What Were Your First Feelings/Impressions of Super Mario 64?
Remember back in the day when you first played Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64? How did you feel about the experience? Was it wonderment? Disappointment? Awe at the possibilities of gaming in the future? The power of 64-bit?
For those of you who didn't play it back when it was new: When did you first play it? How did you feel about it then? For the "DS generation" of Mario 64 players, did the game strike you as something special even so many years after its initial release?
Mario 64 was the reason I bought a Nintendo 64. It's the only Nintendo console I picked up on launch day. I'd been pouring over screenshots in Gamefan magazine for months, mind you. I was all aboard the hype train.. and it was worth every penny. Mario 64 was so amazing that it made nearly everything else I played after it seem derivative or lacking. I'd played plenty of polygonal games before on Playstation, but Mario 64 was the first one where I felt like I was really moving around in a 3D space, no, existing in a 3D space, and with a great degree of freedom and acrobatic ability. Running around, outside the castle, chasing birds, climbing trees, and swimming in the little pond, just watching Mario's idle animations... I was having fun before I'd even started the game proper. Oh, let's not forget about stretching Mario's face on the title screen!
Ultimately, I ended selling my N64 and the 14 games I'd gotten over it's lifespan. It was depressing that nothing could top Mario 64, except maybe Zelda, but Ocarina of Time (and many others on the 64) hurt my eyes to the degree that I simply couldn't play it anymore without discomfort. Darn blurry graphics.
Years later I've come to regret selling my N64, mostly because I miss Mario 64.
Last edited by SpaceHarrier; 06-29-2014 at 06:21 PM.
To be honest I can't remember being particularly blown away by it. I mean, yes, it was new and interesting and it was with some eagerness that I wanted to give it a whirl, but I don't recall it as seeming like a great leap ahead in terms of fun. Maybe it was because those first couple of levels are a bit on the bland side.
Last edited by Jorpho; 06-29-2014 at 06:32 PM.
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)
I remember being impressed by Mario 64, thinking, "Mario's really in an explorable world now, and that's pretty damn cool." With that said, I also recall wondering if this whole 3D environment was going to be the norm like I had already seen on Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Any love I had for Mario 64 was eventually transformed into resentment because I was really disappointed in the 64's library and the direction games took afterwards, feeling that Mario 64 sent video games off into this new stale direction.
When I saw the game at the Toys R Us store as a little kid with my cousins, my eyes opened nice and wide and the first thoughts that came to my mind was "It's 3D!!! Mario is in 3D!!!"During that time, I remembered there were paper slips being lined up on the walls for the video game section with artwork and pictures of what the games would look like. I recalled checking out the demo with my cousins playing through the game a bit, and then going by the SNES and Sega Genesis section afterwards. Those were the days
I lived my life with no fear nor hatred... For these traits are certain to the content of my immortal being.
The very first time I layed eyes on Mario 64, was actually the first time I really used the internet for the first time. I had read in various gaming magazines that the very first images of Nintendo 64 games ( I think then known as Ultra 64 games ), would be shown at the Famicom Space World '95 show in Japan. In one of the magazines that I had, it said that if you visited their website, on a specific day in late November (1995), they would have the very first pictures of the Nintendo 64 games. I didn't own a computer at the time, but really wanted to see what the first real 64 bit games looked like.
In my city, we had a store called "Incredible Universe". It was this huge audio/video/computers/appliances place that I don't think exists anymore. We have a Fry's now where the Incredible Universe used to be located. They had tons of computers set up that were online that you could use for brief periods of time. The idea was that you would buy a computer, but I knew that I could go there and use their computers for like 20 minutes and see the first images of the new Nintendo games.
I remember seeing images of what would later become Super Mario 64. I think they also had pictures of a very early Zelda OOT . They might have had pictures of Wave Race or Pilotwings or something else, I can't remember.
Anyways, I was totally blown away by the pictures that I saw. I couldn't even print the pictures out. I could simply see them at that store, and then try to remember them in my mind, lol. The things we take for granted today... Eventually of course all the gaming magazines had the pictures a few months later, but I had already seen those images, and was pretty blown away by it.
My first hands on experience with Mario 64 was very interesting as well. I was actually lucky enough to attend the 1996 e3 show in Los Angeles. I stood maybe a mere 10 feet away from Miyamoto, as he was taking a local Los Angeles elementary class through the Nintendo booth, and showing them Mario 64 and the other N64 games. I was standing very close to Dave Halverson and Kid Fan (don't know the dude's real name). We all had to wait for this elementary class to go through the tour, before we could take the tour, but none of us were really bothered by it. We could see the joy in Miyamoto's face as he was showing all the children his latest masterpiece.
When I got my hands on the actual controller, and took Mario and jumped him up into the tree, and then jumped up out of the tree, and then jumped into the water, I was simply dumfounded by what I was experiencing. This was May 1996, and at that time, only a super high-end computer with a 3Dfx card could even hope to produce the kind of visuals I was seeing. It was like seeing a Mario cartoon come to life, and be totally controllable. It was a surreal experience, and one of those gaming memories that I will always cherish. Unfortunately, now-a-days, being that blown away by a brand new game is a pretty rare event. It just doesn't happen like it used to. Maybe Oculus Rift or something will provide a breakthrough experience that will really grab me, but things just seemed more special back then.
diminishing returns I guess...
summer 1996 walked into toys r us and some guy was playing it on a kiosk. I was blown away, it was and still is awesome. way ahead of its time. graphics blew the water out of any ps1 game. infact. Mario 64 has better graphics than anything ever released on ps1 or Saturn, ever. and infact, its probably a better game than any game on ps1 or Saturn. and I don't think even dreamcast has a game as good as Mario 64. not to mention how kickass the 2nd and 3rd n64 games were, pilotwings 64 and waverace 64. waverace was a real stunner how incredible that game was. still an awesome racing game. way better than bluestorm on gamecube.
oh and btw summer 96 I preordered n64 and got it on launch day. with Mario 64 of course. rented pilotwings. bought waverace 64 day it launched. I wasn't expecting anything from that game and was blown away how great it was.
"Crap, another 3D game"
It wasn't for another year that Tekken 3 started making like games with 3D in them. I was so sick of blocky crap like Virtua Fighter taking up space in MY arcade (Not mine like I owned it, but I sure owned all the games in said arcade).
I wasn't all that enamored with it initially, I was more interested in Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, other N64 games. Eventually I had time to play it, and went all the way through the game in a week. Terrific game!
The Paunch Stevenson Show free Internet podcast - www.paunchstevenson.com - DP FEEDBACK
Super Mario 64 was a game-changer in my opinion. My favorite series was finally in 3D, and it set the standard for 3D. I disliked the blocky 3D that Saturn and Playstation offered. I was in middle school when the N64 came out, and I feel like I was going through a transition period just like Super Mario 64 and the Nintendo 64. I couldn't get a Nintendo 64 until about 2 or 3 years later, but I went to the stores like Montgomery Ward to play it every chance I could. I was obsessed with the game. All other games were inferior to me at the time.
Last edited by buzz_n64; 06-30-2014 at 12:10 AM.
Went to go take a look... meh
When SM64 came out I was very interested in seeing what Nintendo was doing. I have to admit, I was pretty much only playing PC games and Loving the PlayStation. I was sold on CD audio and the large amount of data a CD could hold. At the time, cart games where expensive because of ram prices, so Nintendo introducing a new cart based console seemed silly.
Reading stuff like "Nintendo is only in making kids games" and other banter like that. It seemed like Mario 64 was only proving what I earlier read. Anyway, I went over to the local Toys R us and checked it out. While not blown away, I can remember being impressed with the game. But it did seem to leave that "kiddie" impression at the time so I just didn't really bother with it. One thing that I can admit though. I was waiting for a Mario clone to come out on the PS1, it didn't really happen. Looking back I can say that Mario 64 is one hell of a game but at the time I wasn't really impressed.
Over the years it seems that my tastes have returned to Nintendo again. Funny how things work.
- BTW my roommates bought a N64 and Mario 64 back in 1996 and they were stuck to the TV for a least a year. Then they bought 007 and they completely disappeared.
I did not like it then and still do not like it. Also, the 3d marios are the only ones I have never finished. I did like Sunshine and the Galaxy games more than 64. I dont know what it was, but I just never liked 64.
First impressions were amazement when I watched a Nintendo 64 promotional VHS that Nintendo sent me a couple of months before the system launched, but I never actually played it when it was new.
Fast forward to early 2000 when I borrowed a copy just after finishing Ocarina of Time on my new Nintendo 64 that I had just gotten a few months earlier. The camera and the graphics seemed primitive after Ocarina and after 30 minutes or so, I was left unimpressed and decided not to buy it for $30 or whatever it was still going for new at retail despite having been a launch title back in 1996.
Then a few years later, GameStop started clearancing this stuff out and I picked up a copy along with dozens of other games for the system. Played it with a friend that summer that was familiar with it, switching off after each death or star that we earned, and I fell in love with the game.
Since then, I bet I've fully finished it a dozen times between the N64 original, the Wii Virtual Console download, and the DS conversion of it. It has become one of my favorite games.
Last edited by Leo_A; 09-12-2015 at 02:41 PM.
Definitely wonderment back in the summer of 1997. The freedom, and the sense of adventure and exploration... And 3D was a real novelty back then. Definitely pushed all the right buttons to keep me playing to 120 stars.
It retrospect, the game does sort of set a few trends that I ended up not caring for in Mario games for a long time. Life bars, temporary power-ups, levels with multiple objectives... etc... it took until Super Mario 3D Land to really give me the 3D Mario experience I REALLY wanted.
But back then? Definitely one of the more important game of my teens. And honestly a landmark game for games in general. It set the bar for 3D platformers that is still the standard today.
New Comics for the Week of 10-03-12
I was one of 10 people in my 6th grade class to get an N64 for Christmas that year, so I recall being rather popular (kids, right?). For the game itself, I remember being wow'd at the graphics and gameplay freedom. Still one of my favorite games.
Saw it at a kiosk in a store I frequented. Thought it was really cool, but it didn't make me want a N64 really bad like Super Mario World did for the SNES. At that point my parents were not going to buy me a console and I was losing interest in them. Only did playing Resident Evil 2 a few years later for the first time really got my attention. I tried playing it but for some reason I get bored easily . I'll definitely try again because of this thread.
I saw and played it at various store kiosks back when it came out, I never got into it. I didn't like the look of the 3D graphics back then and I didn't like the way it controlled, and the controller itself just felt too big for my kid sized hands. I was more interested in the Genesis and Gameboy Pocket at the time.
I had just completed Stimpys Invention and Sonic 2. With some friends when an old friend showed up with his n64, Mario 64 and clay fighter. First we played Mario and I was more intimidated by what was happening to video games. I didnt think I could handle the 3D aspect. Having to look up in a game felt wrong. Plus the controllers where crap imo. I still hate those controllers. The game looked and sounded great, but I had more fun watching than playing.
Clayfighter just pissed me off. I hated how it wasnt Mortal Kombat. Granted I was a kid and Sub-Zero was my hero.
Ah yes, on the game over and title screens. IT IS THE THING OF NIGHTMARES! Seriously, the mood is like a horror flick, especially on the GAME OVER screen because of its red coloring, as you can pull his face into disjointed, nightmarishly disfigured mockeries of man. It's like the anchor points for the facial manipulations were chosen to give scary dreams to children. These are Clive Barker-esque things like HIS IRISES AND PUPILS existing OUTSIDE HIS EYES, and instead on HIS FOREHEAD! You can pull his lip into a gruesome configuration that just should not be! It is both awe-inspiring and horrific.Originally Posted by SpaceHarrier
...And when the mood strikes, hilarious.
Didn't like it then, still don't care for it now. I had already jumped to the Sony side by that time, and there was no turning back. Eventually I got a Saturn and enjoy that alongside my PS1, but still do not own an N64 to this day. I own one N64 game (Castlevania 64) as it was given to me free by a friend in Europe.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
