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I never really liked Mario 64 and I think it's because of Cybermorph


Justin

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I never really liked Mario 64 and I think it's because of Cybermorph. I'm not arguing that Mario 64 is a bad game. I understand, clinically, that it's a terrific game because the majority says so. But it never did much to excite me. It's made the top of "Best Video Games Ever" lists, both today and back when it was new. It bores me. And I remain unmoved.

Part of the reason for this may be because I've always viewed "Mario games" from Donkey Kong onward as 2-D platformers. It felt like an odd choice to place Mario in a 3-D environment, much in the same way that it felt like an odd choice to make a dark, live-action Mario movie with Bob Hoskins as Mario and Dennis Hopper as King Koopa. I saw Mario 64's 3-D world as a gimmick or a party trick intended to showcase Nintendo's new hardware. I can't blame them for that choice, but I feel the same now as I did then that I would've enjoyed a N64 Mario game with really beautiful 2-D graphics, as opposed to the 3-D environment we were given. Super Mario Bros. U is a more contemporary example of this idea. I'm not here to throw shade at Mario 64. It's interesting to me that I was mostly alone in my ambivalence toward this game and am now realizing why. I like Nintendo 64. I thought GoldenEye was an incredible game when it first came out and view it as a must-have classic today. But Mario 64 to me is like Combat on the Atari 2600. It's a donor cart.

Ultimately though, I blame Cybermorph for my Mario 64 boredom. Skylar did Mario in. I'm just coming to this realization tonight. Mario running around in circles collecting coins bored me TO DEATH. Maybe because by the time Mario 64 was released I had already been running around 3-D worlds collecting gold pods in Cybermorph. I was graduating into my 4th year of this 3-D nonsense when the rest of the normie-world experienced it for the first time with Mario 64. So I understand their reaction. I had long lost my 3-D virginity by then and Mario 64 couldn't excite me. Blast you, Skylar!

I was one of the fortunate few who had the Jaguar in November, 1993 before most anyone else outside of Atari had laid their paws on it. I really enjoyed Cybermorph when it first came out. It was a different kind of game and felt like a more mature step up from what I was playing on SNES and Genesis. It's also the first game I ever had with a fully-realized 3-D world where we could fly anywhere and do anything. Going from 16-Bit 2-D games into a 3-D landscape like Cybermorph, you could see how that would be really, really attractive. We could not have games like Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid and Mario 64 without games like Cybermorph. You have to start somewhere. 

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I think if Mario 64 is the first time someone's experiencing that fully-realized 3-D world it would be very mesmerizing. "Oh wowee Mario can run and explore in all directions!" If you had already been doing this for a while by then, the 3-D "party trick" of it all would be less mesmerizing.

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I totally get what you're saying Justin.  I remember not really trying Mario 64 until after some of the 3D computer classics like Descent, Wolfenstein, Doom, Magic Carpet, etc.  So I'm kind of in the same boat.  The game itself is a technical marvel, but the gameplay seems a little dry and maybe even tired.

Still, it's the presentation that makes the game a masterpiece.  The opening screen with Mario's giant 3D head and voice is still amazing to see.  Nintendo knew how to dress-up their games, that's for sure.

 

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You like Cybermorph better than Super Mario 64 😮

bean.gif.9fb4ff0c1b2b351e44ad5ef77fcbca06.gif

But seriously, I can understand from your viewpoint and background. Personally, I like both, but SM64 far better (as well as SM Galaxy, a sequel of sorts), but in my case I played SM64 years before Cybermorph. First experiences can be a powerful thing, so it would've been interesting to see what your view would've been if you experienced SM64 first.

11 hours ago, kamakazi20012 said:

I played Mario 64 before I discovered Jaguar.  Both games have great adventure aspects to them.  I like both games but spent more time on Cybermorph.  I just wish that it had a save feature where you could continue where you left off.  I don't think that it did or I missed it.

Don't you get a password after you complete a sector of eight planets?

The No Swear Gamer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChtJuo040EOCTVziObIgVcg

Host of The Atari 7800 Game by Game Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube

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On 12/22/2018 at 1:18 PM, nosweargamer said:

You like Cybermorph better than Super Mario 64 😮

bean.gif.9fb4ff0c1b2b351e44ad5ef77fcbca06.gif

But seriously, I can understand from your viewpoint and background. Personally, I like both, but SM64 far better (as well as SM Galaxy, a sequel of sorts), but in my case I played SM64 years before Cybermorph. First experiences can be a powerful thing, so it would've been interesting to see what your view would've been if you experienced SM64 first.

Don't you get a password after you complete a sector of eight planets?

I don't honestly remember.  It was a long time ago when I played Cybermorph and beat it.  Last time I played was about a month ago and I didn't get very far.  I'll have to keep trying.  Thanks for pointing that out.

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I don't know. But, if you look at the Jaguar Gamer's Guide, if you can find one, every planetary system has a password. if I remember correctly, they are numerical passwords that can be entered using the keypad. I have not played it in a while, but I think that it is like that. Thanks for letting me share.

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I think I finally realize why Justin didn't like Mario 64.  That game missed the mark completely.  And now that I have a theory why I can back up what I'm about to say.

Justin said Mario 64 was boring and I was remembering back what made it different than the Mario games before it.  Simply put, previous Mario games were called "Athlete" games.  Not adventure, platform, or action games...athlete.  And if you look up the name of most in-game Mario music you will see that name used to name one or more scores.

The Mario games on the NES were more athletic by running and jumping.  That was the main aspect of those Mario games.  You ran and jumped.  And it didn't matter if you were climbing obstacles, bouncing on enemies, reaching the clouds, and even swimming...each stage was an obstacle course you had to carefully navigate.  And you had to beat a clock except in Mario 2.

Mario 64, trying to be the N64 for others to follow fell flat and broke away from Mario tradition.  It was not the Athletic game play fans came to know and love from Mario...it was too laid back.  I had it, I played it, but I would lose interest in it real quick.  I never spent too much time on it and would play something in a few minutes.  It looked good, sounded great, but it would have benefited the series more if it would have been more like Mario on the Wii and Wii U.  That was hardcore Mario at his best in years.

Its easy to understand why and how Mario 64 got the applause it received but if it based on a numbers game keep in mind that Mario 64 was pretty much the only N64 game available at the time the N64 hit stateside shores.  I'm with Justin, it did get boring easy because it didn't feel like the Mario we came to know and love.

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13 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

I think I finally realize why Justin didn't like Mario 64.  That game missed the mark completely. 

Everybody at the time seemed to love it. To me it was like "The Emperor Has No Clothes!" I just didn't think it was that fun; mainly because 1.) I had already been exploring 3D environments collecting items in Cybermorph for 3 years by this point, and 2.) the magic of Mario (even dating back to Donkey Kong) was always in being a 2D platformer. That's what it meant to be a Mario game. I'm openminded to new adventures, and enjoyed games like Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, but Mario 64 just felt all over the place to me. 

2 hours ago, RickR said:

SNES Star Fox -- I think that one also makes Super Mario 64 feel tired.  It's the same 3d-style world, but much more action oriented.  (very good points @Atari 5200 Guy)

I agree :mcfur:

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Star Fox, and other 16-bit platforms, we're trying to catch up with PC abilities. By the early 1990's I had a 386 playing 3D games like Continuum, Wolfenstein 3-D, and Doom.  PCs we're already heavily into 3D gaming long before Star Fox came out...and it wasn't slowing down.  

Jaguar's selling point was its 64-bit architecture and while some of the games showcased some 3D abilities games that were originally on PC were old by the time Jaguar got them.  By the time the N64 came out PCs we're moving forward and consoles were performing aging PC abilities.  Mario just missed the mark, Cybermorph had so much more to offer.

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Btw, did anybody know there were 2 different versions of Cybermorph?  The 1994 cartridge version is different from the 1993 version.  The 1993 cart is a 2mb cart and the 1994 cart is 1mb.  Atari had them cut speech and animations out of the later version so they could fit it onto the smaller cart.

http://www.atarijaguar.co.uk/2014/10/a-tale-of-two-cybermorphs.html?m=1

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