I've played SM64 dozens of times over the years and have seen dozens of longform analyses of this important game, but this video STILL kept me engaged from start to finish. Something about the way you deliver the content just WORKS - Not some dry and pretentious "college lit class essay", but also not someone making bad attempts at humor. Instead, it comes across like a dude just sharing his passion, which makes your videos hella cozy
Great video, man. Always love hearing different perspectives on Mario 64. It's a game that manages to be nostalgic even to those who may not have grown up with, a testament to how magical and groundbreaking it was.
While the decision to stick with cartridges had quite a large effect on the N64 as a whole, I don't think it had anything to do with decision to limit Mario 64 to 15 stages. That was almost certainly due to time pressure to make Mario 64 a launch title far more than the hardware limitations.
64 is a game that I've played on multiple occasions but for some reason have never ended up fully beating, so it was really nice being able to come away learning lots of new things and looking at the game in a whole new perspective! The boot out system is something that I can definitely see both sides to, on the one hand I can see it making a few stages very quick to beat since a lot of stars can be picked up fairly fast, however there are other stars where getting booted out just to follow the exact same path could become a bit tiresome, so I agree that the option to choose is probably the best middle ground. Great vid!
So the reasoning behind the oxygen meter and the health being tied is that it simplifies what the player has to learn and it means these levels can have big difficulty spikes in threat while ensuring players can safely recover: that you can have the sense of danger, and that its up to you to recover and so your own sense of risk or impatience dictates the threat which alleviates most of the threat of water-levels in platformers to begin with. This is why, ironically, people tend to like Mario 64's water levels, but hate water levels in the majority of games.
I'm really happy I found your channel. I can only rewatch MatthewMatosis Mario retrospectives that many times. You have a fresh perspective and great script.
One more thing, I think the real reason for the boot out system being in place is actually much more shallow. It’s done to artificially increase playtime. In 1996 videogames were very expensive and games were commonly compared against each other by their length. With the N64’s restrictions in place, the game couldn’t grow any larger in terms of level quantity so the only way to extend the game is to make players spend more time on each level individually. That’s why the boot out system is the way it is.
My argument for why they decided to boot players out: In some stages the way you enter the stage changes the stage so by booting you out, you can change the stage for the next star. The other reason is the fact you can pick a mission which may not have a massive state change but instead a small one like the monkey star in tall tall mountain
Watched your Mario Kart history video earlier and now onto this. The time and effort put into these videos is incredible. It would be great if you were able to do Sunshine, Galaxy 1 and 2, and Odyssey if you ever find the time.
Amazing video! Super Mario 64 is still a masterpiece to this day! I love it so much! Still one of my favorite Mario games and my favorite N64 game, And it's one of my favorite games of all time.
subscribed after watching the Mario kart vid (which earned a spot on my comfort video playlist), and completely loved this vid too! can’t see what else you have in store man
Great video dude! I know Mario N64 videos are always a popular choice but this one just is so interesting. Really love how you talked about stuff like the stiffness of movement after a jump and provided an alternative to really emphasize that even if some things aren’t perfect, it’s still fluid in letting you get the most of movement. That and the boot out system, I had no idea bout the fan game that lets you turn it off but I honestly think it’s so cool! First time ever seeing this channel and this was just a perfect video to start with, excited to delve into your other stuff and see more in the future!
Yeah, I can definitely agree with the idea that the boot-out system helps make getting a Star feel more special. Getting a Moon in Odyssey doesn't feel like a big deal at all and it's 99% because it keeps you in the level and doesn't boot you out.
Super Mario 64 will forever hold a special place in my heart. The silly characters, the sounds, the music, the endless fun it brought me as a child .. I still watch speedruns from time to time or listen to the soundtracks to bring back those precious memories
6:27 cartwheel/sideways somersault fixes it. I will say I very much agree with the camera. It’s aged absolutely yet to give Nintendo credit they place the camera snaps in very intelligent ways so the player can see as much as they can while still showing proper depth. It’s easy to remember when the camera is being annoying yet you don’t even acknowledge when it’s working right. This is one issue I have with many that talk about the camera. They barely acknowledge when it’s working fine and focus hard on the few times when it’s not
I will say that despite the cartridges being small in size due to the fast loading times it's why Nintendo was able to make the levels so seamless in mario 64
Super Mario 64 is a classic! I played this game a lot of times, and i had a lot fun in all of those times! I even got every single Star in the DS version (took me a lot of time, but it was worth it).
I swear i tried to look everywhere for luigi in this game!!! When i was really young i always tried to use the wing cap on top the castle to fly to the islands out of bounds. Yeah those 2D pixel islands 😂 i guess kid me really wanted to explore more
I'd be really interested in seeing you talk about the movement in Donkey Kong 94 for Gameboy. I always thought the movement in Mario 64 was an expansion of Mario's moveset from DK94.
6:11 this jank really should've be taken out by Nintendo by now but it's still there on Switch. It would make the controls pretty much perfect. If Mario 64 had Odyssey's turning, it would be the best controlling Mario game. Just Mario, running jumping, no hats, no little star thing, no water pump, just Mario. One day
I'm currently doing my first playthrough of Mario 64 the only bad thing I have to say about it is the camera, it's so frustrating to look at anything around you when it's so restricted.
In bo bomb battlefield it is possible to get all the stars without the Wing Cap When I was a kid I actually never figured out how to unlock the power ups So me and my brother to get the star would just aiming to the sky where we thought The secret coins would be and that's how we got that Star And on top of that all the metal cap required Stars can be done without the metal cap with enough fast swimming in perseverance
How's it going, man? It's been a minute, but I'm finally getting back around to your videos. Mario 64 is the most important 3D platformer even if I don't care much for it as I much prefer Banjo and Spyro. It does have wonderful music and levels though.
5:39 I really don’t think it’s fair to call a section “seamless” while using a mod that severely reworks wall-jumps: one of the most jank mechanics in the game
Despite being a Nintendo fanboy since I was 3 years old, when I got my Super Nintendo, by the time I graduated high school and college, I had never played a single 3D Super Mario game. To keep me distracted from the pandemic in 2020, I decided to play & finish all 3D Super Mario games. Since I went in the order of their original release date (naturally), I played Super Mario 64. At first, I accused my fellow Nintendo fanboys of viewing this game with their rose-tinted glasses, but after playing through & finishing all 3D Super Mario games, I found Super Mario 64 to be 2nd favorite, only falling to Super Mario Odyssey. While some pieces of this game aged poorly, like the wonky cameras, polygonal graphics and the boot-out system, everything else aged beautifully.
While Mario 64 isn't my favorite Mario game of all time nor my favorite 3D Mario game nor I wouldn't say it's the best game ever made, I will always appreciated and respect this game for it's influence and without it, the 3D games wouldn't happen. It's definitely dated and very rough around many areas. But I wouldn't call it an bad game. From it's design and standpoint, Mario 64 is overall an good game that I believed later 3D Mario games or 3D games took the ideas from Mario 64 and make them greatly better. With some exception like the next 3D Mario afterwards. But that's an topic for later. But yeah. Mario 64 isn't the best, but it's still good.
I’ve played every 3D mario game at this point except Sunshine and it’s unfortunate that all of them are downgrade in terms of movement compared to M64 imo. I don’t know what it is about this game’s movement, but it feels like Mario has a lot more momentum than he does in the other games. It’s like he’s always on a thin layer of ice and I really love how fast this game allows you to traverse.
I can tell from your voice that you're probably a zoomer. And yet the way you describe your incredible game almost fools me into believing you grew up in the 90s! Well done friend. You got a new Sub
am I the only one who get's slightly uncomfortable whenever I see Mario without his hat on in this game? I dunno, it just feels wrong. Like part of his uniform have been stripped from him.
The game always creep me the fuck out 😬 all Nintendo 64 games honestly, they all feel dead I've tried to complete many of them but I just can't I'm bored by the 3rd hour of gameplay
Mario 64 is awful its such a drag to play if the controls and play feeling were updated just a little bit it could be pretty great it sucks the Mario anniversary was such garbage
I've played SM64 dozens of times over the years and have seen dozens of longform analyses of this important game, but this video STILL kept me engaged from start to finish. Something about the way you deliver the content just WORKS - Not some dry and pretentious "college lit class essay", but also not someone making bad attempts at humor. Instead, it comes across like a dude just sharing his passion, which makes your videos hella cozy
Thank you so much! That’s exactly what I try to go for here, and I’m really glad that’s how it comes off. Glad you enjoyed!
Great video, man. Always love hearing different perspectives on Mario 64. It's a game that manages to be nostalgic even to those who may not have grown up with, a testament to how magical and groundbreaking it was.
Great video! The line at 8:48 is a casual bit of genius - quite possibly the best possible way to differentiate what makes a 2D mario from a 3D mario
While the decision to stick with cartridges had quite a large effect on the N64 as a whole, I don't think it had anything to do with decision to limit Mario 64 to 15 stages.
That was almost certainly due to time pressure to make Mario 64 a launch title far more than the hardware limitations.
I think the only thing CDs would have change would have been far more songs and larger textures
This video and channel is too underrated
64 is a game that I've played on multiple occasions but for some reason have never ended up fully beating, so it was really nice being able to come away learning lots of new things and looking at the game in a whole new perspective! The boot out system is something that I can definitely see both sides to, on the one hand I can see it making a few stages very quick to beat since a lot of stars can be picked up fairly fast, however there are other stars where getting booted out just to follow the exact same path could become a bit tiresome, so I agree that the option to choose is probably the best middle ground. Great vid!
im the opposite lol i beat it every single time i touch the game
So the reasoning behind the oxygen meter and the health being tied is that it simplifies what the player has to learn and it means these levels can have big difficulty spikes in threat while ensuring players can safely recover: that you can have the sense of danger, and that its up to you to recover and so your own sense of risk or impatience dictates the threat which alleviates most of the threat of water-levels in platformers to begin with. This is why, ironically, people tend to like Mario 64's water levels, but hate water levels in the majority of games.
I'm really happy I found your channel. I can only rewatch MatthewMatosis Mario retrospectives that many times. You have a fresh perspective and great script.
One more thing, I think the real reason for the boot out system being in place is actually much more shallow. It’s done to artificially increase playtime. In 1996 videogames were very expensive and games were commonly compared against each other by their length. With the N64’s restrictions in place, the game couldn’t grow any larger in terms of level quantity so the only way to extend the game is to make players spend more time on each level individually. That’s why the boot out system is the way it is.
My argument for why they decided to boot players out: In some stages the way you enter the stage changes the stage so by booting you out, you can change the stage for the next star. The other reason is the fact you can pick a mission which may not have a massive state change but instead a small one like the monkey star in tall tall mountain
Awesome video! You do a really great job of keeping me engaged and interested! Excited to see what else you make!
Watched your Mario Kart history video earlier and now onto this. The time and effort put into these videos is incredible. It would be great if you were able to do Sunshine, Galaxy 1 and 2, and Odyssey if you ever find the time.
Great video man! Reminds me a lot of KingK’s retrospectives! Keep up the good work! I can’t wait for more retrospectives!
Amazing video! Super Mario 64 is still a masterpiece to this day! I love it so much! Still one of my favorite Mario games and my favorite N64 game, And it's one of my favorite games of all time.
subscribed after watching the Mario kart vid (which earned a spot on my comfort video playlist), and completely loved this vid too! can’t see what else you have in store man
You're videos are great. I discovered your videos from the sunshine video and I'm glad you have more, looking forward to seeing more!
Your videos are so relaxing!
Great video dude! I know Mario N64 videos are always a popular choice but this one just is so interesting. Really love how you talked about stuff like the stiffness of movement after a jump and provided an alternative to really emphasize that even if some things aren’t perfect, it’s still fluid in letting you get the most of movement. That and the boot out system, I had no idea bout the fan game that lets you turn it off but I honestly think it’s so cool! First time ever seeing this channel and this was just a perfect video to start with, excited to delve into your other stuff and see more in the future!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed :)
I have 100%-ed 64 maybe two dozen times by now. My favorite game of all time.
Yeah, I can definitely agree with the idea that the boot-out system helps make getting a Star feel more special. Getting a Moon in Odyssey doesn't feel like a big deal at all and it's 99% because it keeps you in the level and doesn't boot you out.
Super Mario 64 will forever hold a special place in my heart. The silly characters, the sounds, the music, the endless fun it brought me as a child ..
I still watch speedruns from time to time or listen to the soundtracks to bring back those precious memories
About to stop everything I’m doing so I can watch another retrospective gem.😅 Love your videos man!
6:27 cartwheel/sideways somersault fixes it. I will say I very much agree with the camera. It’s aged absolutely yet to give Nintendo credit they place the camera snaps in very intelligent ways so the player can see as much as they can while still showing proper depth. It’s easy to remember when the camera is being annoying yet you don’t even acknowledge when it’s working right. This is one issue I have with many that talk about the camera. They barely acknowledge when it’s working fine and focus hard on the few times when it’s not
Banger alert‼
I will say that despite the cartridges being small in size due to the fast loading times it's why Nintendo was able to make the levels so seamless in mario 64
Super Mario 64 is a classic! I played this game a lot of times, and i had a lot fun in all of those times! I even got every single Star in the DS version (took me a lot of time, but it was worth it).
You make some quality content, man. I'll be waiting for the 1m subscribers so I can flex about having been here from the start. 💪
I already know this channel is gonna have some banger zelda vids
I swear i tried to look everywhere for luigi in this game!!! When i was really young i always tried to use the wing cap on top the castle to fly to the islands out of bounds. Yeah those 2D pixel islands 😂 i guess kid me really wanted to explore more
Finally someone who defends the camera system other than myself
I'd be really interested in seeing you talk about the movement in Donkey Kong 94 for Gameboy. I always thought the movement in Mario 64 was an expansion of Mario's moveset from DK94.
Such a great video hope u do more retrospectives like the Mario kart games
Nvm he did
at 5:37 what version of Mario64 is that? The whole hud when you get a star is different.
Looks like the Nintendo DS version to me señor
@@Matthew_koch Nvm it's Mario 64 plus if you're interested, basically just an updated pc port.
6:11 this jank really should've be taken out by Nintendo by now but it's still there on Switch. It would make the controls pretty much perfect. If Mario 64 had Odyssey's turning, it would be the best controlling Mario game. Just Mario, running jumping, no hats, no little star thing, no water pump, just Mario. One day
"The white man was here."
"How do you know?"
"Nintendo game retrospective."
I'm currently doing my first playthrough of Mario 64 the only bad thing I have to say about it is the camera, it's so frustrating to look at anything around you when it's so restricted.
Lore of Super Mario 64 Retrospective momentum 100
Kohana video?!?
Loved the video!!❤
In bo bomb battlefield it is possible to get all the stars without the Wing Cap
When I was a kid I actually never figured out how to unlock the power ups
So me and my brother to get the star would just aiming to the sky where we thought The secret coins would be and that's how we got that Star
And on top of that all the metal cap required Stars can be done without the metal cap with enough fast swimming in perseverance
Fantastic retrospective
Peak content 🫵🏽🗿
How does the N64 version compare to the Switch 3D Allstars version?
It’s better because you can do the backwards long jump in the N64 version but it’s patched in 3D All Stars
How's it going, man? It's been a minute, but I'm finally getting back around to your videos. Mario 64 is the most important 3D platformer even if I don't care much for it as I much prefer Banjo and Spyro. It does have wonderful music and levels though.
I love your videos man
gem
5:39 I really don’t think it’s fair to call a section “seamless” while using a mod that severely reworks wall-jumps: one of the most jank mechanics in the game
super mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Despite being a Nintendo fanboy since I was 3 years old, when I got my Super Nintendo, by the time I graduated high school and college, I had never played a single 3D Super Mario game. To keep me distracted from the pandemic in 2020, I decided to play & finish all 3D Super Mario games. Since I went in the order of their original release date (naturally), I played Super Mario 64. At first, I accused my fellow Nintendo fanboys of viewing this game with their rose-tinted glasses, but after playing through & finishing all 3D Super Mario games, I found Super Mario 64 to be 2nd favorite, only falling to Super Mario Odyssey. While some pieces of this game aged poorly, like the wonky cameras, polygonal graphics and the boot-out system, everything else aged beautifully.
While Mario 64 isn't my favorite Mario game of all time nor my favorite 3D Mario game nor I wouldn't say it's the best game ever made, I will always appreciated and respect this game for it's influence and without it, the 3D games wouldn't happen. It's definitely dated and very rough around many areas. But I wouldn't call it an bad game. From it's design and standpoint, Mario 64 is overall an good game that I believed later 3D Mario games or 3D games took the ideas from Mario 64 and make them greatly better. With some exception like the next 3D Mario afterwards. But that's an topic for later. But yeah. Mario 64 isn't the best, but it's still good.
W game
I’ve played every 3D mario game at this point except Sunshine and it’s unfortunate that all of them are downgrade in terms of movement compared to M64 imo. I don’t know what it is about this game’s movement, but it feels like Mario has a lot more momentum than he does in the other games. It’s like he’s always on a thin layer of ice and I really love how fast this game allows you to traverse.
Also worth noting that the dialogue in this game is genuinely so funny
I can tell from your voice that you're probably a zoomer. And yet the way you describe your incredible game almost fools me into believing you grew up in the 90s! Well done friend. You got a new Sub
BTW I gotta ask, where did you get that music that plays in the last few seconds of this video? It sounds so soothing
am I the only one who get's slightly uncomfortable whenever I see Mario without his hat on in this game? I dunno, it just feels wrong. Like part of his uniform have been stripped from him.
Your video is awfully close to KingKrool's video
The DS version still sucks rip
Disagree. It has more playable characters and the mini games.
The game always creep me the fuck out 😬 all Nintendo 64 games honestly, they all feel dead I've tried to complete many of them but I just can't I'm bored by the 3rd hour of gameplay
its not 10 its 8 dumy
Mario 64 is awful its such a drag to play if the controls and play feeling were updated just a little bit it could be pretty great it sucks the Mario anniversary was such garbage
wrong.
Mario 64 does not need a remake from the ground up.
Signed, Segata Sanshiro.
Gangsta video.