When comparing Super Mario 64 vs Super Mario Bros., the Slant community recommends Super Mario Bros. for most people. In the question“What are the best and the most revolutionary games of all time?” Super Mario Bros. is ranked 1st while Super Mario 64 is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Super Mario Bros. is:
Super Mario Bros. introduced the concept of [level design as a tool for educating players](http://www.1up.com/features/learning-level-design-mario) that created a low barrier to entry for new players that was instrumental in pulling the industry out of the [North American Video Game Crash of 1983](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983) and set the bar for level design for generations to come.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free-roaming, open-world game
Super Mario 64, as a free-roaming, open-world game, was a precursor to later groundbreaking games such as Grand Theft Auto, and has been cited by Peter Molyneux as one of the 5 most groundbreaking games of the last 20 years for this reason
Pro Developed a proper camera and control scheme for 3D games
3D games prior to Mario 64 were somewhat all over the place with their control schemes, and game developers were still struggling to use the third dimension they now had access to. SM64 is a freeform game that makes the most of its 3rd dimension with fantastic control and camera orientation that we take for granted these days, but was highly innovative in its own time.
Pro Birth of modern level design
Super Mario Bros. introduced the concept of level design as a tool for educating players that created a low barrier to entry for new players that was instrumental in pulling the industry out of the North American Video Game Crash of 1983 and set the bar for level design for generations to come.
Pro Greatly influential
The game's influence stretches beyond even this - many of the most important franchises and development studios in the industry got their start from imitating Super Mario Bros., including Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and id Software's Commander Keen.
Pro One of first side scrollers
This game was one of the first side scroller games.
Pro It saved the video game industry
If this game didn't happen then video games would've died. Zelda, Metroid, DOOM, Sonic the Hedgehog, GTA, Call of Duty, and Halo would not have existed if it weren't for this game.
Pro Created defining mechanics of the platformer genre
Super Mario Bros. introduced several game mechanics that would become the bread and butter of platformers as a genre.