Mario 64 hasn't aged well?

Graphics aside, obviously. Note that i've never played it before 2012. 

So, i've ben playing Mario 64 in short bursts (15min. here, 10 min. there, etc.) wen i've had the time.. and i cannot get the complaints about the controls and the camera. To me, they feel good. Notgreat, mind you, but good. The controls are solid, intuitive, i can easily jump with accuracy anywhere. I can slow down wen i want to, i can run wen i want to, and so on. 

The camera is fine aswell, i never had a problem with it, it's almost always were i want it to be, and wen it's not, i can move it around until i get a satisfying position - actually, i think the camera is far better than the one in Banjo Kazooie because i think it's better designed.

There's a crap ton of content to play with aswell.. the framerate is rock solid.. Honestly, i think that it's one of the few on the N64 (i'm not a big fan of the N64) that not only aged extremely well, but it's fun as hell to play. 

Sure, Galaxy is far better, but these are completely different games. Different level design, different sound design, completely different all around. Just because Galaxy (or Sunshine) exists doesn't mean Mario 64 isn't worth playing. 

I played it recently and its still insanely fun. 

It's aged terribly. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the poster child of badly aged N64 games next to Golden Eye. The input lag and the clunky controls make it feel like I'm trying to maneuver a tank.

It's aged terribly. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the poster child of badly aged N64 games next to Golden Eye. The input lag and the clunky controls make it feel like I'm trying to maneuver a tank.

Renegade_Fury

I completely agree about Goldeneye. Horrible controls and a absolutely horrible framerate. Like i said, i'm not a fan of the N64, but, man, i just cannot comprehend why you'd think that about Mario 64. 

I can't even argue against your points, because the entirety of my experience completely contradicts yours. To me, the controls are far from clunky, and i really haven't noticed any input lag.. They're good, they're not great, but they're good and never hindered my enjoyment. 

Mario 64 is one of the few reasons why i still have the console in the first place. I'm going to play the game for about an hour or two, and get back to this thread to see some more opinions. 

[QUOTE="Renegade_Fury"]

It's aged terribly. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the poster child of badly aged N64 games next to Golden Eye. The input lag and the clunky controls make it feel like I'm trying to maneuver a tank.

Lucianu

I completely agree about Goldeneye. Horrible controls and a absolutely horrible framerate. Like i said, i'm not a fan of the N64, but, man, i just cannot comprehend why you'd think that about Mario 64. 

I can't even argue against your points, because the entirety of my experience completely contradicts yours. To me, the controls are far from clunky, and i really haven't noticed any input lag.. They're good, they're not great, but they're good and never hindered my enjoyment. 

Mario 64 is one of the few reasons why i still have the console in the first place. I'm going to play the game for about an hour or two, and get back to this thread to see some more opinions. 

Well the only thing I can say is we probably just have a different level of tolerance for 3D controls. I don't even have a bias against the N64, because if I don't take time into account, it's my second favorite console of all time. Just play throwback galaxy in SMG2 and SM64 back to back, and that's pretty much my mindset.

It is still the best Mario game to date :).  People say Galaxy 2 has so much variety, and it does, but it still also has more restrictions in other areas than 64 does.  I prefer 64's more open world's and massive amount of variety in each world. 

[QUOTE="Renegade_Fury"]

It's aged terribly. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the poster child of badly aged N64 games next to Golden Eye. The input lag and the clunky controls make it feel like I'm trying to maneuver a tank.

Lucianu

I completely agree about Goldeneye. Horrible controls and a absolutely horrible framerate. Like i said, i'm not a fan of the N64, but, man, i just cannot comprehend why you'd think that about Mario 64. 

I can't even argue against your points, because the entirety of my experience completely contradicts yours. To me, the controls are far from clunky, and i really haven't noticed any input lag.. They're good, they're not great, but they're good and never hindered my enjoyment. 

Mario 64 is one of the few reasons why i still have the console in the first place. I'm going to play the game for about an hour or two, and get back to this thread to see some more opinions. 

Agreed.  Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask are all amazing even on today's standards.  Goldeneye however aged poorly, as did Perfect Dark (though the content in the game is still phenomenal).

I don't think so, it's still quite fun.

Mario 64 was one of THE first 3D platformers ever, so yeah it's not without it's technical and physics problems.  Also, Galaxy does outshine it in some ways.  But I think Mario 64 is still an excellent game, and it's core it hasn't aged too much.

I think that Super Mario 64 is one of the best aging Nintendo 64 games.  Not only that, it's one of the best aging early 3D games period.  It's a game that is near perfectly optimized for the 64 hardware.  The framerate is rock solid.  The controls are as responsive as any game I've ever played.  The mechanics of the game are as smooth as butter.  This is a game that I go back and play at least once every couple years and it holds up just as well as the day I originally played it at launch. 

In terms of flat out playability and responsiveness, Super Mario 64 outshines any other platformer on the system.  Games like Conker, Banjo and DK64 are very creative with some great platforming ideas, but they're held back by the same things so many other N64 games are held back by; Sluggish gameplay and choppy framerates. 

Mario 64 was one of THE first 3D platformers ever,drekula2

[QUOTE="drekula2"]

Mario 64 was one of THE first 3D platformers ever,TigerSpiderman

I still play the DS version sometimes. I think it's aged fine. 

[QUOTE="TigerSpiderman"][QUOTE="drekula2"]

Mario 64 was one of THE first 3D platformers ever,wiifan001

If the camera controls and jump-accuracy are as good as you say, that already makes it a solid 3D platformer.

It has not aged well especially after playing the Galaxy games.

In terms of the game itself, even back in the N64 era, I thought it was my least favorite main Mario game. It's not a bad game but there were other platformers at the time that I still preferred over it.

It's aged as good as you can expect it to.  Great games don't go bad with age, newer games just get better.  I could pick up Mario 64 as easily now as I could when it came out.

Speaking of the camera, it was good enough that Rareware modeled their camera's after it for just about every game they put out on the N64, I think that says it all.

I feel that it aged well. I still play to this day and it's always fun for me.

I didn't play it until about a year ago. What killed it for me was the awful camera, and this is coming from someone who likes the older silent hill games. what made it worse is that the n64 controller is not built with camera adjustment in mind. It was the one of the first of its kind, so these problems are par for the course, but i'd hardly call it a classic.

Graphics aside, obviously. Note that i've never played it before 2012. Lucianu

[QUOTE="Lucianu"]

Graphics aside, obviously. Note that i've never played it before 2012. Jakandsigz

Hell if i remember the exact year, but i'm certain it wasn't this year.

[QUOTE="Jakandsigz"][QUOTE="Lucianu"]

Graphics aside, obviously. Note that i've never played it before 2012. Lucianu

Hell if i remember the exact year, but i'm certain it wasn't this year.

Don't believe that anyone thought it aged poorly.  I still need to try SM64DS on my 3DS... The only issue I had was with the controls, and I can imagine the circle pad does wonders for it.

I'd say it's probably one of the only N64 games that, aside from graphics, seems to have gotten better over time.

I never could find a problem with the game aside from an annoying camera every once and a while. The controls were and still are fluent, the levels are still fun to play, and the music is great (especially Dire, Dire Docks). The hatred just seems to come down to people who either REALLY overplay the problems with the camera or just can't use the N64 controller all that well, at least in my experience.

I didn't play it until about a year ago. What killed it for me was the awful camera, and this is coming from someone who likes the older silent hill games. what made it worse is that the n64 controller is not built with camera adjustment in mind. It was the one of the first of its kind, so these problems are par for the course, but i'd hardly call it a classic.

Jimn_tonic

Actually, the controller was entirely built around Mario 64. The C buttons were added in solely for the camera.

I'd say it's probably one of the only N64 games that, aside from graphics, seems to have gotten better over time.

I never could find a problem with the game aside from an annoying camera every once and a while. The controls were and still are fluent, the levels are still fun to play, and the music is great (especially Dire, Dire Docks). The hatred just seems to come down to people who either REALLY overplay the problems with the camera or just can't use the N64 controller all that well, at least in my experience.

WiiCubeM1

I agree with everything you said about the game. Yeah the camera isn't perfect but the game is still great to this day and I'm never tired of playing it. It's that much fun. It seems that the people who hate this game is because of them playing the Galaxy series and feel that it makes SM64 bad and outdated for some reason. I liked the Galaxy games but I still think that SM64 is the best 3D Mario game in my opinion. I just don't know why after the Galaxy games all of a sudden the Mario fans rip into this one?

Graphics aside, obviously. Note that i've never played it before 2012. 

So, i've ben playing Mario 64 in short bursts (15min. here, 10 min. there, etc.) wen i've had the time.. and i cannot get the complaints about the controls and the camera. To me, they feel good. Notgreat, mind you, but good. The controls are solid, intuitive, i can easily jump with accuracy anywhere. I can slow down wen i want to, i can run wen i want to, and so on. 

The camera is fine aswell, i never had a problem with it, it's almost always were i want it to be, and wen it's not, i can move it around until i get a satisfying position - actually, i think the camera is far better than the one in Banjo Kazooie because i think it's better designed.

There's a crap ton of content to play with aswell.. the framerate is rock solid.. Honestly, i think that it's one of the few on the N64 (i'm not a big fan of the N64) that not only aged extremely well, but it's fun as hell to play. 

Sure, Galaxy is far better, but these are completely different games. Different level design, different sound design, completely different all around. Just because Galaxy (or Sunshine) exists doesn't mean Mario 64 isn't worth playing. 

Lucianu

I think everything about the game has aged well.  Like you, I don't understand the complaints.  Personally I think the controls of 64 allow for more finesse than Galaxy.  I also think the visuals are a staple of the era.  They're simple and work around the hardware to look great--they don't push it too far where the game struggles to keep up.  In addition to that, and after all these years have passed, I prefer the simple shading of the environments over the extremely repetitive textures of Banjo/etc.

Am I the only one who thinks Super Mario 64 is light years ahead of Banjo Kazooie in terms of playability and performance?  I used to love Banjo Kazooie, but I can't even go back to play it because of the sloppy controls and chuggy frame rate.  Super Mario 64 on the other hand holds up just as well as the day I bought it back in 1996. 

I agree that Super Mario 64 still to this day has excellent, responsive controls.  The game has a rock solid frame rate and doesn't push itself too far graphically as to detract from performance and playability.  This is something that so many N64 games suffer from, games like Banjo, Conker, Donkey Kong 64 etc. 

Super Mario 64 is perfectly optimized for the 64 and designed around the controller.  It's almost like the controller was built specifically for SM64.

Super Mario 64 is perfectly optimized for the 64 and designed around the controller.  It's almost like the controller was built specifically for SM64.

arkephonic

It was.

The graphics in this game still look great,, because of the flat textures.

> I beat this again a few weeks ago and It played fine.. anyone talking about control lag, Seriously should find something legit to complain about

> The biggest problem is the camera. man is it annoying sometimes., that and every once in a while you can get stuck in a buggy wall

But really that's all that is wrong with the game in today's standards,, that's what I love about the N64 for the most part,, their texture mapping is so simple

I say It's aged really well.  Play a game like GEX3.  then you'll see how great Mario64 is.  even compare it to PS1 classics like Crash Bandicoot. 

Am I the only one who thinks Super Mario 64 is light years ahead of Banjo Kazooie in terms of playability and performance?  I used to love Banjo Kazooie, but I can't even go back to play it because of the sloppy controls and chuggy frame rate.  Super Mario 64 on the other hand holds up just as well as the day I bought it back in 1996. 

I agree that Super Mario 64 still to this day has excellent, responsive controls.  The game has a rock solid frame rate and doesn't push itself too far graphically as to detract from performance and playability.  This is something that so many N64 games suffer from, games like Banjo, Conker, Donkey Kong 64 etc. 

Super Mario 64 is perfectly optimized for the 64 and designed around the controller.  It's almost like the controller was built specifically for SM64.

arkephonic

No, you are not.  I don't even think it is a comparison, really.  Mario 64 and Wave Race 64 are two games that haven't aged a bit, and really represent a milestone in game design from the era.