Why Super Mario 64 Is So MYSTERIOUS
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2022
- Super Mario 64 has taken a turn the past few years. Liminal space this, personalized copy that, why is SM64 a hotbed for so many theories? In this Video Game World Tour, we look at all that and more.
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I had the strategy guide, and distinctly remember saying that you could possibly use the boosted triple-jump Yoshi gives you at the end to 'find something new.' Don't remember the exact wording, but there you have it.
I didn't even know this "boosted triple jump" existed! That's crazy.
I've heard a lot about old magazines and strategy guides trolling in the 90s/00s. I think Sonic and Tails in Melee is one of the more well known ones. Those are great, because you don't expect a magazine to pull a trick like that.
@@PretzelYT
Damn dude, glad I was able to inform you of something new about the game after the excellent vid you made.
To address what you've said, if you were a Nintendo kid during the 64 days, Nintendo Power put out their own strategy guides. The one for Ocarina of Time was particularly interesting, because it actually *narrated* what you were supposed to do. Instead of, for example, saying "Once Gannondorf fails to catch his energy ball and falls, use the hookshot to pull yourself over to his platform etc etc" it would say something like "Link, felling his mortal nemesis and the destroyer of Hyrule, realized he needed his hookshot to close the gap. Out it flew, becoming anchored in the folds of the Evil One's cape, giving our hero just enough time to pull himself over to the platform and deliver blow after blow."
On the other hand, there was a whole slew of 'unauthorized' strategy guides published by Prima and Brady that gave it to you straight. Those were very interesting, and Brady even made one for Superman 64 that I was able to find on Amazon
Wow that little tidbit about the guide for Ocarina of Time is fascinating. Wish we had more game guides doing that nowadays, but GameFAQs and CZcams kinda replaced them. Thankfully we still have the occasional art book as SOME supplementary material.
@@PretzelYT Agreed, I've got a buddy who's a big Soul Caliber freak and has a collection of the art books. They're beautiful and allow you to appreciate all the details you miss while playing the game and focusing on kicking your opponent's ass.
I think it's because you can triple jump to get to the Luigi boss fight
EDIT: I'm talking about the DS version with added stars and characters.
Fun fact: When you first visit Jolly Roger Bay, there is a mystic fog and the sky is damp and moody. After collecting a few starts, the sky clears and the fog vanishes forever. No other level does anything like it, and it's subtle touches like these that can really highten the atmosphere.
Especially, subliminally ✌🏾
I heard somewhere that, in the game's early days, someone sent fan mail to Nintendo inquiring about the impracticality of the castle, and an employee responded saying Peach's Castle in SM64 was actually just a secondary backup castle to store Peach's paintings! So, if anything, the castle is actually supposed to be an art museum!
I believe it's thought that Bowser had something to do with the paintings, but if anything, maybe he just applied magic to the surfaces of Peach's existing paintings to allow for transporation?
Sounds like a odd but cool retcon 😂
I dunno, I don't really get the sense that the sand cave is untouched by humanity when the first thing that greets you at the entrance is a signpost that someone else has already put up there for others to see.
🤔Good point...
Dorrie really is the modern Sisyphus. Doomed to constantly swim laps, but we must imagine Dorrie is happy.
doomed from the very start
Her og design was just creepy and I could imagine running into her to give people quite a scare. Especially how deep underground the lake she's in is and how dark it is. Then they redesigned her to give her an appearance more similar to that of the Dolphins and Yoshi make her look more cartoonish in appearance.
@@warioland523 oh i agree. She still makes me a little uneasy. just knowing theres a random, unexplained dinosaur underground, and you have to swim right up to it, so massive compared to Mario, climb on top of her, idk, its all just so eerie
This is exactly how i felt about this game as a kid actually alot of games they all felt so mysterious and expansive
The thing I like about Mario 64 is the primitive and liminal feel of every location. The levels have been designed simply to host obstacles for the player to avoid, so you never stop to think about the logistics of the world or why things are placed where they are or what relation it has to other levels. Peach’s castle for example doesn’t feel like a proper castle, which adds to the unusual feel.
It really does give the game such a unique vibe that’s not present in any other Mario game.
I liked how Paper Mario uses a similar castle design, but shows you what it would be like if there were real rooms and not just rooms for paintings like it’s a big art museum.
Hazy Maze Cave always seemed a little out of place to me. In the cavern with Dorrie, there's a pool of water similar to the one you use to enter the stage, that transports you to a new area. Kind of like a level within a level. And if you get swept out the cavern by the river, you somehow end up in the waterfall outside Peach's castle. Huh? Was the cave behind the waterfall this whole time, or are there portals aside from paintings? Another addition to the many strange parts of the game.
i've been an sm64 machinimist for 3 years now (basicly making short movies with sm64) and i've always felt some sort of mysterious feeling whenever recording inside the castle area , thank you for this amazing video
I’ve always felt very lonely in Mario 64. There is nobody in the castle except for the toads, but it still feels like nobody is here
It doesn’t help that the Toads are so small, so you can easily not notice them. There’s also the fact that they just stand in place and don’t really do anything but smile and jump a bit. They’re not panicking or running in fear, they’re doing nothing.
@@joshslater2426I used to think they were frozen into the walls of the castle (Wouldn't have been the first time they were turned into masonry) and Mario's star power was enough to temporarily lift the curse for a brief exchange.
@joshslater2426 not to mention that they literally become invisible when you walk away (unless memory is playing tricks on me)
I love Jolly Roger bay, I get crazy nostalgia mostly bcos I associate it with a certain morning I was playing Mario 64. My mum and grandma (especially as my grandma lives in another country so it was a rare visit) looking at coffee, my brother and dad asleep in their rooms, the rest of us in the living room. I hear the theme play as I open the DS playing and I’m sat on this chair we’ve had longer than I’m alive.
I just got in that mood and started watching one 'Why Is Mario 64 Creepy' video after another, and this was the first one that really sold me on it. The house at the end of Rainbow Ride feels like a surrealist painting.
Wet Dry World IS my favorite world of Mario64. You talk about the underwater town, but even further than that, one has to wonder the constructions Above the town, and then also, pay attention to the skybox of Wet Dry World, unique only to it. While it's long been known that it's an edited photo of a real place IRL, the fact that it implies there's this vast watery-based civilization all in this world is just... captivating and mysterious.
As a famous CZcamsr by the name of NintendoCapriSun often quips in his LPs when encountering these chill zones and comfy nooks or untouched crannies "I would sleep here."
I like that. Super Mario 64 has a lot of sleepy areas.
I think people’s hatred for Wet Dry World is based on how difficult and weird it is. I like it for its unique enemy collection and bizarre atmosphere.
The weirdest is outside the levels where everything is empty
I'd just like to thank you. Your content is calming and relaxing, perfect for my anxiety, and the nostalgic topics give me a sense of comfort. Im so glad I stumbled upon this channel.
I’ve just found your channel, and I have to say: This is some Grade A level content. I’ll definitely be looking out for any future things you do.
Thanks! I'm getting into the swing of things and putting out more videos, so keep an eye out 👁️
The secret star next to the aquarium was always so mysterious for me! Why is this box completely closed off and full of water? Each window is a separate color tint, how come? And why in the world is it floating in the sky! Great video, I really enjoyed your perspective on this game.
I always assumed the walls all were different colors more for gameplay reasons to help the player keep track of their orientation in the room
I believe every window is a portal to a different world, with a unique sky color for each of them.
Your videos are very well edited! Wish more people could see this!
Thank you!
I've been kinda lucky in that CZcams is showing me to a handful of people recently. I'll just keep on the grind and hopefully people find my videos. 💪
@@PretzelYT Good luck!
Yesss. I always felt this way about this game. Like there were so many mysteries yet to be solved. And especially some places like wet and dry world just felt overall mysterious. Stand tall on the 4 corners level in the sand world was one of my top favorites. I really felt like I uncovered some huge mystery there, loved it. One of the best games ever.
1:11 That's incorrect.
If you jump from a high place to a lower one, you can lose some damage. You can also die that way.
For me, that music unlocks memories of "oh please no, I hate water levels so much"
I like that depleting meter thing you do when you show off areas
Being 10 in 1998 playing this must have been pure bliss. That said, there's definitely something about this game. I'll try to put my finger on it. It has small details that make the experience feel uncanny and sarcastic at times. They throw realistic textures on a more simple 3D space and it feels liminal. The levels are very compacted but they create an illusion of being bigger which produces a peculiar anguish. After hours of playing at midnight, at one point it hits something primal. With the painted walls and tiny stairs, the main room in the castle is very similar to how I'd imagine a psych ward. The music is a bit hysterical too. It doesn't help that Lakitu is canonically the camera behind Mario and it's revealed through a random mirror. Details like the sign on the star statue give a sensation that something just has to be hidden in the game. At many points the game pulls horror shticks that are distinctly successful like the eel, the piano, the boo wheel, the bowser laugh, his painting, the infinite staircase and more. The whole game feels dreamy in a wicked way. There's a N64 game called Glover that takes these unintentional uncanny faults to the extreme, but other more famous franchises like Zelda don't really feel like this, despite being N64.
I LOVE your clips where you let the ambiance sit. CZcams needs more moments like that. More time for reflection and breathe.
Fun fact: SM64 and LoZ:OoT share a game engine and some assets, like that door, were re-used from SM64 when making OoT.
I suspect the mysterious feel owes itself in part to how the Mario 64 that shipped is cut down to less than half of what it would have been if they didn't run way behind schedule on getting the hang of designing difficulty for 3D. Miyamoto even had to ask to delay the Nintendo 64 a few months so they could finish up what they DID have properly.
(Takashi Tezuka gave an interview to Nintendo Power during development where he said "Currently, we have 32 courses, but the final version may have more. Maybe 40 courses. That doesn't include bonus areas, of course." ...but the shipped game only has 15 levels.)
Games that get cut down so drastically always feel a bit weird. (eg. the indie game Aquaria has this really weird arc where you slam into the final section when the pacing up to that point has made it feel like you should only be half-way through the game.)
I think the star statue being a unique asset as in thats the only place you see it almost implies it's not just some set dressing and that it has some interactive purpose
This did come out when I was a kid. I DID try all sorts of tactics to find out what this place in wet dry world held.
I remember I was 6 years old and getting terrified at that endless hallway
Before I watched this I thought "yet another Mario64 is so scary" video. Gotta admit it ended up being pretty good. It didn't come over as forced creepy, but more neutral and interesting. Good video!
The quality of this content is something I would expect out of a channel with 100k subs. PLEASE keep making content. You will 100% blow up if you do!
Thanks! CZcams's been recommending my videos more and more as the days go on, so I'm definitely on my way.
(conspiracy theory) 9:48 the darkness of Big Boo's Haunt could be because Mario's pupils were also shrunk making less light enter the eye
because of that dory sign i was actually really scared of dory as a kid and it took me a while to figure out the puzzle of stomping its back in the right spot lol
Damn dude, just seen that you only have 807 subscribers. Keep putting out things like this and I'm sure you'll go far. I watch similar videos with much bigger subscriber bases and this doesn't feel any less professional. I love the time you take to show off the areas with no commentary, as well as the shrinking bar timer you put at the bottom for those that want to skip. Great stuff.
Thanks!! I'm starting to get into the groove of things and my videos are getting recommended more, couldn't be happier 🤗
Love the FF VII music in the beginning. Two of the greatest games ever-both in my top ten.
I felt the the same way with my childhood game Skyword Sword it's art style would capture my imagination and I would always look beyond the Faron Woods and ask myself what if I can go there.
Years later with a couple of glitches I found out you can.
I like these types of videos as I did have that feeling as a kid where you see everything is bright and vibrant and its a very upbeat game that isnt supposed to be scary...Besides that god damn piano...Yet you still have that off feeling I think it comes from such an open space being empty or leaving you alone in it similar to Forge in Halo or Garys mod maps
Why does the Lakitu randomly attack you in tiny huge island?
1:22 It’s a beautiful day outside. birds are singing, flowers are blooming... on days like these, kids like you...
Peach’s castle in Mario 64 is actually an art castle
Jolly Rodger bays music use too make me emotional anyone else ?
"People have been playing the game for almost 2 decades..."
Sorry to tell you this, but it's much closer to 3 now!
2:42 i did not know that mural of peach there was a thing, never seen this angle, then again i haven't played SM64, then again, i have probably watched several thousand hours of SM64 content on YT for no reason other than entertainment.
I was 6 when the N64 came out and my mom somehow got us one for Christmas along with SM64 and you're spot on with how much mystery this game makes you think is around every corner. I remember just having so much fun running all around that flooded village place thinking there was more to it and how that was the most immersed I thought games would ever be at the time.
What is that green bar that runs out during the panoramic shots in the video?
It's a little timer to indicate how much longer is left until I start talking again.
You're like the Rick Steves of video games, this was very pleasant to watch and listen to.
Rainbow ride explained: Mario is high as balls of the good stuff.
Well he does eat a lot of shrooms 🍄🍄🍄
3:31 I HATE this jump with Lakitu waiting to shit on your whole day :'(
I think the low-res backrounds/skyboxes really add to the eerie feelings it gives off. Everything just looks fuzzy and out of focus, like you can't grasp the whole picture. This obviously doesn't apply to the enclosed levels. Overall though, thats what gives me the weird feelings anyway.
I can't believe you only have 740 subscribers, you're videos are awesome. Keep up the good work!
Yesterday I was only 360, so I guess CZcams is showing my videos to more people. I'll keep at it!!
11:20 - Aquatic Ambience, Forest Frenzy
You missed Mysterious Mountainside star,its hidden within a wall on Tall Tall Mountain that people seem to skim past and can never find the star
Hello my friend. I've watched a few of your videos and got much delight from them. But I must ask... What is the reason for the green bar in some scenes?? I have seen it in several videos now and it makes me think something will happen when it runs out but nothing seems to happen
It's the abstract ideas by Miyamoto.
1st I started playing this game never ever noticed this game was a horror game during my childhood days....
The otherworldly, liminal castle vibe that makes no sense this game has was really replicated well in Pseudoregalia, in my opinion.
I love the strange 1 ups you get from doing the most random things
1:21 On days like these, kids like you...
5:50 i really miss feeling like this.
I see some people pointing to things like Elden Ring for games that keep that bit of mystery going. I talked about it a bit in my video on Final Fantasy VII Remake, there's a window of time after a game like that's release where nobody knows the game's secrets. After a couple weeks, maybe a month, those secrets start to be datamined and documented. But for that first week or two, it's a magical experience the whole community shares.
So while the childhood wonderment of some game you played in your childhood is irreplaceable, it's good to know that some games can still capture that magic.
For me a soundtrack can raise a game a whole tier, hotline miami, og deus ex, i find it interesting that Pertzel doesnt find ost's to necessarily have that effect.
bro im only 4 minutes in and already hooked, keep doing what your doing, underrated asf
As long as I have ideas, I'll keep makin stuff! 🤲
Every copy of Super Mario 64 is Personalized. The Second Bowser Fight used to take 2 hits to take him out with his AI getting harder after the First hit. Stage 10, Snow Man's Land is missing the Mini Chill Bullies and the star associated with defeating 3 of them similar to their lava counterpart.
Not true. This is a theory that’s gone too far.
@@thatsir9810 The reason the Mini Chill bully was removed was because it kept crashing the game for some reason. It's still a Beta Asset.
You really think the Nintendo 64 had the technology, smarts to think ahead of their time and make every Mario game personalized? Nintendo doesn't even use voice chat in multiplayer games like Mario Kart yet lol. Anyway, it's been proven wrong and I knew it.
@@ioioooioioiiioo8970 We had "Personalization" since Daggerfall. lol
I have another video suggestion! Maybe you can check out the old Wii Sports/Wii Sports Resort games? I remember always feeling a sense of liminal calmness with them as a kid. The whole ambience and perfectness of everything was awesome.
Interesting... that'd be a weird game to cover, considering there's no "world" to explore or anything. I'll have to think about that sometime, because I see what you mean about the vibe.
I need to play this game some day
Its pretty good, even if you're accustomed to the modern gaming landscape. It's definitely worth checking out for the perspective it gives on how far 3d platformers have come.
I can't be the only one who always felt creeped out by this game
Same here it’s so weird
I don’t think you are. Given how many videos there are on the subject and how people of all ages find something weird in the game, it’s safe to say a lot of people are creeped out (me included).
Good news, looks like the algorithm has chosen this video to push.
CZcams picked out another video of mine and that got 20k views in the first couple days. So I'm on a roll right now 😁
Very nice ambiance in this video!
If you enjoy mystery and exploration, go play Outer Wilds. I'm pretty sure it's on sale right now, so get it with the DLC.
The game is about exploring a Solar System, and you're in a time loop trying to figure out what's going on. I can't say anything else, because spoilers.
Although I mostly agree with your take on your video about guides, DO NOT LOOK ANYTHING UP FOR THIS GAME. The game uses knowledge based progression, so if you can't figure something out, it may be because you haven't found other relevant information.
To anyone reading this, I would highly recommend putting it at the top of the list of games you're going to play next.
I was really not expecting that Dorrie I've only ever played Mario 64 DS and most of the videos about the N64 version never show her. I guess i know why. I like the DS version a lot more.
You are CRIMINALLY underrated man
😁thanks
@@PretzelYT yeah! You seem super dedicated and I absolutely love watching your stuff man!
Your videos about videogame environments are brilliant. Would love to see you talk about dark souls and half life.
Dark Souls is DEFINITELY something I wanna cover.
I like a lot of Valve games, but I don't have a lot of personal experience with Half Life games. They're on my list though.
Love these videos!
Thanks!! They're fun to make and there's no shortage of games to cover for the series.
NIntendo reused a lot of tiles through different games. Not only doors. Also Stairs and floor patterns in Gameboy games.
I don’t use meditation and stuff by I could literally listen to this video while falling asleep lmao, great video you earned a sub :D
Thank you!! That's the kind of vibe I'm aiming for with these videos, I'm glad it actually came through.
Omg I thought I was the only one who got jump scared from the piano
Oh no... it's infamous.
I don't find rainbow ride to be that weird, floating platforms are the norm in Mario sky levels.
This is my first time video and I love it already
I really gotta play this sometime, my Mario game was Galaxy 2, but this one is the classic
Oh sir I guarantee you that a kid would spend an unreasonable amount of time in a random dining room in the castle and play pretend dinner with Mario. Just the same as pretend beach day and pretend picnic
Thank god youtube recommended me your channel because of the tf2 content your videos are fire
@Pretzel: Super mario 64 inspired two creepy pasta, Super mario 64 B3313, and the backroom, the creepy pasta the back room is not a video game, but just a creepy pasta horor story, about science fiction, of what if really giant powerfull magnet can open a portal to another dimmension, and that other dimension is called the backroom.
It’s like « L » refer to « Lucifer » as Mario 64 looks like an initiating game to the freemasonry.
Starting by the black and white floor, white glove of Mario, pyramids of Egypt levels, magical things, pentacle stars ⭐️ mystical atmosphere… it’s wired…
It’s like an initiation to the world of freemasonry. So don’t be fooled. I played this game as a child and I didn’t realize the real meaning of these things…
💯
64 isn't an initiating game to get into Freemasonry. You can just go and ask to join. They're not that secret or anything
Gosh this game is so gorgeous
You, as a developer, have to TRY to make a game as unintentionally erie as SM64
my games also have mystery, cryptic messages, and all sorts of spooky and funny things
I really don't feel like Mario 64 was anymore mysterious than any other of the main Mario game that came before it imo I feel like it's kind of become a meme when the entire series was always mysterious
I remember being creeped the hell out in Super Mario World by the secret worlds and especially when you completed them all how suddenly all the bad guys turned into different things
Me, working on 100%'ing Mario D while watching this video:
Mario 64 is so liminal space.
this is a very good video !
i remember about me trying to jump in all 3 paintings of cool cool mountain, knowing that only one would lead me to this world, but i wanted to be sure so i tried jumping in all of the 3 paintings. left, then right, and finally the middle one.
The anticipation that was built must have been intense by the time you jumped into the middle one 😆
every copy is personalised
Have you done one on DK 64
I haven't. I didn't play it as a kid, so I don't really have a huge nostalgic connection to it. I don't wanna say I'll NEVER do a video on it, but if I were to, it'd be a while. I have a lot of games that mean a lot to me that I'd like to cover first.
I love these games i actually got the Japanese version of sm64 not the shindo version the og version
"people have been playing the game for nearly two decades" -- even when this video was new, it was well over two decades, past halfway to three :) the passage of time sneaks up on us all....
😭You're completely right. I checked my script to see why I'd say that since the math is so simple, and I WROTE "over two decades". You can see it in the captions, I wrote "over" but say "nearly" for some reason.
💀I have no idea why I mixed them up like that.
@Pretzel: first 1minutes and 30 seconds and already one mistake, the only way to die is to drown, that is incorrect, fall damage, if you climb a tree on a hill, and do a hand stand on it, and then land on the base of the hill, you get fall damage, only 2 slot, if you repeat this untill you have 0 left mario dies.
Can't believe I didn't think of that, you're right. Thanks.
7:28 tf is that?
🏠
@@PretzelYTthe face
@@PretzelYT😂
Definitely keep traverability
Raindobw road is the last stage of the game? No
Why Mario 64 is mysterious and all the creepypastas make me not play it much.
In fact, in the town of Wet-dry world, if you manage to reach the tunnel, you can access a normally inaccessible playground. So half the hallway is empty and the other half is filled with water. If you pass between the two sections more or less times, the height of the water will climb as you go. So you can create water levels that normally shouldn’t exist in this city.
Your videos are perfect for doing acid