SunkCF
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SunkCF
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Super Mario 64
While I had spent years watching various Super Mario 64 content (Speed runs, let's plays, Half-A-Press videos), I had never taken the opportunity to actually play it for myself. Then, when Nintendo released the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection in 2020, I completely passed over SM64 in favor of playing Sunshine for the first time and completing Galaxy for what had to be the 10th time. I finally got around to sitting down and completing Super Mario 64 this past week, and I may have a relatively controversial opinion about it...
It's good.
The thing about playing classics for the first time decades after they were first released is that it's difficult to put yourself in the mindset of someone who was playing the game when it was released. That being said, you can tell from playing it that Super Mario 64 had such a monumental impact on Mario games, platformers, 3D gaming, and video games as a whole, and its influence should never be overlooked when discussing this game.
Playing it for the first time in 2024, however, the shortcomings and limitations of the game are a lot more prevalent. First off, the camera is abysmal. It was clever and all to give the camera a character in order to contextualize it within the gameplay, but controlling it is an absolute chore, and led to more than one irritating death on my part. The controls are slippery as well, it sometimes felt like there was no rhyme or reason as to why Mario was going a certain direction, and it was even worse while airborne. The controls and the camera made some stars that should be simple end up taking several attempts and a decent amount of my sanity (I'm looking at you, Pyramid Puzzle). As for a complaint that isn't a result of hardware limitations, I also felt like the game stumbled across the finish line in terms of Course quality. Wrapping up your adventure with Tick-Tock Clock, Tall, Tall Mountain, and Rainbow ride really made me want the game to end a lot sooner than it actually did, especially after such a strong start. If I hadn't made it a goal to complete every course, I would've skipped the last third of the game the second I got 70 stars. However, in spite of all those things, Super Mario 64 keeps a pretty good score from me because, while it has its bad parts, the good parts are so. darn. GOOD.
The sandbox/exploration aspect of the majority of the worlds is just plain fun and engaging. There's rarely any wasted space in these courses; if none of the stars send you down a certain path or to a certain area, there's additional secrets to be found there. You're rewarded for learning the course layout in order to complete stars and missions faster, and, while I really disliked the 100-Coins stars at the beginning of the game, by the end, I felt like I knew each course inside and out, because I HAD to in order to collect every coin possible. The power-ups, while a bit annoying to unlock, do a great job at shaking up the gameplay and adding some variety into each course. The myriad of bosses across the courses make each area feel alive and give a decent challenge to conquer before taking on the rest of the missions. And above all else, the soundtrack for this game is BEAUTIFUL. It might be my favorite soundtrack of any Mario game (Behind Galaxy 1 & 2 of course).
At the end of the day, despite its shortcomings, I definitely regret not paying attention to Super Mario 64 sooner. It may not have aged in the best way possible, but the core foundation of the gameplay is absolutely timeless.
It's good.
The thing about playing classics for the first time decades after they were first released is that it's difficult to put yourself in the mindset of someone who was playing the game when it was released. That being said, you can tell from playing it that Super Mario 64 had such a monumental impact on Mario games, platformers, 3D gaming, and video games as a whole, and its influence should never be overlooked when discussing this game.
Playing it for the first time in 2024, however, the shortcomings and limitations of the game are a lot more prevalent. First off, the camera is abysmal. It was clever and all to give the camera a character in order to contextualize it within the gameplay, but controlling it is an absolute chore, and led to more than one irritating death on my part. The controls are slippery as well, it sometimes felt like there was no rhyme or reason as to why Mario was going a certain direction, and it was even worse while airborne. The controls and the camera made some stars that should be simple end up taking several attempts and a decent amount of my sanity (I'm looking at you, Pyramid Puzzle). As for a complaint that isn't a result of hardware limitations, I also felt like the game stumbled across the finish line in terms of Course quality. Wrapping up your adventure with Tick-Tock Clock, Tall, Tall Mountain, and Rainbow ride really made me want the game to end a lot sooner than it actually did, especially after such a strong start. If I hadn't made it a goal to complete every course, I would've skipped the last third of the game the second I got 70 stars. However, in spite of all those things, Super Mario 64 keeps a pretty good score from me because, while it has its bad parts, the good parts are so. darn. GOOD.
The sandbox/exploration aspect of the majority of the worlds is just plain fun and engaging. There's rarely any wasted space in these courses; if none of the stars send you down a certain path or to a certain area, there's additional secrets to be found there. You're rewarded for learning the course layout in order to complete stars and missions faster, and, while I really disliked the 100-Coins stars at the beginning of the game, by the end, I felt like I knew each course inside and out, because I HAD to in order to collect every coin possible. The power-ups, while a bit annoying to unlock, do a great job at shaking up the gameplay and adding some variety into each course. The myriad of bosses across the courses make each area feel alive and give a decent challenge to conquer before taking on the rest of the missions. And above all else, the soundtrack for this game is BEAUTIFUL. It might be my favorite soundtrack of any Mario game (Behind Galaxy 1 & 2 of course).
At the end of the day, despite its shortcomings, I definitely regret not paying attention to Super Mario 64 sooner. It may not have aged in the best way possible, but the core foundation of the gameplay is absolutely timeless.
8 days ago
SunkCF
commented on
Lemonstrade's
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Cameraman's Day Off
I hope that whoever at Square mapped the Kingdom Hearts camera control to L2 and R2 got fired on the spot
13 days ago
SunkCF
completed
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
This review contains spoilers
I never owned a GameCube as a child, so I missed the boat on The Thousand-Year Door when it first came out. It wasn't until my sophomore year of college in 2018 when my roommate brought to school with him his Wii and his GameCube library that I was able to give it a shot, and boy am I thankful for that.
I immediately fell in love with the Paper Mario art style the second Mario stepped off the boat into Rogueport. Goombella and Professor Frankly were excellent introductions to the wacky characters we'd be meeting on the journey. The battle system was simple enough to pick up, but complex enough that it was rewarding to put time into mastering it. I love exploring the environments to collect hidden items and upgrades, and the puzzles in the overworld that make use of Mario's signature abilities and the skills of his partners made the world feel built for this scale of adventure. The enemies are varied, the bosses are engaging, and the story grips you from the very beginning and doesn't let go until the credits roll. Not to mention the side content with the Pianta Parlor, the Trouble Center, the Pit of 100 Trials, the revisit to the Glitz Pit, there's tons of hours of gameplay on a single file, and with the Badge system and myriad of ways to approach combat, I can already see myself returning to the game with self-imposed challenges in mind.
As for upgrades included in the remake, I have almost nothing but good things to say. The visuals are stunning and give a nice revitalization to the original art style without stripping it of its charm. There are also plenty of quality of life improvements, like the partner wheel, the pipe in Chapter 4, increasing the size of Mario's pockets from 10 to 15. It makes the game more convenient to play without stripping it of its difficulty. I'm sure that those who grew up with the GameCube version would have more to say about the comparison, but for someone who has only played each version once, the Switch remake is more than faithful to its source.
There are very few negative things to say about this game, but it still has its shortcomings. The main one being that this game is wordy. VERY wordy. There's so much dialogue, and while it is usually interesting, funny, clever, or some combination of the three, my eyes kind of glaze over after reading the exposition during a longer session. Also, the Peach and Bowser interludes kind of drone on between the Chapters. It's interesting to see what the series mainstays are up to during the adventure, but do we really need to have Peach create an invisibility potion and run through a 15 second Super Mario Bros level with Bowser? I wish these segments were optional; it would make playing through the game again a lot more bearable.
But that small negative aside, this game is absolutely astounding. If you're a fan of Mario, it's a must play. If you're a fan of RPGs, it's a must play. If you own a Nintendo Switch, it's a must play. At the end of the day, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door stands tall as the best spinoff game the plumber has been featured in.
I immediately fell in love with the Paper Mario art style the second Mario stepped off the boat into Rogueport. Goombella and Professor Frankly were excellent introductions to the wacky characters we'd be meeting on the journey. The battle system was simple enough to pick up, but complex enough that it was rewarding to put time into mastering it. I love exploring the environments to collect hidden items and upgrades, and the puzzles in the overworld that make use of Mario's signature abilities and the skills of his partners made the world feel built for this scale of adventure. The enemies are varied, the bosses are engaging, and the story grips you from the very beginning and doesn't let go until the credits roll. Not to mention the side content with the Pianta Parlor, the Trouble Center, the Pit of 100 Trials, the revisit to the Glitz Pit, there's tons of hours of gameplay on a single file, and with the Badge system and myriad of ways to approach combat, I can already see myself returning to the game with self-imposed challenges in mind.
As for upgrades included in the remake, I have almost nothing but good things to say. The visuals are stunning and give a nice revitalization to the original art style without stripping it of its charm. There are also plenty of quality of life improvements, like the partner wheel, the pipe in Chapter 4, increasing the size of Mario's pockets from 10 to 15. It makes the game more convenient to play without stripping it of its difficulty. I'm sure that those who grew up with the GameCube version would have more to say about the comparison, but for someone who has only played each version once, the Switch remake is more than faithful to its source.
There are very few negative things to say about this game, but it still has its shortcomings. The main one being that this game is wordy. VERY wordy. There's so much dialogue, and while it is usually interesting, funny, clever, or some combination of the three, my eyes kind of glaze over after reading the exposition during a longer session. Also, the Peach and Bowser interludes kind of drone on between the Chapters. It's interesting to see what the series mainstays are up to during the adventure, but do we really need to have Peach create an invisibility potion and run through a 15 second Super Mario Bros level with Bowser? I wish these segments were optional; it would make playing through the game again a lot more bearable.
But that small negative aside, this game is absolutely astounding. If you're a fan of Mario, it's a must play. If you're a fan of RPGs, it's a must play. If you own a Nintendo Switch, it's a must play. At the end of the day, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door stands tall as the best spinoff game the plumber has been featured in.
13 days ago