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Video Games => Mario Chat => Topic started by: billy chilly on June 23, 2011, 11:46:37 AM

Title: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: billy chilly on June 23, 2011, 11:46:37 AM
Happy Birthday, Mario!

(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg718.imageshack.us%2Fimg718%2F6463%2Fsupermario64logo.jpg&hash=4a3797450e71786934458ac1e002144d) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/718/supermario64logo.jpg/)

One of the most revolutionary and beloved games of all time turns 15 today!  September 29th marks the 15th anniversary of the US release. 

So yeah!  Let's reminisce, celebrate, whatever!  I think I'll dig out my old cartridge and goof around the castle a bit after work tonight.  Hopefully my N64 sticks aren't too blown out, and hopefully I don't get too wrapped up in the magic and lose too much sleep. 

Ha!  Quake shares it's birthday with Mario 64!  Two hugely important games on the same day!
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Turtlekid1 on June 23, 2011, 11:53:45 AM
Maybe I'll finally find my copy of SM64DS today.

LOLOLOLOLOL yeah right
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Toad on June 23, 2011, 01:01:51 PM
Irony: I dug out my SM64DS copy today. I only played one of the minigames (Shell Smash, I believe) for a bit, but I still went through the process to find it. Maybe I'll play the original game later..

Happy 15th, Super Mario 64!
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: bobbysq1337 on June 23, 2011, 01:03:51 PM
And sometime this year SMW turns 20...
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: billy chilly on June 23, 2011, 01:08:42 PM
Looks like World "officially" turned 20 last year, with it's Japan release of November 21, 1990, but it celebrates 20 years in the US (oh my god I feel old) August 23rd this year.  So many big game anniversaries this year!

Nintendo's making a big deal about Zelda's 25th anniversary, but Metroid has it's 25th this year, and so does the Japanese release of Kid Icarus!
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Weegee on June 23, 2011, 01:17:58 PM
Is it strange that I prefer the original version over its DS remake?
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: bobbysq1337 on June 23, 2011, 01:23:16 PM
Is it strange that I prefer the original version over its DS remake?
Not really.

-Everyone
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: billy chilly on June 23, 2011, 01:50:54 PM
Yeah, I don't think that's weird at ALL, even if it were purely for nostalgia reasons you'd be justified.  But I know I was never able to get used to the wonky controls, and I know they added a bunch of stuff to the DS version (and fixed up the graphics a bit, right?).

One thing that stood out to me about the original was that it's really just Mario, MIPS and a couple Toads in an empty castle.  I guess to some (including the Mario 64 DS development staff) that might feel desolate, but I really like that solitude.  The feeling of adventuring alone was very different for a Mario game.  It lent SM64 an air of mystery, giving it an almost Metroid-ish vibe. 

Here comes a lethal dose of audio-based nostalgia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke-8vdm9IfA. 
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Weegee on June 23, 2011, 03:22:20 PM
(and fixed up the graphics a bit, right?)

The two-dimensional elements in SM64DS (such as the characters' faces) are indeed more detailed, but they're also grainier and more succeptible to distortion. Besides, Mario's somewhat oblivious expression in the original (right) is superior to his remade "angry Italian-American complete with arched eyebrows and scowl" look (left):

(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpurenintendo.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F12%2Fmario64-300x166.jpg&hash=c465ca405960662ec26b518c3ca614bd)
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Toad on June 23, 2011, 04:03:36 PM
Is it strange that I prefer the original version over its DS remake?

I prefer the original too, but that's not to say the DS version is bad. I like the fact that it's portable, and since my N64 is currently inaccessible (due majorly to laziness: digging through a closet, not wanting to hook it up..) this gives me two options for a way to play it (the DS, and the VC).

The two-dimensional elements in SM64DS (such as the characters' faces) are indeed more detailed, but they're also grainier and more succeptible to distortion. Besides, Mario's somewhat oblivious expression in the original (right) is superior to his remade "angry Italian-American complete with arched eyebrows and scowl" look (left):

(https://themushroomkingdom.net/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpurenintendo.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F12%2Fmario64-300x166.jpg&hash=c465ca405960662ec26b518c3ca614bd)

I don't think he looks angry at all. Angry Mario came in Brawl..
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: billy chilly on June 23, 2011, 04:45:01 PM
Yeah, the DS version looks really nice.  The higher poly count just gives a rounder, more Mario-looking Mario.  The original of course is still my favorite, but I can't deny the DS puts out a great-looking game.

Ha, derp! I just realized that if Mario 64 is turning 15, so is the N64 itself!  Happy birthday, Nintendo 64! Man, what a system. 
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: CrossEyed7 on June 23, 2011, 05:34:36 PM
I've said this several times on this board, but I absolutely hate the multiple characters in the DS version. It completely ruins the sense of spontaneity and freedom the original game had (which was THE ENTIRE POINT of the original game). When I'm playing Mario 64, I shouldn't have to stop and think and plan out which character I'm going to use before I enter a level, and then trek back to a room to go through a door to switch characters. I should be able to just jump around and have fun.

If you didn't plan ahead of time exactly what you were going to do in a level, you pretty much had to go in as Yoshi, since the star might require Yoshi's abilities and there are no Yoshi hats, but if you're Yoshi, you can't wall jump out in the castle. Actually, I think only Mario could wall jump, which was stupid.

And it didn't add anything to the game at all. The different characters all put together had the same abilities as Mario in the original, just less conveniently.

Multiple characters should be like in SMB2 -- they have their pros and cons, and some are better on some levels than others, but you can beat any level with any one of them.

Anyway, happy birthday, original SM64!
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: ShadowBrain on June 23, 2011, 05:50:46 PM
I think the only thing that bothered me was that, since Yoshi could do the hat thing, what was my real motivation to use any other character for real after a while? That, and divesting the abilities amongst them--Throwback to SMW or not, it was absolutely blasphemous to take the ubiquitious Metal Mario ability and give it Wario in lieu of a fat-floaty Mario.

But yeah, though I played plenty of SNES games before SM64, I have more distinct memories of it than almost any older game--at least when I got it. My brother and I being uber-excited at receiving an N64 for Christmas, then me getting stuck on King Bob-Omb that evening because I didn't know you were supposed to drop him on the ground instead of toss him off the stage (which, by all accounts, still doesn't make that much sense)... good times.
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: BP on June 23, 2011, 06:37:29 PM
since Yoshi could do the hat thing, what was my real motivation to use any other character for real after a while?

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I loved SM64DS but they should have done a quick-character change thing like Super Paper Mario would use instead of the hats. There were already animations for everyone but Yoshi hopping out of warp pipes, so

Use your heaaaad Nintendo
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Koopaslaya on June 23, 2011, 07:01:47 PM
This is hard to believe. Playing this game again brings back some great memories!

I've found its interesting to coem back to activities that you once loved; often doing this triggers other related memories, and it can be quite enjoyable to reflect on them. For me, going back to old games and music helps me to experience something of a time capsule of myself.
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Weegee on June 23, 2011, 07:14:11 PM
*If you used Luigi's helicopter jump to break the game or at least to cheaply obtain numerous Stars, clap your hands*
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: billy chilly on June 23, 2011, 07:59:58 PM
Played through a bunch of this tonight. I was surprised how little I cared about goofing around outside... I know where the real fun is, I guess.

It's kind of crazy how well I still know this game. It's not surprising, I played the [dukar] out of it, mostly because the N64 in the early years was so sparse. I got all 7 stars on the first two worlds, 2 on the next two worlds, got three secret stars, switched on the wing cap switch, got the red coin star in the first Bowser level, tossed his ass into a bomb, and caught MIPS before I realized I'd blown like two and a half or three hours. If my N64 controllers weren't so crusty and worn, I'd probably have played even longer.

I'll never forget the crushing disappointment of not getting an N64 the year it came out. I was devastated. My parents wanted to hint to me that it wasn't happening by letting me rent the system a couple days before hand. Either I didn't figure it out or I was too horrified to understand what was going on. That was rough. I got it a couple months later for my birthday though, which was awesome. I got Mario Kart 64 with it, which was annoying at first, but I had played the [dukar] out of Super Mario 64 during rentals (I actually beat it... not 120 stars though), so it was probably a smart move on my parents' part. And of course, MK64 is ****ing amazing. Plus I found out later they stayed up all night the night before my birthday playing it themselves. 

I remember during one of those rentals, when my sister was in her "cool" phase and liked to rip on my for playing video games, she and her boyfriend sat together on the couch and watched me play Mario 64. For a WHILE, too. I don't think they were screwing around, because I was literally setting like two feet away from them, but I was probably too engrossed in the game to notice. I mean, I would have noticed, I think they were just kind of digging the game. It was such a weird, new thing at that time, and before her cool phase, my sister and I played the [dukar] out of Mario 3 and World together, I think this kind of threw her for a loop.

When I booted up my game to play tonight, I still had two save files with 120 stars on them. I think I just copied my 120 star files for "safety" but it was pretty cool seeing them still there. It was amazing how much came back to me. Little things, neat little surprises and tricks I had committed to memory. The owl that pops out of the tree on the second level, the treasure chests the electrocute you if you pick them in the wrong order, where to place the cannon aiming reticule to get a perfect shot to the tree on the floating island, luring the big ugly eel out of his cave. Awesome stuff.

I've been kind on a huge Mario Kart kick lately, and since this is the N64's birthday too, I'm thinking about booting MK64 for old time's sake...
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: BP on June 23, 2011, 08:26:09 PM
I didn't get a 64 until 1998 or 1999, my first game for it was Banjo-Kazooie. I didn't get SM64 until mid-2000. For not being gamers themselves my parents were smarter than I was about how to play them--they knew I would have loved to get Super Mario 64 with the console, but they got me Banjo instead to try and get me to branch out my interests. It didn't by any means disappoint me and I know for sure I never complained.

And then, two and a half years ago it was Banjo who persuaded me to get a 360, on the 360 I played Dead Rising, the main character of which was a huge selling point for me in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom which became the first traditional fighting game I paid enough attention to to learn it...

Cause and effect, yo

Nah this post isn't about SM64 at all
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Kimimaru on June 23, 2011, 09:09:52 PM
Happy 15th anniversary, Super Mario 64!

I always come back to games like this one every now and then and try to find easier ways to complete each level. I don't remember when I got my Nintendo 64, but I remember my dad just bringing it home randomly one day with Super Mario 64. I can still remember that day as if it happened yesterday.
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Qwerty on June 24, 2011, 12:30:18 AM
Way to make it to 15 3-D Mario! Although, he always seemed to grasp an older appearance. Strange...
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Toad on June 24, 2011, 06:12:37 AM
I think I just copied my 120 star files for "safety"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does that. I feel almost "unsafe" in games that have no save file, per se. (mostly the spinoffs, like Mario Kart).
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Weegee on June 24, 2011, 10:19:56 AM
I've made a habit of doing that ever since my 100-hour file in PM:TTYD got corrupted.
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: billy chilly on September 29, 2011, 08:51:29 AM
Today's the 15th anniversary of the US release, and IGN has a nice write-up nostalgia-bombing 10 of the game's best moments:

http://ds.ign.com/articles/119/1197092p ... 8IGN+DS%29

Definitely agree with the obvious ones (title-screen face, outside the castle, Bowser battles) but I was stoked to see Dorrie on here. That level ruled like crazy. Great music, great atmosphere, wide variety of challenges. [darn] it I love this game.
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: BP on September 29, 2011, 12:16:40 PM
How long did everybody spend trying to get Dorrie to eat Mario

The sign said she would! Signs aren't supposed to lie! How am I gonna know if I'm really in Fuchsia City or if it's really passion pink if I can't trust a sign
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: Alisbet on November 04, 2011, 06:01:56 AM
Super Mario 64 certainly is a classic and I am really glad that it got remade for the DS.
Title: Re: Super Mario 64 turns 15 today!
Post by: bobbysq1337 on November 04, 2011, 06:08:51 AM
I've made a habit of doing that ever since my 100-hour file in PM:TTYD got corrupted.
I got one by leaving the Wii on overnight while the game was paused.