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Your initial impressions playing Mario 64?

Initially it didn't blow me away. It was when I got to the later levels and Bowser fights when the game really started to impress me.

Sonic Adventure blew me more away than Mario 64.
 
Phediuk said:
Judging from that Super Mario World topic, there seems to be a widespread conception of this game as a religious experience that was universally awe-inspiring, and that it was singularly looked upon as the greatest leap in game design history.

That doesn't really gel with my experience at the time, though. I remember being disappointed by Mario 64 when I first played. The graphics were nice but didn't melt my brain or anything; there had been much better looking games in the arcade for a few years by that point, and even on consoles, Mario didn't look that much better than Jumping Flash on Playstation. I found the open-world structure confusing and didn't like having to wander around the levels looking for stars. I just wanted a straightforward action game like the previous Marios. I also didn't like how they removed features from previous games, like fire flowers, invincibility stars, and Yoshi. Crash Bandicoot was more or less what I had envisioned a 3D Mario game to be, and so I liked that game a lot more.

I'm not saying I hate Mario 64 or anything; I came to like it after I played more of it. I may even like it more now than Crash. But my first impressions of it were terrible. Also, I fully admit that I was way more into the Playstation's library in general by that point and was getting more interested in more cinematic games like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider. Mario felt a bit old hat even then.

So I want to know what other people thought about Mario 64 when it was brand new.
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I was the exact opposite to this.

Tomb Raider and Crash felt dreadful to control after playing Super Mario 64. Mario was quite simply a generation ahead in terms of gameplay and control. Tomb Raider especially was unplayable to me after sampling the delights of true 3D movement.

Graphically, I thought Mario looked better as Crash didn't look great even then and Tomb Raider was a bit fuzzy and jaggy. The test of time gives this one to Mario 64 as well, which has aged so much better.
 
Loved it as a kid, but my personal "religious experiences" were Zelda: OoT and Goldeneye. Though there is no denying the impact SM64 has made on the industry, this game is far from my favourite N64 game.
 
I remember my parents having tricked me by only giving a few small presents for my birthday that year (a few days before the N64 launch). I opened the last box to find a receipt in it. At first I thought they had rented me an N64 and was pretty disappointed. After having a childish tantrum, I realised they had pre-ordered the system and Mario 64 and Pilotwings for me :P Picking it up at Toys R' Us a few days later is one of my fondest gaming memories.
 
Leondexter said:
I'd been playing Playstation and Saturn games for over a year by that point, so the graphics, while impressive, didn't blow me away.

But the freedom did. It had been a bit of a rocky transition into 3D to that point, particularly for 3rd person games. My thought upon playing Mario 64 was "this is the first game to do this right". I couldn't believe how natural and near-perfect it felt to control Mario and move around the world.

Earlier 3rd person games I'd tried, like Fade to Black, were a total chore to control. Even the excellent Tomb Raider, which arrived soon after, used a locked camera and felt primitive and out of date compared to Mario 64. That feeling persisted for years, really, while the industry caught up to the example they'd been given.
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I thought Tomb Raider was pretty crazy when it was first released as well actually haha...the size of the levels impressed me I think?
 
Jasbasse said:
Initially it didn't blow me away. It was when I got to the later levels and Bowser fights when the game really started to impress me.

Sonic Adventure blew me more away than Mario 64.
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This is just how I felt at the time,and I wasn't a Sonic fan at all. SA had much more of an initial impact on me, everything was so fluid and spectacular. The mid to late game was where it all got a little tedious.

To be honest I didnt really get into Mario 64 until a few years later when I decided to get all the stars. There was a different level of challenge to it that I enjoyed a lot.

There were only 2 years or so between me playing Mario 64 and then getting my DC and Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure. The technical leap was vast in that short space of time.
 
jres80 said:
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Hate to quote it again, but it's a perfect first reply.

One of the most exciting experiences in my gaming life :)
 
Imported the game along with the console (and Pilotwings 64) right after the Japanese launch. My friends and I were blown away. Good times.
 
g.r.e. said:
"How do I control this? This game sucks, I want to use the cross!"
I was around ten, and it was my first experience with a full 3D platform game. The analog stick took some time getting used to, but wow if it wasn't worth it!
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I remember that exact experience when playing Medal of Honour Frontline for the first time, which was my first PS2 game an thus the first game that ever forced me to use the analog stick. That dual analog setup was weird, man.
 
First thought: Who the fuck designed this controller?!

Second thought: exact same thing as the first post.

I really did take me a while to get used to the controls though and the N64 Batarang just made it harder to adapt to.
 
UpDownLeftRight said:
First thought: Who the fuck designed this controller?!

Second thought: exact same thing as the first post.

I really did take me a while to get used to the controls though and the N64 Batarang just made it harder to adapt to.
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What did you find difficult? You just held the middle handle if you were using the analogue.
 
My first impression of the game was playing it at a store, the TV up high, having to look up and strain my neck cause the controller was so close underneath it and not caring at all as it blew me away. Play as long as I could until some other kid wanted a turn and then wait to play again. One of the few times in gaming where something actually blew me away and the phrase "game changer" is actually true.
 
Off topic but speaking of N64 and minds being blown, Blast Corps did the same for me.

It was maybe a personal thing...as a kid I just wanted to BREAK SHIT in games for some reason and that game was the first I ever got my hands on where you could just go wild and literally destroy everything. It was so much fun.
 
My friend had seen Mario 64 first, and kept saying the game was different because it was "3D", but I just couldn't wrap my mind around what he meant, even after having seen other 3D games before.

I ended up not buying it until much later (as in years later), but needlessly to say the first time I actually saw it with my own eyes it still blew me away.
 
Somehow I came to the game pretty late, only ever tried it at a friends' house like years after release.

The graphics and controls didn't wow me - funnily enough, the level design did. That opening sequence of seeing the castle then just being dropped in the park/courtyard in front of it is legendary. You can go any direction, on a 3D plane. That was A) such a novelty then, and B) still a perfect introduction to a game's mechanics. God-tier level design.
 
Yep. First post is right. It blew my mind. I was about 15-16 i think when it came out. I attribute it to being the reason i performed poorly in my GCSE's.
 
Because I played some 3D game on playstation before, I thought 3D games were forever doomed to control like shit, so I was pretty prejudiced agains them. Also I didn't care for consoles.

The controls blew my mind, made me instantly become a Nintendo fanboy and buy an N64 the very next day.
 
g.r.e. said:
"How do I control this? This game sucks, I want to use the cross!"
I was around ten, and it was my first experience with a full 3D platform game. The analog stick took some time getting used to, but wow if it wasn't worth it!
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Same experience.

All of my friends were in love with it, so I kept trying until eventually I learned to control Mario.
 
First post in this thread is the most perfect response ever. That's exactly how I felt. I was on my cousins house and he just came home and randomly turned on the N64. Didn't even knew he had one and then he begin playing Mario 64 and HOOOOLY CRAP. It set a before and after in my life, literally! I didn't even wanted to play I was so amazed just by watching Mario running, jumping and move in true 3D. I spend like an hour just sitting there not thinking about anything else except for how amazing that game was. I had 8 years old at that time.
 
Played the hell out of it when my best friend got it at launch. I had never been a big fan of 16bit stuff, unlike most people on Gaf, but the N64 impressed me so much that I saved every penny until I could buy one. Which took a while as an 8 year old kid.

Mario 64 is the reason why I have a dedicated game room in my house, 1500+ games, and why E3 is my favorite time of the year.
 
I was 8 when it came out. I loved Mario 64 so much. Being able to tip toe and move with such precision was mind blowing to me. It really felt like a dream game that I couldn't believe was real. I played with my older brother for over an hour before we even figured out how to enter levels. We just played on the trees and swam in the moat and jumped around.

It felt like an unbelievable leap from the SNES and Genesis.
 
rex said:
If you look at Banjo Kazooie and Sunshine (in the main stages) you'll notice one peculiar thing: an almost complete lack of traditional platforming obstacles.

Rotating platforms. Spinning blocks. Sinking stands. Ground that slips away and falls beneath your fit. From what I remember of Banjo, it has almost none of this. Sunshine has a bit more, but it's few and far between, and it rarely places a series of them deliberately between you and your objective.

The (top part) of the Pianta village level is pure Banjo. A flat, square grid with a bunch of hills placed haphazardly around the map. No platforming obstacles . Certainly nothing resembling a path you have to take. Gelato beach is the same thing. It's as if Rare and then EAD decided to make a bunch of hub levels as the main levels.

Mario 64 on the other hand is an extremely clever little bastard. Many of the levels are spirals with strong vertical elements. A hilltop. A fortress. A snowy mountain. A tall tall mountain. A clock. It takes a star, and it puts it at the top, or sometimes at the bottom of the level. You've got to work to get it. You have to pass the traditional obstacles the designers purposefully put in front of you on an obvious path. Off the beaten path are opportunities for exploration and hence your other stars.

But, that's only half the story. The tight spiraling structure of a Whomp's Fortress or Tick Tock Clock means endless opportunities for creative platforming. And Mario's mechanics allow you to take full advantage of them.

Mario 64 never forgot it was a platformer. Maneuvering up and down Whomp's Fortress, with its vertical structure and obstacles and enemies which are all trying to kill you, is a lot more interesting to me than meandering around Gelato Beach with its static trees and static beach houses and static mountain path. I still think Mario 64 is the only game to get open 3D platforming stage design correct.
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Toadthemushroom said:
Brilliant post, eloquently explained.

I was trying to make this point in the other, newer 20th anniversary thread for the game. What Mario 64 focuses on is traversal, and the sheer joy of experimenting with the controls, mastering Mario's moves and coming up with new ways to traverse the environment.

Games like Banjo are great, but the focus isn't on sheer traversal, and its physics engine and controls don't allow for a near infinite number of possibilities to tackle each and every platform you come across. Banjo's core focus is on collecting various items, which also detracts from playing the game out of sheer experimentation. Mario 64 often never gives the player an explicit task to pursue, which means you, as a player, enters each level looking to experiment.

Mario 64 is such a playful game, a game that never gets old to play around with. It's why it's impossible to walk up to that castle door at the beginning without messing with the controls or pulling off a few moves.
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Toadthemushroom brought this nostalgia back to life!! 2 year old thread!

Seriously though, I haven't talked about this in years, but I bought the N64 the day it came out, the first console I waited in line for. I had read all about Mario 64, but, wow, was not prepared for the magic that happened when I first loaded it up. It was amazing. It was then that I truly fell in love with "open world" games, with just the little taste of being able to run around and play with the environment. I spent like 20 minutes playing around in the courtyard, getting the moves and camera down, and just messing around. I was shocked to hear recorded voice, and was blown away by the clean ass polygons.

I don't think I've had a video game experience like that since then, although I can still remember the day I brought Golden Eye home and how unbelievably cool and mind blowing the first 40 minutes of that game was for me, when I shot that guard at the top of the tower through the glass, the first shot blew his weapon out of his hand and the second shot hit him in the head, both accompanied by two tiny holes in the glass.... I digress.... Mario 64 blew my fucking mind.
 
I played Mario 64 just after Ocarina of Time, so wasn't that great, but I can see why people get nuts

Also, the best water level music is in Mario 64, so yeah
 
I was young when the game came out, and I never beat it as a kid, but I was having a blast when I played it for the first time. It was the only game I played for awhile once I got it even though I never got further than Tiny-Huge Island (I think I was 3 and my sister got it for Xmas).
 
Jaw dropped.
Now knowing this was 20 years ago, I know I was between 6-7 years old.
I saw it at my friend's/enemie's (yep) house,

I couldn't believe it.
I wasn't able to stop thinking about the N64 and I specifically remember really being into the characters on the N64 box.

First time I saw real 3D. I was torn between spending my saved pocket money on a N64 or PS1. I went with PS1 because of Spyro -- The counter point being Banjo-Kazooie, I eventually played BK, and I still love it to this day. Same goes for Mario on N64.

Crazy times.
 
It absolutely blew my mind. It was so far beyond everything I had played up to that moment...

I was a NES / Mega Drive player who had only recently built a weak PC and was still using it mainly for shareware.

As glorious as 1996 was for PC gaming, playing SM64 at a friend's house was a generation-defining experience. I never got to own it, or a Nintendo console after the NES, so perhaps my perspective is exaggerated.
 
MAGIC, fucking MAGIC. There was a special gaming store that had all this sick imported shit from Japan that I would visit all the time back in 95.

They had recieved a N64 from JAPAN and were selling it for 900 Canadian dollars but had Mario 64 running.

My first time playing it was the swimming level with the Eel. First time I picked it up I thought oh this looks okay, then I took a dive and went deeper into the level.

I couldn't believe that I could explore all that space, my mouth was literally on the floor the whole time.

Fucking Magic I tell you, I literally counted down the days to when the N64 was released in Canada and day 1 with Mario 64 I bought that shit at 10:00 AM at the local Toys R Us.


edit: this is an old thread, which I've probably already posted in lol.
 
My feelings on Mario 64 actually got me in a bit of trouble back in the GameFan days. Everybody at the magazine who had tried it early was raving about it, so while I wasn't really a huge Nintendo fan at that point, I went out and got an N64 and Mario 64 on launch day.

I was so, so bored by it. I could see why other people might like it, but man, I couldn't stand it. My coworkers thought I was insane.
 
My feelings are a bit mixed. I didn't grow up on Nintendo, and I while I really wanted to play it, when I did get to play it at store kiosks, I didn't really see what the big deal was. I really enjoyed my time with it in the later years but I had to undo the mass amount of hype at the time and reception from my head to be able to fully enjoy it. I had to completely separate myself from the hype to see it for what it was, and once I did that it became a game I thoroughly enjoyed.

I remember a kid brought his N64 during my birthday and he didn't let any of us play the game. The rest of us just sat there. I don't remember being amazed, but I was pretty peeved that he wasn't letting me give it a try at my own birthday party.

So maybe my opinion of the game is biased and I just have a bad memory. I don't know.

Zelda Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy VII, and Metal Gear Solid were what blew my mind back then.
 
I was blown away by it. I'm kinda surprised at the number of people who have been saying they didn't know how to control Mario due to the analog stick, bad controller, etc. because I never experienced any of those issues. It immediately felt natural to use.

The graphics were incredible. Nothing up until that point really came close to it.
 
I thought it was fun, but I don't remember being completely blown away by it. Always seemed like a natural progression to me.

Banjo-Kazooie is and always will be the better game.
 
I had a sleepover birthday party in 1996 (my 11th birthday), and my parents rented an N64 and SM64 from Blockbuster for us to stay up all night playing.

We all had our minds collectively blown at the same time. None of us had played anything more than a few minutes of the demo kiosks at Toys R Us. It was a very memorable birthday.
 
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