Key

Super Mario 64 (In Depth Review)

Man, where do I even begin to talk about Super Mario 64. Oh, I know.

Super Mario 64 is perhaps one of the greatest games ever made!

I mean, that's simply just a fact. I hold a firm belief that Super Mario 64 while perhaps not the best game ever made, it's definitely up there with the greats. When we were talking about the Nintendo 64, I did mention that this game was certainly a push forward in a lot of directions. I'll talk about some of those now.

And before we get to the really fun stuff, i'll talk about things that don't require much imagery. Now, what makes Super Mario 64 the great game that it is? Well, a lot of things. First off, the movement in this game is fantastic. Tons of different things you can do like flips, forward slides, etc. For a platformer, that certainly covers a lot of ground. They definitely improved on this in later games, but for it to really get its start in Super Mario 64 is certainly a crowning achievement. Simultaneously, yes, Super Mario 64 is a 3D platformer, but its by far the best one of its kind when it comes to Nintendo 64 games. Hell, I think it was the only one of its kind back then. Either way, the first time I ever played Super Mario 64, my eyes were just lit up with excitement and that continued throughout the entire playthrough.

The other plus to this game that maybe not a lot of people would consider. I find it great that you can easily spent about 45 minutes to an hour in each level. The reason that is is because they've given you 7 tasks per level to complete. Some of the same as others in other levels, but that's not really the point. The point is that you can pretty much explore entire worlds in this game and not even realizing it. It's a really creative way to get people to see the levels you've created. I mean, it wouldn't be surprising to hear people saying that they searched every nook and cranny for anything they could find. It was sort of like mini open worlds in an already vast world.

Additionally, while the game plays well and has a lot of neat mechanics, I have to also give a lot of credit to how the game looks. I mean, the first thing you happen upon is this:



That's a pretty good indicator of what to expect in this game. And yeah, you pretty much search every nook and cranny of this castle and it feels amazing. Feels very natural as well to progress through it which is really nice.

Another one of my favorite designs in this game is the way you get into levels. It's not just your standard go into a door etc. You legit walk into paintings and walls to get to levels. That's such a cool idea especially when going with this "there's a castle around you" theme. Works extremely perfectly and I'm glad they went with it.



I will admit though. The game is not perfect. While it does have some frustrations with its controls sometimes, it doesn't make it any easier when you have to use a N64 controller. However, I have played it on the Wii U pro controller and it does take getting used to, but its fine either way. Other than that though I don't really find much fault in this game.

Oh, did I mention the soundtrack? Of course I didn't because I just thought of it. I mean, obviously I think the soundtrack is perfect. I listen to The Greatest Bits's remix album on it and I love it.

Yeah, Super Mario 64 is certainly one of the greatest games ever made and easily one of the greatest 3D platformers we've ever had. But again, of course I also feel that the games progressively got better. It had to start somewhere though right?

Zhanteimi

I got this to work on an emulator for my kids' Linux OS, and they love it. This, Ocarina of Time, and LEGO Star Wars are their favorites.

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Zhanteimi

LetsTalkMusic

The Batlord

How do you know if someone uses Linux?

Don't worry, they'll tell you.

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Key

**** yeah dude. That's awesome!

The Batlord

Oh and I'm guessing it was Dolphin? That's a good 'un.

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Key

1997 [Pt.1]

There's a lot to be said about the games that were released in 1997. First off, great year for gaming in general. On top of that, a lot of my favorite games were released in 1997, and god damn there were definitely lots of fantastic games being released that year. I'm still only going to be talking about five games here, but I'd imagine there'll be a larger amount of in depth reviews for these games. So enjoy I guess.


Diddy Kong Racing

Man I love Diddy Kong Racing. I've always been curious to know how far abroad this game got, because for whatever reason, it seems to be the game that not a lot of people actually got to play. I absolutely love everything about this game. Characters from all over coming into one game to participate in races. What was neat about this one though is it also had a pretty good story and the final boss, Wizpig, is definitely one of my favorite bosses in any game released back then. I mean, just check out what his overworld door looks like.



But I really think the space race with Wizpig takes the crown for this one. This race is not only heart pounding, the music alongside it is amazing. And the fact that Wizpig is riding a rocket and not a flying vehicle is just really creative game design.



I could talk endlessly about this game, but I'm going to keep it brief here.

Next up we have another amazing game that everyone has come to love dearly.


Yoshi's Story

Once again, I cannot say enough about this game. From start to finish you're met with one of the most sincere and dare I say adorable games we had ever seen back then. Yoshi's Story completely strips Mario from the picture and lets you control a variety of different Yoshi's as you treck through the story. By far the coolest thing about this game is the fact that you can playthrough it several times and it'll be different each time. The reason for that is because each world has 4 levels in it, and when you beat 1 on a playthrough, it flips to the next world. So you can basically go through again and choose other levels to beat instead.



But yet again, on top of that you not only have a great way to select levels, but the level designs were also fantastic. Gives you a sense of adventure and full on cuteness. Plus, in order to beat the levels, you have to eat fruit. Yes, I'm serious. Look at the border in this image:



Though those of us that are well versed in this game already know about that. I think that's a really cool and unique way to beat levels. You're not confined to getting to the other side of the map. You can go through it any way you want just as long as you collect the fruit along the way.

Yeah, Yoshi's Story is definitely one of those games that I recommend for anybody. Especially if you're a fan of a cute story and fun gameplay overall.

Moving on from that we have yet another amazing game. I told you there'd be quite a few of them, and I'm still missing some too which is crazy. Anyway...


Star Fox 64

C'mon, everyone knows about this game. It's had cultural relevance for several upon several years and I don't see this game ever falling into obscurity. It opened the door for so many things in the gaming world that it's tough to say that this game didn't have some sort of influence on games in general.

I mean, alongside the game itself, the characters are all really fun.



Fox McCloud of course being one of the coolest characters in the video gaming world.

There's not a whole lot more I can say about Star Fox 64 because it pretty much speaks for itself. It's a great game and I highly recommend it.

Key

1997 [Pt. 2]

Next up we have...


Mario Kart 64

The thing I really love about games back in the day was watching how they progressively got better or worse depending on who you are. Mario Kart 64 is certainly a great example of a franchise growing stronger and stronger throughout the years. I mean, the most recent version of Mario Kart is ****ing amazing. Mario Kart 64 as well is also ****ing amazing for its own reasons.

While Super Mario Kart brought some really neat designs, Mario Kart 64 basically improved on a lot of it. And, as I mentioned with Super Mario Kart, my all time favorite track will still go to Rainbow Road.



Trust me, I love pretty much all the levels in this game, but watching as Rainbow Road progressed throughout the years certainly cemented my love to the tracks.

On top of that of course you have a pretty good selection of characters to choose from. The selection got more and more increased as the series progressed:



And I probably enjoyed playing as Luigi the most.

Now, not all games released back in the day really held up that well, but I'll be damned if I don't say that I legitimately enjoyed this game a lot when I played it back then. I haven't actually played it a lot recently or recently at all, but I would definitely go back to it if I was given the chance. I'm of course talking about...


Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

I don't remember ever really disliking this game for any reason. I know recently people have expressed that this game is not that good, but I don't really remember it being that bad. The level design was always somewhat interesting and the fact that you could play as Sub-Zero was just plain cool. No pun intended. And the fact that you can get different powers throughout the game.

I will say though, notoriously this is one of the most unfair levels in a Mortal Kombat game.



And not only is this level ****ing hard, the boss fight is just as tough. But god damn it I still love it.

Key

Sunday Break

(I'm taking this opportunity to take a break from the current theme I have going on this month to talk about a game that I've been putting time into the past day or so. We'll resume with the continuation of 25+ Years of Gaming (from birth to now) tomorrow morning.)

So, I want to talk about:


Horizon Zero Dawn

It's pretty amazing, the fact that I can now actually talk about this game in my journal. Every time I've mentioned it up to this point it's all been based on what I had seen as a viewer, and not a player. And god damn, Horizon Zero Dawn alone makes the purchase of the PS4 worth it.

I'll admit it, I've not owned a console since the release of the Wii U. I've strictly been PC gaming and I've been satisfied with that for quite a while. Here then comes Sony with some of the most amazing releases they've probably ever had on one of their consoles. Spider-Man, The Last of Us, and of course Horizon Zero Dawn.

Back when this game came out, it was sort of a boxing match between fans of Sony and fans of Nintendo. If you don't remember, both Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn came out around the same time. So there was a little bit of a rivalry between Nintendo fans and Sony fans. I sort of fell right in the middle because I absolutely love Breath of the Wild and I'm coming to love Horizon Zero Dawn as well. Don't misinterpret that though. I honestly thought Horizon Zero Dawn looked like the better game back when it was released, and having played several hours of it now, I can safely say that I actually prefer Horizon Zero Dawn over Breath of the Wild. For one reason: the story. I mean, Breath of the Wild is fantastic. It didn't need a full on narrative to bring you from point A to point B. However, I didn't feel as much impact going through the story as I have already with Horizon Zero Dawn. I think it has a lot to do with not only having it be a female protagonist, but a badass one at that.


Aloy

I definitely did not think that it was a bad idea to have a female protagonist. So let's just get that out of the way. That didn't even come close to being a reason for why I wouldn't buy it. Hell, it made the game look ****ing amazing. Especially with her character design. I love it. The voice actress that plays her as well does a fantastic job. Really makes you feel a connection to the player.

So, even though I've only played a bit of it, how am I able to just come out and say that this game is amazing already. Well, for a few reasons. One being that I felt a connection to the story right away. The way they open up this game with a very well laid out cutscene actually helps set the tone for the game. It was nice to sort of understand what went on before you start playing, and it's even cooler that you start off as a young kid and work your way up through the years. It's an interesting idea for a story starter and I think more game should do it this way. Another reason is just how ****ing beautiful the game looks. Everything from the landscapes to the character designs. Sony really put a lot of time and effort into making this game look and feel incredible. It really does feel great to play and it's almost like watching a movie sometimes. It also helps that the mouth movement when characters talk is also top notch. They got it nearly perfect and I think that helps get more of a connection to the characters on screen.

The last thing I want to talk about and it was legitimately a worry that I had going into the game, is the combat. Surprisingly, it's sort of different than you're traditional open world style combat choice, but it works extremely well with this game. You attack with the right trigger and right bumper, and you have a strong attack and a standard attack. You start off with a spear too so that's pretty dope. The impact on the combat is also pretty nice. The camera can be a bit annoying to deal with during combat, but it's easy to get used to. It's just your standard joystick camera controls etc. Takes time to get used to but it still works out in the end.

I wouldn't really consider this a full review of the game yet as I've only just started it. But these are just my collective thoughts that I've been having as I've been going through it for the first time. Genuinely having a good time playing Horizon Zero Dawn and I'm also happy to say that I've joined back into the console community. And it feels awesome.

Zhanteimi

I just mentioned it because getting an emulator for Linux is far more work than anything you have to do on kid mode (read: Windows) to play games. So Kiii knows how much trouble I thought it was worth to go through to introduce those games to my children.

That's okay, though, Laughs-At-Own-Jokes Princess, because I don't expect you to connect the dots.

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Zhanteimi

LetsTalkMusic

Key

I gotcha man. That's awesome again. Linux is a tough OS to work with sometimes.