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Very interesting video focusing on the development of Super Mario 64.
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Very interesting video focusing on the development of Super Mario 64.
One of gaming’s biggest moments.
I remember Starting the game and being wowed
SM64 was my second most anticipated game of my life. I devoured all information I could get my hands on prior to release, bought as many game magazines as there were available with info on the game.
Just out of interest, have you seen the AGDQ-speedrun of Blast Corps? Might be interesting to you, if you like this kind of stuff. It had commentary by one of the original developers
I think it's fascinating how they designed games to be run on these consoles 25 years ago.
Of course it holds up, why wouldn't it? Because the graphics aren't up to par for today's standards? The controls are still super tight same as they always were, the worlds are vibrant and fun to explore. The star puzzles vary from super easy to really difficult to manage (for a given skill level.) It has wonderful music, some of the finest in all of gaming's history. I really don't see any reason why it shouldn't still be considered a great game.If we forget about nostalgia for a moment, does it hold up tho?
It's interesting they said Miyamoto started development on Mario 128 shortly after finishing Super Mario 64 and even had a prototype with Luigi as a playable character. A sequel where Mario was no longer "just for kids". I wonder what it would have looked like utilizing the remaining 40% of the Nintendo 64 hardware?
First of all, damn you for pulling me out of my mini-vacation with this fascinating thread.
Secondly... probably like this, sans that DS/PS1 look? Note Bowser especially. Maybe not quite that good, but I feel like a sequel would have looked way less rudimentary and more in line with later N64 stuff like Ocarina and Majora.
There’s never been another 3D platformer with the same moveset, versatility and level design. No other game plays like Mario 64, not even other 3D Mario games (where Mario has to use gimmicks to achieve his full range of movements). As far as pure gameplay goes, it’s a completely unique game that nobody ever really tried to even compete with. You can see the goal was to make just moving Mario around as enjoyable as possible, and they nailed that perfectly.If we forget about nostalgia for a moment, does it hold up tho?
As a director, Miyamoto was happy to see the kids all having fun... but as a parent, he was concerned to see his son trying to run up an unclimbable hill over and over again. After a few dozen attempts, Miyamoto began to wonder about his son’s intelligence.
I don't really understand why PAL would be any slower than US and JP. Seems like such an unusual oversight.There’s never been another 3D platformer with the same moveset, versatility and level design. No other game plays like Mario 64, not even other 3D Mario games (where Mario has to use gimmicks to achieve his full range of movements). As far as pure gameplay goes, it’s a completely unique game that nobody ever really tried to even compete with. You can see the goal was to make just moving Mario around as enjoyable as possible, and they nailed that perfectly.
Level design has all the limits of a first attempt at the genre and I have to admit I never enjoyed SM64’s actual missions that much. I had a PAL N64 so the game’s speed was a joke compared to the JP and US version, so the basic point of the game - just having fun moving Mario around - was impaired and everything seemed harder to do and more sluggish. Maybe this is one of the reasons I enjoyed Rare’s collectathons much more back in the day. But while the mission design is definitely a product of simpler times, full-speed SM64 is still one of the solidest examples of game design and good gameplay ever made.
It's to do with resolution and refresh rates. If games weren't converted from NTSC's 480p 60hz to PAL's 576p 50hz properly, the game ran slower.I don't really understand why PAL would be any slower than US and JP. Seems like such an unusual oversight.
I had a PAL N64 so the game’s speed was a joke compared to the JP and US version, so the basic point of the game - just having fun moving Mario around - was impaired and everything seemed harder to do and more sluggish.
Import was expensive as heck and I didn’t have a multistandard TV at the time anyway, so even if I’d bought a US N64 my TV wouldn’t have been able to display games in color. You’d need a SCART RGB connection for that, but N64 wasn’t RGB compatible without a mod anyway, so a new TV would have been necessary. Suffice to say I was sensible enough to not even think about asking my parents for all that shit. I loved the slowest N64 games to death even in PAL, but boy, NTSC Super Mario 64 was a completely different game.I am so, so glad I was well into my import-only years by the time N64 was released. That was one great Christmas. Truly mindblowing game.
IIRC the console itself didn't even release until the following year here in the UK.
If we forget about nostalgia for a moment, does it hold up tho?
You’d need a SCART RGB connection for that, but N64 wasn’t RGB compatible without a mod anyway
Electricity in Europe runs at 50Hz, US and JP run at 60Hz, which is part of the reason PAL and NTSC are so different.I don't really understand why PAL would be any slower than US and JP. Seems like such an unusual oversight.
Of course it holds up, why wouldn't it? Because the graphics aren't up to par for today's standards? The controls are still super tight same as they always were, the worlds are vibrant and fun to explore. The star puzzles vary from super easy to really difficult to manage (for a given skill level.) It has wonderful music, some of the finest in all of gaming's history. I really don't see any reason why it shouldn't still be considered a great game.
There’s never been another 3D platformer with the same moveset, versatility and level design. No other game plays like Mario 64, not even other 3D Mario games (where Mario has to use gimmicks to achieve his full range of movements). As far as pure gameplay goes, it’s a completely unique game that nobody ever really tried to even compete with. You can see the goal was to make just moving Mario around as enjoyable as possible, and they nailed that perfectly.
Yes, the movement is pitch perfect and most of the levels are top notch. It holds up significantly better than most of the games from that gen.
It still has the best controls of any 3D platform made so far.If we forget about nostalgia for a moment, does it hold up tho?
Understandable.To be honest I tried to play Mario 64 several times for the past 5 years or so on emulator and always was frustrated by level design, where you have too much space around and almost no tight, satisfying platforming like in classic 2d mario games, which I absolutely adore. I guess I need to mention that it was first couple of levels or so, maybe it gets better after that, but I was really struggling to find an appeal in that. Hopefully I'll find it when remaster releases on Switch.
It still has the best controls of any 3D platform made so far.
I remember my first introduction to 3D gaming was Tomb Raider which even at the time and zero hindsight to work with, it still felt BAD. What makes Mario 64 amazing is it didn't just do a good job, it literally nailed it out of the gate.