Super Mario 3D All-Stars - The Chris Pratt Collection

[Unofficial Who]

It's looking like it's going to be a long hot summer where I am (when it's too hot I can't use the PS4 or PC during the day) so I'm saving up Sunshine for some Christmas gaming

[Oh Danny Boy]

This is magical. Who needs next gen? Started through Mario 64, my memories of 64 DS have been cleansed. Although sadly it feels as if time has finally caught up with it from a technical standpoint at least. For what I once considered my favourite game of all time now suffers from dated controls, camera and graphical glitches such as pop up etc. It’s a game that deserves a full remix bringing it up to modern standards as the gameplay is still a good as ever. 

[thesnwmn]

Fuck the final bowser fight on 64. I have no skill at throwing him any distance in the right direction so cannot finish the fucker off. Think I might just quit. It isn’t actually fun. Bosses are the worst thing in games.

[phresh]

The trick with camera in 64 is to not fight it, and treat the game a bit more like a side-on (or 3/4) platformer. I think the temptation in any 3d action game (regardless of genre) is to try and get the camera to follow the player character and 64 doesn't really like that for the most part. 

 

Also, i'd forgot how fucking good the music was in 64, some really good tunes.

[Marlew]

I'm up to about twenty stars and I realise how little of SM64 I've ever played in my life. We never had an N64 so I only ever got to play little bursts at mates' houses. Literally never done that first Bowser fight before. Never been to the Underground Lake. Vaguest memories of Boo's House, maybe just from watching clips of speed runs. Never been to that Lava area. That merry go round. The blue cap switch. I didn't even know the Vanish Cap was a thing. I genuinely think that 99% of the time I spent with it was Bob-omb Battlefield, Whomp's Fortress, the snowy area and getting lost in Jolly Roger Bay. 

 

It's literally like having 90% of a brand new 3D Mario game to me. This is mad. 

[Broker]

Damn, the eighth shine on each level of Sunshine is often absolutely brutal. The watermelon is tough, but the Rico Harbour one with Yoshi is insane. I can’t believe I had the patience for these challenges  

 

3 hours ago, Talvalin said:

Is it just me or is the Wing Cap a complete arse to control?

 

Trying to get the Wings to the Sky star on Bob-omb Battlefield is proving to be a complete bastard. The last set of coins of high up but the game doesn't draw them in until you're close by which time I realise that I'm too damn low then have to circle around for another attempt and just argh.

 

It was always really hard, as you say the main difficulty is the draw distance of the coin rings.

[Talvalin]

Based on what deKay said and having watched a video on YouTube, I'm just going to use the cannon on the floating isle. I've only got the last coin to get and then I'm done with that course so it shouldn't take be too long.

[Graham S]

 

[Alex W.]

1 hour ago, phresh said:

The trick with camera in 64 is to not fight it, and treat the game a bit more like a side-on (or 3/4) platformer. I think the temptation in any 3d action game (regardless of genre) is to try and get the camera to follow the player character and 64 doesn't really like that for the most part. 

 

Also, i'd forgot how fucking good the music was in 64, some really good tunes.

Mario 64 is from an era where we expected a 3D game’s camera to handle itself and not need constant manual control. I do miss that.

[Stanley]

42 minutes ago, Alex W. said:

Mario 64 is from an era where we expected a 3D game’s camera to handle itself and not need constant manual control. I do miss that.

Yes, 1996 marked an epochal time in gaming history - not only was Mario 64 the first proper game to explore a real 3D space, but it also introduced analogue movement as well. The idea of moving with such fine precision and controlling look, or the camera, was so new. But yeah it’s interesting playing this now as you fight the controls for system that didn’t exist back then. As such it makes every bit of the level, every corner, every angle, massively important to the way in which the game was designed. 
 

Then there was Quake which came out the same year and pretty much invented the controls for movement and looking that we would come to use ever more. 
 

1996 

[scottcr]

I amazed at just how well Mario still controls in 64. Loving it.

[Alex W.]

He's probably still the most enthusiastic game protagonist.

[Ste Pickford]

1 hour ago, Stanley said:

The idea of moving with such fine precision and controlling look, or the camera, was so new. But yeah it’s interesting playing this now as you fight the controls for system that didn’t exist back then. As such it makes every bit of the level, every corner, every angle, massively important to the way in which the game was designed. 

 

Yeah, this is my thinking as to why they kept it in 4:3, rather than widescreen.

[thesnwmn]

3 hours ago, thesnwmn said:

Fuck the final bowser fight on 64. I have no skill at throwing him any distance in the right direction so cannot finish the fucker off. Think I might just quit. It isn’t actually fun. Bosses are the worst thing in games.

Finally. Took a break and did it second time (after dying once... I mean it took about 10 attempts to hit the final bomb )

[Broker]

2 hours ago, Alex W. said:

Mario 64 is from an era where we expected a 3D game’s camera to handle itself and not need constant manual control. I do miss that.

If that’s the point it’s a genuinely terrible camera. If you leave it alone and don’t adjust it manually it’s constantly stuck behind things blocking your view of the character or pointing in the wrong direction.

[CarloOos]

I’m probably going to get flamed for this, but as someone who doesn’t have any real nostalgia for Mario 64 (didn’t own an N64), I’m not finding it particularly engaging. Perhaps the height of the N64 stick allowed a bit more finesse then the Switch, but twitchy controls aside the game itself seems quite vague for someone who isn’t relying on childhood memories, and Nintendo have absolutely no excuse for not doing a proper remaster to fix the pop-in on the coins and such.  
 

By comparison I 100%’d Banjo-Kazooie when Rare remastered that for the 360. It was clearly still a game from the same period but all the annoying QoL kinks had been ironed out. It should have been the same for this.

 

Enjoying Sunshine a lot more for the time being, haven’t tried Galaxy yet.

[dr_manhattan^]

Yeah I’m enjoying Mario64 but it’s bloody annoying for many reasons. 
 

Absolutely wonderful game though that deserves a remaster. 

[thesnwmn]

It shows its age in a few places in terms of technology (whilst the camera is mostly good it's never fun running towards it and in some places that's basically required, obscuring the obstacles or enemies.

 

I also think modern sticks are too loose and missing the hexagonal guard makes some things a bit trickier.

 

Still loved playing through it again.

 

Now for my first taste of sunshine

[Keyboard Koala]

6 hours ago, Unofficial Who said:

It's looking like it's going to be a long hot summer where I am (when it's too hot I can't use the PS4 or PC during the day) so I'm saving up Sunshine for some Christmas gaming 

 

 

Just how hot are we talking about?

[deKay]

2 hours ago, Talvalin said:

Based on what deKay said and having watched a video on YouTube, I'm just going to use the cannon on the floating isle. I've only got the last coin to get and then I'm done with that course so it shouldn't take be too long.

You mean the one directly next to them that points at them and is the obvious one to use?

 

You were not seriously using a different cannon, surely.

 

 

[Graham S]

I’m thirty odd stars in to 64 and I think I’m glad they ended up with this emulation plus solution rather than a full remaster. Not sure I can quite explain why, but I think it comes down to knowing it’s got all the quirks of the original code. Such a good game, if infuriating. I’m enjoying this more than the last n times I’ve rebought it. 

[deKay]

Mario 64 is still the perfect game. I last completed a year or two ago but it’s even better now with the fixed UI fonts. I miss the fuzzy antialiasing a bit but not so much it bothers me.

[Stanley]

45 minutes ago, CarloOos said:

I’m probably going to get flamed for this, but as someone who doesn’t have any real nostalgia for Mario 64 (didn’t own an N64), I’m not finding it particularly engaging. Perhaps the height of the N64 stick allowed a bit more finesse then the Switch, but twitchy controls aside the game itself seems quite vague for someone who isn’t relying on childhood memories, and Nintendo have absolutely no excuse for not doing a proper remaster to fix the pop-in on the coins and such.  
 

By comparison I 100%’d Banjo-Kazooie when Rare remastered that for the 360. It was clearly still a game from the same period but all the annoying QoL kinks had been ironed out. It should have been the same for this.

 

Enjoying Sunshine a lot more for the time being, haven’t tried Galaxy yet.

Yeah but also by comparison Banjo Kazooie is a dull and soulless affair no matter how much it’s cleaned up, and I thought that about it on release on the N64 if I’m being honest with myself, even with all the hype surrounding it I could never quite shake that feeling, maybe because of the hype. 
 

You also have to remember that at the time everyone playing Mario, whilst wowed by the visuals, had to learn this whole new language of 3D space, verticality, and analogue control, so if it seems tricky now imagine what it was like back in 1996 when there was literally nothing else like it. 
 

And that’s why I’m glad they’ve preserved it the way it was, no matter how janky and cumbersome the camera feels, it’s part of the game.

[Talvalin]

55 minutes ago, deKay said:

You mean the one directly next to them that points at them and is the obvious one to use?

 

You were not seriously using a different cannon, surely.

 

 

No, I wasn't.

 

However I had been trying to collect the coins by controlling my flight with the Wing Cap which proved to be nigh-on impossible because the Wing Cap is not that easy to use.

 

The two methods that work seem to be using the cannon multiple times without the Wing Cap (as per the video I watched, which is still challenging because the further sets of coins are not actually visible from the floating isle so you have to guess their location).

 

Alternatively, picking up the Wing Cap and launching yourself at the first set of coins and doing nothing else. With no controller input after launch, I magically flew in the correct path to pick up all the coins which seemed improbable especially since the last set of coins are higher up, but I wasn't going to complain. 

 

You'll have to forgive my incompetence based on the fact that I've never played the game before, let alone completed it multiple times. 

[McCoy]

1 hour ago, Graham S said:

I’m thirty odd stars in to 64 and I think I’m glad they ended up with this emulation plus solution rather than a full remaster. Not sure I can quite explain why, but I think it comes down to knowing it’s got all the quirks of the original code. Such a good game, if infuriating. I’m enjoying this more than the last n times I’ve rebought it. 

 

Agreed. It being properly portable for the first time just adds to the feelings. I'm really enjoying both this and Sunshine on the lite, not tried Galaxy yet. 

 

Sunshine is also lovely. Technically it is dodgy as fuck but those feelings you get with the music and holiday feel are unparalleled. 

[ryodi]

9 hours ago, Chooch said:

I thought the opening cinematic for Galaxy was really quite grim as well. Bowser takes out that little town with no mercy. 

 

If you follow the storybook segments the story in Galaxy is very sad as well if I recall correctly.

 

I'm 25 stars in now, done the first Prankster Comet and which was a time trial. It  isn't as easy as it was on the Wii because my fat finger block the Lite screen when I'm touching the blue teleporting points and then trying to press the next one before Mario falls away. 

[kensei]

N64 games never feel right without an N64 stick. Modern sticks are too loose with different dead zones, and I don't know what patent vampire killed the octagonal gate on Nintendo pads, but there must eb something they can be arrested for. 

[thesnwmn]

22 minutes ago, Talvalin said:

Alternatively, picking up the Wing Cap and launching yourself at the first set of coins and doing nothing else. With no controller input after launch, I magically flew in the correct path to pick up all the coins which seemed improbable especially since the last set of coins are higher up, but I wasn't going to complain. 

It’s due to the way the cap works in terms of gliding. When you get up to certain speeds or the dips of descents it swoops up.

 

But yeah the wing cap can be a nightmare to control. There are one (maybe two tricky secret castle levels collecting red coins with no ground below you) that I remember being bastards.

[Popo]

50 minutes ago, McCoy said:

 

It being properly portable for the first time just adds to the feelings.

The DS version was perfectly portable. 

[wretcherd]

54 minutes ago, kensei said:

N64 games never feel right without an N64 stick. Modern sticks are too loose with different dead zones, and I don't know what patent vampire killed the octagonal gate on Nintendo pads, but there must eb something they can be arrested for. 

 

A confession: I used to hold the N64 stick with 2 fingers similar to this

...except with the rest of the left hand underneath for Z button.