Probably the best way to play Mario 64 in the modern age. And while this port is practically perfect and while Mario 64 is a monumental classic masterpiece worthy of nothing lower than 5 stars based on sheer legacy alone, Mario 64 in general is just kind of tough to play these days, at least for me.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but this game is very frustrating for me to play. Compared to stuff like Odyssey or Galaxy or Bowser's Fury, Mario here in 64 controls not as good. Again, compared to other 3D platformers coming out at and around 1996, it's incredible that Mario controls as well as he does, but it's not 1996 anymore. I just think people see this game's incredible legacy and let it get in their way of seeing how it hasn't aged nearly as good as they say it has.
I recently also finished the PC port of Ocarina of Time, and I had a much better time with that, I think Ocarina in general has just aged better, and that's probably just due to the simple fact that Ocarina is not a platformer, so there's a lot less 90s jank that it has.
Now, don't get me wrong, the enhancements in the Mario 64 Plus fork are amazing and improve the game experience a lot, but some of the intrinsic annoyances I have with how Mario controls, or how a lot of the stars are designed are unfixable in my opinion. I got so frustrated I just BLJ'd up to final Bowser 10 stars early.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but this game is very frustrating for me to play. Compared to stuff like Odyssey or Galaxy or Bowser's Fury, Mario here in 64 controls not as good. Again, compared to other 3D platformers coming out at and around 1996, it's incredible that Mario controls as well as he does, but it's not 1996 anymore. I just think people see this game's incredible legacy and let it get in their way of seeing how it hasn't aged nearly as good as they say it has.
I recently also finished the PC port of Ocarina of Time, and I had a much better time with that, I think Ocarina in general has just aged better, and that's probably just due to the simple fact that Ocarina is not a platformer, so there's a lot less 90s jank that it has.
Now, don't get me wrong, the enhancements in the Mario 64 Plus fork are amazing and improve the game experience a lot, but some of the intrinsic annoyances I have with how Mario controls, or how a lot of the stars are designed are unfixable in my opinion. I got so frustrated I just BLJ'd up to final Bowser 10 stars early.