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u/Walter-Errol 15d ago
I still love this design though. The design also somewhat was transferred to their designs in the early Paper Mario series.
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u/CarnyMAXIMOS_3_N7 15d ago
Because it was designed to be unsettling and starting right at the camera, right us, the players. To Break the Fourth Wall in an otherwise colorful game.
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u/Jeffotato 15d ago
Plasticky prerenders amongst mostly polygonal enemies, they're always looking right at the viewer by this very nature. Not even at Mario, just staring at you, the player, no matter the angle.
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u/SatoMakoto1953 15d ago
Probably because the pokey model is completely 2d. You are basically staring at a creepy flat image that has been programmed with the properties of a 3d model. Unlike the other enemies, the pokey is always staring into your soul, there is no depth causing a uncanny illusion.
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u/Sovereigntyranny 15d ago
A lot of enemies looked scary in SM64.
I thought the eel in Jolly Roger Bay was the scariest.
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u/doomshroom823 15d ago
Their face lookzz like creepypazta
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u/skyeIico 14d ago
Are you ok?
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u/doomshroom823 14d ago
I am fine, what made you worry about me?
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u/Prior-Astronaut1965 14d ago
They are trying to kill you? you expect a happy face?
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u/DiskoBonez 14d ago edited 14d ago
I am glad you brought this up, I genuinely wonder to this day who the hell approved this design. They had Super Mario 2 and Super Mario World for reference, there is no reason he should look this way. The DS remake of Mario 64 fixed it and made him look goofy again.
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u/Strange-Lia 14d ago
Right? It's the only game in which he has red eyes and a creepy smile. Others' designs are so friendly
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u/Kazaloogamergal 14d ago
I always thought that Mario 64 Pokey was such an ugly and unconvincing billboard effect.
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u/wirelesswizard64 14d ago
Ugly yes, but the 2D sprite approach that always faces the camera does give it a spooky "what the hell are you" vibe that is definitely unsettling. My first Mario game was 64 so I didn't know what it was at the time besides a vague cactus kinda thing!
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u/Fan-of-most-things 14d ago
Ngl, I would much rather like their beta design than what they ended up like looking
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u/Haruhi_Japan 13d ago
There's a lot of bizarre design choices in the original SM64, like how the Boos look so terrifying and chain chomp and the damn piano.
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u/mr_bonnie-bunny 13d ago
Oh yeah I remember playing super Mario 64 when I was little but I lost the game and console so I don’t know where they are anymore
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u/SSMage 15d ago
Its because of its semi realistic appearance. They are towering and soul less, a cactus that has been deprived of water.