Super Mario 64 - anyone else share my sentiments?

[Autumn]

I've played SM64 maybe once or twice in my life (hey I grew up with Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot, so wtfever) and I have always had this weird feeling whenever I've played it. Like the hub area castle place is so devoid of anything but mario, it's so weird.

YEESSS I'm not alooneeeee

I also have a horrible fear of glitches in games (moreso when I was younger, though). I remember accidentally knocking my gold/silver cartridges by accident and everything going all weird and being really terrified.

dude I thought I was alone in the world with that fear

SMB3's storyline: Bowser turned the kings of the worlds into animals and Mario must defeat the Koopalings to revert the spells. Later on Bowser kidnaps the Princess and Mario must venture into the Dark World to save her (didn't put this in spoiler tags because that's what happens in every Mario game). The rest is pure gameplay. I myself never got past World 8, because you can't save in SMB3 and by then I was exhausted. The game doesn't feel empty but that's because there are tons of memorable enemies and hazards. I've never played anything past SM64 but I believe SMB3 is the absolute best in the series in terms of content and gameplay and Nintendo will have to pull something special out of the hat to best it. This game is the reason why Mario fans keep asking Nintendo to put Tanooki and Hammer Bros. suits in the latest games.

actually wait smb3? I own that for this weird multi-system (NES, SNES, Genesis) I have but the thing doesn't work so :/

Nintendo is not fundamental to a good videogame childhood, and I really wish everyone would stop acting like it is. (also mario is frickin weird to someone who's never played it before. seriously, try to look at mario with an outside perspective. at least spyro made some kind of sense).

I just want to say that my very first video games were played at the age of 7 or 8 (and they were popular N64 games - SM64, Kirby 64, Pokémon Snap and Stadium, Mario Kart 64, SSB) so I really didn't play video games as a kid per se. Although since my first exposure was Nintendo I'm a pretty solid Nintendo fan (although if Sega still made consoles I'd probably have obtained their newest one).

Perhaps what creeps me out the most is the outside of the castle is just... so sparse. And the N64's primitive 3D graphics do little to help it out. It feels plain and weird.

again: agreement :D

You are also not alone in being afraid of glitches. I used to be terrified of glitches. I'm not sure why, but they just frightened me horribly. I didn't know about all the dummied out stuff in SM64, though, I gotta check out that.

There's no solid proof that it symbolizes stuff that was dummied out but it certainly points in that direction.

Interestingly the first time I was creeped out by glitches was with Pokémon. Missingno. felt like a thing of the devil and there were rumours that catching it would permanently damage the cartridge.

I think Pokémon is the only franchise where I'm not scared of glitches. Maybe because I've been reading about them since before I grew to have this fear? Maybe because I pulled off glitches in Blue long before I knew much about glitches in other franchises? Idk.

No lie I loved reading what you wrote and I understand you completely. I often explore after beating it though, like in red and blue versions. The games were so expansive and yet there was little to nothing to do after beating it. I didn't like that, I kept playing even though I wandered aimlessly, hoping to find an extra place or little secret. All to no avail, it strangely depressed me

Everyone tries to find things in that game, believe me. No secrets have ever been discovered, but tons of glitches have been discovered. A lot of the tricks were discovered in the mid 2000's, long after the Gamecube had supplanted the N64, so that just goes to show how determined people were to find things in that game!

 

[Momo(th)]

time-travelling as a spiky red-haired swordsman.

:D

Also, I grew up with the SNES, but mainly the FF series. Then I got a PSX and went straight to Sypro where, as uv put it, I was too busy saving the motherfucking day with a motherfucking dragon to care.

 

[fresh fruit for Adol]

Although I do believe that a video game childhood without either Mario or Sonic, or even Donkey Kong, isn't complete. There's a reason why Crash Bandicoot isn't nearly as well-known as either of the aforementioned mascots.

and that reason happens to be that sony never really milked the franchise to its worth
joke or not it's still kind of rude to say someone's childhood isn't complete if they never played any mario or sonic as a kid. i never really played Mario growing up, never had much interest in it, i didn't play a single sonic game until the Dreamcast came out. instead, i had Klonoa, a fantastic platformer in its own right, which with great level design, great story and fantastic music. that and Ape Escape along witht he two SNES games i had growing up both made for an amazing childhood for me, personally

(the only really mature N64 game was Conker's Bad Fur Day)

and Perfect Dark, and Shadowman, and Turok, Jet Force Gemini, Body Harvest...

 

[ultraviolet]

instead, i had Klonoa, a fantastic platformer in its own right, which with great level design, great story and fantastic music. that and Ape Escape along witht he two SNES games i had growing up both made for an amazing childhood for me, personally

Klonoa is a huge part of my childhood and I can't believe I forgot about it; it's one of the few things I have left of my uncle who died when I was about eight. I was always allowed to play Klonoa at his house, and I still own a copy of the game and soundtrack. Such a shame that Klonoa 2 was so easy.

Also Ape Escape rules so hard. Once you get past using the sticks, everything's sweet.

Although I do believe that a video game childhood without either Mario or Sonic, or even Donkey Kong, isn't complete. There's a reason why Crash Bandicoot isn't nearly as well-known as either of the aforementioned mascots.

but how can you possibly know this, having only grown up with nintendo? there are plenty of people around who had fine childhoods without nintendo! crash bandicoot not being as well-known has very little to do with its entertainment value or effect on someone's childhood. Popularity doesn't necessarily mean good (and besides, crash bandicoot... is still pretty popular, even if not as much as mario or DK).

re: the actual topic -- mario games in general seem to have craploads more intentionally scary things in them (like the creepy piano or eyeballs or whatever) than a lot of other games aimed at kids. Like I can't think of a single platformer on PSX that is nearly as scary as some of the things in mario. Is it maybe a cultural thing, since SM64 was developed in Japan?

 

[Momo(th)]

I forgot to mention I grew up with Earthbound, one of the most sarcastic games ever, Chrono Trigger, and Pokemon Gold.

I also have a horrible fear of glitches in games (moreso when I was younger, though). I remember accidentally knocking my gold/silver cartridges by accident and everything going all weird and being really terrified..

I remember this awesome glitch in Spyro 2 where DA WORLD TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN. BEST GLITCH EVER.

re: the actual topic -- mario games in general seem to have craploads more intentionally scary things in them (like the creepy piano or eyeballs or whatever) than a lot of other games aimed at kids. Like I can't think of a single platformer on PSX that is nearly as scary as some of the things in mario. Is it maybe a cultural thing, since SM64 was developed in Japan?

That stage has it's own Trope page.