When comparing Super Mario 64 vs Half Life 2, the Slant community recommends Super Mario 64 for most people. In the question“What are the best and the most revolutionary games of all time?” Super Mario 64 is ranked 10th while Half Life 2 is ranked 40th. The most important reason people chose Super Mario 64 is:
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](http://thekartel.com/video-games/14067405-fable_creator_picks_his_top_5_most_revolutionary_games/) for this reason
Specs
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 Many mods will run with just the free Source Engine installed
A total conversion which does not directly use any assets from Half Life 2 can be played without even purchasing the base game.
Pro Supports total conversions
The Source SDK allows mod creators to build new game content from the ground up, leaving no trace of Half Life 2.
Pro Some Half Life 2 mods were later released as stand-alone games
Examples include Garry's Mod, Dear Esther, and The Stanley Parable.