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[NeverYouMind]

I'd take the saturn library hands down over n64 these days. But back then, sm64 and zelda alone made that tough. SM64 was earth-shattering.

For the indoctrinated it may have been Earth shattering but for me it was just another item in a long line of failures following Super Mario Bros. 3.

 

[Crayon]

For the indoctrinated it may have been Earth shattering but for me it was just another item in a long line of failures following Super Mario Bros. 3.

Back then, I knew one person who had tried it and felt just like you. But damn for the rest of us it was a whole new world. Tomb Raider and Crash were just starting to figure things out, and sm64 leapfrogged them completely.

The key was the level design. Nobody really had that figured out. The inspiration was there in most games that had open maps like metroid and fps games that used items to gate things and get you around, but even that was changed appreciably for SM64. Those worlds were super dense and the way the stars got more obtuse and not simply "harder" as you went along in a given world was brilliant.

Sometime in the last 30 years you must have noticed your opinion on this is an outlier!!

 

[NeverYouMind]

Back then, I knew one person who had tried it and felt just like you. But damn for the rest of us it was a whole new world. Tomb Raider and Crash were just starting to figure things out, and sm64 leapfrogged them completely.

The key was the level design. Nobody really had that figured out. The inspiration was there in most games that had open maps like metroid and fps games that used items to gate things and get you around, but even that was changed appreciably for SM64. Those worlds were super dense and the way the stars got more obtuse and not simply "harder" as you went along in a given world was brilliant.

Sometime in the last 30 years you must have noticed your opinion on this is an outlier!!

Objectively speaking those worlds are relatively barren while being too geometric and the way acquiring stars and entering new levels is segmented kills the pacing. The biggest issue though is moment to moment gameplay. Say what you will about Crash Bandicoot's level design but controls were on point. Same can be said about Banjo Kazooie though its level design was also incredible by comparison. While I can understand being blinded by the light at the time of release you need nostalgia goggles to overlook all of its flaws even a few years after.

 

[Crayon]

Objectively speaking those worlds are relatively barren while being too geometric and the way acquiring stars and entering new levels is segmented kills the pacing. The biggest issue though is moment to moment gameplay. Say what you will about Crash Bandicoot's level design but controls were on point. Same can be said about Banjo Kazooie though its level design was also incredible by comparison. While I can understand being blinded by the light at the time of release you need nostalgia goggles to overlook all of its flaws even a few years after.

I play it all the time! Well, considering how long it's been. My last time was on the 3d all stars release. It plays great. I actually think it's a little better than odyssey thanks to the levels.

Never really played banjo, though... Maybe I should catch up on that.