MM2 meanwhile I've never liked...? I find most individual design elements bland (RM stages) or subpar (weapons, endgame)
M. Blade is interesting bc *invalidating* the game isn't fun for me either; unlike say MMX, I think what's so interesting about classic MM is how *deliberate* and comparable it is

Not OP, but: I think MM1 is a really interesting case bc it's janky in a unique way other games in the franchise aren't, but it also has these select moments of brilliance sprinkled in (e. g. Fire Man's stage) *plus* a sense of simplicity in Bomb, Cut Man that really resonates with me

lovely drawing

I'm glad to hear it! Yeah don't worry about the last jiggy for now, funnily enough it's the one which *did* trip me up massively on my revisit this year...

youtu.be/Lzn1T3CUTEE

Terrydactyland took me until a playthrough on original hardware to *get* as a level concept, however, and for how much I like the game in all, I never quite felt the last two worlds make sense in sequence after the multi-level sprawling epic of Grunty Industries

I *despised* Tooie on my first playthrough but from then on, with extensive knowledge of how everything everywhere works, it's a top 5 game for me - incidentally, GI is an n64 highlight for me akin to the best of Zelda once you're not trudging around for an hour trying to find a single jiggy...

started playing Perfect Dark for the first time just yesterday and it reaffirmed that very year as my favorite

They aren't even my favourites! I started with I but it is and always has been IV that has my heart! But it's frustrating to see "I like Gen I the best" misrepresented as nostalgia blinders when I haven't seen an honest-to-goodness "Genwunner" in what must be a decade

If, for whatever reason, you need more evidence of n64's complete cultural victory look no further than the Hot Newz 64 VHS. Newz with a z. The most 1999 looking thing this side of the Nookie music video

the children yearn for Banjo's Jon Lovitz-narrated promotional VHS.