This is the first video of yours I've seen and you've instantly earned a subscription from me. I've always enjoyed these kind of long analysis/review videos and you do an incredible job with it. Super Mario 64 is one of my favorite games and although I don't agree with every point you made, I really enjoyed watching you analyze the game. I was SHOCKED when I saw your view and subscriber counts. You deserve SO MUCH more. Can't wait to check out more of your stuff!
Loved my Dreamcast. Shenmue, Toy Commander, Tokyo Xtreme Racer 1 & 2, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Marvel vs. Capcom, NFL2K, Ready 2 Rumble...still have my console in a box in the closet.
I’m leaving this comment here before I even get five minutes in because it’s finals week and I won’t be able to finish this for a while. I am already thoroughly impressed with this video and am looking forward to watching it. I appreciate the simple but concise editing choices. I’m something of a video editor, myself. The writing is has just enough personality without being alienating. And your perspective comes from a unique place while still being an appreciator of others. Maybe I’ll finish the video and be offended and delete this comment, or maybe I’ll subscribe. Also, WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR MIC SETUP? I HAVE THE LOWEST EXPECTATIONS WHEN IT CONES TO SMALLER CHANNELS AUDIO QUALITY, BUT THE LISTENABILITY MAKES ME 100% MORE INCLINED TO FINISH THIS. But seriously, can you hit me up with some audio tips?
Thanks so much! I’m actually super self-conscious about my audio so it’s really nice to hear that you like it! The mic is a Fifine studio condenser usb mic. Super cheap but super good. I’ve got some sound foam as well to really make sure everything comes out good. My brother is a sound guy so he gave me the advice on the setup.
This video was incredible! The 2 hours felt like 25 minutes man , you have a great vibe , the content was fun and captivating, and Mario 64 really has a special place in my heart because it was the very first game I played as a kid and I still play it today because it’s that good! I’ve always tried to find something similar but the other Mario games do not capture the weirdness and uniqueness of this one in my opinion! Anyways thanks man , great job !
1:22:38 I always thought getting a cap would replace the effect of the previous one. I would just get the vanish cap and swim to the cage. I never assumed you could combine them!
I was a SEGA kid in the 90s, but I remember the release of the N64 and the revolution that was the transition to 3D. Even though I was also a Sonic fanboy, I vividly remember being in awe when I first played Super Mario 64 at a friend’s house back in 1996. I just could not believe how accurate and agile Mario’s movement felt in 3D. It still amazes me to this day how Nintendo managed to set the gold standard for 3D platforming on their very first try. After death of the Dreamcast I got myself a GameCube, and even though I really enjoyed SM:Sunshine for it’s beautiful (for the time) Pixar-like graphics and amazing atmosphere, I felt the controls were way more forgiving than before, and the audition of Flood really cheapened the mechanics that made the platforming in SM64 so great.
SM64 is my favorite game of all time. There's no other game I've ever experienced that's conditioned me over the last 25 or so years to constantly want to revisit it. Every few months I have an urge to fire up my N64 to play SM64 and I'll just forget about playing anything else for a week or two. Great video, great review, you absolutely deserve way more subscribers
Do Banjo Kazooie if you haven't already!! That's my favorite N64 game (or should I say games, as Banjo Tooie is my second favorite). Banjo has a lot of what Mario was missing! Love it.
To be fair, every platformer I've picked up on PC has a gamepad option, so you normally shouldn't be forced to use a mouse and keyboard for those games at all. Examples include Cuphead, the Shovel Knight series, Ori and the Blind Forest (more a Metroidvania but still), and I'm sure there's plenty of others that I don't know about. Gamepad support for PC games is generally pretty good these days, with a handful of exceptions. That being said, play what makes you happy. Thanks for the vids, been enjoying them!
Small comment on the camera, you can activate a follow-behind-Mario setting by hitting the left bumper on the N64 controller. I remember using this a lot during the difficult camera areas. Great video and fun channel. You do good work and your thoughts are fun, especially with the OoT video.
Unpopular opinion: I like the sky level. My only gripe with it is that the 6th star is a rehash for the most part of the first one with a cannon shot at the end. I don't think there is a reason for the player to just go through the first star's path again. It makes me think they ran out of ideas where to put the star. Another issue is the carpet sections could have been handled better. Maybe some more obstacles as well as alternate paths to reward more skilled players with faster routes. So as a whole...eh it's alright. But for a final level they could have done some things to make it more enjoyable. There are moments where I am just standing on the platform moving on a line with no obstacles for a long stretch such as with the second star so I just have Mario breakdancing while waiting for something to happen.
@@octorokreviews Yeah the carpet rides can be fun when there are obstacles in the path that test your platforming. But when it's long stretches of just nothing happening it gets dull such as entering the window of the floating mansion. Star 2 actually I think suffers the most from this. At least with the ship as you get to it's climax the obstacles become more strict and demand precision from the player to overcome them. I think if more things were done to keep the player's interest it would have been more enjoyable. That and reusing Star 1's path for Star 6. They could have probably come up with a more unique path to take for that.
Great content. Been watching all your review videos..video essays on video games is one of my favorite ways to relax and I'm subscribed to tons of channels. Yours is as quality as some of the best!
19:12 to be entirely accurate, you can use the R button camera pretty much anytime to get a bit more flexibility from the camera. It’s not amazing, but it’s something.
I have a vivid memory of the Dire dire docks 100 coins mission. After painstakingly getting 100, I got sucked into the whirlpool and had to do it over again... It was heartbreaking 😂 Also, as a kid, my favourite levels were Tick Tock Clock and Tiny Huge Island. Loved the aesthetics! I do understand the problems inbl game design, but I'll always keep fond memories of these courses. Edit : grammar
The secret 7th stars in the levels were hit and miss. Some levels benefitted but others oh god. The 15th level with it's linear pathways and gauntlets was NOT designed for 100 coins. Not to mention one wrong move and you fall and have to do it all again. The water levels suffer from coin shortages which makes me think that they were added in as an afterthought
Btw, the camera does have the option of switching between the wide Lakitu cam and the narrow Mario cam which puts the camera behind Mario. Of course, that camera is so close to Mario, it is a bit of a mixed blessing.
I could literally write Volumes about this game and all the stories connected to it. It was the first game I got bought. I played a few SNES games at friends of mine but this game, as well as OoT, was monumental and an totally life altering experience (it might sound over exaggerated. I guess u can compare it to audio getting introduced in cinema or color in TV)
You can get past the snowman's breath in Snowman's Land by doing a backflip onto the penguin's head, then wait until the penguin makes it to the other side of the bridge, it's kind of cheap but you won't have to deal with the snowman's breath
1:29:00 Actually you can get out of that room without the vanish cap! There’s a little gap against the wall u can fit through so you can enter and leave the room normally
Your comment got me so tilted that I went back to the game, got in the Igloo,, and yelled "BULLSHIT" the moment I found the opening haha! That's a crazy little detail - how did you first learn about that? I've beaten this game five times and I never saw that!
i was replaying the game late last year and finally found that alley way to squeeze thru. i believe it made it even harder to notice on the pc port with rtx. i actually got locked in there and reset and didn't notice until i came back
I'm sorry, there's something I can't understand: you made a whole section about this game's camera without talking about the mario cam? I haven't watched the full video yet and I'm sorry if I'm rushing to conclusions, but since at 21:29 you stop talking about this topic and move on to talking about Peach's castle, I'm assuming you are done with the whole camera topic, so I'll explain myself: You are right about Lakitu's cam function; it provides fixed camera angles for every part of the game. But this doesn't mean it's always the same, it's divided into 3 forms: Lakitu cam UP (first person mode, where you begin fully controlling the camera as if it were Mario's head so you can look around), normal Lakitu cam where every angle is fixed, and Lakitu cam DOWN (where the camera zooms out a bit and shows you more of the enviroment, while also filming you a little more from above rather than directly behind mario. This cam also provides only fixed angles, but at least alternate ones from normal lakitu cam). This alone is A LOT for one of the first 3d platformers ever, in my opinion. However, there's more: when you tap R, you switch to an alternate camera mode: the mario cam! And this camera is great, because it literally solves the problem you showed in 18:23. In this situation in Wet Dry World, the lakitu camera angles don't work because, like you said, the camera angles are fixed, so it keeps you from seeing what's directly in front of you. To ensure that this mode is available, just press START and select "Set camera angle with R", you'll be given two options: Lakitu-Mario and Lakitu-Stop. The first one is the one you'll want. And as for Lakitu-Stop, I've never found it to be the optimal camera mode, as it only remains stationary in the level, and you can run around and get reaaaally far away from it without it moving an inch. If you were to switch to Mario cam with the R button at that given moment, you'd switch to a very zoomed in view of Mario from behind. It's really awkward to control Mario like this and it's never really the optimal way to go through a tricky platforming section (except when speedrunners use it to decrease lag in certain levels when playing on a real N64). But if you tap the yellow button with the arrow looking down while in Mario cam in this situation, the camera will now begin focusing on your intended path! This is because this camera mode ALWAYS sets the camera directly behind mario, overriding any fixed camera angle that the lakitu cam may force on you otherwise. So this is my advice: If at any given point in the game you notice that the fixed camera angles are giving you a hard time, then try experimenting with the mario cam. And if you want to make a really precise jump, you'll find that while in mario cam Down, if you slightly change the direction Mario's facing, this cam will follow him. Really, just try moving Mario slowly and see how this camera always responds by mimicking his direction. This is how you make the precise camera adjustments you speak of at 19:55. Just take your time, set the correct camera mode, change mario's angle so he's facing directly where you want the camera to be (which in most cases it's also the place where you want to jump towards), and then do the jump. It's kind of astonishing to me seeing youtubers not adressing this feature at all when talking about SM64, as Nitro Rad's video about it also shows the very same situation in Wet Dry World as a problem which cannot be solved. I think people who complain about this game's camera do so because they do not know how to experiment with the FIVE different, unique camera modes the game offers you (not counting the multiple fixed angles you can switch between with the left and right yellow buttons). Seriously, there's ALWAYS an optimal camera to use for any situation. If you don't believe me, I encourage you to watch any speedrun of this game, the mastery and understanding of this game's camera lets players move freely around the levels with 0 issues (except when certain things like the submarine in Dire Dire Docks makes the whole game lag so you have to aim the camera angle in a really weird, awkward way and that's not fun but oh well, 1996) It's funny that the English USA manual of the game mentions the mario cam, but only the zoomed-in view and not the one that's actually the most useful. That's interesting to say the least. And about what you said about the movement in this game... I agree 100%, so even though I respectfully disagree with your position on this game's camera, I'm gonna keep watching your vid cause I love this game with all my heart and I love listening to people talking about it! TL;DR: Just press R, man.
So first off, I just want to say thank you: not only for watching the video, but also for engaging with it in such a passionate and well spoken way. I really appreciate it. Now, to address your points: you are absolutely right about it being a mistake that I did not mention the Mario cam - I have no idea how I forgot to put a section in the video addressing that. My best guess is that I had written off the possibility that anyone would even care to use it, much less defend it - but I still should have put it in the video, because I genuinely try to cover everything a game has to offer, and not talking about the Mario cam is, indeed, a mistake in that regard. It also did not help that literally every contemporary review I saw of the game bashed the camera - that seemed to confirm to me just how bad the camera in this game was, and that no one had found a solution to it or praised it in any way - even back in 1996. As for speed runners: they are not normal people. They have the finite pixels of a game so well memorized in their head that I don't even consider them as a frame of reference when trying to determine how well designed a game is. Now, to address the Mario cam: yes, I did know of its existence - I played this game on the N64 and just as you say, the manual does indeed mention this feature. That being said: the Mario cam sucks. Just as you said, it's difficult as all hell to control Mario in this way. I even went back to the game, got to Wet-Dry World again, and tried that same section using the Mario cam again just to see if I had missed something - all because of your comment - and I can now say with 1000% certainty: the Mario cam simply does not work the way it was intended. And even if it did, it's entirely unintuitive of a game to demand that you literally play around with the camera setting every time you want to perform a difficult jump - that is a tell-tale sign of bad camera design, and I think that's why no one ever tried replicating the Super Mario 64 type camera ever again. Anyway, thank you so much for watching the video - I really hope you enjoyed it. I love this game, and I love talking about it, so I really appreciate your engagement.
@@octorokreviews Hello, just coming back to say I finished watching your video, I really enjoyed it. I've never seen a course-by-course, let alone a STAR-BY-STAR analysis of this game and I think I really walked away from this video having learned a thing or two about this game that I've played a number of times that's higher than the number of your age and my age combined lol. So you got a like and a subscribe from me because of your in-depth style, so i'm tempted to watch your link's awakening analysis but as I haven't finished it yet I'll just avoid it for the time being, but i'll surely come back to it soon! Now about the wet-dry world conundrum, I think I may have explained myself poorly; you shouldn't use the default mario cam to cross that section, you should use the mario cam with the yellow arrow that points down so it should look like this: imgur.com/a/n5VKvN1. Do you mean THAT is a poor camera angle? It's literally the best way the camera could possibly be positioned for you to cross that obstacle. THAT is the camera mode i'm talking about, to be clear. No one ever tried to replicate the camera design because the second analog stick was invented, not because of an inherent flaw, it's just that the technology of the controllers surpassed the need for it. How can it be bad game design or bad camera design that you refuse to engage with a TOOL that the game gives you to optimize your experience with your surroundings? It's literally just pressing two buttons: R + C DOWN. Another thing, the part at 1:29:09 where you say you can trap yourself in the igloo with the pink bomb, that's not true at all lol. Between the "snow wall" and the wall of the igloo there's a small space that you can cross to get out of that little room: see: imgur.com/5qLEoqJ (see how I'm using the C down mario cam? I just pressed two extra buttons to access that cam and that helped me find my way out) I don't expect you to agree with me and say that the camera 100% works and it's great for anything you may need from it (although that is sincerely my opinion), I just wanted to reply to your comment so as to make myself as clear as possible.
It would be cool if there was a new game+ mode after you get all the stars where you can ride yoshi. Like he would run faster/jump higher & let you do a double jump by jumping off him, have stronger and long ranged attack w his tongue, and be able to run over lava or something(even if only for a short time)
Yoshi was originally planned to do most of what you suggested, fitting with his role in both Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island. But for obvious reasons, that became a low priority as the game's deadline loomed, so they scrapped the idea. The 3D model of Yoshi is the vestigial remnant of that idea, and they repurposed him for that final message instead.
As someone who beat the game 3 times with one of those being a 120 star win, all on a shitty school chromebook, with only arrow keys for movement and wasd was camera, I’d even say playing like that was a great time (tick rock clock was a nightmare though without a stick)
Damn man! I salute you - I was having such a hard time playing with a keyboard on Bob-omb battlefield. I ended up giving up and bought an n64 to usb connector so I could use a controller while playing on the emulator for game capture footage. I can’t imagine playing this game on a goddamn chrome book lol
You had me at "some people didn't like Mario because they were more Sega fans"- here I am thinking buddy more so grew up with Genesis over SNES. You lost me at "my dad had a Dreamcast and my first video game was Sonic Adventure". Christ do I feel old!
Who the hell is Mario? I think if you asked someone to name 3 famous Mario's you'd get Mario Bros, Mario andretti, and assuming they push the brain fart through maybe Mario Lopez
Another great video of yours. I agree with most of the criticisms. I love Super Mario 64, but it often seems to get a pass for being such an early 3D title and for being so revolutionary at its time, ignoring its issues and shortcomings, especially in its sloppy level design which would never be accepted in a new game today The only thing that bugged me is how you criticised all the "repeat stars" in the level, but then for Tick Tock Clock - which is basically one giant repeat star - that's not only not an issue for you, but you even praise it as a good thing 😄 I do understand the point, though, I just couldn't help finding it curious
Thank you! I also really love this game - it’s truly something special, and certainly deserves its illustrious reputation. It took me a long time before I developed the patience to learn the controls though haha.
I'm sorry but I really must take issue with your assertion that "the camera is shit" in the spots where it is fixed. Those are just heightened challenges. Maybe they had to make trade-offs that make it feel like "the camera is shit" but to me it's pretty obvious that in all the spots where you can't make the camera angle easier, is just to add to the challenge for you.
I do not believe the devs intended for the bad camera angles to add to the challenge of Super Mario 64, considering that no other Mario or Zelda game ever does such a thing. And regardless: purposefully messing with the player’s control over the playable character is a cheap and unfair way of creating challenges in any game. Frankly, I’d hope that these were mistakes and not intentional design, because the latter possibility is way worse.
@@octorokreviews I hear you and I can see what you're thinking, but I always got the impression that those spots were done that way on purpose. It could be that in each of those spots there *just so happens* to be invisible walls due to bugs in the polygon math of some structure below the camera, but every single spot really seems to me like it's purposely adding to the challenge to give those stars just a little more work.
@@octorokreviews Wait I'm sorry but the camera does that in OOT when you go to sneak into the princess' quarters in the castle. You're not allowed to move the camera there. Edit: in either case, I think you're making some great videos, just FYI!
I think I’m right in saying the reason the camera won’t move is because it’s hitting walls and/or turning the camera would put the camera behind a wall.
i love Mario 64, but i fucking HATE the controls, there's so much clunk imo. I grew up with Sunshine, and I wish all Mario games controlled like that one. To me, that game is the definitive way mario controls, the spinjump is just glorious in that, the precision is out of this world and, IMO, the skill ceiling is unparalleled. Now, I can play 64, and it's real fun, but there's always that slight annoyance in the controls which will never give me that same feeling I have playing Sunshine.
Someone's gonna call me a "snowflake" but why do you keep saying "he", "him", and "his" when talking about the player? They/them/theirs is more inclusive and doesn't sound as out of place when talking about an imaginary person. I enjoyed the video but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
RUclips stop pushing these in my feed, complete waste of time a 2 hour "review" of an almost 30 year old game and I dare say one of the few games that really don't need a review at all.
@@octorokreviewsLong-form reviews makeup the majority of my RUclips content. It’s great nostalgia from a different angle and yours so far have been supremely detailed. The fact that your haters have to talk to RUclips through your video instead of a support ticket must mean your videos are doing pretty well haha.
@@Seisler20148 Support tickets, you clearly never worked with or tried to contact youtube. Support tickets are handeld by an automated system it;s the equivalent of writing something down and throwing it away yourself. The only way to stop youtube from recommending these video is to click on the video and dislike the video. RUclips designed it this way, like and dislike control the algorithm nothing else. 🤣😂
You know you can just click “don’t recommend this channel,” right? Or just not click on my videos? You don’t need to dislike all of my reviews to not see them lol
@globes179 it’s fine if that’s your thing, but there’s no reason you need to share that. It makes you sound like a jackass - whether it was technically used “correctly” or not based on whatever arbitrary, ephemeral guidelines you have in your head. @octorokreviews, it’s a shame someone can put so much time and heart into creating something like this, make it freely available for people to enjoy *if they want to*, and then that creator needs to deal will petty, irrelevant opinions like this. But we’re all silly humans unfortunately. So here’s a random apology for our collective silliness and a thank you for making the videos you do ❤
![ARGENTINA vs. BOLIVIA [6-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 10](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C3wPtKNbAOA/mqdefault.jpg)
This is the first video of yours I've seen and you've instantly earned a subscription from me. I've always enjoyed these kind of long analysis/review videos and you do an incredible job with it. Super Mario 64 is one of my favorite games and although I don't agree with every point you made, I really enjoyed watching you analyze the game. I was SHOCKED when I saw your view and subscriber counts. You deserve SO MUCH more. Can't wait to check out more of your stuff!
Thanks, dude! It means a lot to hear that you enjoyed the video. I hope I can continue to make reviews that you enjoy!
He wasn't lying when he said it was over 2 hours 💀
Still one of the most underrated channels
Loved my Dreamcast. Shenmue, Toy Commander, Tokyo Xtreme Racer 1 & 2, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Marvel vs. Capcom, NFL2K, Ready 2 Rumble...still have my console in a box in the closet.
I’m leaving this comment here before I even get five minutes in because it’s finals week and I won’t be able to finish this for a while. I am already thoroughly impressed with this video and am looking forward to watching it. I appreciate the simple but concise editing choices. I’m something of a video editor, myself. The writing is has just enough personality without being alienating. And your perspective comes from a unique place while still being an appreciator of others. Maybe I’ll finish the video and be offended and delete this comment, or maybe I’ll subscribe. Also, WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR MIC SETUP? I HAVE THE LOWEST EXPECTATIONS WHEN IT CONES TO SMALLER CHANNELS AUDIO QUALITY, BUT THE LISTENABILITY MAKES ME 100% MORE INCLINED TO FINISH THIS. But seriously, can you hit me up with some audio tips?
Thanks so much! I’m actually super self-conscious about my audio so it’s really nice to hear that you like it! The mic is a Fifine studio condenser usb mic. Super cheap but super good. I’ve got some sound foam as well to really make sure everything comes out good. My brother is a sound guy so he gave me the advice on the setup.
@@octorokreviews Thank you so much!
This video was incredible! The 2 hours felt like 25 minutes man , you have a great vibe , the content was fun and captivating, and Mario 64 really has a special place in my heart because it was the very first game I played as a kid and I still play it today because it’s that good! I’ve always tried to find something similar but the other Mario games do not capture the weirdness and uniqueness of this one in my opinion! Anyways thanks man , great job !
1:22:38 I always thought getting a cap would replace the effect of the previous one. I would just get the vanish cap and swim to the cage. I never assumed you could combine them!
I was a SEGA kid in the 90s, but I remember the release of the N64 and the revolution that was the transition to 3D. Even though I was also a Sonic fanboy, I vividly remember being in awe when I first played Super Mario 64 at a friend’s house back in 1996. I just could not believe how accurate and agile Mario’s movement felt in 3D. It still amazes me to this day how Nintendo managed to set the gold standard for 3D platforming on their very first try.
After death of the Dreamcast I got myself a GameCube, and even though I really enjoyed SM:Sunshine for it’s beautiful (for the time) Pixar-like graphics and amazing atmosphere, I felt the controls were way more forgiving than before, and the audition of Flood really cheapened the mechanics that made the platforming in SM64 so great.
SM64 is my favorite game of all time. There's no other game I've ever experienced that's conditioned me over the last 25 or so years to constantly want to revisit it. Every few months I have an urge to fire up my N64 to play SM64 and I'll just forget about playing anything else for a week or two. Great video, great review, you absolutely deserve way more subscribers
Do Banjo Kazooie if you haven't already!! That's my favorite N64 game (or should I say games, as Banjo Tooie is my second favorite). Banjo has a lot of what Mario was missing! Love it.
Great quality and work man. Your Zelda and Mario content always hit the nostalgia spot for me!
To be fair, every platformer I've picked up on PC has a gamepad option, so you normally shouldn't be forced to use a mouse and keyboard for those games at all. Examples include Cuphead, the Shovel Knight series, Ori and the Blind Forest (more a Metroidvania but still), and I'm sure there's plenty of others that I don't know about. Gamepad support for PC games is generally pretty good these days, with a handful of exceptions. That being said, play what makes you happy. Thanks for the vids, been enjoying them!
Small comment on the camera, you can activate a follow-behind-Mario setting by hitting the left bumper on the N64 controller. I remember using this a lot during the difficult camera areas.
Great video and fun channel. You do good work and your thoughts are fun, especially with the OoT video.
Unpopular opinion: I like the sky level. My only gripe with it is that the 6th star is a rehash for the most part of the first one with a cannon shot at the end. I don't think there is a reason for the player to just go through the first star's path again. It makes me think they ran out of ideas where to put the star. Another issue is the carpet sections could have been handled better. Maybe some more obstacles as well as alternate paths to reward more skilled players with faster routes. So as a whole...eh it's alright. But for a final level they could have done some things to make it more enjoyable. There are moments where I am just standing on the platform moving on a line with no obstacles for a long stretch such as with the second star so I just have Mario breakdancing while waiting for something to happen.
Those are pretty much my exact same feelings on the matter. I love Course 15 in concept, it just doesn't have a super intuitive level design.
@@octorokreviews
Yeah the carpet rides can be fun when there are obstacles in the path that test your platforming. But when it's long stretches of just nothing happening it gets dull such as entering the window of the floating mansion. Star 2 actually I think suffers the most from this. At least with the ship as you get to it's climax the obstacles become more strict and demand precision from the player to overcome them. I think if more things were done to keep the player's interest it would have been more enjoyable. That and reusing Star 1's path for Star 6. They could have probably come up with a more unique path to take for that.
Great content. Been watching all your review videos..video essays on video games is one of my favorite ways to relax and I'm subscribed to tons of channels. Yours is as quality as some of the best!
19:12 to be entirely accurate, you can use the R button camera pretty much anytime to get a bit more flexibility from the camera. It’s not amazing, but it’s something.
what happened to your voice at 1:21:30 ???
it just randomly changes, it caught me really off guard lol
I have a vivid memory of the Dire dire docks 100 coins mission. After painstakingly getting 100, I got sucked into the whirlpool and had to do it over again... It was heartbreaking 😂
Also, as a kid, my favourite levels were Tick Tock Clock and Tiny Huge Island. Loved the aesthetics! I do understand the problems inbl game design, but I'll always keep fond memories of these courses.
Edit : grammar
The secret 7th stars in the levels were hit and miss. Some levels benefitted but others oh god. The 15th level with it's linear pathways and gauntlets was NOT designed for 100 coins. Not to mention one wrong move and you fall and have to do it all again. The water levels suffer from coin shortages which makes me think that they were added in as an afterthought
Binging all these videos is keeping me sane. Thank you!
Btw, the camera does have the option of switching between the wide Lakitu cam and the narrow Mario cam which puts the camera behind Mario.
Of course, that camera is so close to Mario, it is a bit of a mixed blessing.
This video deserves 100k views
Commenting for the engagement. Serious effort that deserves way more recognition.
Thank you for the compliment; it makes all the effort feel worth it. I hope you enjoyed the video!
If SA was your first game you’re far from a dinosaur 😅 My first game was Sonic 2
Thank you for the fantastic content! Please stay safe, choom!!
I could literally write Volumes about this game and all the stories connected to it. It was the first game I got bought. I played a few SNES games at friends of mine but this game, as well as OoT, was monumental and an totally life altering experience (it might sound over exaggerated. I guess u can compare it to audio getting introduced in cinema or color in TV)
You can get past the snowman's breath in Snowman's Land by doing a backflip onto the penguin's head, then wait until the penguin makes it to the other side of the bridge, it's kind of cheap but you won't have to deal with the snowman's breath
1:29:00 Actually you can get out of that room without the vanish cap! There’s a little gap against the wall u can fit through so you can enter and leave the room normally
Your comment got me so tilted that I went back to the game, got in the Igloo,, and yelled "BULLSHIT" the moment I found the opening haha! That's a crazy little detail - how did you first learn about that? I've beaten this game five times and I never saw that!
@@octorokreviews I just recently played it on the Nintendo Switch in 3D All Stars! Got lucky exploring that igloo and found it
i was replaying the game late last year and finally found that alley way to squeeze thru. i believe it made it even harder to notice on the pc port with rtx. i actually got locked in there and reset and didn't notice until i came back
You are supposed to ride the penguins head to cross the bridge to get passed the snowman blowing on you.
Come on RUclips algorithm this guy deserves it.
RUclips did push this video onto my feed, yes you are right he deserved the first dislike for wasting time on such a pretentious "review".
Absolutely
@@AlpenmilchDon’t be a dick
I'm sorry, there's something I can't understand: you made a whole section about this game's camera without talking about the mario cam? I haven't watched the full video yet and I'm sorry if I'm rushing to conclusions, but since at 21:29 you stop talking about this topic and move on to talking about Peach's castle, I'm assuming you are done with the whole camera topic, so I'll explain myself:
You are right about Lakitu's cam function; it provides fixed camera angles for every part of the game. But this doesn't mean it's always the same, it's divided into 3 forms: Lakitu cam UP (first person mode, where you begin fully controlling the camera as if it were Mario's head so you can look around), normal Lakitu cam where every angle is fixed, and Lakitu cam DOWN (where the camera zooms out a bit and shows you more of the enviroment, while also filming you a little more from above rather than directly behind mario. This cam also provides only fixed angles, but at least alternate ones from normal lakitu cam). This alone is A LOT for one of the first 3d platformers ever, in my opinion.
However, there's more: when you tap R, you switch to an alternate camera mode: the mario cam! And this camera is great, because it literally solves the problem you showed in 18:23. In this situation in Wet Dry World, the lakitu camera angles don't work because, like you said, the camera angles are fixed, so it keeps you from seeing what's directly in front of you.
To ensure that this mode is available, just press START and select "Set camera angle with R", you'll be given two options: Lakitu-Mario and Lakitu-Stop. The first one is the one you'll want. And as for Lakitu-Stop, I've never found it to be the optimal camera mode, as it only remains stationary in the level, and you can run around and get reaaaally far away from it without it moving an inch.
If you were to switch to Mario cam with the R button at that given moment, you'd switch to a very zoomed in view of Mario from behind. It's really awkward to control Mario like this and it's never really the optimal way to go through a tricky platforming section (except when speedrunners use it to decrease lag in certain levels when playing on a real N64).
But if you tap the yellow button with the arrow looking down while in Mario cam in this situation, the camera will now begin focusing on your intended path! This is because this camera mode ALWAYS sets the camera directly behind mario, overriding any fixed camera angle that the lakitu cam may force on you otherwise. So this is my advice: If at any given point in the game you notice that the fixed camera angles are giving you a hard time, then try experimenting with the mario cam. And if you want to make a really precise jump, you'll find that while in mario cam Down, if you slightly change the direction Mario's facing, this cam will follow him. Really, just try moving Mario slowly and see how this camera always responds by mimicking his direction. This is how you make the precise camera adjustments you speak of at 19:55. Just take your time, set the correct camera mode, change mario's angle so he's facing directly where you want the camera to be (which in most cases it's also the place where you want to jump towards), and then do the jump.
It's kind of astonishing to me seeing youtubers not adressing this feature at all when talking about SM64, as Nitro Rad's video about it also shows the very same situation in Wet Dry World as a problem which cannot be solved. I think people who complain about this game's camera do so because they do not know how to experiment with the FIVE different, unique camera modes the game offers you (not counting the multiple fixed angles you can switch between with the left and right yellow buttons). Seriously, there's ALWAYS an optimal camera to use for any situation. If you don't believe me, I encourage you to watch any speedrun of this game, the mastery and understanding of this game's camera lets players move freely around the levels with 0 issues (except when certain things like the submarine in Dire Dire Docks makes the whole game lag so you have to aim the camera angle in a really weird, awkward way and that's not fun but oh well, 1996)
It's funny that the English USA manual of the game mentions the mario cam, but only the zoomed-in view and not the one that's actually the most useful. That's interesting to say the least.
And about what you said about the movement in this game... I agree 100%, so even though I respectfully disagree with your position on this game's camera, I'm gonna keep watching your vid cause I love this game with all my heart and I love listening to people talking about it!
TL;DR: Just press R, man.
So first off, I just want to say thank you: not only for watching the video, but also for engaging with it in such a passionate and well spoken way. I really appreciate it.
Now, to address your points: you are absolutely right about it being a mistake that I did not mention the Mario cam - I have no idea how I forgot to put a section in the video addressing that. My best guess is that I had written off the possibility that anyone would even care to use it, much less defend it - but I still should have put it in the video, because I genuinely try to cover everything a game has to offer, and not talking about the Mario cam is, indeed, a mistake in that regard. It also did not help that literally every contemporary review I saw of the game bashed the camera - that seemed to confirm to me just how bad the camera in this game was, and that no one had found a solution to it or praised it in any way - even back in 1996. As for speed runners: they are not normal people. They have the finite pixels of a game so well memorized in their head that I don't even consider them as a frame of reference when trying to determine how well designed a game is.
Now, to address the Mario cam: yes, I did know of its existence - I played this game on the N64 and just as you say, the manual does indeed mention this feature. That being said: the Mario cam sucks. Just as you said, it's difficult as all hell to control Mario in this way. I even went back to the game, got to Wet-Dry World again, and tried that same section using the Mario cam again just to see if I had missed something - all because of your comment - and I can now say with 1000% certainty: the Mario cam simply does not work the way it was intended. And even if it did, it's entirely unintuitive of a game to demand that you literally play around with the camera setting every time you want to perform a difficult jump - that is a tell-tale sign of bad camera design, and I think that's why no one ever tried replicating the Super Mario 64 type camera ever again.
Anyway, thank you so much for watching the video - I really hope you enjoyed it. I love this game, and I love talking about it, so I really appreciate your engagement.
@@octorokreviews Hello, just coming back to say I finished watching your video, I really enjoyed it. I've never seen a course-by-course, let alone a STAR-BY-STAR analysis of this game and I think I really walked away from this video having learned a thing or two about this game that I've played a number of times that's higher than the number of your age and my age combined lol. So you got a like and a subscribe from me because of your in-depth style, so i'm tempted to watch your link's awakening analysis but as I haven't finished it yet I'll just avoid it for the time being, but i'll surely come back to it soon!
Now about the wet-dry world conundrum, I think I may have explained myself poorly; you shouldn't use the default mario cam to cross that section, you should use the mario cam with the yellow arrow that points down so it should look like this: imgur.com/a/n5VKvN1. Do you mean THAT is a poor camera angle? It's literally the best way the camera could possibly be positioned for you to cross that obstacle.
THAT is the camera mode i'm talking about, to be clear.
No one ever tried to replicate the camera design because the second analog stick was invented, not because of an inherent flaw, it's just that the technology of the controllers surpassed the need for it. How can it be bad game design or bad camera design that you refuse to engage with a TOOL that the game gives you to optimize your experience with your surroundings? It's literally just pressing two buttons: R + C DOWN.
Another thing, the part at 1:29:09 where you say you can trap yourself in the igloo with the pink bomb, that's not true at all lol. Between the "snow wall" and the wall of the igloo there's a small space that you can cross to get out of that little room: see: imgur.com/5qLEoqJ (see how I'm using the C down mario cam? I just pressed two extra buttons to access that cam and that helped me find my way out)
I don't expect you to agree with me and say that the camera 100% works and it's great for anything you may need from it (although that is sincerely my opinion), I just wanted to reply to your comment so as to make myself as clear as possible.
Thanks for making me feel very very old since I can remember playing ET on the Atari
It would be cool if there was a new game+ mode after you get all the stars where you can ride yoshi. Like he would run faster/jump higher & let you do a double jump by jumping off him, have stronger and long ranged attack w his tongue, and be able to run over lava or something(even if only for a short time)
Yoshi was originally planned to do most of what you suggested, fitting with his role in both Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island. But for obvious reasons, that became a low priority as the game's deadline loomed, so they scrapped the idea. The 3D model of Yoshi is the vestigial remnant of that idea, and they repurposed him for that final message instead.
Hey, feeding the algorithm and saying that this is a great review
As someone who beat the game 3 times with one of those being a 120 star win, all on a shitty school chromebook, with only arrow keys for movement and wasd was camera, I’d even say playing like that was a great time (tick rock clock was a nightmare though without a stick)
Damn man! I salute you - I was having such a hard time playing with a keyboard on Bob-omb battlefield. I ended up giving up and bought an n64 to usb connector so I could use a controller while playing on the emulator for game capture footage. I can’t imagine playing this game on a goddamn chrome book lol
Great breakdown video. Great content. We live in the golden era.
As someone who played Sonic Adventure for the first time last year, that shit is still of the chain.
You had me at "some people didn't like Mario because they were more Sega fans"- here I am thinking buddy more so grew up with Genesis over SNES. You lost me at "my dad had a Dreamcast and my first video game was Sonic Adventure". Christ do I feel old!
You deserve more attention to your channel, dude. The analysis you made was so good!
Thanks, dude! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Who the hell is Mario? I think if you asked someone to name 3 famous Mario's you'd get Mario Bros, Mario andretti, and assuming they push the brain fart through maybe Mario Lopez
Another great video of yours. I agree with most of the criticisms. I love Super Mario 64, but it often seems to get a pass for being such an early 3D title and for being so revolutionary at its time, ignoring its issues and shortcomings, especially in its sloppy level design which would never be accepted in a new game today
The only thing that bugged me is how you criticised all the "repeat stars" in the level, but then for Tick Tock Clock - which is basically one giant repeat star - that's not only not an issue for you, but you even praise it as a good thing 😄 I do understand the point, though, I just couldn't help finding it curious
I love Mario 64! Amazing review! This game has its flaws, but somehow it’s still so gosh darn fun
Thank you! I also really love this game - it’s truly something special, and certainly deserves its illustrious reputation. It took me a long time before I developed the patience to learn the controls though haha.
Sonic Adventure is to Sonic as Mario 64 is to Mario
I'm sorry but I really must take issue with your assertion that "the camera is shit" in the spots where it is fixed. Those are just heightened challenges. Maybe they had to make trade-offs that make it feel like "the camera is shit" but to me it's pretty obvious that in all the spots where you can't make the camera angle easier, is just to add to the challenge for you.
I do not believe the devs intended for the bad camera angles to add to the challenge of Super Mario 64, considering that no other Mario or Zelda game ever does such a thing. And regardless: purposefully messing with the player’s control over the playable character is a cheap and unfair way of creating challenges in any game. Frankly, I’d hope that these were mistakes and not intentional design, because the latter possibility is way worse.
@@octorokreviews I hear you and I can see what you're thinking, but I always got the impression that those spots were done that way on purpose.
It could be that in each of those spots there *just so happens* to be invisible walls due to bugs in the polygon math of some structure below the camera, but every single spot really seems to me like it's purposely adding to the challenge to give those stars just a little more work.
@@octorokreviews Wait I'm sorry but the camera does that in OOT when you go to sneak into the princess' quarters in the castle. You're not allowed to move the camera there.
Edit: in either case, I think you're making some great videos, just FYI!
I think I’m right in saying the reason the camera won’t move is because it’s hitting walls and/or turning the camera would put the camera behind a wall.
I read that as boneless skin idk why
Oh I can name one PS1 game from before mario 64 with a working camera. Doom. 1995.
everything else might be terrible, but the camera worked.
i love Mario 64, but i fucking HATE the controls, there's so much clunk imo. I grew up with Sunshine, and I wish all Mario games controlled like that one. To me, that game is the definitive way mario controls, the spinjump is just glorious in that, the precision is out of this world and, IMO, the skill ceiling is unparalleled. Now, I can play 64, and it's real fun, but there's always that slight annoyance in the controls which will never give me that same feeling I have playing Sunshine.
Also did you get a new mic half way through? Dire Dire Docks is quite a change
Ah yes Zelda vocied by Mickey Mouse
It does sort of have that sound to it lol. I was going for Kallen from Purpleeyes’ Code Ment videos, but I can’t do the voice as well as he can.
Someone's gonna call me a "snowflake" but why do you keep saying "he", "him", and "his" when talking about the player? They/them/theirs is more inclusive and doesn't sound as out of place when talking about an imaginary person.
I enjoyed the video but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
1:01:36 bro just wall jump off of the pillar it's easy
Old man hahahaha.....what r ya pushing 34
So much sonic adventure slander.
RUclips stop pushing these in my feed, complete waste of time a 2 hour "review" of an almost 30 year old game and I dare say one of the few games that really don't need a review at all.
I’m surprised you sat through all two hours if that’s how you felt about it. Sorry it disappointed you, but thank you for watching.
@@octorokreviewsLong-form reviews makeup the majority of my RUclips content. It’s great nostalgia from a different angle and yours so far have been supremely detailed. The fact that your haters have to talk to RUclips through your video instead of a support ticket must mean your videos are doing pretty well haha.
Completely disagree. Thanks for the engagement and comment though! It’ll help their channel.
@@Seisler20148 Support tickets, you clearly never worked with or tried to contact youtube. Support tickets are handeld by an automated system it;s the equivalent of writing something down and throwing it away yourself. The only way to stop youtube from recommending these video is to click on the video and dislike the video. RUclips designed it this way, like and dislike control the algorithm nothing else. 🤣😂
You know you can just click “don’t recommend this channel,” right? Or just not click on my videos? You don’t need to dislike all of my reviews to not see them lol
People who use "whom" without knowing why just lose my attention imediately
Wasn’t that, like, 17 minutes into the video? And did I not use it correctly in that context?
@globes179 it’s fine if that’s your thing, but there’s no reason you need to share that. It makes you sound like a jackass - whether it was technically used “correctly” or not based on whatever arbitrary, ephemeral guidelines you have in your head.
@octorokreviews, it’s a shame someone can put so much time and heart into creating something like this, make it freely available for people to enjoy *if they want to*, and then that creator needs to deal will petty, irrelevant opinions like this. But we’re all silly humans unfortunately. So here’s a random apology for our collective silliness and a thank you for making the videos you do ❤