I've always found Super Mario 64 as a whole to be rather unsettling and eerie...

I've always found Super Mario 64 as a whole to be rather unsettling and eerie. I think this has to do with being an obviously old game, and therefore many of its antiquated graphical and sound quirks can come off as uncanny to many. There's also the fact that it's the only Mario game to really put focus on atmosphere. Take the soundtrack: It stands in great contrast to most typical Mario music. There's usually a catchy melody and rhythms with bright and colorful instrumentation. However, most of Super Mario 64's soundtrack is heavily atmospheric. I mean, think about it: Are there really many tracks that you can hum? This is especially true for this music.

This extends to my next point: Super Mario 64 has an overall sense of isolation that is not present in the other Mario games. In the games preceding and succeeding Super Mario 64, you always had other characters to talk to, but in this game you're all alone. From the serene silence of outside the castle, to when you walk inside, you're all alone. Save for a few Toads here and there, you're mostly completely alone. Inside the levels themselves, there aren't many NPCs to converse with and the enemies are pretty sparse as well. Jolly Roger Bay (favorite level and best music) brings a serene, beautiful sense of isolation. But levels like Wet-Dry World evoke the sense that it's some sort of abandoned ruins. The underground cave level is also especially creepy in this regard. The oddest thing about all of this is that I don't think this type of atmosphere was intentional; it was just the first 3D Mario game, and Nintendo had to work around their console's limitations. In fact, many N64 games had this eerie sense of isolation.

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m.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxVZtGdcXU
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But hey, that's just a theory.

You're retarded.
>Making music for 3D games requires it to be more atmospheric.
>There aren't a million NPCs in the first full 3d console game ever.
No shit. Sorry there isn't some squadmate in front of you all the time with "Follow" over his head so you don't get "creeped out by the vibes."
>Yo guys do you think pac man is lonely in there?

DONT

Crash bandicoot was better.

This. These underage retards think every game need an arrow pointing you where to go.
Fucking phone players

A

>In the games preceding Super Mario 64, you always had other characters to talk to

um, no you didn't?

The fact you're quite obviously on flying islands in the middle of infinite nothingness might play a part. I mean, couldn't they raise the walls in the castle yard and Bobomb battlefield?

But in term of isolation I'm sure there are games worse than this. Except for stages like the sunken city in Wet-Dry world and some bonus stages, there are always Toads or ennemies.

GAME

>In the games preceding and succeeding Super Mario 64, you always had other characters to talk to, but in this game you're all alone
Have you fucking played the game? Or any other Mario game, for instance?

Bob-omb Battlefield had both a catchy tune and NPCs.

Meanwhile, us cool kids with the PlayStation were playing the superior Spyro2

good times

Lord, Spyro 2 was my favorite game for so many years....WHY IS IT SO BORING WHEN I TRY TO PLAY IT NOW

I haven't tried yet since like 2000

I am scared of ruining my precious memories

Missing the point: the post

THEORY

Meant to quote

What the fuck do you mean "always had someone to talk to"? What fuckin Mario game before this had any conversation whatsoever?

The only thing eerie about 64 is some uncanny valley and those unsettling skyboxes which i wish someone made a full resolution version of them (Stretching makes it too ugly), i remember having nightmares about falling forever with those backgrounds around me, especially Bowser in the Sky and Lethal Lava land's backgrounds

Listen, I know you want to start a thread about the "creepiness" of old, limited games, but you don't have to be so lazy and just copy and paste a text from someone else, just because this will 404 eventually.

Kills originality.

I agree, Mario 64 is to this day a fascinating game. Something about those low-res 3D graphics lives on as an interesting atmosphere. It's like there's always more to it, something still more behind the curtain.

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I feel the same way. I wouldn't call it a theory, and I'm also not sure why people are debating the way the game came off to you personally.

Cute

Waifu2x.

Winter Tundra as a whole doesn't hold up as well as the rest of the game. You can see where they cut corners with the lack of talismans and less levels compared to other hub worlds.
Does anyone else have a disliking for the weird atmosphere of the later levels in Spyro 2, like the robot farm and that other robot themed city level?

Yes but i just want Bowser in the Sky and doubling the size is not enough without sactificing like 80% of the quality of the image

I would comission it but i don't know anyone who could do it

Then you will probably NOT like the original Pilotwings

This is a well known phenomenon seen in most, if not all n64 games.

One of the worst is Rocket: Robot on Wheels. It's complete desolation.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxVZtGdcXU

What's worse; a low-res and stretched void-like skybox, or glitched/missing skyboxes?

Is that God?

Mario is Missing and Mario Time Machine.

The greatest mario games ever.

BUT FIRST

i actually enjoy a lot of older games that i replay these days, but most have pretty simplistic gameplay and a pixelated and fulsome artstyle, for example, crash 2 n-tranced on GBA i was playing today. still plays extremely well, still looks surprisingly good, still very fun. progressing further now than my dead-battery cartridge would ever let me.

Mario 64 is only spooky if you played it as a kid.

Holy shit, this.

I once had a dream where I was falling off Whomp's Fortress. There was a water inlet or roof pipe waterfall thing, and the water just fell forever, nothing below it.