Video Game Comparisons: Super Mario - 64 vs Sunshine vs Galaxy (Conclusion)

[Alolan_Apples]

Today is the day I'm to wrap up the video game comparisons, but I'll still talk more about these three games later in my blog.

Summary:

• Super Mario 64 - Based on my reviews on the graphics, replay value, characters, plot, bosses, limits, levels, hub, missions, and unlocking levels, it clearly shows that SM64 didn't age well. By just comparing them to SMS and SMG, you can see how badly it has aged. It is forgivable because hardware restrictions at the time were very limiting. It's also a test run on the 3D gameplay. At the time, it was revolutionary, but if we have another game as simple as SM64 today, it won't do as well. However, if they remake this game, salvation is still possible. I'm okay with 120 stars, the 100-coin missions, and the lack of organization in bosses, but the game still needs a lot of fixing. I know it's depressing to describe its descent as new games came along (especially since I said that Ocarina of Time is still worth playing), but it's still legendary today. However, there are some things it has beaten the other games in. It has the most memorable music, the enemy selection is better, it has the best difficulty curve and the right level of difficulty, and the gameplay basics are the best.
• Super Mario Sunshine - I may had some bias for this game, but that's because I played this game since I was a child. I never played the others until last year (when I was 22). Not to mention, but if SMS is your Mario game, you wouldn't like SM64 that much. However, if I look at it in an objective view, it's clearly the worst of the 3D Mario titles other than 3D Land and 3D World. It sold around 6 to 7 million copies. SM64 and SMG sold over 10 million copies. Ratings for the other two games were also higher than SMS. And as of today, SMS is the only Super Mario game to not have a remake or digital release. I wouldn't be too surprised because of the difficulty settings, excess blue coins, high repetition, and the lack of representation it has done for the series, But based on my reviews, I did feel that it done better than the others because of its plot, characters, levels, hub, and missions. As a bonus, the game has better camera controls and better music.
• Super Mario Galaxy - Based on my reviews, it clearly shows that I am not pleased with this game. While SM64 was criticized for not aging well, this game was criticized for being too linear, as well as the low difficulty, the gravity mechanic, the prankster comets, and the organization of missions. However, while I am the least satisfied with SMG, it had a few nitpicks that prove that this game is better than SMS and SM64. It had better bosses, better limits and separation of health and air meters, higher replay value, more meaning in collection, title design, and graphics. From every area it won against the other two, it shows how Nintendo has improved when SMG was made. Above all, I would say that it's a disappointment.

Impressions:

The impressions are based on the reviews of the title design, the graphics, the sound and music, and replay value.

• SM64 - Super Mario 64 had its potential back in the N64 era. Today, it hasn't aged well. Granted, the hardware limitations prevented it from having such pretty graphics like on the Wii U and was pretty simple. At the time, it would be a game we recommend everyone to play, but when you look back at it, you would realize how much of a disappointment it was in today's world. It obviously lost the graphics battle and has lost the replay value battle. The title design didn't matter much. But if there's anything it did well in, the music was memorable.
• SMS - It was my favorite game of the three, but in terms of these impressions, the music is the only one where it's at the best on. Title design was okay, but not enough to beat SMG or SM64. Graphics are silver, but replay value is copper. I know it was a bad game for many things, but the impressions were alright.
• SMG - In three of the four battles, SMG won them all. The title design was one of the reasons I was excited to play this game in the first place. The graphics shown how much the series improved in graphics. I didn't enjoy the game as much, but the replay value was better. The music battle was where it lost, but that's because the music isn't as memorable.

Plot/Characters:

This category consists the issues of side characters, plot, bosses, and enemies.

• SM64 - Unlike the battle over the Impressions, this is the exact opposite. They kinda shown how the game has aged badly, but rather shown the importance of character development, setting development, plot, and bosses. It was okay for the time, but they weren't as interesting. The only thing it beaten the other two games for is the enemies. SMG didn't have all of the familiar enemies, and SMS had rather weird ones. The game with the best unique enemies such as the amps, strollin' stus, and the ant-like creatures in SMG is still SM64. But by having the more familiar enemies, SM64 wins instantly.
• SMS - SMS is the most unique 3D Mario game in terms of plot and characters just like how Super Mario World is the most unique 2D Mario game (the giant gates are still better than the castles at the end of each course). Of course, the GameCube characters (characters from the GameCube games in each series) are always interesting. Rather than having this Bowser stealing power and kidnapping Peach, it's more about getting Mario in trouble and a world he never visited being in danger. Though the pollution of Isle Delfino was done mainly to kidnap Peach. Even still, the natives gained respect for Mario near the end. The bosses were okay, but not the best. The enemies I already said were the worst, but they add uniqueness points to SMS.
• SMG - Based on the issues in the category, this is the only category SMG hasn't lost any battle. However, it won only once, and that would be the bosses. I didn't like that there were too many bosses, but the bosses were still cool, especially the final boss. The enemies, plot, and characters, were just so-so. Even if they introduce characters, it's still not as good as SMS.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is based on the basics, controls, limits, and difficulty curve.

• SM64 - Based on the issues in this category, we can see why SM64 would win. If all three games were just as long and complicated, SM64 will be the best 3D Mario with little or no bias at all. And here is why: it's open-world, it has a better difficulty curve, the collection of items is simpler, there are no gimmicks other than the colored caps, and all of his basic moves are there. It does need fixing on the camera issue and the water thing, but this area shows why SM64 is the best game.
• SMS - While SM64 is the best game in this category, SMS would be the worst. The limits are fine, it had a better camera, and the gimmicks are better than SMG's, so it goes to one problem - the difficulty. The kind of difficulty is too cheesy, making SMS the worst 3D Mario. Let's come up with another example of how hard the game. Let's say there is a math test. It's not giving you more problems on the test, nor giving you calculus problems are putting a time limit. It would be more like you have to take the test in a loud environment where it's hard to focus on the test. Or you just get graded on handwriting too.
• SMG - Based on these issues, you can see why SMG didn't do as well. The separation of health and air meters was the only good thing here. The difficulty, while SMS was too hard, SMG was too easy. The prankster comets did make some missions harder, but there were not enough obstacles to get across and have more fun. The camera issue is a serious problem with the game. And the basics of gameplay show why I didn't think it was a "true 3D platformer".

Levels:

This category is all about the levels, including the main levels, hubs, missions, and unlock feature.

• SM64 - What all four issues did when I brought up this game is that they proved how much it has aged badly. The levels were too small and simple, the missions were really simple, the hub was poorly made, and collecting stars no longer has any meaning since they unlock more than one level at once. It's still a good game if this didn't matter, but I was turned off from this game for these reasons.
• SMS - SMS is the best in this area. It had the best levels for not being too small while it had true physics, it had the best missions despite repetition, and the best hub out of the three. However, there's only one weakness. That would be the meaning of collecting shine sprites. Since specific missions had to be done to unlock some levels or features rather than reaching a certain value, collection really had little meaning overall. So I enjoyed the levels I unlocked, the missions I did to get the shines, and the hub as it's another level, but collecting them didn't have any meaning.
• SMG - This category of issues explain why I was not too satisfied with SMG, and it's for these reasons: the gravity mechanic, the overabundance of star magnets and star shooters, levels are strangely built, missions weren't as organized, and prankster comets were just rehashes. However, it had one thing I liked more than the other two inm and that would be the meaning in collecting power stars, in terms of the gameplay.