Let's Talk About MARIO 64, DID IT AGE WELL?

[@SolidBren]

The frequency of players that didn’t even grow up with a Nintendo 64 and still pick up the game and end up enjoying it as well as being probably still among the most streamed speed running games is testament to the game aging very well. It was one of my favorite games of all time back then and still is up there for me.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

Fun fact about the camera: there's a game for the PS1 that's one of the Aliens games that created a radically new camera control system that used the second analogue stick on the controller, allowing you to have fine control over it, while using the first analogue stick to move. At the time, it was critically panned for basically being "unintuitive" and "confusing" because of how it broke with conventions. Upon further reflection, you may notice that this is the set-up used for all modern gaming. Now that I've typed this, I'm not sure how I was going to tie this into Mario, except that the camera controls of this game definitely haven't aged very well, but I can think of some things that have aged much worse.

[@justfitz08]

I dont understand the camera criticism. The way the C-buttons work map directly onto the second analog stick of modern controller. The game transfers over to current devices perfectly. Then, when you look at M64's in-genre competitors, you can see how well it's aged by comparison, which is all the more impressive considering how innovative it was and how many risks it took.

[@DrybowoSuperstar]

@@justfitz08 to be honest i think is that people like to have full control of the camera instead of how Mario 64 limits it to specific directions, which most of the time are actually fine, tho when they get stuck yeah that 100% is bad, but like, try using mario camera all the game and you will notice how not having the specific angles from the camera affect how you play it for sure, and if you look at some gameplays you just see how people put like, not good camera angles at all, now there's times those angles actually hide stuff from you but still, I think the criticism is more that it gets stuck to wall and people want so much freedom for the camera when i think is not that necessary

[@NintenDeen]

This. It's the camera getting stuck that's the issue for me. And the solution being zooming it all the way behind Mario's neck feels unnatural. But those moments are pretty spread out imo

[@pokechamp3987]

I want to add something basic but very important as someone who played this at release. You'll already know about this but for newcomers to the game. The game was designed for a much stiffer control stick than those we have today, for precise control of the speed Mario's walking/running in, with grooves around it for when you actually want the top speed or just need to quickly switch between exact angles in tight spaces, like when doing a side jump/somersault. All of this means that even if you're normally a skilled gamer, if you're playing on say an emulator with an Xbox One X controller, you're going to suffer. Play it with the controller it was intended for and you'll be fine.

[@CaliJose209]

I played it with a ps4 remote and it felt fine

[@Chris-rm3mh]

Just found your channel yesterday but binged the whole series.. man you did something truly special

[@NintenDeen]

Wow, I'm speechless. Idk if my wife could even listen to my voice for 4 hours in such a short span of time 😂

[@cecillewolters1995]

I always paired Big Boo's Haunt with the castle itself. Kid me used to fantasize that one day paintings will appear there as well, unlocking more creepy and hard levels. This game didn't age like wine that it got better with time, but it also hasn't soured like milk unlike 90% of the games back then and before. It just stayed about the same, which is good. This game was a masterpiece at the time and it is still a masterpiece of the time. Thanks for this awesome series and good luck on your new adventure. Also merry Christmas! ^-^

[@NintenDeen]

Boo's Haunt paired with the Castle actually makes a bit of sense seeing as how it's the only stage entered from outside of the castle walls. Also, thanks for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@Peace-AKA-Brare-K]

Plus it sets you directly in front of a building with multiple rooms and an unlockable second floor, and even a basement with inexplicable water 🤔

[@benjaminbermudez-catala6312]

Big Boo's Haunt's partner is Peach's Castle. A dwelling over several levels that have to be unlocked, stars 1 to 3 and 5 mimic location progression: ground floor, basement, second floor, top floor/balcony. The three Big Boo fights are in the same location as the the three Bowser stages. A wet basement. Explorable outdoor area with the spawn poin opposite the front door at enough distance that the place looks like a postcard. Its dwellers hold a number of stars themselves (Boos and Toads). Hidden carnival amusements (slide, carousel).

[@NintenDeen]

That's a good theory. Hadn't thought of it that way

[@TheSithlord28]

Nintendo just added the Mario 64 soundtrack to their Nintendo Music app. Wild timing with the conclusion of this video series!

[@NintenDeen]

Yeah Mario 64 stock at a high rn

[@AprilTeniente-eu1mj]

@@NintenDeen I like listening to the music on the Nintendo music app!!

[@Redmage913]

You created a perfect Christmas playlist of videos for those of us disconnecting from the holidays :) please, if you haven’t, make a playlist for these videos and sort them in stage order so it flows better than newest to oldest.

[@NintenDeen]

Glad you've enjoyed! Thanks for the kind words :) Super Mario 64 Retrospective: kzbin.info/aero/PLllNZxeWKXzpvKLFnTik8nuHEjF-CwSnh Already have it set up :)

[@eeveefennecfox]

the only thing I hate was the camera,I can let it slide since they were experimenting on this and the whole thing was new to them at that time,I can't remember if I also hated the controls or not,but again they were experimenting on this,so I can let it slide

[@CaptainErn]

In regards to the controls, I remember the N64 having a longer control stick than basically any other controller ever. I never have a problem with Mario or OoT with the OG controller because the throw of the stick is way more forgiving

[@varietychan]

For me, in terms of graphics I say a little. Paper Mario 64 released on the same system 4 years later and looks more like the modern Mario games. They also didn't really know what they were doing with the code compared to now which is why they look this way. They did do a lot though compared to newer games, take 3d world where most levels are modeled on only one side, that's because you cannot turn the camera to look at it while 64 would have that side modeled. Then there's the camera. The camera is GREAT (at least excluding romhacks), it's not as good as Sunshine or Odyssey, but it's better than Galaxy and 3d World where you cannot move it at all or very limited. There's a lot of coding to make that camera feel good like moving it behind Mario when swimming or flying and rotating it based off where he is on the stage. There's also a lot of these little things like the movements when entering a cannon or when in the marry-go-round. In terms of things like gameplay, Mario controls great, a few things I'd love to change though but not much, this is the only game where he can punch, kick, slide kick, breakdance all of which still haven't been in a new Mario game. In fact, Smash Ultimate still uses this Mario 64 for his moveset because there's not really any other game where he does this.

[@smansam]

Great retrospective series! Gotten me through tokes, work breaks and all in between! Gonna continue with the DS version which I’m completely unfamiliar with but so interested in!! Earned another sub! Algorithm give this man subs!!!

[@NintenDeen]

Glad you've enjoyed! Thanks for the sub haha

[@loreharbor]

This video is great! I have many fond memories of this game as a kid. There were two parts that creeped me out though. Big Boo's Haunt (because I was a kid), and the liminal spaces in the basement area.

[@YISHYAWO]

This game will forever be a classic! Sidebar: your vids on this game is good. I stumbled across ya channel & its cool. I hope you do vids like this with banjo-kazooie. Another classic!

[@NintenDeen]

I'm glad you've enjoyed! I'll be doing the 4 Rareware N64 games at some point in 2025, I just don't know when, yet

[@TheGooseIsLoose9000]

Look forward to you talking about Sunshine in the future!

[@dr.mantistobboggan4065]

TL;DR for this post: Mario 64 aged well and being able to do the game at your own pace and in any order you like plays a big part of it. Also something about Mario 64's graphics. Mucho texto variant: I just finished my annual Mario 64 playthrough today, so I can say that the game has aged very well. Most of the factors on why has Mario 64 aged well have been discussed in the video, but I'll add my own two cents. I think the biggest factor why Mario 64 is ever so enduring is because by all means, progression is dependent entirely on the player. The game only really limits the player at the very start, where they could visit Bob-Omb Battlefield only, but even then it gives you a lot of freedom to do so. The first star of the game is King Bob-Omb battle, but player isn't obliged to go to it, since they can just grab a star from Chain Chomp first. After that, it is entirely up to player where they want to go. They could continue with Bob-Omb Battlefield, or they could go to Whomp's Fortress or the Secret Slide. It's this design choice that essentially adds a lot of replayability of Mario 64. Such approach is even better when you play the game casually, but playing it for 100% also benefits of this approach, since you can essentially grab stars in your own order. If there's a star that you find annoying to grab, you can just save it for last. Also important to note that not only you can grab any star in any order post first one, you can do any level in any order. There's also a factor of glitches (backwards long jump) that can really turn the game upside down, but this was generally unintentional, so it kinda doesn't count. Even though that factor was mentioned before in the video, I just want to mention about something regarding graphics. Ideally, graphics should be judged by the time and the platform they're on. I could easily make Mario 64 looks bad if I were to compare it to the likes of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and similar games of such graphical fidelity, but that's just unfair. A game should be judged by the time period and console they're on, and for that, I think Mario 64's graphics are quite good. Striking even. Even though much more graphically advanced games came later on N64 (Kirby 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Perfect Dark for few examples), I think that Mario 64's visual direction is still quite striking. It combines this cartoony aesthetic of Mario with the early (console) 3D era surrealness that give Mario 64 a particularly stand-out identity. That I believe is part of the reason for the whole "negative aura / uncanny valley" meme regarding Mario 64: there isn't really anything like that in Mario franchise, and that includes the DS remake, which has a much more conventional Mario art style. Not to mention, I don't believe anything on N64 also had such style, most games I know had a much more clear cut direction. Overall, I have enjoyed this series. It's nice that people talk about the pioneering 3D platformer in a positive but fair light.

[@NintenDeen]

Thanks for the thought out comment! I enjoyed reading your perspective

[@1gnore_me.]

loved this series man, keep up the great work!

[@NintenDeen]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@GhabulousGhoti]

So fwiw about the "aura" you mentioned, I was 3 in 1999 when I first saw this game and it immediately made me feel weird, but like, in a VERY compelling way where I wanted to explore more. I didn't know the term "liminal" yet of course, but I blame Mario 64 for half the reason I love the liminal space aesthetic (the other half of this reason would be the backgrounds on the Lego Bionicle toy packaging).

[@Fleechin]

Really awesome retrospective! As a 2000 baby I never really got into Mario 64 until long after I'd played Galaxy and Mario 63, so I always compared 64 to both of them, but it's nice to see a retrospective from someone who grew up with it the way I never did

[@NintenDeen]

Glad you enjoyed it :) thanks for following along

[@Peace-AKA-Brare-K]

63?

[@NintenDeen]

It's a fan made 2D game that took inspiration from the 3D Mario titles

[@Peace-AKA-Brare-K]

@@NintenDeen Is it any good?

[@derekrequiem4359]

Aside from some minor inconveniences (camera, Mario's movement when turning around, finnickiness of the wall jumps), the game has aged remarkably well. And I should note that I find it quite silly when people use the justification of "well [game that came out 20 years later] has a BETTER camera than SM64!" I'm like............ seriously? 😂

[@ShamanJeeves]

Great seeing some love for Wet-dry World. I adored that stage as a youngster, and it just doesn’t get the love I feel it deserves. Mostly because of the "bad vibes" meme.

[@NintenDeen]

Funnily enough my WDW and HMC videos performed the best because of those memes. I'm assuming many were disappointed that I didn't even mention the aura's though lol

[@Charius38]

As a mid 2000s kid I played a ton of Galaxy and then played 64 for the Wii U, really only had a problem with the camera but 64 fs was incredible for its time!

[@gooeydude574]

Mario 64 is a game that I personally wasn’t bummed they didnt change much for the 3D Allstars release. Mario Sunshine on the other hand…

[@zacharyseiders5793]

The camera and the back tracking for the caps are my major gripes. Otherwise I like the freedom that this game provides once you unlock what you need. That kind of freedom has only been repeated in Odyssey of all games.

[@billcox6791]

0:06 Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I'm sixty-four

[@NintenDeen]

🤣

[@HS-hx8ti]

Been enjoying this retrospective, would be cool if you checked out some of the most popular romhacks for SM64 too. Considering you said you didn't feel any "negative aura" from the game at all (neither did I growing up), your take on B3313 would be fun.

[@NintenDeen]

I definitely want to check them out, I'm going to hold off on making videos about them though. Maybe when I can spend more time focusing on KZbin in the future. There are too many other games I want to cover still lol

[@rikmcdik6662]

I watched the whole series. I really liked the analysis of each stage. This was a game I never owned as a kid, but I would see at my one friend’s house. It always looked so awesome. I played as an adult, and I did find it to be a bit dated. However, it is far from unplayable. The controls can be mastered with effort making it a challenging, but fair, early 3-D platformer. This game was so ahead of its time that it still holds up today as an enjoyable first time experience.

[@NintenDeen]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@four-en-tee]

I wouldnt even say Mario controls bad in this game. I 100% agree that the camera is archaic, but Mario's controls are perfectly fine. There's just not a lot of correction to his movement mid-jump and he has a fair bit of weight and drift to his movement. Once you're used to it, its hardly a problem. The only big issue i have with Mario's movement in 64 is that he sometimes wont turn on a dime while stationary. Sometimes he'll go into a sort of u-turn movement, and that wide angle can sometimes be a death sentence in tight platforming sections. What I will say is that Sunshine and Odyssey Mario controls a million times better. Its this version of Mario's movement at its peak, but 64's movement is still great. Its just different, not a lot of Mario games (or 3D platformer games in general) control like Mario 64 nowadays. It takes a lot of adjusting to if you either haven't played it before or haven't played it in a while. 64 Mario is basically the platformer equivalent of HL2 Gordon Freeman.

[@mrshin8035]

I'd say the game aged kind of like how doom did. it may be jank, but it has that human quality to it that keeps bringing people back in spite of, and in a lot of aspects, because of its more dated aspects.

[@MissVikuru]

Excited to see what you'll cook up next 🔥

[@NintenDeen]

Wrapping up some 64DS stuff to hopefully start that series by Saturday

[@AprilTeniente-eu1mj]

I remember playing Super Mario 64 on the emulators on my phone and other phones and on the N64 Switch Online and 3D All Stars on my Switch!!

[@Quizer9O8]

Let's talk about the Internal Castle Plexus...

[@spicymilkshake6600]

To me Tall, Tall, Mountain is a parellel to Cool, Cool, Mountain. Both are mountain levels that have a slide but on one you start from the top and on the other you start from the bottom.

[@NintenDeen]

Yeah I mean there are definitely parallels. I think Cool Cool Mountain's Top to Bottom Design also allowed them to make an early linear map huge. So it can be as big as tall tall mountain but still be an early stage

[@FlackNCoke]

What’s funny is as a kid back in 1996, I thought the controls were a bit finicky. Especially once Banjo-Kazooie came out and showed just how smooth a platformer COULD feel. But as an adult I now realize that Mario 64’s controls are actually fine, they’re just VERY precise. Mario’s various jumps were built to be easy to learn, hard to master, and that continues to his turning radius and range of movement speeds based on how far you push the stick. The reason Banjo in some ways has aged better is because it’s a lot less precise. You can misjudge a jump and use Kazooie midair to adjust. Mario demands discipline and precision. It’s harder, yes, but not worse, and the level design (especially in the later stages) is built around this precision. But future platform games - including future Mario games - decided to take more queues from Banjo instead. So Fludd helps you hover, Cappy helps you adjust midair, the luma gives you a spin jump. It makes the games more approachable but it does take some of the pure skill out of it… which is of course why the most platforming focused challenges in Sunshine and Odyssey both remove your midair helper to make you focus back in on that core Mario 64 style jump arsenal. It’s a nice compromise without throwing the baby out with the bath water.

[@FlackNCoke]

Also while Banjo feels a bit smoother to control at first, one thing that feels notable is that the pure platforming is less satisfying in those games. Like it’s there, and there are certainly obstacle courses to navigate, but a lot of the time the challenge is less “can you get Banjo from point A to point B” and more “can you figure out which move unlocks this particular door.” This results in Banjo-Tooie where platforming becomes less of a challenge than a simple means of traversal while the actual challenges in that game become almost exclusively puzzles and minigames and finding ways to get a character with a more limited move set to a particular place to open a gate for a different character, culminating not in a Tick Tock Clock or even a Click Clock Wood, but Cloud-Cucckooland, which is basically just a giant floating maze with minigames on each of its spokes.

[@NintenDeen]

This is a good point. Both Mario and Banjo are 3D platforming collectathons, but Mario leans more towards the platforming, and Banjo into the collecting

[@FranklySean]

I really enjoyed this whole series!

[@NintenDeen]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@matheusavila2688]

Just look at rhe speed running community ffs, this game is more alive then ever before.

[@lissyvale629]

Ooooh! I'm the 64th like on a video talking about one of my favourite games of all time! How about that! ^-^

[@camharkness]

Id say yes. I didn't grow up with sm64, I didn't get to play it actually till I got 3d all stars, and I love it. The credits theme makes me cry. But it's just .. idk, the game is magical to me. Being a 23 year old autistic man, it's just a magical game to me. It helps that my best friend also loves this game so me and him can bond over it.

[@mr_yoru5834]

I think it didn't age well in the sense that if you go back to it after playing something like Galaxy or Odyssey, it will probably feel a little generic or uncreative, and more than a little janky. I don't think that means Mario 64 is now a bad game, however. I contrast it with something like OoT which I think I can go back to many times and have few issues getting back into those controls and still feel just as engaged with the world.

[@supersmashbro596]

i still adore super mario 64. however. playing it with the odyssey movement mod is my preferred way to play. it just allows you to do so much, even if you feel a bit overpowered.

[@NintenDeen]

I can respect that haha

[@CinemaStormz]

Awesome video! Keep up the good work 👏

[@NintenDeen]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed:)

[@CinemaStormz]

@NintenDeen You're welcome 😊

[@420-q3u]

I never collected all the stars. I just beat the game. Back in the day with my friends with the haunted house to.

[@tjlnintendo]

As someone who grew up with the DS version first but also grew up with the wii virtual console version, while I do think it has aged to some degree, the aging hasn’t been that big of a detriment for me. Although I prefer games like Sunshine and onward, I still respect SM64.

[@NintenDeen]

Was sunshine your first 3D Mario or 64DS?

[@tjlnintendo]

@ Sunshine. I was a 2000s kid and grew up with the GCN and GBA era first. 64DS was my 2nd 3D Mario.

[@KingYoshi93]

16:28 Do 3D Land, 3D World and Bowser's Fury count too when it comes to covering all 3D Mario games?

[@NintenDeen]

I generally like to cover an entire franchise before moving on to another project! So yeah unless I get burnt out I'd go all the way through to Bowser's Fury

[@fettbub92]

I started watching this series a week ago. I appreciate giving this game such a detailed and concise review. Its a masterpiece, in my opinion. There are some quirks, and many would argue that its contemporaries, like Ocarina of Time; are better, but its a great game. It was an amazing transition from 2D to 3D.

[@NintenDeen]

Hey I'm glad you enjoyed the series! And yeah I'd imagine Banjo and OOT are probably the 2 primary games that might get more praise today

[@cravdraa]

Woah! catchy segment starter out of nowhere! I more or less agree with your concensus. The part that aged the worst was really the camera. And while there were parts of the game that I definitely got frustrated with it at times, I never felt the urge to quit. And lets be honest, there are still AAA games coming out today that still have camera issues so lets just say cameras are hard.

[@NintenDeen]

Yeah I think the camera issues are usually on those awkward tight spaces where it gets stuck onto things. Aside from that it's mostly serviceable

[@eslwgpg1226]

Finally someone else who sees the whole “every copy of Super Mario 64 is personalized” and “negative aura” nonsense for the load of crap it actually is

[@NintenDeen]

I didn't realize how big of a talking point it was lol

[@Derek-d5s]

Mario 64 is timeless.

[@ty_sylicus]

Now I have to replay this on 2025. Happy Holidays and New Years everyone!

[@NintenDeen]

Enjoy! :)

[@NotsilYmerej]

The game is so aged that Mario himself is barely textured.

[@NintenDeen]

Lack of textures makes it age better lol. N64 textures were crap

[@nicks4725]

I love the mario world. Zelda is awesome but i would rather live in the mushroom kingdom than hyrule. It seems more chill. Bowser is an issue but he's not a world ending calamity. Good series bro

[@NintenDeen]

Mushroom kingdom would be dope! Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed

[@randomladyaj]

Lol poor Jolly Roger Bay. I feel so bad for it for the amount of times you dumped on it throughout your series. It needs a hug. 😂

[@NintenDeen]

When Liam Triforce made his vid and JRB was the starting soundtrack I almost couldn't enjoy the video 😂

[@hijster479]

I find the idea that games age pretty dumb, as it sorta implies that modern sentiments are unbiased instead of differently biased. That said the biggest sticking point for me was the level design. Open areas are generally best for exploring, getting kicked out for falling off the stage or into a hazard is a killjoy. But at the same time the levels don't really offer any specific reasons to replay them. IMO the game doesn't get better with practice as much as it gets less frustrating. Personally I prefer Banjo and Spyros levels even if 64 has better movement.

[@pianoman7753]

I dont think anyone who wasnt there to play these games at the time they were initially popular has any valid say in what they are or arent good at. If you were there, then you know. If you werent, then youre probably shitting on it for camera and movement controls.

[@ledanoir1239]

When you say things like how other games aged worst for trying to have detailed textures, I'dt be nice if you gave examples for the babies like me who werent born by the 90's

[@NintenDeen]

Castlevania, Tony Hawk off the top of my head. Turok as well. There are even moments scattered throughout OOT and Goldeneye that I recently revisited on a CRT and found myself squinting to figure out what I was looking at lol. It's generally moments in games that are more action based and fast-paced, or games that are just way too dark if you don't throw the brightness on your TV all the way up

[@achoumachi6695]

My favorite game too. I prefer the control of mario in this game compare to mario galaxy, sunshine and odyssey

[@gatorgamer1013]

Let’s fix the wording for that intro 💀

[@toxicmanbaby1069]

The controls are fine, people just suck. Of course some missions force you to take the time to learn to play well. You could say this for any game, this is how it should be

[@WKP1996]

Yay, I'm early! Really intresting series. Impressed it's released so fast. Merry Christmas!

[@NintenDeen]

Thanks for watching! Happy holidays :)

[@MarshDwellin]

Yes! Still playing it on Switch

[@NintenDeen]

Awesome 😎

[@MarshDwellin]

@@NintenDeen ..And I really need the N64 controller! 😁

[@NintenDeen]

I like the NSO 64 controller. If you can get one of those it makes the experience feel a bit more authentic

[@MarshDwellin]

@@NintenDeen N64 was the second console that I ever had and may be the one that got played the most. Now playing those N64 on Switch is great but feels bit odd without the N64 controller :) That and snes controller are on my shopping list.

[@NintenDeen]

Oh alright, in that case then you get it haha. Pre NSO I got a bunch of wireless hyperkin controllers, HDMI adapter, and super64 flash cart, and friends/family would almost exclusively play 64 on game nights lol. NSO just made it a lot easier since the main games we'd play are on there

[@kazaloolovesgames]

I love Super Mario 64. I would have liked a full blown Ocarina of Time 3D style graphical face lift among other tweaks in that 3D All Stars pack. The original could be there too but I would have liked for there to have been an option. I think Super Mario 64 has aged well for a 28 year old 3D game. I like Banjo-Kazooie better though. That game has aged too of course.

[@NintenDeen]

I've been waiting way too long for an updated 64 (and DS) version of the game that just combines the best features of both versions

[@kazaloolovesgames]

@NintenDeen That would be good. I'm a Super Mario 64 DS defender.

[@NintenDeen]

I'm currently wrapping up the first video for that game lol. I'm just debating which day I want to drop it

[@kazaloolovesgames]

@@NintenDeen I look forward to watching it.

[@TheHylianJuggalo]

I grew up with this, along with all of the other 64 staples in kindergarten. I never liked it that much compared to the other games, and I can't play it nowadays and I never understood why. This series got me thinking about it, and finally figured it out. The thing about early 3D in general is before we developed proper camera control and third person movement standards, every game had some kind of a learning curve. If you didn't invest a decent amount of time into each game you had, going back to it as an adult is incredibly difficult. I see why people give it trash in the modern age, but the ultimate issue is that these early 3D attempts, unless you really invested time and energy into them at a young age, there's a lot of muscle memory involved. That is the equivalent of trying to learn how to ride a bike when you're fifty when you never did as a child. I can play the DS copy without issue and have beaten that multiple times but I've never actually beaten the original. The subconscious of the human brain expects physics, in all forms, to follow some semblance of reality - follow the 3 Laws of Motion, for example. When you play a lot of these early games today, unless you grew up with them and really invested, it feels jarring, and creates a sort of uncanny valley feel. I suppuse the primitive nature of the tech is also why this era is popular with liminal horror - with the locations being a rough, childish approximation of a real location that messes with your understanding of the world. Again, if this era wasn't formative for you, it can be totally off-putting. I suppose, platforming, in general was a good way to iron out the kinks of 3D movement. If you take all of the games as a whole that were released around that time, you see that all of them, were all trying to do something technologically different; Rare focused on camera work. Sucker punch focused on physics and momentum. Mario focused on movement. Even individual non platform games did a project on their own. For example, beetle adventure racing probably did the best for realistic heft and weight for vehicle movement in that era. It's a phenomenon that's difficult to describe, but when you play games like san andreas, vehicles are noticeably physically, very light and floaty, that you know don't line up with more realistic physics like those found in IV and V. Not the case with beetle racing. 3DO's BattleTanx laid a lot of groundwork for environmental destruction in a 3D space and set up the foundation for things like Mercenaries or Teardown so you could raze the buildings back to that foundation. There is a tangible physical perception that your brain tries to make with video games to real world physics on a subconscious level, and you can tell when something isn't quite right in its feeling of mass, acceleration, or reaction to feedback. Game feel is an incredibly important thing in design that nobody really talks about, and in this era, everybody was contributing a piece of the jigsaw puzzle. All of the games of the PS1 and 64 walked, so everything else could run today, quite literally in some cases. Every company was trying to figure out how to approximate real life physics in a new era of technology. You can definitely see the speed bumps that everybody hit along the way, but they all come together to make the games we have now. If you want a general idea of what I mean, look up a video called "Developer Opinion: Gun Feedback" by TerminusEst13. He explains (in Doom weapon modding) how to make a gun feel good to use. Again, physics. In fact, now that I bring up Doom, I'm sure many of you are familiar with 3's notoriously awful shotgun - and the BIGGEST issue is that there's a jarring difference between it's output vs presentation. It looks and sounds and animates powerful, but we all know the damage is awful. When you have such a jarring juxtaposition in your presentation, you get this unnerving feeling that makes the experience bad. A lot of early 3D games suffer from this because none of them at this time mastered any of it. I don't think it's fair to hate any one particular game of that era, with the exception of superman. You have to look at these early 3D attempts as all contributing to a greater goal in the end

[@NintenDeen]

I don't have a reply, but I just want to say this was well thought out and well written. An interesting perspective

[@Peace-AKA-Brare-K]

Who else thinks they should remake Super Mario 64 for the Switch? Not port, not emulate, but build from the ground up using the new console’s graphics and capabilities like they did with the DS version.

[@NintenDeen]

I'm torn between a definitive Mario 64 with the best aspects of both OG and 64DS, OR a pseudo sequel similar to his link between worlds revisited the map of link to the past. Bring back peach's Castle, reimagine the stages and add more content obviously, and just make it a return to the castle but for a whole new adventure

[@0rnery0verwatch]

Am I the only one who thought SM64 looked bad back when it released? I remember looking at pictures in the Nintendo Power magazine and thinking "okay those are just early rough renders of the levels, it'll get better!" but then the same blocky looking mess was what released and I just remember, even as a 12yo, thinking "this is it...?" Granted, the excellent game play kept me coming back, but I could never get past the visuals.

[@NintenDeen]

I didn't think it looked bad because I was too mesmerized by seeing Mario in 3D. Also, I was barely out of kindergarten so that probably helps 🤣

[@0rnery0verwatch]

@@NintenDeen lol hey fair enough!

[@checkoffgames]

It did. Still annoying after 30 stars, though, and awkward in the turns and wall kicking.

[@joshysbrand3567]

Just like no one likes nickelback. Look at this photograph 🎶

[@Hairmetalfan08]

Every time it makes me laugh, how did our eyes get red, and what the hells on Joeys head 😂

[@737Igi69]

Tbh the game is not worth playing since the graphics are bad and they already did a remake (super mario 64 ds) The remake has better graphics, controls, more stars and more characters, it would be the perfect remake if they had waluigi There are some great super mario 64 romhacks, but the base game is not worth playing

[@NintenDeen]

🤨 🤔 🙃

[@elio7610]

mario is a lot of fun to control but the stages are very basic. i don't feel like any official mario game since has fully improved on sm64's moveset but they have improved on basically everything else.

[@NintenDeen]

I can agree that later games have improved. But I don't feel the stages are THAT basic, they're still a good time imo

[@elio7610]

@@NintenDeen i suppose it is more that the challenges involved to get to stars that are too basic. the stages are somewhat interesting and fun to explore but the actual objectives within the stages are mostly way too simple and being forced out of the level each time a star is collected makes the whole process more repetitive than it needs to be. it is funny that the devs programmed in a way to keep playing after collecting a star but only used it for the 100 coin stars.

[@tambourinedmb]

not really , i think banjo kazooie aged it

[@comm823gaming]

Banjo Kazooie is so much better than Super Mario 64!

[@RandomAnimeGamer]

Controls that only work for 2/3 of the levels and are good for 2 levels, a camera that works against you and not for you consistently, performance that lags in quite a few stages (on top of it already being 30fps when SNES games are mostly 60fps), graphics that look worse than any other N64 game practically... no, Mario 64 certainly did not age well. Edit: Those decades of people saying it "controls flawlessly" are people parroting others' opinions. 99% of gamers regurgitate what youtubers say, and have never actually played SM64

[@NintenDeen]

Naa

[@RandomAnimeGamer]

@@NintenDeen Tons of people literally never played SM64 and just watched a walkthrough online, and then proclaim it's Mario at its peak. Sorry, but Sunshine aged way better than SM64. I grew up with SM64 and used to like it until I got older.

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

tons of people played and are still playing the game

[@RandomAnimeGamer]

@@pikminologueraisin2139 And even more people don't play and just watch youtubers so they can parrot their opinions

[@Spaghettiest]

weird title, barely anything has aged as well as this game, literally no one ever has accused this game of not aging well.

[@NintenDeen]

I'm sorry, what? There are literally comments in here that are accusing it lol. Plus a bunch of videos on KZbin of folks arguing that point

[@Spaghettiest]

@@NintenDeen they may not seem like it cause people are loud online especially in fandoms, but they're outliers. super mario 64 is pretty obviously one of the most cherished games of all time. it took over as the frontman of videogames for a while and to this day has arguably the strongest speedrunning community. it's widely considered to be a groundbreakingly good game for its time, up there with zelda/pokemon/halo franchises. also regarding just n64 games super mario 64 is ALWAYS put on a top 3 pedestal along with goldeneye. i'd imagine anyone trying to make a case that its overrated or hasn't aged well is probably just a contrarian who complains about ANYTHING that gains traction. just my observation

[@NintenDeen]

I mean I'm completely in agreement with you lol. I was there from launch, I get it. But I think the discussion is worth being had as to why it has aged well regardless. Plus this vid is a finale of a whole 18 part series I made this month so it wraps up the talking points

[@comm823gaming]

Short answer: No Long answer: The camera sucks, Mario feels so much clunkier to control than in later 3D Mario games. Later levels suck, including those underwater levels. Super Mario 64 is extremely overrated nowadays and there exist way better 3D Mario games such as Galaxy and Odyssey,. There even exist better 3D platformers on 5th gen consoles, like Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Rayman 2, PS1 Spyro trilogy, Crash Bandicoot 2 and 3 etc.

[@NintenDeen]

Camera and controls suck but they're easily adaptable. The game being overrated proves that lol. People are still and to jump in and fall in love with the game. Galaxy and Odyssey are improvements, that point is correct. Those 5th gen games you mentioned are all phenomenal but your opinion of them being better is completely subjective. I understand what you're saying, but I don't think it means the game didn't age well

[@tjlnintendo]

DK64 aged better then SM64? Hard disagree.

[@comm823gaming]

@@tjlnintendo Never change Nintendo fanboys

[@NintenDeen]

Donkey Kong is a Nintendo game too lol

[@comm823gaming]

@@NintenDeen I mean Donkey Kong is owned by Nintendo, but DK64 (As well as the SNES DKC trilogy) were made by Rare. So technically, those are Rareware games.

[@walldogamez8234]

First :p

[@KameronJ7]

80th

[@eeveefennecfox]

game haters