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/vr/ - Retro Games

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File: 142 KB, 642x451, super_mario_64-255597-1246524248.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
417619 No.417619 [Reply] [Original]

Am I the only one who finds the atmosphere of Super Mario 64 to be pretty depressing at times?

>> No.417629

why do you find it depressing?

>> No.417642

>>417629
I dunno, just the mood of the some of the levels like Dire Dire Docks and Wet-Dry World.

>> No.417638

>>417619
Really? I found it the opposite. Even in a big empty castle with everyone trapped in the walls, I felt at peace. Maybe it was the music.

>> No.417654

In a way. I think the word you're looking for is 'awkward,' like a lot of the pieces of a level are out of place, like the whole game is one big order of chop suey.
Granted, it's fucking delicious chop suey, but it's a right mess and just doesn't sit right sometimes.

I think the same goes for a lot of 3D games from the 90s.

Also, Wet-Dry World's abandoned city is just downright creepy, no matter which way you look at it.

>> No.417658

I know that feel, OP.

Whenever I play the first Legend of Zelda the bleak atmosphere eventually gets to me, once you actually start to think about thing. How much of a wasteland Hyrule is. You truly are the last hope for this land.

>> No.417665

>>417642
That giant square hole in the wall that could suck you in and kill you in Dire Dire Docks always creeped me out as a kid.

>> No.417670 [DELETED] 
File: 38 KB, 1106x720, 1360687962853.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
417670

>>417654
yea but look at ur faces when we discovered Wet-Dry World

>> No.417674

Don't forget the way that the Toads slowly fade in and out of view like ghosts. That creeped me out as a kid. It was like Bowser and his forces slaughtered them all and they're trying to help you from beyond the grave.

>> No.417693

>tfw you toss the baby penguin off the cliff infront of it's mother and you feel like a total bastard afterwards when you see how pissed off the mother is.

>> No.417703
File: 54 KB, 236x262, 1365115609755.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
417703

I finished up a 120-star run of the game about a week ago. The only thing I found upsetting or off-putting was Snowman's Land. Absolutely everything and everyone in that level was trying to kill you. Fucking. Everything.

>> No.417712

Stages like Tall Tall Mountain or Whomp's Fortress at first gave me a little vertigo.

Remember that back in the day, this game was the most realistic thing around...

>> No.417730

The most depressing thing is how the castle is so damn empty

>> No.417745 [DELETED] 

>>417642
>I dunno

>> No.417754

I felt SM64 and OoT had this homelike, familiar yet "otherworldy" feeling. I felt in SM64 in the outsides of the castle, no music, only mario running and jumping, the green grass the castle, it felt strange yet comfortable. Same with OoT in tha castle, the river flowing, roosters, no music. It was a strange feeling, though it's probably more for that "first time playing a 3D game as a child" feeling

>> No.417785

I can understand that feeling. 3D stage design was so rudimentary at the time. There's something "off" and rather bleak about it. Back then we didn't notice it because it was so amazing, but it's noticeable now when compared against modern games.

>> No.417808

I wouldn't say depressing, but it's eerie.

It's like when you find a setting where everything is positive and happy but in the end it turns out all the happy bunnies were ghosts and the cute flower king was actually a space demon or something. It has a feeling that something isn't just right.

It has a lot probably to do with >>417730 but I would disagree about 'early 3D.' Crash and Spyro for example don't feel as off as SM64 does at times.

>> No.417813

I think you might be projecting a bit here.

The game always seemed really, really relaxing and peaceful to me, even in the most tense of levels.

>> No.418304

>>417730
That's the interesting thing about it, now. Back when I was a kid it seemed incredible and full of life. Now playing through it, I agree with you whole-heartedly. I probably has to do with the castle being little more than a hub for levels, so the first playthroughs I didn't notice.

>> No.418325

>>417785
>>418304
See, I don't agree. Super Mario 64 has made me feel that was since I was a child. Its always had this eerie sort of melancholy to it. I can't describe it. Its a mix of the music of the game (particularly the water levels and the cave levels) along with how empty some of the levels can feel at times (But not necessarily to the deteriment of the game).

The same feeling didn't exist in OoT, except in the Lost Woods when you were supposed to feel that way (like when you leave the village for the first time and Saria meets you on the bridge. That scene always has a certain serene melancholy to it).

>> No.418337

Climbing those endless stairs used to scare the shit out of me.

That was before the backwards long jump physics exploit was common knowledge.

>> No.418357

Not depressing, just the credits music is a bit sad because it's so awesome and you see your adventure and it feels like a really good time is now over.

>> No.418368
File: 20 KB, 241x230, 1293882456438.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
418368

>>417808

>Spyro doesn't feel as off as SM64

is this nigga serious

Replay the first Spyro game and tell me you don't feel the cold weight of desolation settle upon your shoulders as you realise you're the last free dragon in the entire Dragon Realms. It doesn't help that the other dragons fucking vanish the instant you save them, either. At least when they're imprisoned, they're THERE. The further you progress in the game, the more alone you are.
Another thing is the incredibly expansive levels, that make you feel so very tiny.
The game always creeped me out as a child, even though I loved it.

>> No.418379

>>418357
There's nothing like that bittersweet feeling you get when you've finished a great game.

>> No.418381 [DELETED] 

>>418368
god, yeah

i tried playing the first spyro recently and it has aged very poorly. screw collectathon platformers.

>> No.418395

>>418379
Yeah, nothing as shitty.

I fucking hate that feeling. And I hate nostalgia for pretty much the same reason. All that sentimentality and coping with loss and acknowledging the fact that you have to move on.

Fuck what is wrong with me

>> No.418404

>>418395
..it's just videogames man

>> No.418431

>>418404
Fuck you, it's not just video games. You invest your time into these things. You invest your emotions. You invest your heart and soul. When it's over, you have to accept the fact that all the work, all the blood, sweat, and tears you put into finishing it have been expended and there's nothing left. You have nothing to show for your accomplishment except a title screen, and there's nothing else you can do to prolong that simple joy you had in just playing the game. It's gone and you have to move on. So you move on to the next game and do it all over. You put everything you have into that game, and once you beat it, you're left hollow and broken all over again, seeking some other fix to fill that emptiness.

Video games are like a drug and I don't want to come down.

>> No.418439
File: 1 KB, 300x242, well.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
418439

>>418431
eat eat

swim swim

>> No.418440

>>418357
I actually have always felt really emotional toward the mario 64 credits, more than any other. To the point that I've imagined the mario 64 credits being what death is like.

>> No.418445

>>418431
Why do you think MMO's are so popular? The game never ends. It's like a high that never goes away.

>> No.418460

>>418431
Now I want to see a film like Requiem for a Dream..but with vidya.

>> No.418465

>>418440
I hope I am a good enough person to be spared from an eternity of the Mario 64 credits when I die.

>> No.418468

>>418460
You just want a videogame where you play a double-ended dildo, don't you?

>> No.418491

I never had any negative feelings about the atmosphere in SM64, but I did in Glover. Something about that game just seems really fucking eerie. I remember at the beginning, the hub area outside the castle is just covered in red fog, like fucking nuclear winter or some shit. There's that character that's just swinging on a tree, and just burps at you or whatever, I always found that a bit creepy. It's been years since I played it, but anyone who has probably knows what I'm talking about. A lot of the levels just seemed empty and... I don't know. I'm having a hard time explaining this.

>> No.418541

>>418460
Cyberbully

>> No.418553

I feel this way too, I can't describe it

>> No.418554

>>418553
*I can't describe why

>> No.418597

>>417654
I think this guy had it right. Except this part:

>Also, Wet-Dry World's abandoned city is just downright creepy, no matter which way you look at it.

Come on, it was like walking in Lego Land with spiders.

>> No.418625

Say what you will about the game, but super mario sunshine definitely had better atmosphere than smb64.

>> No.419221

Bowser encased all of the toad people inside the walls of the castle and enchanted the paintings so that the worlds within would come to life and guard the power stars to keep Mario away.

What's NOT melancholy about that?

>> No.419287

>>417642
>I dunno, just the mood of the some of the levels like Dire Dire Docks and Wet-Dry World.

That and the Desert Level... I can definitely see where you are coming from. Dire Dire Docks especially sounds very sad. Like something old that is passing away and will be gone forever, but is still beautiful.

>> No.419297

>>417665
>That giant square hole in the wall that could suck you in and kill you in Dire Dire Docks always creeped me out as a kid.

I know. It was like the drain in a swimming pool. That horrible, terrifying drain...

>> No.419302

>>418597
This is the day that I agreed with a tripfaggot.

Does this make me a faggot by proxy?

Whatever the tripfaggot says after this is irrelevant.

>> No.419305

>>417642

A lot of games on the N64 had that feel, but Mario 64 could be especially unsettling.

>> No.419312

>>418597
Did you even look beyond the four walls? Empty decaying husks surrounding you for miles.

>> No.419332

>>419312
>Did you even look beyond the four walls? Empty decaying husks surrounding you for miles.

Exactly.

For me it was also eerie to look off toward the horizon in the desert levels while listening to the music.

>> No.419334

>>417712
>Remember that back in the day, this game was the most realistic thing around...
>1996
>Still thinks Mario is realisitc.
Yeah, nah. Quake is the king of realism.

>> No.420993

Individual stages in Mario 64 felt eerie, or depressing, or whatever at times, but not the entire game's atmosphere. The castle is the main reason for it. You're still in the Mushroom Kingdom, it's still Peach's castle, and everything is still bright and cheerful outside of the paintings. I really liked that, because the castle itself always felt like a relaxing place where I could fuck around and unwind after a bleak and stressful stage. The castle itself doesn't feel bleak until you get to the Endless Staircase, and that's because it leads to Bowser's final dungeon.

>> No.421068

I don't know what you guys mean. I still don't find the castle empty or depressing or eerie.

played it so often, even recently and it never made me feel like that.

dry-wet world has a bit of melancholy, with the atlantis background and the town below the floor.

but depressing? for me it never was. this reminds me off that weird thread where the majority claimed that Majora's Mask so fucking dark and depressing but it's not that much, really. you're interpreting and projecting too much into some games.

paintings in SM64 are there to explore the stage and star collectathons and that's all there is about it. paintings that hang in a castle make it look more like a themepark more than anything else. I know there is nobody around except for Toad in the walls and the occasional ghost, you and Lakitu. does it feel really that abandoned? no, not really. at least for me.

>> No.421091

I know that feel, for some reason all of the levels on the second floor had that feel, it was somewhat unpleasant too. Snowmans Land, Tall Tall Mountain, Wet Dry World and Tiny Huge Island have that strange feeling of void. The other levels don't really give off that feeling and are varied and cheery.

I think this might have something to do with the overall Beta feel of those four levels

>> No.421114

>>418368
I see what the poster meant to.

Spyro may not be the greatest example.
Take something like Banjo Kazooie, that game was full of life and collecties and Mumbo and Bottles and Jingos
are always hanging around

>> No.421128

>>421114

>that feel when you cleared the whole level and it feels so damn empty

>> No.421152

>>418368
That's also what makes Spyro 1 better than 2 and 3 which were full of fucking annoying NPCs.

>> No.421161

>>418625
Better or just more upbeat?

>> No.421241

Bowser enchanted the paintings to make them "come to life." This means that after his defeat, the paintings go back to normal. That means the life inside the paintings ceases to exist. All those friendly red Bob-ombs, Koopa the Quick, the penguins...all had their lives extinguished upon the game's completion...

>> No.421257

>>419312

You know it

>> No.421267

>>419305
wasn't that glover game creepy too?

>> No.421279

>>419302
Anon is on 4chan. Anon is always a faggot.

>> No.421282

>>421241
You know, the more I hear about this Bowser...

>> No.421291
File: 488 KB, 420x178, 1308371409879.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
421291

>>417674
I didn't really like that either 2spooked

>>418337
And ol' King Koopa is just staring your ass down from his portrait immortal

>>419297
FuckingSpooked/10

>> No.421298

>>419312
how do you know they're empty?

>> No.421306

>>421298

BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL DROWNED

THEY FLOODED SOUTH AMERKA

:C :C :C

>> No.421338
File: 228 KB, 1187x785, super mario 64 thread.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
421338

See picture

>> No.421348

>>421338

At least this thread ain't crazy.

I like the point that the graphics used to be profound, now they're just bizarre and antiquated

>> No.421350 [DELETED] 
File: 1.01 MB, 1024x768, rbb-gate.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
421350

I wonder I am.

>> No.421357
File: 1.01 MB, 1024x768, rbb-gate.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
421357

I wonder where I am.

>> No.421365
File: 1.05 MB, 1024x768, rbb-gate2.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
421365

>>421357
I wonder if there's anything behind that gate.

>> No.421372
File: 1.41 MB, 1024x768, rbb-gate3.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
421372

>>421365
Just... infinite seas.

>> No.421374

Game felt very empty and quiet. It's also unsettling, there's very little verisimilitude to make you believe that you are part of the game's world. I'm always acutely aware that just beyond the limits of the stage is an infinite empty void.

>> No.421378

>>421372

no bro
u are the ocean

>> No.421398

>>421372
yep, ocean's a big place, turns out.

>> No.421402

>>421306
then they're not empty
they're full of corpses.

>> No.421412

>>421402
WouldCryAgain/10

>> No.421519

>>421374

Naw, man, take a close look at the sky sometime. You'll find that the sky textures skip a little around the corners.

>you've been in a giant box painted to look like an infinite void

>> No.421601

This is why I love these kinds of games, it has that unsettling, almost unfinished feeling which new games wipe out (for better or for worse)

houses you cant enter, seemingly abandoned cities, gradient expanses, etc

megaman 64 was also a good one for this

>> No.422010

>>421241
eh. so what. the probably won't even feel pain anyway

at least the enemy assholes die along with them.

>> No.422030

>>422010

It's always a zero-sum game when King Koopa is running the show

>> No.422239

It's amazing how I didn't notice any of this shit when I was a kid but now it has this uncanny valley sort of thing.

Glover is the worst for this though. Hauntingly empty.

>> No.422267

>>422239
We should make a Glover thread

>> No.422290

>>417642
Gotta agree with wet-dry world, it was super depressign, no idea why though ..... the music maybe?

>> No.422307

>>422290
The music and the stage was just goddamn bizarre. The other stages were locations that were recognizably a certain thing - what the fuck is wet dry world?

>> No.422313
File: 58 KB, 256x244, wet dry world.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
422313

>>422290
When I was a kid I kept looking at this weird city and I always got a weird feeling

>> No.422318

>>422239
is glover fun?

>> No.422319
File: 6 KB, 239x258, 1352172682911.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
422319

I fucking hate when people try to force their shitty insecurities and fears into harmless games like this. Grow some balls and stop being scared at fucking Mario.

>> No.422356

>>422319

>No fun allowed.

>> No.422398

>>422313

That's because the city is underwater and everyone and everything has either drowned or been forgotten

>> No.422408

>>422319

But there are games that tend to have an empty feeling to them due to early 3D technology. We've had these threads before.

>> No.422414

I found Dire Dire Docks depressing later in life. I didn't think much of it when I was younger.

Weird.

>> No.422416

>>417619
Depressing? No, why in the world of fuck would it be depressing?

I actually find the whole game ridiculously soothing.

>> No.422426

>>422416
Go back to streaming, siglemic

>> No.422429

>>422356
Not on my watch, buddy.

>>422408
No, those are threads where a bunch of emasculated faggots circlejerk about how they're so scurred at inoffensive early 3D games because... I don't know. Something, something, everything is eerie/creepy/melancholic for some reason.

>> No.422446

>>422429
>No, those are threads where a bunch of emasculated faggots circlejerk about how they're so scurred at inoffensive early 3D games because... I don't know. Something, something, everything is eerie/creepy/melancholic for some reason.

Man, you are a retarded human being. I would hate to have to talk to you in person.

>> No.422454

>>422446
The feeling is mutual.

>> No.425503

Not really. A few places were a bit spooky, but they were meant to be, and mostly when I'm wandering aimlessly and ended up being/feeling lost. If anything, I felt bad for attacking some of enemies when they were fairly helpless. Especially for not being able to put down a Chuckya without hurting it, unless it annoyed me enough before I could grab it. Also, feeling like a jerk for dropping the penguin baby into nothingness. The other penguin not even having a family was kind of sad, as is the snowman in the level if you haven't figured out how to complete it. And the confused wiggler in tiny-huge world. Things like that. And >>417654 and >>417808. So a few things. I don't really consider it a problem, though, and it was never *consistently* like that, more something you might dwell on if you were already in an odd mood. Aside from the penguin, I mean.

>> No.425601

I can see where you're coming from, OP. Some of the levels do seem sort of twisted and lonely. The Desert comes to mind as well as Boo's Mansion, that cave level with the sea monster, and the Wet Dry world (that city with the water raising).

>> No.425826

This needs to become a Glover thread now. I used to own it on the N64 as a kid, but I can barely remember any of the things you're talking about with the game and I'm incredibly intrigued.

>> No.425870

I really got this feeling from Donkey Kong 64 for some reason. Also the secret parts in Banjo Kazooie.

>> No.425927

>>422429
I don't really get the feeling that anybody is actually that scared. Just a little unsettled by some of the eerier portions of the game, which are usually intended to be that way.

>> No.428953

>>425870
>Also the secret parts in Banjo Kazooie.

Stop and Swoop or something else?

>> No.428972

>>417665
Holy fucking shit I'm not the only one.

That level gave me a fear of swimming, and of the ocean in general. To this day, I won't swim in anything but an indoor pool and I'm uncomfortable on boats.

>> No.429341

I didn't find the desert place creepy myself, though now that I think of it, my relatives did. To me, it seemed fairly well-populated for abandoned ruins in a windswept desert. I agree with >>419287 on Dire Dire Docks, mostly because the pirate ship was so cool that I wanted to be able to explore the inside of one that *wasn't* wrecked.

>> No.429429

Come to think of it, why did Peaches castle have all these paintings? Why did she have a dungeon that housed a painting of a giant flaming head? If Bowser only brought the paintings to life, then what the fuck is the entrance to Hazy Maze Cave? Why does she have a giant wall of water leading to Dire, Dire Docks? Does she really have a portal in her wall leading to a Snowman land? What about the trapdoors behind the Star doors, what are they without Bowser's magic? What about the illusion wall leading to the Desert?

WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH PEACHES CASTLE? IT WAS ALREADY NIGHTMARE FUEL BEFORE BOWSER ANIMATED THE PAINTINGS.

That Peach bitch is scary.

>> No.429464

>>429429

I think some of theplaces are more like shortcuts to real places in Mushroom Kingdom

>> No.429543

>>429464
They're probably warps to the actual places themselves. We know Peach is retarded an keeps getting kidnapped. Figures all Bowser would have to do is walk through a desert and BAM, he's inside the Princesses castle.

>> No.429550

>>429543
*ding dong*
"Who is it?"
"Not Bowser."
"What an odd thing to say. Come in!"

>> No.429590

the game fills me with a feeling of melancholy and sort of.. loneliness.

>> No.429652

>>422313
Holy shit, somehow I legitimately never realized what that skybox implies...

>> No.430010

>>429429
Well, the caves do also connect to a waterfall outside the castle, which is a bit odd since it starts in the basement, and if I remember correctly the entrance to the waterfall is further down in the mines. Maybe it's some kind of gravity loop made to give the castle a recirculating waterfall. In addition, Dire Dire Docks connects similarly connects to the moat outside the castle. So apparently she has that dock to build ships for the kingdom normally.

Then there's the hidden block switch areas and race course. I think some of the levels like the desert and the sky area might have been places Peach tried to hide from Bowser, but his minions are in them anyways. The trick with the snow painting on the other hand was something I figured was an attempt by Bowser to hide a level from Mario.

Also, I messed up when posting >>429341 because I still keep confusing Dire, Dire Docks with Jolly Roger Bay. It's the latter with the pirate ship, obviously.

>> No.430032

People find Dire Dire Docks depressing? I loved that level. I used to just swim around for no reason all the time. And the music just makes me think of being little again. Even when I was little it made me feel at peace.

>> No.430121

>>430010
I also keep forgetting that you raise the ship for some reason, you just don't get to enter it after it's risen.

>> No.430429

The only thing that sort of creeped me out when I was a kid was that fucking Boo in the stairs leading to the backyard. I always thought that fucker was going to come and get me if I stared at him too long

>> No.430520

Yeah, I feel the same way. The whole "happy" setting doesn't help much either. In fact, it does the opposite. Like an amusement park at night. The whole emptiness is just creepy. Why didn't they put at least some side characters into the castle?

>> No.430540

>>422313

That's how I imagine R'lyeh.

>> No.431450

>>429652
It's amazing