Current Events > Did Mario 64 do the "hub world" the best out of any platformer game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not only is it the OG but there was lots of secrets to find and exploring it felt amazing and it looked good as well.

Now is this just nostalgia or is it the best example of the hub world in a platformer?

Bro it's a pain in the ass to get to the backyard

Super Mario 64 erased all the fun characteristics of Mario's world in favor of a more subdued, generic euro-fantasy castle.
My answer is no.

Literally the best hub world of any video game ever made.

And I don't even like the game.

n64 really crushed it with hub worlds. banjo kazooie/tooie, dk64, even diddy kong racing. you can just feel the atmosphere from all of them

yes but diddy Kong did it best

Autumn Plains in Spyro 2 >>>>>>

I liked Delfino Plaza more I think. But there's no question Peach's Castle is the most iconic 3D Mario hub world.

the fact that it had a hub world at all with a loosely-freeform order to do stuff in was pretty innovative

I feel Banjo-Kazooie honestly beats it in terms of immersiveness and design. The way Kirkhope made the hub's music dynamic to the nearby level was brilliant at the time. The amount of secrets and Grunty's insults. It was pure magic.

Super Mario Sunshine is perhaps best in in terms of just sheer joy of goofing around with how many interactive things there are to do.

Galaxy is good for functionality in terms of organized and getting you back into levels quickly.

Banjo-Tooie's hub was amazing in terms of just sheer scale at the time. It really felt like a grand adventure.

Spyro 2's hub get a mention too. I loved the atmosphere and it felt like a level in itself.

Rocket: Robot On Wheels has an underrated hub world.

Yooka-Laylee's was quite amazing and brought back that Grunty's Castle vibe.

Nuts & Bolts was quite unique too in being a hub, but also miniature GTA like world with NPCs and being able to wreck havok

It's pretty fascinating to see 3D platformers going more into world maps lately. Crash 4, Sackboy, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, 3D World, etc.. are all cool maps.

Then you have open world plarformers where there's no actual hub because it's all connected like Jak and Bowser's Inside Story.

Least favorite it no map or hub or anything accept some menu selection. Odyssey and Astro Bot do this style. I see from a functional side, but no reason a developer can't do a mix of styles. Super Mario World on GBA did it perfect. You could select which level on menu bit also still go around map.

Galaxy has the most beautiful and soothing hub

what exactly are the secrets in mario 64's hub world?

within that style of mario game I'd put sunshine and probably also galaxy above it. branching out into just similar genre I want to say banjo-kazooie but it feels like cheating since it's pretty much the size of a full level

Galaxy's is my favourite tbh.

It's great for what it is, But Isle Delfino beats it soundly.

The best one which came to mind is Spyro 3.

Sonic 06 obviously

...and then you play B3313 and your mind gets fucking dismantled from the inside out at the sheer complexity of it all.

xXfireglzXx posted...

...and then you play B3313 and your mind gets fucking dismantled from the inside out at the sheer complexity of it all.

B3313 is a really cool hack, at least from a viewer perspective. It gets a little repetitive when you actually do have the "map" and it becomes a castle movement simulator.

I do wish some of the non-Kaze and non-vanilla romhacks got some attention, though. There are many really good hacks that people sleep on. One, called Serene Fusion, just came out, and people are hailing it as a masterpiece. It was a collab hack made by many individual romhackers, and people should check it out.

Delfino Plaza is the perfect hub for me, especially given the movement abilities Mario has in that game. I would spend hours as a kid just futzing around, finding new ways to get across it.

Banjo Kazooie is the best for this tbh.

SM64 was good, but not on the same level. Too linear.

Mario Galaxy hub world has the best music

bioshockjack posted...

Sonic 06 obviously

Hey! *Load* Hey!

Banjo-Kazooie is hands down the best.

Diddy Kong Racing showed what Rare was about though

Sunshine is the best for Mario

Gex!

galaxy hub is trash.

64 is/was amazing. fun to explore, full of secrets, mystery, adventure.

I prefer Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario Sunshine, but 64's is damn good. It and Kazooie's had mystique to them.

SHRlKE posted...

there might be more

...oh

I was kinda assuming secrets meant like, things that were not part of 100%ing the game

Banjo-Kazooie.

I didn't hate it by any means, but just thinking of other N64 titles, I found Gruntilda's Lair from Banjo-Kazooie far more memorable.

Its a 2D game but the Yooka Laylee - Impossible Lair game had a great hub as well.

Dakimakura posted...

Gex!

The weird greco-roman ruins in the sky in Enter the Gecko were great.

The Gex 3 hub worlds were, like every other level in that game, annoying to collect all the bug and paw coins in.

Unpopular opinion, but I think DK Isle from 64 is my favorite

TULPAMANCER posted...

Banjo-Kazooie.

I think banjo is a better game but I don't think the hub world is as good as Mario 64.

I'm honestly trying to think of a better one and just sort of drawing a blank.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I stand by what I said.

Better than SMW's hub?

I love Banjo's

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


it also makes no sense because mario has always been full of big european castles

MarcyWarcy posted...

it also makes no sense because mario has always been full of big european castles

but it used to be more than completely boring grasslands and traditional scenery you'd find in a generic euro-centric courtyard. Super Mario Bros. used to have exciting geography, with crazy-looking clouds, hills, and environments. The Mushroom Kingdom in the movie poster is a more accurate representation of Mario landscapes than 64 was.

DK64's is better.

Sunshine imo

I can't think of any better examples so yes for me.

Tied with Banjo Kazooie, for me. BK did a lot of things bigger and better, but reaches the point where it's more like an actual level than a hub.

PiOverlord posted...

Super Mario 64 erased all the fun characteristics of Mario's world in favor of a more subdued, generic euro-fantasy castle.
My answer is no.

This take strikes me as odd. Peach is human royalty. Why would she be living in all the weird shit Mario traverses to save her, instead of a royal kastle? The surrounding area changes from game to game, but SMRPG, Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, Galaxy, and Odyssey all have her in a standard-enough kastle. Don't bring your work home, y'know?

DK64 was more immersive for me, but SM64 had a great hub world too. The change that happens on DK Isle during the climax of the game pretty much cements it. And the way the music changes when you explore different parts of the island?? Yeah Rareware knew what they were doing. Great era for adventure gaming

DK Isle perhaps has the best hub music. That gives me so much nostalgia and always makes me think of memories from 1999 playing DK64 for the first time at a Best Buy kiosk. I don't know if I'll ever feel the same hype as I did for DK64.i would scour every magazine and website preview.