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[mnemonicj]

I couldn't believe how incredible the game looked. Once I started playing though, I just wanted to run around and jump on everything I saw. Even today when I play it I just run around as fast as I can and leap over and over. That sense of freedom is still so prevalent, too satisfying to put into words.

 

[freethoughtbubble]

First post sums it up. I was 12 at a blockbuster demo kiosk. I literally couldn't believe what I was playing. I felt like the game had come from the goddamn future or something.

Didn't like Mario's voice though. But that was a small quibble in an otherwise mind blowing experience.

 

[chrono01]

Initial impression:

 

[thefragrance]

Just like everyone in this thread, mind blown.

I remember my mom stopping by her friend's house for whatever reason and had me wait in the living room. Her friend offered me the tv and nintendo and I was like "nah, already have it."
Me, being the spoiled fucking child I was had no idea. I was already annoyed that my mom was taking forever and that playing the fucking nintendo wasn't going to impress me. In my mind I had already played every other snes and genesis game. It was until the friend's daughter opened the cupboard, slammed the cartridge inside that weird nintendo I had never seen and started the game like I wasn't even there. It was probably the biggest what the fuck moment in my life, seeing Mario and 3D, moving around everywhere. I was speechless-- where in the world did she get this video game and why didn't I know about it?

Soon after my mom said it was time to leave, and I was still so speechless that I probably didn't even beg for the 64 till the next day.

 

[SoulUnison]

"JESUS CHRIST OH MY GOODNESS I'M PLAYING MARIO 64 I HOPE MOM NEVER COMES BACK FROM SHOPPING AND I CAN LIVE IN THIS ELECTRONICS SECTION FOREVER IS BREATHING IMPORTANT I SHOULD PROBABLY REMEMBER TO BREATHE - Oh my fuck the demo kiosk resets after 20 minutes? Fuck you, Mario. 'Next time' is right now."

 

[score01]

After finishing playing with Marios face on the title screen I spent a large amount of time in the courtyard just running around, jumping on to trees, leaping off, swimming in the moat. I was amazed and I don't understand how someone couldn't be. There was nothing like it previously. A totally brand new experience, I even remember taking a while getting used to the new analog controls.

 

[TriAceJP]

There was never a point of Mario 64 that had me feeling like I was playing a Mario game.

To this day the game baffles me. I don't see how they came up with it.

I didn't like 3D Mario games until Galaxy.

 

[Peru]

I needed help from my friends to understand how it worked, they taught me the controls. Definitely felt like a whole new thing moving that guy around in a 3D space.

 

[ajim]

No game has had such an initial impact on me like Mario 64 did. I remember I still had a Sega Saturn at that time and played Mario 64 at my friends, and by played I meant not knowing how to hold the n64 controller at the time and just running around the castle courtyard.

But it continued to blow my mind as I went throughout the game. So good.

 

[Patrick Young]

I went to the shop with my Dad to buy a SNES and Super Mario World and discovered that the N64 just released and Super Mario 64 exists.

My mind was blown. My Dad's wallet was blown before leaving.

A week later I got Mario Kart 64.

 

[Cipherr]

Mario didn't look that much better than Jumping Flash on Playstation.

JF wasn't an ugly game, but it doesn't hold a candle to M64. Stuff like Tobal and a few others had some great visuals on PS and felt close, but not JF especially when considering the complexity and size of the levels on top of the draw distance. Just nooo... Mario 64 was soo much cleaner.

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.

That's exactly what those of us who had been playing Mario since the NES did not want though. At least a lot of us. Keep in mind by that point Mario was like a decade and a half of the exact same sort of super guided, left to right, 'fall in a pit and die', super predictable, find the 'flagpole' equivalent game.

A change was due, BIG time. Look at Zelda and how people want the WiiU/NX version to explore a more open world like nature.... It was similar. A lot of us did not want the status quo again, and gaming was moving to 3D whether we wanted it or not. Mario/MetalGear/FinalFantasy/Madden and all those other 2d franchises had to move to 3d.


In any case, playing the game was great for me, but not necessarily for the gfx. I was already messing with PC gaming and Arcades weren't quite dead yet, so I had seen better. But for a home console? The control and level design was top tier for a platformer. Nothing came close.

 

[icecold1983]

this is the most amazing game ive ever played

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.

jumping flash:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo-uBSVG7FQ

mario 64:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6tFoIUyOdU

 

[beyond_death]

I remember being blown away. This and OoT were my most memorable single player experiences.

 

[FDBK]

Mario in a full 3D environment!
Mario has a voice.
Loving the freedom of movement.
Trees kinda look like mud on a stick.
Not totally into polygon Mario.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

At the time i was like 17 or so

It felt like magic. As if Nintendo has some factory of wizards that made some futuristic device...I don't know. Magic. I was summer and the import store had a import nintendo 64 for $700 and this first time they booted up the screen...Next Level stuff and I thought, this is the greatest video game of all time.

 

[shandy706]

My younger brother and I were sitting beside each other as I started it up.

That music, running around outside the castle, leaping around, climbing trees, entering the castle, leaping into and starting the first world.....absolutely amazing.

I had played 3D games before that of course (I had my own gaming PC), but there was something about Mario in 3D with joystick controls that was just on another level. I was 14 my brother was 12.

(also Mario's environments and controls trashed Jumping Flash...so I find that comparison hilarious)

 

[Ulysses 31]