I'm going to say exactly what I think...
First place is Super mario 64. Why? It's a classic, but it doesn't have that "do what I want you to do" feel. Just in/out the castle, there are a lot of things that are hidden. Even in the levels, you have that 100 coins things and most stars can be done anytime. Even if some are really easy, some can be tricky, just to find. The hardest stars are most certainly the second race against the koopa and the 100 coins star in the tick tock clock.
THERE IS REPLAY VALUE!
Super mario sunshine is in third and last place because of some things. It has got those secrets just like super mario 64 have, but those secrets are just... TOO SECRET. There are 2 hidden stars in every level! I'll never forget when I learned how to get the second hidden star of the mushrooms level via internet! Look at the sun from the middle tree and shoot. WTH? I also got the star that's hidden on the beach of the delfino plaza because I was walking by and bored and shooting water. But the blue coins are the worst. I have 10 blue coins missing and I don't think I'll ever get them all! Besides, the whole game is pretty inovative and cool, but it has more that "do what I want you to do" feel. You don't even know when levels will be unlocked! And because of the blue coin thing, it limits the amount of level.
Super mario Galaxy is second. Why isn't it better than 64? Because it doesn't have all the points I named. It has no secret stars, or well, almost no secret stars. It has, for that same reason, a huge "do what I want you to do" feel. No 100 coins star. There ARE a lot of level and gameplay inovations. But super mario 64 definitly was more inovatibe, since it was the first 3D mario. I guess. What really destroyed the game was how easy it could be. The only levels I really liked was hell prominence and the final level. All bosses are jokes except for the fire pirhana, which isn't very easy. Even Bowser.
Last thing. The replay value. In super mario 64, it was the highest for the simple reason that there were many hidden stars. In Galaxy, there were those ~8 hidden stars, but, that wasn't much. And me playing the game all over again as luigi was more of a pain than an enjoyment, so I won't count that in. I must say I really like replay value and little extras like those. That is probably why I mostly chose SM 64 over galaxy.
That's all I have to say!
I have also got a strange thought. Maybe we, people of the ealy ages, like the games that are older for the simple reason that we played those games as childs. MAYBE this is why we keep thinking those games are awesome. Maybe this is why I choose SM 64 over Galaxy.
@SNR: wow. You really are against the game. I'm curious, how far have you gotten in the game by yourself? Guides can really spoil the game sometime, ya know. I'm not exactly sure about what you mean when you say "on the gamecube" 'cause I don't remember any kind of backward compatibility stuffin' about it. And you said you also liked luigi's mansion... ... .. No. Not luigi's mansion. I must say I didn't play it a lot, but I did play it. And it has that feeling of puzzles that I don't get. I swear, if I had known of sites as such as gamefaqs, I probably would have gone there just to unblock myself, but that feeling should never happen to a player, especially in light-puzzle-oriented games like Luigi's mansion.
Our world will stop advancing once humans manage to create sufficient magnificence for a whole lifetime. Until then, I just create.
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