You talked about figuring out the gimmick of this stage (and also Wet-Dry World) through trial and error - but Toad actually gives you hints about them both, if you're paying attention.
I've never heard the 12 parts to the stage thing before, that's genius! When I was a kid too, I knew about the clock gimmick because I think the toad right outside the stage tells you about it
It's a bit of a style over substance detail, but the enclosed nature of this stage has some very nice visual effects even if it breaks the camera quite frequently. A lot of SM64's stages have that weird "island in the void" quality that makes them feel unnatural and hard to think of as a place in addition to a level. TTC bucks that trend hard by feeling and looking like you're inside a gigantic machine at all times.
i think one other thing that might make it harder is when players hit the invisable walls, after seeing pennenkoek's video on invisable walls i can't help but fear what may happen
I've only recently discovered your content and truth be told, I'm enjoying these SM64 videos, this one in particular having me agree with pretty much everything. I feel that players could and likely should have the skills necessary to tackle Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride by the time they get there. If not, and they don't care for full completion, they can gather enough stars from the 13 prior courses or even the secret stars to bypass both TTC and RR and book it straight for Bowser. Great video, and I'll be subbing to see what else you'll be posting.
Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Glad to see people agree with me for this one, I thought for sure I'd only get push back
@NintenDeen Well, like you, I also have a huge spot in my heart for Super Mario 64, and since I've 100% completed it and its DS remake several times, I've grown so used to every level that the challenges set forth by the game are more like tiny inconveniences rather than huge barriers. Any player with enough practice will, in due time, be able to complete Tick Tock Clock. I hope your video helps others to realize they can do it too.
This is the Rusty Bucket Bay of SM64. I was horrible at both and avoided these stages. They encouraged me to be thorough in collecting items from the earlier levels.
never heard it called the cartwheel, i always call it the sideflip or somersault when it comes to this stage in particular, i like to do a variation i call the frontflip or forwards somersault, by pulling back until mario starts to turn and run in the other direction, quickly flick the stick forward and jump at the same time
I think it's technically the side somersault haha. But I always called it the cartwheel. And yes! What you just mentioned is the optimal jump most of the time imo. I think a similar maneuver gets Mario to do that spin jump in sunshine?
I've liked these so far and have been going through them, so thanks for talking about one of my favorite stages. I love this gimmick and how it helps even if you don't have perfect control of Mario. The novelty's great combined with the obstacle course design, I like exactly where it is in the castle for difficulty, and I like how the spiraling nature makes some areas non-pit safety nets but not all of them.
I feel like this stage set the bar for future 3D Mario stages like Floodless in Sunshine and similar. Just these esoteric worlds floating in nothing that have more intense platforming. I like it.
Figuring out how to stop the clock as a 5 years old was incredible! I think some parts of the level could be improved, but the overall concept is awesome!
People didn't like Tick Tock Clock??? I beat this level easily as a kid. The only level that I HATED in Mario 64 was the one where you had to fly and land on the clouds for red coins.
One thing i always liked about this level is it's the only one that has a concrete, physical end to it, at least upwards. You reach a point where you physically can't go higher anymore. Every other level will eventually warp you back if you get too high (like with the Wing Cap), but it's obviously they have no actual upper bound. And it makes sense because it's literally the inside of a clock. So it has a spatial awareness that none of the other levels need.
The whole top half of the castle used to feel so difficult to me, so seeing these stages covered rather objectively makes me see how well designed some of them are.
This was always one of my favorites stages. I tended to get the red coin star first, then all the others I could reach with the time frozen. I never got the very highest stars involving the Thwomp or the like because I was always intimidated by having the machinery working as I ran around inside of it.
The most rageworthy part about Tick Tock Clock is not falling down all the way for the 3rd time. It's falling down all the way for the 3rd time while that freaking music blasts in your eardrums
@@NintenDeen I Once did a presentation on why Rainbow Ride is one of the best end-game levels in a platformer. You are welcome to hear any of my insights :)
I don't know if I can give the gimmick the benefit of the doubt. I played the game recently but I had no problem finding the gimmick much earlier than I should have, especially since by this point in the game you've probably already completed Wet and Dry stage and you know that the stage can change depending on some factor when you enter it. It's a simple logical process. You stand in front of the clock, notice that the clock hands are moving, enter once, see the movement, die, try to enter at a different time, see that the speed of the obstacles is different, enter at 12 and everything is still. That's why I think the difficulty of the stage is easily exploitable (even worse if you play with Luigi on DS, although Luigi is a problem for most of the game in general). I'd only have included the gimmick for the red coin mission, that way no one can abuse the gimmick. Even if that means the entire stage is conceptually less interesting. This is speaking in terms of design. In terms of preference, I have a completely opposite discourse. This is one of my favorite stages. Why? Because it was so easy that I ended up alternating the missions with Rainbow Ride missions. That way, constantly dying in that stage didn't end up being frustrating because I'd go back to Tick tock clock to relax. And that helped me because I REALLY get frustrated playing platform games (because of that I don't play them regularly).
I was not prepared for the moment I started looking into the opinions of my favorite level in Mario 64 all those years ago. I really thought it'd be the most beloved out there because I had so much affection for it. I'm glad there's people defending it, but still it was quite a shock to see people hating everything about the level entirely. It was mystifying and alarming to me.
Never found it hard but mind you I love Castlevania Legacy of Darkness clock tower which is pretty crazy at times as well. The challenge of tough platforming is a joy to me
One of the best levels in Mario history. I also don't mind the high difficulty, because it serves as a last skill check before finally leading to Bowser. The only downside for me are the invisible walls.
Love the videos and not of the usual critics! Silly question though.... how did you get your voice sounding so good? Earlier vids were meh with audio but these have been stellar!
Oh I'm SO happy to hear that. I used to use a blue snowball mic before this series but I upgraded to the rode podcast mic. I actually got the XLR one first but I was struggling with using that plus the soundbox since I've never screwed around with that stuff before, so I returned them and had to get the USB version and re-record the audio for the first 9 vids of this series lol. Lost a days worth of recording. Anyway, I have the USB ride mic with a pop filter and windscreen now. I keep it right up against my mouth, and I no longer speak loudly since it picks everything up (podcast style). That, plus screwing around with noisegates on audacity, has made my audio a million times better.
Everyone always says SM64 pioneered camera controls, but do you think it also set the standard for game length for 3D platformers? Like how did they decide on 120 stars anyway
I haven't thought much of that tbh. Feels like 100 would've made more sense? I remember 6 year old me thinking there must've been 8 more stars in the game because of 64 x 2 lol
Well, to be fair at least 41 of the stars lengthen the game artificially as there is no real content to them. I'm talking about the 18x 100 coins (incl 3 bowser stages) and thus also 18x red coins plus 5x red coins from the 3 cap stages secret aquarium and secret cloud level. did I miss anything? So 1/3 of the stars are padded content that they could have left out. Or they could have added even more things to complete. Like get a star for 3 minutes nonstop shell ride. Or get a star for clearing every enemy in a stage. They could have hidden more coins on peach's slide or in the castle itself etc. Now we got some redundant stars too. 2 stars for the cool cool mountain slide and 2 stars for the peach slide comes to mind. My guess is they aimed for 100 stars and then decided to add a price for 100 coins and then added the 2 secret mini stages with red coins to get to a nice round number😅
I just found your channel and I've loved your retrospective series. Are there any particular games you are planning to cover after Mario 64, like the Paper Mario or Mario and Luigi series?
The RPG series are both on my radar but it'll be a while from now I'm guessing. I haven't covered any RPG game yet so I'd need to think how I'd do that without making a 45 hour long video haha. That being said, glad you're enjoying and thanks for the kind words 😊
You barely talked about the 100 coin star for this stage. True, I suppose it can be quite easy at zero speed, but you've usually been giving more lip service to the 100 coin star on prior stages. Someone even mentioned in a prior video how it could be bothersome how some coins may end up falling to the void on these narrow walkways. Still, good stage, good challenge. Looking forward to the brutalist pain of Rainbow Ride.
TTC (and RR...you'll see tomorrow lol) I didn't speak too much about the actual 100 coin challenge because the difficulty is largely aligned with the difficulty of surviving the stage, so I'd be regurgitating a lot of the discussion. The actual coins available here are pretty good. 35 blue, 18 red, and I'm pretty sure you can get almost 50 coins from the yellow boxes spread throughout the stage. Basically if the stage is hard for a player, it'll be a terrible 100 coiner. But if they're comfortable then it's not as bad as some other ones? It probably sits exactly in the middle of stage difficulties for 100 coins stars imo
I've never heard the criticisms for this game, but it sounds like it's coming from people who weren't even alive when this game came out. Basically, it sounds like people who grew up with the "modern comforts" of games holding your hand every step of the way, complaining when they play a game that actually expects you to think and figure stuff out for yourself. Tick Tock Clock is a hard level, but that doesn't make it bad. It can be frustrating to play if you keep dying, but if it's too easy, then what's the point? Why not just let the game complete itself at that point (like modern Pokémon games do, taking 0 effort from the player).
@NintenDeen Yeah. I was able to complete the gen 1 Pokémon games and all of the games on Super Mario All-Stars when I was about 5, but nowadays everyone uses the "it's a kids' game" excuse when we ask why games can't be hard anymore. Like, I get that argument all the time when I say I miss games that didn't tell you where to go (you'd have to solve puzzles, explore, ask NPCs, etc) or when I mention getting rid of the exp share in modern Pokémon. It's like people forget those games were for kids too, but we still managed.
I love Tick Tock Clock overall. Just not a fan of the music on these last two levels... it's way too hectic to be played for long, long periods of time. It works well for a quick bonus stage
Ugg I hate tick tock clock. But it makes sense that a end stage a long learning curve it is still a good game. Yes it brings back Pain. I will eventually play Playing Mario 64 by the emulator.
ngl even though i didnt like mario 64 when i tried it, i just found it boring and dated, watching these breakdowns of the levels is still really fascinating even though i really dont like the game, its still cool seeing what other people can get out of it that i couldnt
I gave it probably eight tries, even tried romhacks and the PC port. I know what people are talking about when they say dated. The physics, camera, wall kicking, and turning all fight you, and then you have the bowser fights. Past about the 30 easiest stars, the stages feel less vanilla Mario and more Kaizo.
You talked about figuring out the gimmick of this stage (and also Wet-Dry World) through trial and error - but Toad actually gives you hints about them both, if you're paying attention.
I've never heard the 12 parts to the stage thing before, that's genius! When I was a kid too, I knew about the clock gimmick because I think the toad right outside the stage tells you about it
Think I remember the Toad telling you to try jumping when the clock hands are on things in the middle of a bunch of advice he gives too.
This is correct. And it's also a toad that gives you a star
I never heard about it being 12 parts.
It's a bit of a style over substance detail, but the enclosed nature of this stage has some very nice visual effects even if it breaks the camera quite frequently. A lot of SM64's stages have that weird "island in the void" quality that makes them feel unnatural and hard to think of as a place in addition to a level. TTC bucks that trend hard by feeling and looking like you're inside a gigantic machine at all times.
Honestly the hardest one for me was Rainbow Ride
I remember it kicking my butt as a kid
i think one other thing that might make it harder is when players hit the invisable walls, after seeing pennenkoek's video on invisable walls i can't help but fear what may happen
I've only recently discovered your content and truth be told, I'm enjoying these SM64 videos, this one in particular having me agree with pretty much everything. I feel that players could and likely should have the skills necessary to tackle Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride by the time they get there. If not, and they don't care for full completion, they can gather enough stars from the 13 prior courses or even the secret stars to bypass both TTC and RR and book it straight for Bowser. Great video, and I'll be subbing to see what else you'll be posting.
Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Glad to see people agree with me for this one, I thought for sure I'd only get push back
@NintenDeen Well, like you, I also have a huge spot in my heart for Super Mario 64, and since I've 100% completed it and its DS remake several times, I've grown so used to every level that the challenges set forth by the game are more like tiny inconveniences rather than huge barriers. Any player with enough practice will, in due time, be able to complete Tick Tock Clock. I hope your video helps others to realize they can do it too.
I played the DS version and with this stage I always picked Luigi. His backwards somersault spin is so OP so I never had a problem with this stage 🤣🤣
I think when I cover the DS game I'm gonna tally how many stars Luigi breaks lol
This is the Rusty Bucket Bay of SM64. I was horrible at both and avoided these stages. They encouraged me to be thorough in collecting items from the earlier levels.
Tick Tock Clock is my favorite stage, and I'm not even the biggest fan of the controls in this game
never heard it called the cartwheel, i always call it the sideflip or somersault
when it comes to this stage in particular, i like to do a variation i call the frontflip or forwards somersault, by pulling back until mario starts to turn and run in the other direction, quickly flick the stick forward and jump at the same time
I think it's technically the side somersault haha. But I always called it the cartwheel.
And yes! What you just mentioned is the optimal jump most of the time imo. I think a similar maneuver gets Mario to do that spin jump in sunshine?
I've liked these so far and have been going through them, so thanks for talking about one of my favorite stages. I love this gimmick and how it helps even if you don't have perfect control of Mario. The novelty's great combined with the obstacle course design, I like exactly where it is in the castle for difficulty, and I like how the spiraling nature makes some areas non-pit safety nets but not all of them.
I just discovered this series last night, I binged them all in one go and I'm glad to see you kept with it! Looking forward to the final few videos
Glad you're enjoying! Good chance I'm just gonna swing straight into 64 DS next lol
About time someone gave Tick Tock Clock the praise it deserves, it's genuinely one of my favorite maps
I feel like this stage set the bar for future 3D Mario stages like Floodless in Sunshine and similar. Just these esoteric worlds floating in nothing that have more intense platforming. I like it.
Figuring out how to stop the clock as a 5 years old was incredible! I think some parts of the level could be improved, but the overall concept is awesome!
People didn't like Tick Tock Clock??? I beat this level easily as a kid. The only level that I HATED in Mario 64 was the one where you had to fly and land on the clouds for red coins.
Yeah. BONK back to the courtyard. Thats as bad as a game over from 1 mistake!
One thing i always liked about this level is it's the only one that has a concrete, physical end to it, at least upwards. You reach a point where you physically can't go higher anymore. Every other level will eventually warp you back if you get too high (like with the Wing Cap), but it's obviously they have no actual upper bound.
And it makes sense because it's literally the inside of a clock. So it has a spatial awareness that none of the other levels need.
That's interesting, never actually thought about that
The whole top half of the castle used to feel so difficult to me, so seeing these stages covered rather objectively makes me see how well designed some of them are.
In fairness, it is pretty difficult. Which I think made people not appreciate the stage design as much lol
Oh man the legend is getting close to the end of this amazing series, I hope you do zelda dungeons and areas next, or Super Mario Sunshine 🙂
Glad you're enjoying haha. Sunshine will probably be fairly soon. Zelda is on my radar but further out!
This was always one of my favorites stages. I tended to get the red coin star first, then all the others I could reach with the time frozen.
I never got the very highest stars involving the Thwomp or the like because I was always intimidated by having the machinery working as I ran around inside of it.
You mastered Mario's controls on the N64. I mastered Mario's controls on the DS. We are not the same.
I got 64DS on launch and proceeded to almost exclusively play that version for the better part of a decade 😉
The most rageworthy part about Tick Tock Clock is not falling down all the way for the 3rd time. It's falling down all the way for the 3rd time while that freaking music blasts in your eardrums
Yeah the slide tune playing while Mario "wwWAAaaaaaaa"'s triggers PTSD in me
@ for real man. Pure trauma
@@NintenDeen I Once did a presentation on why Rainbow Ride is one of the best end-game levels in a platformer. You are welcome to hear any of my insights :)
I didn’t know about the long jump as a kid; I just used the grab jump
Time is ticking
I don't know if I can give the gimmick the benefit of the doubt. I played the game recently but I had no problem finding the gimmick much earlier than I should have, especially since by this point in the game you've probably already completed Wet and Dry stage and you know that the stage can change depending on some factor when you enter it. It's a simple logical process. You stand in front of the clock, notice that the clock hands are moving, enter once, see the movement, die, try to enter at a different time, see that the speed of the obstacles is different, enter at 12 and everything is still. That's why I think the difficulty of the stage is easily exploitable (even worse if you play with Luigi on DS, although Luigi is a problem for most of the game in general).
I'd only have included the gimmick for the red coin mission, that way no one can abuse the gimmick. Even if that means the entire stage is conceptually less interesting. This is speaking in terms of design. In terms of preference, I have a completely opposite discourse. This is one of my favorite stages. Why? Because it was so easy that I ended up alternating the missions with Rainbow Ride missions. That way, constantly dying in that stage didn't end up being frustrating because I'd go back to Tick tock clock to relax. And that helped me because I REALLY get frustrated playing platform games (because of that I don't play them regularly).
When I was a kid this was actually the first stage that I completed 100%, even found out about the 100 coin star in this stage.
Oh that's interesting lol. Kudos to you
Great video. Please do a brief video on the future, discussing the Bowser stages and their 8 red coin challenges.
Monday's video will cover those plus all the secret stars and wing cap stages!
@ Good stuff. I’m subscribed. 👍
I was not prepared for the moment I started looking into the opinions of my favorite level in Mario 64 all those years ago. I really thought it'd be the most beloved out there because I had so much affection for it. I'm glad there's people defending it, but still it was quite a shock to see people hating everything about the level entirely. It was mystifying and alarming to me.
"alarming" pun intended?
@@NintenDeen Not originally, but I mean it now 🤣
hmmmmmmm ... lets not methinks...........
Never found it hard but mind you I love Castlevania Legacy of Darkness clock tower which is pretty crazy at times as well. The challenge of tough platforming is a joy to me
If your controller is not in danger of being thrown out the window, are you even playing a platformer?
even though this stage always kicks my butt it’s still one of my favorites
One of the best levels in Mario history. I also don't mind the high difficulty, because it serves as a last skill check before finally leading to Bowser. The only downside for me are the invisible walls.
Tbf there were invisible walls all over the game. But over here and in Tall Tall Mountain it stuck out more because of the stage design
this video uploaded 2 hours ago got in my recommended what
Believe me when I tell you I'm more surprised than you are
Love the videos and not of the usual critics! Silly question though.... how did you get your voice sounding so good? Earlier vids were meh with audio but these have been stellar!
Oh I'm SO happy to hear that. I used to use a blue snowball mic before this series but I upgraded to the rode podcast mic. I actually got the XLR one first but I was struggling with using that plus the soundbox since I've never screwed around with that stuff before, so I returned them and had to get the USB version and re-record the audio for the first 9 vids of this series lol. Lost a days worth of recording.
Anyway, I have the USB ride mic with a pop filter and windscreen now. I keep it right up against my mouth, and I no longer speak loudly since it picks everything up (podcast style). That, plus screwing around with noisegates on audacity, has made my audio a million times better.
Everyone always says SM64 pioneered camera controls, but do you think it also set the standard for game length for 3D platformers? Like how did they decide on 120 stars anyway
I haven't thought much of that tbh. Feels like 100 would've made more sense? I remember 6 year old me thinking there must've been 8 more stars in the game because of 64 x 2 lol
Well, to be fair at least 41 of the stars lengthen the game artificially as there is no real content to them.
I'm talking about the 18x 100 coins (incl 3 bowser stages) and thus also 18x red coins plus 5x red coins from the 3 cap stages secret aquarium and secret cloud level. did I miss anything?
So 1/3 of the stars are padded content that they could have left out. Or they could have added even more things to complete. Like get a star for 3 minutes nonstop shell ride. Or get a star for clearing every enemy in a stage. They could have hidden more coins on peach's slide or in the castle itself etc.
Now we got some redundant stars too. 2 stars for the cool cool mountain slide and 2 stars for the peach slide comes to mind.
My guess is they aimed for 100 stars and then decided to add a price for 100 coins and then added the 2 secret mini stages with red coins to get to a nice round number😅
Do you know how to side flip? I feel like that would’ve saved you a lot of hassle over trying to backflip in most instances
You asking me? Yeah I literally mention it in the video lol. The footage in my vids is not always me playing, sometimes it's family
Are you also going to cover the Bowser and secret star levels or just the main 16?
Monday's vid will he secret stars, Bowser stages, and cap levels, Tuesday will he conclusion. Wednesday TBD
What's the 16th level?😅 the castle video?
I just found your channel and I've loved your retrospective series. Are there any particular games you are planning to cover after Mario 64, like the Paper Mario or Mario and Luigi series?
The RPG series are both on my radar but it'll be a while from now I'm guessing. I haven't covered any RPG game yet so I'd need to think how I'd do that without making a 45 hour long video haha. That being said, glad you're enjoying and thanks for the kind words 😊
@@NintenDeen my best guess is to tackle them like Super Mario 64, one video per 'world', and an intro vid that tackles the prologue of the games.
You barely talked about the 100 coin star for this stage. True, I suppose it can be quite easy at zero speed, but you've usually been giving more lip service to the 100 coin star on prior stages. Someone even mentioned in a prior video how it could be bothersome how some coins may end up falling to the void on these narrow walkways. Still, good stage, good challenge. Looking forward to the brutalist pain of Rainbow Ride.
TTC (and RR...you'll see tomorrow lol) I didn't speak too much about the actual 100 coin challenge because the difficulty is largely aligned with the difficulty of surviving the stage, so I'd be regurgitating a lot of the discussion. The actual coins available here are pretty good. 35 blue, 18 red, and I'm pretty sure you can get almost 50 coins from the yellow boxes spread throughout the stage. Basically if the stage is hard for a player, it'll be a terrible 100 coiner. But if they're comfortable then it's not as bad as some other ones? It probably sits exactly in the middle of stage difficulties for 100 coins stars imo
I've never heard the criticisms for this game, but it sounds like it's coming from people who weren't even alive when this game came out. Basically, it sounds like people who grew up with the "modern comforts" of games holding your hand every step of the way, complaining when they play a game that actually expects you to think and figure stuff out for yourself. Tick Tock Clock is a hard level, but that doesn't make it bad. It can be frustrating to play if you keep dying, but if it's too easy, then what's the point? Why not just let the game complete itself at that point (like modern Pokémon games do, taking 0 effort from the player).
There's a certain charm about the butt kickings games used to give us
@NintenDeen Yeah. I was able to complete the gen 1 Pokémon games and all of the games on Super Mario All-Stars when I was about 5, but nowadays everyone uses the "it's a kids' game" excuse when we ask why games can't be hard anymore. Like, I get that argument all the time when I say I miss games that didn't tell you where to go (you'd have to solve puzzles, explore, ask NPCs, etc) or when I mention getting rid of the exp share in modern Pokémon. It's like people forget those games were for kids too, but we still managed.
3 words. Glitchy as f*ck
I love Tick Tock Clock overall. Just not a fan of the music on these last two levels... it's way too hectic to be played for long, long periods of time. It works well for a quick bonus stage
Ugg I hate tick tock clock. But it makes sense that a end stage a long learning curve it is still a good game. Yes it brings back Pain. I will eventually play Playing Mario 64 by the emulator.
ngl even though i didnt like mario 64 when i tried it, i just found it boring and dated, watching these breakdowns of the levels is still really fascinating
even though i really dont like the game, its still cool seeing what other people can get out of it that i couldnt
Watch Summoning Salt's videos on Mario 64 if you want to see people taking this game to its limit.
Did you think the first 3D Mario _wasn't_ going to feel dated? The game is 28 years old. I don't know what you were expecting.
Oh wow, that's a hell of a compliment. Glad you're enjoying the vids :)
Lol in fairness, he gave it a shot. That's more than a lot of ppl will do before calling it outdated
I gave it probably eight tries, even tried romhacks and the PC port.
I know what people are talking about when they say dated.
The physics, camera, wall kicking, and turning all fight you, and then you have the bowser fights.
Past about the 30 easiest stars, the stages feel less vanilla Mario and more Kaizo.
HELL