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Your initial impressions playing Mario 64?

comparing Mario 64 graphics with Jumping Flash isn't just wrong, it the kind of thing that made me feel bad because someone from my species did it
 
jres80 said:
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Thread can be closed. This.
 
I was enthralled, so much so that I rented a Japanese N64 during the summer before release, played through the game, then did it again, with undiminished zeal, on 9/26/96. I'd been given a PlayStation on Christmas '95, so it's not as if I hadn't played Twisted Metal, Jumping Flash!, Doom, or Battle Arena Toshinden, but as far I was concerned, in that moment, Mario 64 was the best game I'd ever played.
 
I never played it (despite owning an N64) until 2004 with the DS version, and the original version not until 2006 with the Wii Virtual Console. That said, on both platforms my reaction was extremely positive. It's excellent game and far more timeless than it has any right to be given the circumstances. You'd think a 3D platformer released at launch in 1996 that was basically the first major game of its kind and innovated in so many ways would be way more dated after so many years, but nope.
 
Loved it. I remember that I had trouble crossing that bridge at the start of Bob-omb Battlefield. I kept falling off since I couldn't run straight.

Going from 2d to 3d for the 1st time will always be a wonderful moment. Something that new generations of gamers will never experience.
 
I enjoyed it but felt that it was overhyped given how all of these magazines were heaping endless amounts of praise upon the game. It was a lot of fun, but not this utterly mind-blowing experience.
 
I couldn't believe it. It blew me away completely. I don't think I ever made it past the first couple of worlds and I didn't care.

Then Ocarina of Time came out a couple years later and absolutely crushed my mind. OMG.
 
The most incredible game I've every played by a long mile, just moving around outside the castle was astounding. Going from the Snes\Amiga to this was just a huge generation leap.

I still to this day wish of a truly next gen remake of SM64, the 3ds version didn't really cut it.
 
I had been an NES/SNES diehard, but when Square moved to Sony I had a general sense of being let down by Nintendo for the silly decisions they'd made with the N64 hardware. And Gamefan magazine had me in this elitist headspace where 3D was always inferior to glorious hand drawn 2D gameplay. So I was against the game before I even tried it, and all Mario's silly voice samples reinforced that - this wasn't the Mario I grew up with. I did try getting into it on the DS, but I found that port borderline unplayable. TBH I don't think I ever really loved a 3D Mario until 3D World.
 
If you actually thought crash bandicoot was a good game, then I'd have to doubt that you'd played platformers before it, or you were too young to appreciate what made a good one. The controls of crash bandicoot are awful. There's no inertia to the character. The levels design is super basic.

Whereas mario 64 STILL feels great to control. And it was the first time a platformer like that had been attempted. It truly is mind blowing that they made it so right.

Crash bandicoot is the sort of game you would expect to be made at the turn of the 3D consoles coming in, Mario 64 is the sort of game you would not expect to see at that point. It had the same impact on 3D as super mario had on 2D. I.e. Fucking huge.
 
Zoz said:
comparing Mario 64 graphics with Jumping Flash isn't just wrong, it the kind of thing that made me feel bad because someone from my species did it
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You said it better than I could have. OP's PlayStation devotion at the time was clouding his judgment. :)
 
It was like a cartoon come to life. So smooth, so big, so good to control. It was the leap that can never be experiences ever again.
 
I had played and seen FPS on PC, plus Tomb Raider, so Mario64 was far from impressive to my eyes.

Magic Carpet on the other hand...
 
Beren the Empty-Handed said:
I couldn't believe it. It blew me away completely. I don't think I ever made it past the first couple of worlds and I didn't care.

Then Ocarina of Time came out a couple years later and absolutely crushed my mind. OMG.
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I still think it's crazy that Nintendo had 2 of this kind of "awe-inspiring" games in the same console generation. The transition of Nintendo's franchises to 3D really was something special. Hell, throw Metroid into that mix as well, though not as resplendent and crazy of an experience of course.
 
This camera is fucking garbage. I'm fighting it more than I'm fighting the level design. These controls suck. Why do I have to exit the level every time I get a star? This isn't like I expected. This isn't a Mario game. Where's the tight focused platforming? BAH!

I played it in 2007 on the Wii virtual console.
 
I Wanna Be The Guy said:
This camera is fucking garbage. I'm fighting it more than I'm fighting the level design. These controls suck. Why do I have to exit the level every time I get a star? This isn't like I expected. This isn't a Mario game. Where's the tight focused platforming? BAH!

I played it in 2007 on the Wii virtual console.
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Hehehe the year makes a lot of difference. Have you played any of the Mario Galaxy games?
 
jres80 said:
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On the first day of playing it my brother couldn't figure out how to beat King Bob-omb and my uncle suggested to grab him from behind, the reaction was "there's no way that could work in a videogame!"...
The gif above is the reaction we had when we actually did that.
 
It looked really cool and I wanted a 64 as a result. But my dad got me a PS1 instead lol. I was disappointed for maybe 5 seconds before I remembered what the PS1 was capable of (played Tekken at a friend's house which was mind blowing to me considering I was playing Tekken at Chuck E Cheese maybe a week before).
 
I liked the graphics but didn't really like the controls very much. Super Mario World is still my favorite Mario game to this day. I was a senior in High School when Mario64 came out I and already owned a Playstation. That was kind of my focus at the time.
 
I thought it looked stupid, 3d is gimmicky, etc, areas are too huge instead of having tight platforming like the 2d games

that was my impression until I actually played it, I enjoyed it very much after I put some time into it
 
Played it at a TRU kiosk, I was 15.

I don't remember too many of my first thoughts, I think I watched someone else play first because of a bit of a line.

I already had read lots about the game in gaming mags, and saw how the N64 had texture filtering, because I actually really hated point sampling at that time, I thought it was the worst. So I think upon seeing the graphics of Mario 64 I simply nodded and observed that it had delivered what I wanted (got a 3dfx card in 97 but that's another story).

Gameplay wise, I remember trying out climbing trees. I think I liked the thumbstick control, but again it was natural and felt right. I think I experimented with degrees of running, saw that it wasn't really a perfect curve of speed but several increments...

First visit to Mario64 made me forget about Crash Bandicoot being an acceptable platformer replacement. (Shortly after they had Crash & Nights kiosk there too)

I went back to that store about 7 times to play more before the N64 came out.
 
I had only known SMB, Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart beforehand:

1. These graphics are amazing!
2. These controls are amazing!
3. This music is amazing!
 
Filter said:
If you actually thought crash bandicoot was a good game, then I'd have to doubt that you'd played platformers before it, or you were too young to appreciate what made a good one. The controls of crash bandicoot are awful. There's no inertia to the character.
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Like 8-bit Mega Man?
 
crisdecuba said:
Hehehe the year makes a lot of difference. Have you played any of the Mario Galaxy games?
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I love the Galaxy games. Some of my favourite platformers of all time. Same for 3D World. 3D Land too to a lesser extent. Those games were all very different to 64 from a core design approach. They were linear focused mostly on platforming, which is the way I like my platformers. I think the only "open" 3D platformer I've ever really liked was Toy Story 2.
 
I first played it on a DS as a kid, I had no idea it was a remake. I do remember loving the mini-games, but the main game itself was too confusing for me.
 
HMD said:
I first played it on a DS as a kid, I had no idea it was a remake. I do remember loving the mini-games, but the main game itself was too confusing for me.
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Those minigames were also in NSMB and they truly were the GOAT. I was so addicted to those minigames it's not even funny.
 
The first time I played Super Mario 64 was at a dentist's office. The initial sight of Mario's polygonal head on the start screen was amazing in a tech demo sort-of-way, and the weird three-pronged controller was bemusing at first glance. But the real magic happened when I pressed the start button, the game started, and I realized I had to hold the controller in the center and use that strange mini-joystick they'd put on it. It was a truly mind-blowing gaming experience unlike any I've had before or since; just the simple act of running around as Mario, swimming, jumping, etc. inspired a sense of awe at how right it felt. It's easy to take for granted how much SM64 did for 3D games; it just about single-handedly invented the template for how modern 3D games controlled, along with the innovation of the analog stick.

I think some of the positive reaction to Breath of the Wild has been because it's invoking similar feelings to what SM64 did. It's like a kind of virtual physics sandbox where anything feels possible and you really can't predict what's around the next corner. Of course, other people have probably experienced this same feeling with many other games, for instance Minecraft for children today. But for me Super Mario 64 completely changed my ideas of what was possible in video games.
 
The ghost mansion/carousel was scary to me when I played it as a kid
I was 17

My initial reaction to playing the game was a feeling of being overwhelmed "Where to go? You can go everywhere? How do I get on top of the castle?"
 
"What? How is my 2D Mario in a fully 3D world?" THAT blew me away. That and the fact that the game begins at Princess Peach's castle and you can explore the castle and surprise, surprise: You can leap into a painting, and you're off to a whole different level! All levels felt like they had their own atmosphere, and that kept the game fresh and exciting till the end.
 
I was freaking blown away when I played it, and it stitched remains in my opinion the best platformer I have ever played.

The only other game that came close to impressing me as much was when I played for the first time was Halo, and maybe Zelda twilight princess (though to be fair, TP was my first ever Zelda, so not saying it is the best in the series)
 
I knew it was a landmark in gaming history. If anything I underestimated just how much it would change the gaming landscape

Also hats off to the programmers, the lead programmer was under so much pressure getting something groundbreaking built in so little time he burnt out and left the business. Thank you!!
 
jres80 said:
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I remember going for some choir practice at a family friend's place. Two of the older kids were playing it after practice on a huge TV. My mind was just blown away by the spectacle of it. I had never seen a 3D platformer title of such scope. My experience with 3D was limited to a couple of TV shows and very few PC titles. The crispness of Mario 64's animation and how Mario was moving in a fully 3D plane was just insane to me.

When I see kids amazed by various things today my mind associates it with the amazement I had seeing Mario 64. That's the power of Mario 64
 
I've played it in a friends house, mind this was already a few years into the (next) generation, maybe like 2001, around 11 years old. I still only had a playstation at the time.
I don't really remember much, only that I preferred Mystical Ninja Goemon that was the other game my friend had.
Edit: I do remember doing the wall kick and thinking that was neat.
 
I remember being amazed, but at the same time I couldn't believe there were only 15 levels since SMW had 96. That bit disappointed me.

I consider SM3DW the best 3D Mario precisely because it plays more like a Super Mario Bros. game.

Still, I recently replayed 64 with my son and he loved it just as much as 3D World, so it must be doing something right.
 
It was nothing short of a revelation. It completely changed my view on what games were capable of--I could tell that things would never be the same. Nintendo's 1st party output was beast mode in the 90s but Mario 64 was the biggest acheivement to me.

It has been a long time since any individual game has made me feel that way.
 
I was on a school trip to Italy and walked into a random arcade. They had a bunch of TVs running imported N64 systems from Japan (this is before it was out in America) playing Mario 64. It blew my mind. It felt like playing a Pixar movie compared to everything before it. I couldn't believe how smooth the frame rate and how great the IQ was compared to what I had been playing on PSX. It is definitely the most impressed I've ever been with the technology on a new system.
 
I was mind blown when I first saw it being played at somebody's house, up until then I only played Mario games on the NES so I was excited as all hell when I finally got it for Christmas alongside Zelda OoT which I didn't know much about. I ended being more hooked on OoT and didn't finish SM64 until years later on the DS.
 
I'll be honest, I didn't care for it. In my defense I was barely playing games at the time as I was in high school and discovered the wonders of girls and parties - so I was mostly into whatever kind of games were tolerated at gatherings which were usually fighting and sports games.

I did try revisiting it years later but by then I don't think it aged well. I had trouble performing simple things like jumping onto platforms - I just couldn't grasp the way they approached 3D. I.E. I died a lot and gave up.
 
It was pretty mindblowing at the time entering in to a full 3D world. I got it for my birthday and remember playing it all day almost nonstop.
 
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