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dchattin's Super Mario 64 (N64)
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| [February 23, 2007 01:56:34 PM]
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The controls feel a tad clunky today, particularly the camera. It works well enough to play, but the N64 only had one analog stick which is used to move Mario, that leaves only digital left, right, zoom in, zoom out controls. Sometimes this makes for camera angles that just wouldn't be acceptable in today's games. Also, the primary analog stick feels very sensitive when it comes to aiming cannons. Maybe this is an artifact of mapping a Gamecube stick to an N64 stick? Maybe it's my imagination and it was like that 10 years ago. Also, playing with a Gamecube controller reminds me of what I liked about the N64 controller: the Z button was for the left trigger finger, not the right.
Another fun thing about this game, that I can't remember any game doing previously, is the castle hub also has things to do other than lead you to the main levels. This was a great idea and it makes the setting of the castle more immersing, because the same general rules apply in both the hub and the main levels. Older style games, like say the Megamans or Mario 3 and Mario World, had hubs where you pick a level, but they were basically a very pretty menu you made a choice from. A 'real' hub like in Mario 64 is a pretty nice development.
Yet more good design, though it was pioneered in Mario World if my memory serves me, is the unlocking of different blocks for such as the winged cap and the metal cap. Mario World had those switches to turn on bunches of blocks. Mario 64 makes it a little better because the blocks you turn on give new power ups. Each one effectively turns the standard level into a new level because you can reach new places. And it makes you want to go back to older levels because you can do new things there with a new cap.
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| [February 23, 2007 01:56:22 PM]
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The first thing I noticed about this game is how it is showing off its 3D-ness. It was a big deal at the time it came out. The whole game is full of toys to make use of it, like cannons, turtle shells, slide levels and the wing cap.
The star system, and multiple stars per level, was also a good design choice. It's good from a design perspective because they are getting a lot of playtime out of each base level with only a few things added or scripted differently based on the star chosen. It's good from a player perspective because with each star the player gets to know the level a little better, finding things they hadn't found before. And even though the set of stars take place in what most people would call the same level, I think it's fun because most stars send you to a different place inside the larger level, which almost turns each star into its own sub-level.
The graphics have held up better than I expected. A little bit of it is due to playing it on the Wii instead of the N64 (component video instead of composite). Most of it is due to the low poly count yet surprisingly effective character models and animations. There are also some clever uses of sprites like for the giant metal balls that roll at you in the first level. The textures are the worst looking part, very low resolution by today's standards.
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dchattin's Super Mario 64 (N64)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 23 February, 2007
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