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As bad a platformer as Tekken is a fighting game...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 36
Date: November 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I guess I'm the first one to say this, but - this game is drab. I've played and loved all Miyamoto games, eg Super Mario I, Zelda I, Zelda II, Mario World, Zelda III, Star Fox, Yoshi's Island, Ocarina of Time, Lylat Wars, and still do, so I should know... Mario 64 is only 'worthwhile' because it's free with the N64 (in the good old times you got Super Mario World!), it looks fab ("Look, it's Mario in 3D!") at first and - well, that's it, I'm afraid. The levels are mediocre, the control method is awkward, especially compared to the likes of Zelda 64 or the 2D Mario games, and there's a serious lack of depth in the gameplay department. But it's not just Mario 64; it's the trend in videogames at the moment I resent. Everything has to be three-dimensional, graphically amazing, crammed with special effects and cinematic stuff, and it makes me sick. The only thing I care about is D E P T H O F G A M E P L A Y. But then of course I'm someone who likes Streetfighter better than any modern fighting game, be it Tekken Tag Tournament, be it Virtua Fighter III Deluxe, be it full-motion, photo-realistic, 4D Battle of the Gods...

I still can't beleive this wasn't my first N64 game.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 16
Date: January 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The absolute greatest mario title of all time! Mama mia!

Second worst game i have ever played.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 48
Date: January 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let me just say that this is one of the worst games i have ever played.
All the reviews about this game say how wonderful it is "Oh it is a
classic even now!" well i got it for [...] and it was a total waste!
All the people who played this hunk of junk waaay back in 1998 were
just so distracted with the miracle of the joystick and the new 3D
look that they did not notice the slippy controls, the poor game play,
and the bad story line. I am very disaponted in this game.
My sugestion to YOU the reader is to avoid this game entierly.
get the legend of zelda ocarina of time insted.
PS. the worst game i have ever played is sonic heros.
PSS. Do not buy any sonic games they are sooo poorly made.
PSSS. This is just MY opinion.
PSS-All right enough alredy.

If you are a CASUAL video gamer, read....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 16 / 31
Date: December 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Before I start, let me explain that I'm writing this review from the standpoint of an occasonal video gamer, namely, me. This review probably would not hold true for hardcore/professional video gamers. I have played all of the classic Mario Bros games, and loved them all, except for this one. For one reason, and one one reason only. For the casual gamer, controlling Mario in a precise manner is an exercise in futility. If you only play your games a couple of hours a week like me, if you are not a "pro," the human language cannot describe just how much this game will frustrate you. I mean it, the control is HORRIBLE. For those of you over the age of 21, try to imagine this: You're very very drunk, and trying to walk down an ice covered slope. That would be EASIER than controlling Mario in this game, in places where it matters the most, precise maneuvering in tight spots. You can't use the control pad at all, just the joystick. With all of the brilliant minds working for Nintendo, I would think that they could have developed a better way to control the character through the use of the control pad. Another thing. If you are prone to car-sickness or other types of motion induced illness, you can't play this game for more than 30 minutes at a time. Believe me, I'm not stretching the truth. I served 10 years in the USAF, and did alot of flying during those years, so I'm not exactly the "weak stomach" type. Would I recommend buying this game? By all means, yes, if you are a hardcore player. The graphics are pretty cool and have a definite charm. For all you pros out there, I would agree with a 4 or 5 star rating for this game. For the occasional gamer like me, I would recommend renting it before buying it. Your experience may or may not be as bad as mine..........

Blech!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 23
Date: May 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Yeah, I realize so many people think this game is the greatest, and it could've been if it weren't for one major flaw. The camera angles are pure [junk]. The camera angles are so terrible it almost make the game not even worth playing. Some better camera work could have made this a truely great game. It's sad to see that one little thing such as bad camera placement can totally ruin a game.

takes to long!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 13
Date: August 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

this game takes to long to beat! and some levels make no sense like "blast away the wall" you havwta shoot at a random wall a smash it makes no sense how would i no to do that? yopu have to get 120 stars and ive had this game for ever and only have 60! i think you should think twice befor ordering this and dont order it for kids that dont have patience and have no time to finish it because it gets borin fast.

If you don't have a game shark don't buy this game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 20
Date: July 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Let me just say that i think mario 64 is a okay game as far as gameplay and graphics goes but, every level get's harder and harder it's so hard it would take you months to beat it and by the time you do you would be white as a sheet from staying inside all the time and 50% of your muscles would atrophy. also the ending really sucks it ends by princess toadstool saying let's make a cake for mario then it's over so don't waste your time with this game.

The Most Frustrating Thing ON EARTH!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I recently tried playing this game, and by this point, my N64 is lucky it didn't get chucked out the window. The first few passes through the first few stages were fine, and pretty fun, but the rest of the game ends up being one long, annoying, tedious, impossible, and frustrating chore.

To start off, the control just isn't good enough to pull off HALF the things you need to do in this game. There are instances where you must execute specific jumps to get you from point A to point B, but half the time, the controller is non-responsive. Especially when it comes to levels that put you high up, this usually means falling...over and OVER again!

To add to this annoyance is the fact that there are no check points. If a level requires you to go to the top of a mountain, and you spend half an hour just getting up there and then you fall, you have to climb the whole thing ALL OVER AGAIN! So if you're like me, and find your self wondering off cliffs every other try because of the awful camera work, you will be playing the same stages over and over with no payoff but one big headache!

Now let's talk about the camera. Throughout most of the game, I found my self fighting IT more than I fought Bowser. It's simply impossible to judge distances based on where the camera is facing at any given time. Pressing the C buttons will move it around, but you have to keep perfectly still in order to avoid suddenly gong sideways or backwards. If you are in a stage where there is a time limit or a complicated jump, this can be particularly fatal.

Adding to this frustration is the fact that it is incredibly easy to over or under jump! This wouldn't be as much of a problem if it weren't for all the levels which require you to get to "the top" of things. Again, if you fall once, that's it, you start all over again. If the game designers weren't going to give you any continue points in these levels, why-o-why did they make it SO FRIGGIN' EASY FOR YOU TO FALL!!!???

There are plenty of levels and stages in this game, and lots to do in all of them. But by the time I cleared one stage, I really questioned whether or not I wanted to even GO to the next. Finally, after reaching a mere 52 stars, my answer is no.

So that's my two cents on this game, I can't beat it, I don't want to beat it. I'd rather go to a Morrissey concert with Kathy Griffin as the opening act than try to play it again. It would me MUCH less annoying than this game!

Disappointing...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 25
Date: February 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm very disappointed with this game.It takes forever to beat and the graphics aren't good.I expected much better of this game.Heres what i think:

graphics:4/10

sound:7/10

gameplay:6/10

difficulty:10/10

story:7/10

Only if you really like mario games get this one.Otherwise,forget about it.

the beginning of the end

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: June 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Well that's not exactly true. But Super Mario 64 was the beginning of when the Mario series really began losing its appeal to me. The jump from 2D to 3D didn't go very well for many of the classics that appeared on the NES and Super NES. Some of them were able to make the jump without many problems (like Zelda and definitely Metroid, even though Metroid never appeared on N64).

Others, like the very first true 3-dimensional Mario game (I'm not counting Super Mario RPG here) left me feeling unsatisfied. More often than not, you will hear from people who grew up in the late 80's that the older Mario games such as Super Mario Bros. 3 offered more fun. While many gamers who grew up in the age of the Nintendo 64 would have told you (and probably still WILL tell you) that the jump to 3D was the right move for, not just Mario, but Zelda, Metroid and everything else. In my opinion, no.

In the end, it doesn't matter that I was never able to appreciate the change, because Super Mario 64 has gone down as a classic, and many still believe it's the best game you can buy for the N64. It's not like I blame this game for the downfall of the Mario series. I'm well aware in the mid 90's video games were changing, and 3D Mario was going to happen eventually anyway. It was only a matter of time. Super Mario 64 happened to be the game that influenced future Mario games, and it's no one's fault.

Truth is, I stopped caring about video games when the N64 came out and that path of "not caring" continued until 2002 (I got into other things like music, movies and the internet, that's all). So it's not a big deal that I was never able to appreciate Super Mario 64. Please understand where I'm coming from. So if Super Mario 64 happened to be released in the early 90's there's a better chance I would have gotten into it, and therefore would have better understood the appeal of 3-dimensional games.

Now, it's 2006. Super Mario 64 MUST be 10 years old by now. If people are going around calling it a classic, then by golly, it's a classic. But to me it's not. I had a friend who hated all the old classic Mario games I grew up with such as Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World and he thought Super Mario 64 was simply better than ALL the Mario games released before it. Me, I tried Super Mario 64, and all I did was basically walk around in big empty 3D environments. When I got near a goomba it pretty much spelled the end for me since correctly using the N64 controller was never something I was able to master.

Now, since it's 10 years later, I'd be more than willing to give this game another chance, along with the many other 3D Mario games released in the last decade. I should also tell you that I HAVE been able to appreciate 3-dimensional games a LOT more in the last couple years, so the odds of me liking Super Mario 64 have increased.

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