4 ms·

I'll always remember the first time I saw Super Mario 64 in front of my very eyes in ToysRUS. It was as if every other 3D game in history suddenly didn't matter

I'll always remember the first time I saw Super Mario 64 in front of my very eyes in ToysRUS. It was as if every other 3D game in history suddenly didn't matter anymore. Here was the future of 3D gaming. Here was a game with unbelievably fluid controls in really large levels clearly designed to be explored. Unlike most previous Mario games, there was no timer either. This only further encouraged players to really explore the 3D environment, collect the side-quest coins, and not be stressed out.

epidemian 10y ago
Oh yes, i distinctly remember seeing commercials of Super Mario 64 on TV and being mesmerized by them. At the time, we had a Sega Genesis at home, but i had already seen some PlayStation games, and played a bit of Doom on a PC, so i already "knew" what 3D graphics were. Mario 64, however, felt like something completely new. It was like the intro to Sonic 3D Blast[1], but with infinitely higher frame rate, and not pre-rendered! [1]: https://youtu.be/oNS4_8ZX_tc https://youtu.be/oNS4_8ZX_tc Yep, not the most exciting of Sonic games by any stretch, but kids used to the Genesis graphics may had found a lot of promise for the future of 3D graphics on that now-crappy-looking intro (i know i did).
- lostlogin 10y ago
  Plugged in an N64 a year or two back with a mate for a quick blast. After starting it we had an embarrassingly long period of cable fiddling trying to work out why it looked so... average. It turns out the the combo of screens getting way bigger and the graphics being fairly low res by modern standards was actually the issue. It's funny how even now I remember it being pixel perfect.
  - softawre 10y ago
    Heh, yup. This is why, when playing these old games via an emulator, it is so important to get the video config setup properly. You can't just stretch to 16:9, you want to play at some multiple of the original resolution (or exactly at the original resolution if you're crazy for perfect graphics).
  - mklim 10y ago
    I've had the exact same experience. Every time I boot up SM64 or OOT everything looks so blocky compared to how I remember it looking as a kid, it momentarily surprises me every time. In my memories the graphics are on par with AAA games now. Picked up a Vive a few months ago--Valve created a program for it called Destinations where people can upload 3D environments with optional simple animation triggers, and you can teleport through the environment in VR. Somebody uploaded the exterior of Princess Peach's castle and the Shadow Temple boss area to it. Checking out Peach's castle in the headset was breathtaking, got that same kick to my chest and feeling of wonder I remember having as a kid and felt like I really recognized the environment in a way I didn't when I booted the games up in emulators. Being there in VR made the graphics look worse--the tiny textures originally meant to be viewed on a CRT get blown up across the several literal football fields and the polygons are huge sharp edges several feet across for the hills. I'm not sure why it provoked that emotional response in me. I would guess that I felt more immersed, and that immersion affected my perceptions as a kid.
    - tinco 10y ago
      If you want to re-experience OOT with graphics that work on high res displays, look on the web for the Djipi Cell pack. It makes the game cellshaded, like the wind waker, which makes it actually look very nice. That said, if you want to experience a truly good Zelda with perfect graphics on any display (even the Vive), try out the Wind Waker on Dolphin. It is arguably the best Zelda ever made, and it looks absolutely stunning on modern hardware.
    - richforrester 10y ago
      It's the coolest trick our minds played on us. Think back to the Nes and SNes era (apologies, I'm a Nintendo fanboy) and the booklets you always got with them. You might recall those booklets had character art in them. I'm fairly convinced that because of that type of artwork, in combination with a lively fantasy, we recall our childhood heroes as real beings, rather than polygons or even pixels on a screen. This, in combination with the power of empathy, has resulted in lively memories of heroes and villains duking it out in epic battles... that when revisited can take a while to get back into :)
  - vlunkr 10y ago
    Also, modern TVs don't scale the analog input correctly, so some old consoles look much worse now than they would a good CRT. You can buy a framemeister that scales properly, but they are really pricey. The best bet is to play on a CRT (or an emulator)
  - Keyframe 10y ago
    Hook it up to a CRT, you'll notice the difference right away.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    The transition from CRT to LCD (or whatever) may also have contributed. That old phosphor grid had an innate anti-aliasing like effect.
Keyframe 10y ago
I had the same awe when I saw Starfox for the first time. In fact, it got me interested in what eventually became my career. Coincidentally, both games were done by same people.
city41 10y ago
Over the past 20 years, I've gotten all 120 stars in SM64 dozens of times. I still consider it one of the greatest games ever made.
westoncb 10y ago
Same. I had been super impressed by Donkey Kong Country not too long before, and was still satisfied with it being the state of the art (to my awareness anyway; I was still a kid at this time)—then I walked into a Game Force and saw it on the T.V. I was astonished. After an initial period of mesmerization I hurried to find my brother to tell him about the 'real 3D' I had just witnessed. I also remember being amazed seeing the bullet hole decals from Goldeneye while playing a demo at Target.
flukus 10y ago
What mario got right wa having things worth exploring. There were free roaming 3D games like Carrier Command (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_Command https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_Command) released a decade earlier which were great, but everything was the same in all directions.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  I recall Hunter blew my mind on the Amiga back in the day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%28video_game%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%28video_game%29
racl101 10y ago
Agreed. That game was so revolutionary. It changed my life.

epidemian 10y ago

Oh yes, i distinctly remember seeing commercials of Super Mario 64 on TV and being mesmerized by them. At the time, we had a Sega Genesis at home, but i had already seen some PlayStation games, and played a bit of Doom on a PC, so i already "knew" what 3D graphics were. Mario 64, however, felt like something completely new. It was like the intro to Sonic 3D Blast[1], but with infinitely higher frame rate, and not pre-rendered! [1]: https://youtu.be/oNS4_8ZX_tc https://youtu.be/oNS4_8ZX_tc Yep, not the most exciting of Sonic games by any stretch, but kids used to the Genesis graphics may had found a lot of promise for the future of 3D graphics on that now-crappy-looking intro (i know i did).

lostlogin 10y ago
Plugged in an N64 a year or two back with a mate for a quick blast. After starting it we had an embarrassingly long period of cable fiddling trying to work out why it looked so... average. It turns out the the combo of screens getting way bigger and the graphics being fairly low res by modern standards was actually the issue. It's funny how even now I remember it being pixel perfect.
- softawre 10y ago
  Heh, yup. This is why, when playing these old games via an emulator, it is so important to get the video config setup properly. You can't just stretch to 16:9, you want to play at some multiple of the original resolution (or exactly at the original resolution if you're crazy for perfect graphics).
- mklim 10y ago
  I've had the exact same experience. Every time I boot up SM64 or OOT everything looks so blocky compared to how I remember it looking as a kid, it momentarily surprises me every time. In my memories the graphics are on par with AAA games now. Picked up a Vive a few months ago--Valve created a program for it called Destinations where people can upload 3D environments with optional simple animation triggers, and you can teleport through the environment in VR. Somebody uploaded the exterior of Princess Peach's castle and the Shadow Temple boss area to it. Checking out Peach's castle in the headset was breathtaking, got that same kick to my chest and feeling of wonder I remember having as a kid and felt like I really recognized the environment in a way I didn't when I booted the games up in emulators. Being there in VR made the graphics look worse--the tiny textures originally meant to be viewed on a CRT get blown up across the several literal football fields and the polygons are huge sharp edges several feet across for the hills. I'm not sure why it provoked that emotional response in me. I would guess that I felt more immersed, and that immersion affected my perceptions as a kid.
  - tinco 10y ago
    If you want to re-experience OOT with graphics that work on high res displays, look on the web for the Djipi Cell pack. It makes the game cellshaded, like the wind waker, which makes it actually look very nice. That said, if you want to experience a truly good Zelda with perfect graphics on any display (even the Vive), try out the Wind Waker on Dolphin. It is arguably the best Zelda ever made, and it looks absolutely stunning on modern hardware.
  - richforrester 10y ago
    It's the coolest trick our minds played on us. Think back to the Nes and SNes era (apologies, I'm a Nintendo fanboy) and the booklets you always got with them. You might recall those booklets had character art in them. I'm fairly convinced that because of that type of artwork, in combination with a lively fantasy, we recall our childhood heroes as real beings, rather than polygons or even pixels on a screen. This, in combination with the power of empathy, has resulted in lively memories of heroes and villains duking it out in epic battles... that when revisited can take a while to get back into :)
- vlunkr 10y ago
  Also, modern TVs don't scale the analog input correctly, so some old consoles look much worse now than they would a good CRT. You can buy a framemeister that scales properly, but they are really pricey. The best bet is to play on a CRT (or an emulator)
- Keyframe 10y ago
  Hook it up to a CRT, you'll notice the difference right away.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  The transition from CRT to LCD (or whatever) may also have contributed. That old phosphor grid had an innate anti-aliasing like effect.

Keyframe 10y ago

I had the same awe when I saw Starfox for the first time. In fact, it got me interested in what eventually became my career. Coincidentally, both games were done by same people.

city41 10y ago

Over the past 20 years, I've gotten all 120 stars in SM64 dozens of times. I still consider it one of the greatest games ever made.

westoncb 10y ago

Same. I had been super impressed by Donkey Kong Country not too long before, and was still satisfied with it being the state of the art (to my awareness anyway; I was still a kid at this time)—then I walked into a Game Force and saw it on the T.V. I was astonished. After an initial period of mesmerization I hurried to find my brother to tell him about the 'real 3D' I had just witnessed. I also remember being amazed seeing the bullet hole decals from Goldeneye while playing a demo at Target.

flukus 10y ago

What mario got right wa having things worth exploring. There were free roaming 3D games like Carrier Command (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_Command https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_Command) released a decade earlier which were great, but everything was the same in all directions.

digi_owl 10y ago
I recall Hunter blew my mind on the Amiga back in the day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%28video_game%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%28video_game%29

racl101 10y ago

Agreed. That game was so revolutionary. It changed my life.