You can't just slap 2D Mario's momentum and physics into a 3D game with no care how it actually functions. 2D Mario's momentum and physics work within the context of that 2D environment where you always have a perfect view and perspective of the action; it's significantly worse in a 3D environment where you are constantly fighting the camera and there are fundamental limitations to perspective and depth perception.

This movement is actually why the level design is so barebones and underwhelming - you have a dozen different jump types, analog movement, analog jumps, heavy momentum, and slippery surfaces, but yet blundered the most foundational basics like camera control and depth perception. These were never an issue in 2D, so they just were not accounted for in the move to 3D. The result is levels with no interesting enemies, no interesting hazards, and no 'flow', just a big set of disjointed jumps, where the primary difficulty is fighting the camera and perspective more than the level design.

Seeing a platformer propped up as one of the greatest games of all time purely because it was one of the first 3D platformers and had creative movement is asinine. There are so many other important elements to a platformer, such as level design, hazard design, enemy design, boss design, camera, atmosphere, artstyle, etc., all of which are mediocre to poor in Mario 64. And absolute most egregious of of all: there is no structure to the levels - you just wander like a dickhead on a gay easter egg hunt, before finally getting booted out and told to just retread the whole level again from the beginning six more times.

You can't just slap 2D Mario's momentum and physics into a 3D game with no care how it actually functions. 2D Mario's momentum and physics work in that 2D environment where you always have a perfect view and perspective of the action; it's significantly worse in a 3D environment where you are constantly fighting the camera and there are fundamental limitations to perspective and depth perception.

The movement doesn't even really work with actual levels, because they are no longer designed with a specific moveset in mind; there is no 'flow' to the levels as a result, just a set of disjointed jumps, which is why it allows you to just skip over huge parts of the level. And the awkward dial-a-combos and jumping three times before you get a high jump is just extra abstraction bullshit that further separates you from the game.

Seeing a platformer propped up as one of the greatest games of all time purely because it was one of the first 3D platformers and had innovative movement is asinine. There are so many other important elements to a platformer, like level design, hazard design, enemy design, boss design, camera, atmosphere, artstyle, etc. all of which are mediocre to poor in Mario 64. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of time-wasting bloat in requiring you to complete each level 7 times because it keeps booting you out after every star.

30 years and still hasn't been topped