do. Rather tedious.

sharc
Dec 11 2006, 05:00 PM
i'm kind of harsh with 3d platformers in general, though. i tend to prefer the 2.5d games like klonoa, tomba or the first crash bandicoot, since they at least lack the camera problems that plague true 3d titles. sly cooper though, that's definitely my favorite of the big names this generation. what didn't you like about it, ren?

I definitely agree with this... I'll enjoy stuff like Klonoa a lot more than 3D platformers, and it's probably largely due to camera. I loathe missing jumps simply because my camera wasn't positioned correctly. It becomes more about camera positioning than actually controlling the character.

And yes, I loved the original Sly Cooper... although the game was easy as pie, the fluidity of the platforming and the silky-smooth graphics really made this one stand out for me.
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televised
Sexy Commando
I really didn't enjoy SM64 =/

A lot of it is definitely cameral and control, and the awkwardness I had with the N64 controller in general (never owned one, so had to play at a friends house... which brings me to my next point).

The rest is probably my friend being "hurry up I wanna play zelda" every 5 minutes >_>
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Runeslash
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109th Star of Destiny
Interestingly, since finishing SM64, I booted up Sunshine again...

Man, I can't believe what a huge improvement it is. Playing immediately after SM64 like this really helps give you a better perspective. The controls, instead of being unresponsive and laggy, are now very precise and responsive. The camera is now fully under your control at all times and doesn't suck. Fludd's hover feature helps tremendously when navigating long distances and/or jumps. There's not as many cheap deaths, and most of those that remain feel like MY fault when I die instead of the developers. Best of all, getting the shines feels a lot more intuitive than the stars of Mario 64.

And man does this game have a lot more character. Mario's clips are more varied, and there's more NPC interaction. No longer are you searching a deserted, desolate castle. Now you're in a town with tons of inhabitants, and you even keep in contact with citizens from the Mushroom Kingdom. Even the voice acting (all 5 lousy minutes of it) is decent considering these are mostly characters that wouldn't be out of place in a Saturday morning cartoon.

I may just end up eating my words in my previous post of giving SM64 a slight edge over this game. Even with the aforementioned problem of the game itself not telling you your overall gameplay goal, it might be good enough to tie SM64 in quality. I'll wait until I've finished Sunshine again to be sure, but man... I just didn't remember the game being such a massive improvement.
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anderton
Unregistered

I didn't jump into Mario 64 until well after I had played some of the 64's more advanced platformers and I can't say it didn't anything for me then and I doubt it will do much for me now.
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