vert1 Jul 14, 2013 (edited Apr 15, 2021)
Super Mario 64 vs Conker's Bad Fur Day
The simple airplane spin with your tail felt more satisfying than any of Mario's moves.
We can argue over the value of slowed down (suspension) movements above the ground (suspension), which is in Rayman 2 and a ton of other N64 platformer games. Hovering is in fact the most prominent feature of Buck Bumble.
Super Mario 64 is definitely more about pouncing, bouncing, and rushing than floating. But in compensation for not having immediate access to a short-distanced aerial floating Super Mario 64 allows you the ability with the wing cap to suspend a longer time in the air and to platforms suspended longer distances in the level.
Few games have big descending jumps in the platform genre and stick to building a world around hopping flat or stacked surfaces. This is because the characters themselves are a reflection of that environment. The design of Super Mario 64 leads to more pleasure on downward plunges than than sharp vertical ascents. (Mario is well-equipped to enjoy both more than the other characters.) It's like a roller coaster in that aspect. The player huffs-and-puffs in other 3rd person games climbing up the hill, while Mario devours the hill. The problem is that Mario, Jak, Maximo, Crash, Spyro, Master Chief, rarely takes advantage of this height and few games do (only two occasions in Maximo [PS2] are there huge drops; jungle log level and last levels).
The irony here is that Mario functions like a traditional gun fired bullet sans when he long jumps a long distance (i.e. onto the large mushroom top in Tall, Tall Mountain) or shoots out of a cannot sans wingcap while the other characters always are a slowed down un-traditional gun bullet (think the movie Taken) who tend to require some vehicle or collected doodads or materialized running strip to get boost power. So Mario cannot maneuver around like a guided missile in Buck Bumble. Which then gets down to is shooting curve-able projectiles more pleasurable than regular projectiles? Curvature VS Lines.
Also consider the mini games, like the lava race.
What about it? Do you assert the lava race is better than the races in SM64?
Consider the massive upgrade in visuals.
Debatable. Conker upgrades of "realism" visuals is sometimes utilized for distastefully foul brown environments.
The story. The humor.
Debatable. Mario's enjoyment is in the statement "I'm going next"; Conker's "Wow, what's next?".
The music.
better use of dynamic music for build-up intensity of boss fight.
The variety of stages and gameplay. It turns into a 3D shooter at one point. You drive a tank. You play in bullet time mode like you're inside the Matrix.
You fight a opera singing poo monster. What does Mario 64 does have on that??
The Great Might Poo definitely creates more aesthetic mayhem than the other bosses. He makes Conker dash around dodging large projectiles. He also causes Conker to travel larger distances appropriately building up into a final act. The game doesn't keep the camera on the boss so that it appears in full view which is a downer.
Super Mario 64 does not have a boss that is better because Mario himself outdates traditional boss design. Mario is more fighting for total control of the world than a traditional boss lair. So what.