Still Playing: Super Mario 64

 

Stars: 31

There is an INSANE battle of internet wits over the greatness of Mario 64 over at neogaf.  The question is essentially - which is better: 64 or Galaxy? Now, Galaxy being my favorite game, my answer is obvious. But through this discussion, the commenters really boiled down the essence of each game. 

Mario 64 has a heavy focus on exploration and discovery, while Galaxy is linear but the controls are MUCH tighter. I think the one thing everyone can agree on is the dream of a new 64 style game with Galaxy's controls.

My experience in playing Mario 64 for the past two nights has been layered with wild exuberance and rampant frustration. I love the sense of figuring out the goals for yourself. Your rarely shown where the star is, or what you have to do to get it - you are only given a clue in the title of each level. I had a really hard time with the one where you had to find the snowman's body, but was elated when I finally did figure it out. It's that 'joy of discovery' that's missing from the Galaxy games.

THIS asshole.

But the controls are where I start grinding my teeth. They're much more "slippery" than Galaxy, and with bottomless pits surrounding every possible place you want to be, this leads to MANY cheap deaths and quarters in the swear jar. 

Swimming is another story altogether. I can't STAND swimming levels. You can't manipulate the camera AT ALL during these parts, your life drains as you stay underwater, and when you try to surface...hmmm....nah...not gonna let you do that now. Or this gigantic ship will get stuck in front of the camera and let you drown.

Eh...I'm-a just gonna dip-a my feet in - I just ate and all...plus I don't-a have my trunks...next-a time though. Next-a time.

THIS is why I never finished it. These little annoying nitpicks that just ruin the experience for me.

Mario 64 is a damn fine creation. DAMN fine. And for the first of it's kind, it's a technical marvel. This was the first game to actually have a camera, so the fact that it even KINDA works is amazing. It's just frustrating to play after 15 years of the industry fine tuning these things to absolute perfection.

Le sigh.

This one took me a while too. "Mario Wings to the Sky"? Don't you mean "Collect the middle coin of each coin circle in the sky"?