Mario 64 or Mario Galaxy - which was better for their time?

I'm going with Mario 64. The open world aspect that encouraged exploration and finding new levels and secrets was really exciting. I also felt the game didn't spoon feed you. Mario Galaxy is a great game, but it doesn't have the same aura. Also, the nunchuck is hit or miss for me. Think I would've prefered a regular controller. You, SW?

Mario 64

For its time? Mario 64. It set a brand new paradigm that no other console game in history has, except for maybe the original Mario Bros.

64. It single handedly changed video games.

Galaxy on the other hand is timeless.

64. With the 3D and all that. Pretty important time.

Regardless, anyone saying they think 64 is better than Galaxy is out of their mind. Being a hipster is not cool anymore.

@freedomfreak: lol come on, dude

Mario Galaxy.

64 is fake great, Galaxy was legit great. 64 had massive free passes for being revolutionary, but it was so fundamentally outclassed by the previous Mario games as soon as you got over the "OMG it's 3D factor". Galaxy was great, and still is great. It's only drawback is that it's super easy, and thus Galaxy 2 clowns it, but otherwise it was excellent from day 1, and has stayed excellent.

Mario 64 always had its lame level design, iffy camera, shitty swimming, and lazy filler even back then. It didn't "age" it just was never that good because 3D gaming naturally had such low ass standards. Don't get revolutionary (which yes Mario 64 is) with actually fucking great, because if it was, it would still hold strong. The likes of OG Mario Bros, Mario 3, and Super Mario World? those still hold up strong.

Facts, that is what I speak.

Mario 64 was more innovative.

Mario Galaxy was much higher quality and more polished.

Galaxy is the better game, 64 is the more "important" game.

Yeah, Galaxy is just a better game than 64, anyone saying otherwise is kidding themselves.

lol ok

You lose credibility entirely for thinking 64 is better than Galaxy

This plus a lot of Mario games are better then Mario 64.

64 is like The Jazz Singer and Galaxy is like Citizen Kane.

Ok, calling 64 The Jazz Singer might be too harsh, but you get the point.

Mario 64 was a breakthrough, Galaxy is just an improved game based on that very same original formula. So of-course Mario 64 is a much more important game than Galaxy could ever be... What a stupid question seriously.

lol solid. Galaxy is GOAT compared to 64. But 64 is good too

Mario 64. It wasn't just revolutionary, it was also an incredible game. Even to this day it is amongst the best, if not THE best as far as 3D control. The acrobatic capability in 64 are more complex and require more finesse than the Galaxy series. Nintendo started to tone this down over time, probably in fear of navigating the more complex levels. Sunshine is up there but the long jump really added risk to player momentum.

thank you

64.

Galaxy 2 is better than both.

Mechanics are one part of the gameplay. Sunshine has the deepest jumping mechanics in the franchise, still doesn't stop it from being a bad game, at the least a lesser one.

The Galaxy games are more creative, have more variety, and all around more consistent platformers. Mario 64 is almost universally dependent on its mecahnics, and back in the 90s when 3D games were mechanics or bust, that flew. But more and more games and gameplay in general has gone beyond just the mechanics and more to the entire composition. And Galaxy's composition clowns Mario 64.

64 had the greatest impact in its time, Galaxy is unquestionably the better game and the current standard-bearer for 3D platformers

64 is the more important game, but Galaxy is better in every way possible. Galaxy 2 is that much better than Galaxy 1 and is the standard for all 3D platformers now. I'm not sure if we will ever get a game as good as Galaxy 2 for a long time.

I have no clue how people can think that 64 is even in the same league. We must be playing different games.

Creative in what sense? Adapting 2d platforming design to the 3d space? Mario 64 created how 3d was controlled by the player, in a platformer. Not sure how something can be more creative than that. ALL of these games are great. Mario 64 and Sunshine have a more open ended approach for the player. The goals offer more creative freedom to the player, while Galaxy is more in the vein of "now here comes the level and complete it." Neither is wrong they are just different.

And imo it is a MASSIVE accomplishement for a game to spark interest in the sense of players asking themselves things like, "well that is there. Maybe if I do this I can get there and do that," and have a self discovery moment in a videogame by thinking outside the box. The mechanics are the most important part.

I'd also go against claiming Galaxy's "composition" as you say "clowns" Mario 64. Galaxy is somewhat all over the place. It plays to past games in the series as far as design and music. There are stretches of random gravity levels which rely on two other peripherals to function properly. And they do most of the time--though even as a massive fan of the series I will say that depending on where I was sitting I'd get that edge of screen effect with the wiimote.

Mario 64 on the other hand brought in fresh design, a great skill cap, a new structure to furthering oneself in a game, and all-new music. As an experience I think Mario 64 is at the tops, perhaps. It stands on its own.

Mario 64. That game actually revolutionized last I checked.

Revolutionary =/= greatness.

Galaxy is a better game even years after release than SM64 was on day one.

SM64 was a landmark title, but that doesn't give it a free pass. It was outclassed by both its predecessors and sequels, multiple times over.

If it makes you feel better, it's a better game than Sunshine and SMB2, congrats!

I am glad to see you're finally conceding on this subject though OP. Finally realizing that the SMG games curb stomp SM64, so you changed the argument into "for their time!" instead of keeping it direct.

We're making progress here. Next time just ask if it's the best 64 bit Mario game and you'll have a winner.

Mario 64 and also it's my favorite 3D Mario game.

Joke topic?

Good lord, this is like asking if Pit Fighter was a better game for its time than Street Fighter 4.

64 for its time, even though it's a POS now.

Super Mario 64 obviously.

Mario 64, it was revolutionary for its time.

Super Mario 64 was more revolutionary than Mario Galaxy.

To me personally, 64 wasn't the great Mario Successor. I think people thought 64 was for Mario what OOT was for Zelda, but I never believed it. I think Super Mario Galaxy is Mario in 3d how it was supposed to be. So Galaxy means more to me than 64. In fact, I thought Super Mario Sunshine was far more enjoyable than 64.

But it is silly to ignore how big 64 was when it came out, though I still think OOT for it's time was the pinnacle of 3d gaming. Then Banjo Tooie came out and made Mario 64 irrelevant

Mario 64 but Galaxy did not stand a chance to win this because the transition from 2D to 3D was so meaningful to gaming.
We will get more transitions like that. Such as the transition to games programmed with quantum computing.
And the transition to games that our minds confuse with reality. (Sense of being, global motion capture vault and realistic sound behaviour.)

64 was more revolutionary, but Galaxy is the overall better game.

I never did like Mario 64 but there is no doubt that it holds more importance in the timeline of gaming.. the better game is Galaxy... and it isn't even close in my book, but Mario 64 takes the importance factor home.

Mario 64 more revolutionary/important at time. Galaxy 1/2 better game

64. If you were there when it came out it was the 2nd coming of Christ. People were acting like life itself had changed. The people at the Sony/Sega offices were playing it. Everyone was playing it.

For its time? Super Mario 64

Which will age better? Mario Galaxy

hell yea, that and crash bandicoot. great imes

Easily Mario 64, for its time it was freaking amazing

Haha. As fun as it is, nobody was acting like Crash Bandicoot was the 2nd coming of Christ.

64 was considered "better" because it was first. But looking back, it's not a great game. The swimming was not platforming and was tedious as hell (and took up a large part of the game). Galaxy and Galaxy 2 both distilled the point of the games down into their simplest and most concentrated form... you know, platforming.

"Adventure" and "exploration" isn't what platforming is. That's action-adventure, and it's been done a million times better than Mario 64. Hell, look towards Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask if you want quality adventure and exploration. And that's just on the N64.

Mario 64 was a fun time that a lot of people look back on fondly because of nostalgia (and being their first venture into a 3D space, it was mine as well). But it's not a good game in terms of it's fundamental parts. Galaxy is an outstanding game. Galaxy 2 was leagues better.

Hell, I think the "Throwback Galaxy" in Galaxy 2 illustrates extremely well just how poorly Mario 64 stacks up against the level design in Galaxy 2.

Galaxy of course. M64 was a grand adventure when it was first released and showed everyone just how amazing 3D gaming could be but it has aged like...milk, really. Seriously, go back and play M64 and realize how shit the camera is (compared to today's standards) and how uninspired the level designs are compared to it's 2D predecessors. I still love the game, though.

Ahh Nintendo fanboys.

No one did that with mario 64 either other than a few Nintendo fas who grew up the with SNES that got jobs as reviewers. And in America only.

Guys, just ignore TigerSuperman if you are tempted to reply to him. He's an infamous shitposter who used to spam the retro games board with alts. It was actually kind of crazy how many alts this guy created.

I legitimately yawned at this bait.

GR8 B8 M8 I R8 0/8

I remember "fondly." Emerald_Warrior, Shenmue_Jehuti, Dudersaper and numerous others put up with it too.

Mario 64, no question. When it came out, a lot of gamers and critics were hailing it to be the greatest game of all time. It set the standard for modern 3D gaming. However, while Mario 64 was the more revolutionary game, that also meant many games later imitated it and improved on it, and so it's aged worse as a result. On the other hand, Mario Galaxy hasn't been imitated much, so it still feels fresh and has aged better as a result.