Music

Yes, the jump from Genesis/SNES to N64 was incredible for the time, but now... eewwww...

Thankfully they made some graphical improvements to Mario 64 so it looks better that what is on the N64.

bluetoast

I’m having fun with Mario 64 and am now re-acquainted with the camera. Maybe some aspects are dated, but they straight up perfected Mario’s move set in this game, and laid the groundwork for all future games. Long jump, tip toe, butt stomp, back flip, triple jump, side jump, dive- all that stuff that has persisted through every other 3D Mario game (and even some 2D ones), and makes going from one to the other intuitive.

The lingering issues (that I had even when the original game was new) are aiming with the cannon, and crappy control of the wing cap.

I appreciate the slight graphical enhancements, and basically took for granted the new (for US console users) rumble support, which the original version did not have.

majorjoe23

Decker

I have always been curious about Sunshine since it came out. I never had a GameCube. Trying it out in this collection...WTF is this game? It feels neigh impossible to accurately control at all. The very first mid creature was kicking my ass because I can’t aim the water cannon at all. I feel like I am just fumbling around and fighting the controls. This game came out the same time Sony was cranking out Ratchet and Clank games, why is this one so difficult to play? Or am I just doing it wrong?

Michael Corvin

I considered picking this up but I'm with Questyen on Mario 64. While amazing for its time, I'm fine popping in the cartridge for nostalgia. Mario Galaxy 1/2 are probably the best 3D Mario games to date, but they didn't include 2 so that's another strike against. It also doesn't seem like that long ago that I played them so I really have no urge (also my Wii is hooked up too so I could go that route as well).

Then there is the black sheep of the Mario family. Mario Sunshine is the only Mario game I never finished. I don't have any nostalgia for it and I don't think it was all that fun from my recollection. It's hard to remember anything about it or why I quit playing....

Oh yeah, Nam type flashback after reading this. This sounds 100% accurate to my experience all those years ago. Controls are a nightmare and not a fun game in the least. It might be worth a revisit, but I'm pretty sure I still have this in the collection too.

No need to waste a bunch of money on non-remastered games I still have sitting here on 3 consoles I still have hooked up. I guess as long as people keep lapping up the straight ports(no offense to present company), Nintendo won't ever put any effort into these things. Kind of a shame.

bluetoast

It is a shame that they didn’t remaster or put further effort in, like give us some more history, behind the scenes info, concept art, the N64 promo video- frankly I’m astonished that they even included the soundtrack. But barely anyone has those three systems simultaneously set up - I got each of those on launch day, but I moved on from them years ago.

And none of those games have ever been ported to a home console, so it’s not like this is Super Mario Bros coming at us for the 10th time. It is a welcome addition, despite the flaws. Until I get bored of if in a week like Tony Hawk.

The Questyen

I played a few hours of 64 and Sunshine so far and the controls are 100 times better in Sunshine. I didn't have any problems aiming the cannon.

I had originally planned on playing through these but after spending a few hours with both I was reminded how I always much preferred the 2d games so I think I'm going to move on and play something else. Still glad they released them though.

majorjoe23

After playing Sunshine for a bit, my 6-year-old said he wanted wanted to try the GameCube version. I started it up, and after a few minutes I had to quit in frustration. The controls are so much better on Switch.

tanman

Tech demo? WTF are you talking about? It was one of the most revolutionary games of all time. Being able to run around in a 3D world was virtually unheard of at the time. Even the use of analog control was revolutionary. The fact that the more you move the stick the faster he runs. And you can smoothly run around in a circle was incredible. Let alone all the actual game play. The varied worlds. Mario's revolutionary move set. It is literally changed the gaming landscape forever.

tanman

Agreed. The PS1/N64 era was the ugliest console generation. Well maybe tied with the pre-NES generation. But it's definitely the most difficult to revisit.

spainlinx0

I'm about 70 stars into Mario 64 right now, and the camera is worse than I remember. This makes me nervous about playing Sunshine because even though I loved that game I remember the camera controls frustrating me in that one as well. Galaxy is when they really got the camera working, in my view, but I still enjoy Mario 64 despite all the frustration. My girlfriend, who is younger than me, isn't as positive about the experience, but yet she still keeps playing.

redbill

the swimming is what is killing me in M64

spainlinx0

Absolutely. I hate swimming levels. The controls are so finicky. I hate trying to hit those chests while swimming.

RichC2

You just kind of backed up the "tech demo" thing. It's implementation of analog stick controls being part of that.

The game and world itself was and still is kind of disjointed and bland. imho at least. That said, I kind of felt the same way with Mario Odyssey (with it being disjointed at least, I enjoyed the game) so it may just be a choice of theirs.

But it was definitely ridiculously influential for 3D platformers, much like Turok with its control scheme at the time.

Playing through Mario 64 again right now and I don't remember the controls being quite so sensitive, I have fallen off many a platform.

Mike86

I’m definitely falling off of platforms more in Super Mario 64 as well. I think the one advantage the DS version had is the fact that you could use the D-pad.

I haven’t even tried using the directional buttons to see if they work for moving Mario on the Switch version. Maybe that would help. The controls aren’t awful, but I am readjusting to using the analog stick.

Edit: just tried and the directional buttons do work. For some reason I was thinking they may not. I can’t remember if the N64 version let you use the D-pad or not. For some reason I was thinking not, but maybe you could.

Decker

Regarding Sunshine : So you guys have no trouble aiming the water spray into the creature's mouth? Are you doing it via first-person view or third person, standing still or moving, RZ or RT button? Because I have tried all of the above and I don't get it.

lwhy?

I opened my copy and played Mario 64 last night. I kept trying to turn the camera with the right analog stick like I would in current generation games. That was no fun at all. Also, I kept pressing A to try to read signs/talk to people and all Mario would do is jump. I would have to get right up on people/signs to read/talk to them. I played a little of the first level and died two times while trying to free the chomp. I'll play some more, but it was a bit of frustrating experience. Maybe I was just better at video games when I was a teenager playing this than I am now at 36?

redbill

yup, that's the spot. my wall almost had a new Switch shaped hole last night.

bluetoast

No, the D pad was not used.

Mike86

I didn’t think so. The D-pad/directional buttons help me quite a bit versus the analog stick to control Mario.

maxfisher

I have vague, but very positive memories of Sunshine, so that’s where I started with this. I’m struggling like hell with it. The jump button seems slightly delayed and the controls feel a bit slippery, on top of the camera being a nightmare from a 2020 perspective. It’s really a shame Nintendo didn’t give these enough polish to not be such a jarring contrast to controls today. Also, I’m guessing the background shimmering effect is supposed to be there, but I don’t recall it at all and it looks horrible and distracting now.

bluetoast

Hold the R button. Not ZR. Then you will stand still while spraying, and you can freely use the left stick to aim the water.

majorjoe23

I went to claim the Super Mario pins for completing the Mario challenges and they’re already gone. That was fast. I should have done it over the weekend.

Adam Tyner

AFAIK, they only went up to be claimed this afternoon. Looking at one of my other gaming forums, it was a disaster.

bluetoast

Yeah, they started about 2:30 ET this afternoon (half an hour before the designated start time). First, you got a code, then you used that code to redeem from the store.

That second step was where people had issues with the site messing up, not taking payment, etc. But if you had a code, that was a “guarantee” that you could proceed once the site traffic calmed down. The codes ran out in about an hour, from what I heard. I got my order in, thankfully.