Super Mario 64 is one of the most iconic and important games of all time, and it came out on a famously rough transition point for gaming from 2d to 3d, so it's unbelievable it has aged as well as it has.
My only real complains are: the camera, which is pretty darn bad but actually completely excusable for a first attempt ever, and some stars that are just bad sadly.
There is a lot of good to be talked about: the level design still holds up, the game is very creative. Of course not every level is a banger, but in most of them it's just fun to roam around and explore and the stars tend to have very clever placings, also there are already used some really interesting concepts only possible with 3d
The controls are great, Mario is very responsive and there are a lot of options for a varied experience and some precise and fun jumping.
The aestethic is a controversial point but I find it very appealing and don't think it looks bad at all.
I am a great fan of 3d mario games and, while this isn't Odyssey, it sure didn't disappoint

Когда я играл в эту игру, то невольно завидовал тем, кто застал её в своё время. Эмоции от открытия секретов и нахождения шорткатов, которые казалось бы не предусмотрены разаработчиками, вызывают не поддельную радость. Количество контента так же не позволяет скучать и хочется верить, что даже имея одну эту игру в то время на N64, тебе было не до скуки.

Дизайн уровней выполнен не привычно, ибо служит исключительно геймплейной части, редко являясь чем-то художественно цельным. Но меня такой подход только привлекает, т.к. стоит начать исследовать и эксперементировать всегда становится не до созерцания. И всё же некоторые уровни не хотелось проходить именно из-за их странного облика. С другой стороны, всё что не нравится можно было пропустить, и собрать больше звёзд на тех уровнях, что тебе интереснее.

Управление требует привыкания, но в целом я с ним совладал за пару вечеров. Но усиление, позволяющее Марио летать я так и не смог обуздать и каждая попытка пройти секретный уровень в холле замка сопровождался громким матом.

Итого: запуская игру просто чтобы ознакомиться с ней я с большим удовольствием прошёл её. Сейчас сложно найти игру, которая бы дарила такие же эмоции радости от новых открытий.

An experienced dev team's first foray into true 3D that, shockingly, gets it right all the way back in June 1996.

Absolutely rock-solid fundamentals which set the tone for the rest of the genre. Analog controls enable precise adjustment of angles which have huge downstream effects. A signature focus on momentum, combined with tricks both intentional and unintentional, birthed one of the most legendary and iconic speedrunning scenes of all time. Systems like this in a casual single player context, balanced to enhance rather than subvert challenges, are rare to find, and even the devs themselves never quite managed to recapture this particular flavor.

The level design here is emblematic of the early 3D era "golden age": enough detail and representation to evoke sense of place, but with the abstraction necessitated by the time's technology both facilitating dense layouts and imbuing the atmosphere with a surreal, dreamlike quality. No established formulas for success existed yet, so levels aren't overly concerned with providing the player a frictionless experience. Each expresses their own quirky character, something felt even more strongly than usual since gameplay is so contextualized by the precise placement of nearby geometry.

Shortcomings mainly occur in obtuse progression/secrets and a handful of stages (more concentrated in the latter half) that don't play to the game's strengths. Luckily, the huge modding scene has leveraged this fantastic foundation and learned from these mistakes to create a veritable cornucopia of visions, both vanilla-like and experimental, for you as a player to explore.

Yup, Quake is a pretty great game!