This Is Why Super Mario 64 Hasn't Aged Well

The Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection has been a dream come true for some Mario enthusiasts out there. While a lot of fans are thrilled to finally have three classic 3D Mario adventures in one place, some are more critical of this collection for a number of reasons. Whether it's the omission of Super Mario Galaxy 2 or a seemingly unnecessary limited release, gamers have plenty of fuel for their Nintendo-directed frustration.

Questionable decisions aside, when a collection of older games is ported to a current-gen console, it's like sliding each title under a microscope. The flaws, which many players ignored when they were new, become more clear than ever. Super Mario 64 is the oldest in the collection and is thus a prime target for consumer scrutiny. Upon revisiting with the HD treatment, how well has Mario's first 3D adventure aged? Not as well as you might think, and this is why.

Super Mario 64 is notorious for having a camera that seems to fight with you as you try to set the best angle in difficult situations. Considering that Lakitu, a former Mario foe, is holding the camera, perhaps such a design flaw is simply canon with the series.

Several users on Reddit came together over a mutual hatred of the camera controls. The original poster was asking the community why Mario 64 is so much harder than they remembered, and an overwhelming number of complaints centered around the camera. In fact, the very first comment suggested the camera was to blame.

Considering Super Mario 64 was an early 3D game, the developers still had a lot to figure out when handing camera control over to the player. While many in the thread blamed the camera for marring the overall experience, some were quick to cite other examples of poor camera controls in early 3D games. Though fans may expect better from the great plumber, even Mario is not infallible.

Back in its day, Super Mario 64 looked pretty amazing. For the first time, fans were finally able to see their favorite plumber rendered in 3D and it was quite a thrill. By today's standards, however, Mario's looking a little rough around the edges. One of the best examples of this is low-poly Mario. As the camera would pull away from the hero, the model switched over to his lesser-detailed counterpart.

After the new Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection was announced, a Reddit user wondered if the low-poly Mario would remain in the upscaled version of Super Mario 64. It seems he was left in all his, well, lack of glory. It was easier to miss this detail back in the day when the game was displayed on a blurry CRT television, but with a Switch port, gamers get a crystal clear view, and it's not pretty. Playing Super Mario 64 on an HDTV, it becomes abundantly clear that this game may still be fun to play, but it's a relic of the past.