Jenuall wrote:Made it through the first few galaxies in Galaxy now and I'm finding it such a conflicting experience. The ideas, the ambition, the music - aspects like these are simply fantastic, just as impressive as they were back in the day. But the actual moment to moment experience of moving Mario around these spaces is just straight up weak, especially coming off the back of playing 64. That a game which is nearly twice as old and was doing all of this for the first time should feel so much better than a game from 2007 is just insane.
YUP.
I've loved having all 4 (Odyssey included) readily accessible to work out the differences. But to my tastes 64 is
easily (almost
objectively) better controlling than Galaxy.
Galaxy is gorgeous and has a lot of pop and spectacle at every turn. But like you say Mario's core gamefeel is stodgy compared with 64.
Specifically, the spin move kills the momentum every time you want to attack. The long-jump actually stops on landing instead of seamlessly blending with running like in 64. The second and triple jump don't have the pop and initial upward acceleration of 64's either. There's also the different weighting of 64, with his exaggerated leans and his start-up acceleration time (compared with the more skittery Sunshine), but that's more personal preference.
I think it's also a matter of camera and animation. 64's second jump has Mario with his chest out and legs together like a stretching gymnast or acrobat. And his triple jump shoots up with his arms out as a flourish (compared with say Odyssey's tuck and Galaxy's slightly odd and unreal timing of its animation), and has that awesome double-swish sound. Both jumps also have a crisp voice sample that starts loud and sharp (see also: long jump) that gives them a sudden-ness and burst different to Galaxy's also.
And though 64's camera is bemoaned (rightly I think!), it also limits you to a mostly horizontal plane of adjustment - left and right. The default camera
height is more Mario level than in Galaxy's higher, zoomed out view (see also: Odyssey). Its camera is also more connected to Mario's movements. So when Mario triple jumps in 64 the camera cranes up to keep up, just as it does with the spinning, tree-top dismount where the camera has to arc all the way up to catch it. It looks awesome and dynamic. Galaxy has lots of this stylish camera movement in the spin stars and so on (which look and feel great), but not as much not in the gameplay proper.
I've been making switch videos out of interest to compare - I showed a friend yesterday Odyssey's and after 64 he was like 'yo that looks
weak' (though Odyssey is the most precise and reliable controlling of the lot I think). Galaxy's too lacks the almost-motion-captured grace and can't-contain-himself bounce of 64. And the belly-dive-roll-up! I love the belly dive!
Anyway not meant to hate on Galaxy, I know many love it and I appreciate all the polish and generosity in its design and gameplay variety. It is just a different platformer all round, with more considered, concise challenges compared with the hurtling-around freestyling continuity of 64. But it feels worse to me, second by second and metre by metre. (Also: There's so much talking to NPCs and textboxes in each level! ugh let me crack on with it).
Anyway, will play more (never actually played Galaxy properly in the past!) and am really enjoying having them all to hand!
EDIT: Gamefeel wise, I think
maybe 64 > Odyssey > Sunshine > Galaxy, though I appreciate others tastes might make them enjoy level design and so on more than pure kinaesthetics. Odyssey's is probably the best to control around its levels. But 64's wins at pure joyful fun-even-in-a-box feel. Sunshine is skittery and jittery and the frame-rate/
something looks rubbish in this release, even next to 64. And I don't like lots of the busy bullshit surrounding everything. But it has the belly dive with its spring-release and that sudden
TSKCH! of the fludd jetpack is cool and FLUDD also adds fun flexibility.
I reserve the right to change my order after further investigation.