Camera angles are one of the often underappreciated good things in a video game. A good camera angle lets you fully view your character and environment. Back in the days of 2D gaming an overhead view was often used along with a sidescrolling view, with the latter of which still being used today in some 2D platforming games. When the 3D era hit, most developers had trouble programming in that third dimensional space. There were many great games once they got the hang of it, but even some of the greats had horrid camera angles.
By her own admission, Leslie Swan isn't a very good self-promoter, but she needn't worry as her credits do a great job of getting across her credentials for her.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "Super Mario 64 DS may not have been “better” than Super Mario 64, but it is indeed “more” than Super Mario 64, if that makes any sense. For a kid back in 2004, having a Nintendo 64 classic on the palm of your hand, with more content than the original, and a crapton of amazing minigames on the side, was more than enough to make me ignore the admittedly terrible controls I had to put up with. Two decades later, it bizarrely holds up. I can easily affirm it’s one of my favorite remakes of all time, even if it’s far from perfect… hell, possibly not even better than the game it was supposed to be an improvement of."
VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "With the Switch getting on in years and the prospect of a new Nintendo console growing closer, now seems like an excellent time to take a look back at one of its mascot’s two big evolutionary lines, particularly since we now find ourselves in the longest wait ever between 3D Mario games. Today marks the seven year anniversary for the release of Super Mario Odyssey, and with no full new entry in sight, it comfortably beats the roughly six year wait between Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, which should also be good news to anybody who broke a mirror that day.
3D Mario has delighted fans since 1996, maintaining an astonishing level of quality and bringing innovations not just to the 3D platformer genre, but gaming as a whole. Needless to say, it’s a hard task to rank a series where every entry is beloved, but I shall nevertheless undertake this risky venture with my head held high. Wish me luck."
One of the worst marios.. i hated the fact it was only about finding the moons and very repetitive with the same bosses. There is no exploration in this one.
Galaxy 2 is still unmatched
I played, completed, and enjoyed Mario Odyssey, but I tend to agree that I don't think it's the best 3D Mario. There was sense of sameness that prevailed after the first couple of worlds... not in the levels, environments, or aesthetics, but in the routine of each world. It just felt like each new environment was just the beginning of another checklist of moons to acquire, and the sheer number of them took away the sense of accomplishment I got from the stars in Mario 64 and the like. I can't exactly put my finger on why that is. Galaxy gets my nod as the best one.
I enjoyed it too but i won’t even place it in my top10 mario games.. as you said you are just looking for stars and that irritating music everytime you find one.
Also the bosses are pretty much the same from begging to end. I would have have like some koopalings instead of these dumb useless rabbits
I played a little of this game and freakin' LOVED it! But I forced myself to stop because I hadn't played Galaxy 2, which I've been playing every day for the past week. Cripes, Galaxy 2 is way better than I expected it to be! Even though I dislike the Wiimote and nunchuck controls, and it annoyed me a lot with Galaxy 1, part 2 just feels better and slightly less gimmicky when it comes to the controls.
Sunshine at number 7 no way. I get it's not perfect but it deserves better to date there has not been another 3d Mario that's managed to capture that same movement it's the most acrobatic feeling Mario to date.
It's by and large better than 3d land/world and I'd argue that galaxy 2 didn't offer any trie innovation it was essentially a DLC pack to 1
Personally it's
1) Mario 64
2) Mario Sunshine
3) Mario galaxy
4) Mario Odyssey
5) galaxy 2
6) Bowser fury
7) 3d land/ world.
SM64's camera seemed great at the time, but it hasn't aged well. It seems really outdated nowadays, while the OoT camera is still pretty fantastic.
I don't think the picture they used in the article was that great of an example though... you'd obviously just push up + left :P
I kind of expected more in the article...?
Speaking of horrible camera angles, I just bought Resident Evil 2 on PSN.
On topic, this was a very short article. Suprising actually.
alot of the way the camera is place is part of the stylization of the game.
people wonder why games are made with awkward camera angles, and its done on purpose for it to be challenging or to add a different feel.
now games are all becoming standardized first person shooters, because apparently that's the perfect camera and all other cameras are unacceptable.
How could you mention horrible camera angles without Itagaki? Poor camera angle design is kept alive and well today thanks to him.