What impressed you?
The seamless transition from 2D to 3D: "this series made the transition from 2D to 3D very gracefully and it's just a testament to Nintendo that they were able to do so many things so right this very first time" (1:20-1:33). The initial controls tutorial is straightforward: "using the controller is a piece of cake press a to jump and B to attack Press B to read signs too use the control sick in the center of the controller to move Mario around now head for the castle" (1:40-1:52). Story sets up motivation quickly: "Mario's Castle's in great Peril I know that Bowser is the cause and I know that only you can stop him" (16:47-16:54).
What would you change?
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How could it be better?
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What impressed you?
Controls are perfected for 3D movement: "Nintendo spent so much time just perfecting the controls... it's just genuinely fun to make Mario move" (2:47-3:26). Progression gating funnels players: "three stars to open this door... big star eight Stars progression gating at these at these doors to make sure that you you're funneled to less difficult areas" (6:23-6:36). Tutorials via signs and in-world hints: "you have to master three important jumping techniques first try the triple jump then the long jump then the wall kick" (7:09-7:21). No pressure, like a toy: "there's no pressure here so it's very much like a toy it's not driving you forward just hey do this hey do that you just kind of do what you're going to do" (4:47-4:55).
What would you change?
Add Z-targeting: "I also wouldn't mind being able to Z Target right behind Mario like they put into o Odyssey" (2:54-2:59). Make swimming more intuitive: "swimming isn't the most intuitive I actually remember as a kid having a hard time figuring out how to get out of the water" (3:50-4:03).
How could it be better?
Less hand-holding trust: "this game is really not handh holdy they just kind of trust that the game's fun I love that" (18:11-18:18). Compare to modern: "it would be interesting to compare how this tutorial is to the Mario Odyssey tutorial" (9:36-9:43).
What impressed you?
Pure joy in movement: "jumping is satisfying satisfying to do that triple jump by itself is pretty great... it's just genuinely fun to make Mario move" (3:37-3:26). Toy-like with goals layered on: "Mario 64 I think is fun because it's because at its core it's it's a toy it's a really fun toy to just... run around and do nothing and so if it's fun as a toy and then you add these little layers of goals on top of it with the Stars" (32:30-32:56). Makes noises/excitement: "Yahoo" repeatedly (e.g., 17:52, 25:25, 43:27); "wooo" (1:03:20, 1:37:42).
What would you change?
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How could it be better?
More combos for expressiveness: "it's when you start combining them together... that you start getting this um these really satisfying controls" (33:31-33:42, referencing external but tied to play).
What impressed you?
Shadow as XY orienter: "this uh blob underneath me that's not how Shadows work but it is a fantastic XYZ or to know where I am on the XY plane when I'm going up and down on the Z plane it's just always directly underneath me" (11:25-11:56). Bubbles/particles remind of underwater: "the bubbles and the little particle effects in the water is that just to continue to remind me that I'm underwater" (24:39-24:46). Wobbling oily sphere: "I love this wobbling vertex effect with the with this sphere map over it it's just it's so oily" (56:40-56:57).
What would you change?
[missing information here]
How could it be better?
[missing information here]
What impressed you?
[missing information here]
What would you change?
[missing information here]
How could it be better?
Enemies not super aware: "are the enemies or opponents really aware of you? Do they seem to have any personality? Are they dumb video game characters?" [implied but not directly answered; missing specifics].
What impressed you?
Time flies due to freedom: "there's no pressure here... you just kind of do what you're going to do" (4:47-4:55). Castle camera justification funny: "I love that they need to to give a reason that there's a camera following you that's kind of funny" (5:04-5:16). Wholesome toy feel: "they feel I I don't know the word wholesome simple... but they know exactly what they're trying to be" (24:14-24:29). Responds via stars/doors: "reacting to the star power the door slowly opens" (16:03-16:08).
What would you change?
Less invisible walls: "by the way there's invisible walls this is a thing we had to put into 3D games" (16:15-16:23).
How could it be better?
Keep focus via mastery: "the Mastery of the controls themselves being able to side jumps and the long jumps" (4:28-4:36); "even as a kid I felt like I was getting Mastery of this these controls" (12:46-12:54).
What impressed you?
Free-form on right track: "the camera is not the greatest they didn't hadn't figured out the camera entirely but they were on the right track I think that free form camera" (2:14-2:26). Auto-follow works: "the point with the camera is to make sure that you didn't have to use the camera you could just kind of run around and control it" (5:50-5:57).
What would you change?
Improve like later games: "free form camera from you know uh what do they put it into Mario Sunshine... with the sea sticks... that was probably the best way to go" (2:32-2:38); "Mario Galaxy was the first time they... perfected really figured out the camera" (6:08-6:14).
How could it be better?
C-buttons for look: "you can take a look look around using C right and see left press see down to view the action from a distance" (39:02-39:07). Bugs player: "this camera is Bonker is not the best" (1:47:50-1:47:59); "why can't I get my camera to turn that direction" (1:44:03-1:44:08).
What impressed you?
Procedural animation/mastery: "procedural animation where he leans into his runs and he Bobs around... timing a lot of the controller timing" (3:05-4:15). Genre-defining: "spent so much time just perfecting how to run around... going from 2D to 3D was a big deal" (3:20-3:37). Mistakes player's fault: Implied via muscle memory struggles (20:20-20:42). Interface via signs: "they do have a lot of tool tips on signs" (9:22-9:30).
What would you change?
Button positions for modern: "the a buttons and B buttons are in different positions than they were on the 64 Controller" (20:20-20:26). Swimming clunky: "swimming mechanics are not super easy and they are a little slow clunky feeling" (26:18-26:24).
How could it be better?
Other games learn combos: "Mark Brown did a video... expressiveness of Mario's controls... combining them together" (33:18-33:42).
What impressed you?
Stars as achievements: "the Stars you could almost think of it like... Xbox achievements... that's your main progression mechanic" (1:00:36-1:02:08). Painting worlds: "how do am I supposed to know that I can go inside of a picture... it eventually I guess you just figure out you're going to jump in it" (7:03-8:00). Caps customize: "press the colored cap switches... red for the Wing Cap green for the metal cap" (23:14-23:21). Bomb buddies, Koopa race (19:17-21:05).
What would you change?
Punch underused: "that's a feature that's not used a ton actually... I wonder if they added this ability to punch things because it was so difficult to time jumps" (1:52-10:16).
How could it be better?
No deep customization mentioned.
David Perry suggests using gameranker.com for [[202501031828 The David Perry Challenge]], and filtering for platforms you own. I found this list to be...