I don't know if it's sad or amazing that the character physics in Mario 64 still haven't been bested. Games with "platforming" elements to it these days are usually far too loose and they just compensate by magnetizing the character to whatever the developer wanted them to land on. It's too blatant and not at all organic.
Mario 64 has none of that. Missed a platform/pole by mere inches? Too bad, you missed it. And there's little BS in the physics where something happens and you genuinely don't see how that could've possibly happened.
Really wish Nintendo would make a pure sequel to Mario 64. I think it would lend itself very well to the technology advancements we've had since then.
I'd love to play it again and see how it measures up. I've been playing 3D World a lot lately, and it's the closest I think a game has ever come to feeling the same as 64. I should play 64 again so I can really see how they stack up, because 3D World is one of the best games I've played in ages.
It still has the best controls of any 3D game imo, and the open ended star system for unlocking stages and playground-like nature of its level designs makes it almost infinitely replayable. I feel like it's a game with the flexibility for users to create their own idiosyncratic play style, which makes it extremely gratifying. I think it holds up really well (it's one of a handful of games I'll regularly revisit just to fart around), and a great litmus test for people who toss around the hackneyed "nostalgia" argument indiscriminately. You don't need rose tinted glasses to recognize god tier game design.
The frame-rate wasn't as great as I remembered when I plugged my (PAL) N64 in earlier in the year. Gameplay itself holds up fine and the music is still pretty great so it's worth a revisit but maybe try out the Wii VC version over the original cart.
Cool beans. I just got a Wii U and never used the Wii VC. Can I get SM64 on the Wii U?
Mathewmatosis did pretty much the definitive review for this, breaking down every mechanic. Overall it holds up pretty well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S6myWz3Kzg
Still one of my absolute favourite games of all time and I really wish they had done a 3DS version because I would have bought that in a second.
Miyamoto really nailed it with the controls: the movement/physics are still better than almost any other 3D game.
damn, beaten! definitely watch that op, and while you are at it, watch all his over videos!
Yep. And the fact that practically no 3D games to this day still don't give you the amount of movement options present in Mario 64 is both an accomplishment and tragedy.
Level design holds up more often than not. The music and overall atmosphere of the game is still one of a kind - like most of Nintendo's N64 offerings, there's something creepily disjointed lurking underneath - though my nostalgic biases may be creeping in a bit.
18 years later, still the best launch title ever made.
Not very well. The camera is among the worst in 3D platforming history and the levels are completely barren, devoid of challenging platforming and filled with mundane objectives. Play Banjo Kazooie instead.