I used to always want to play Jumping Flash. It got great reviews in magazines at the time. I used to imagine how awesome it would be to play that game. When I finally got my PS1 two years later, I had no desire to play it. Now, I'm sure it would just disappoint me.

With that said, I'm about 100% positive that nobody said that Mario was the first 3D platformer. Heck, I think Crash Bandicoot came out the exact same month, if not earlier.

This actually reminds me of Pilotwings on the SNES, not Super Mario 64. Sheesh, kids these days.

some 3D games on SNES

I actually had this game back in the day and it was pretty bad. I think my parents bought it are something.

First-person platforming is a tricky proposition.

I had a PSX and an N64 for most of that generation and 3D platforming (along with FPS games) is one of the areas where the more powerful N64 clearly outclassed the PSX. While Spyro was fun, it just lacked the polish of Mario (and the PSX never got a truly great FPS). The PSX just couldn't handle those games without straining too much.

Crash, while in 3D and fun, is far too linear to be a fair comparison with the free roaming Mario

A) Actually, they were. Nintendo were the first to make a truly side-scrolling game, and pretty much innovated the concept of a "platformer". They were the first to have a "go anywhere" type of adventure game like The Legend of Zelda. They were the first to have a non-linear, horizontal and vertial scrolling action game like Metroid. They were the first, to my knowledge, to incorporate permanent power-ups/upgrades to their characters (outside of traditional rpgs), in Mario, Zelda and Metroid. They were the first company to use the "d-pad" directional controller design, as well as standardizing the idea of "dpad, start/select/ A and B buttons", etc. They were the first to feature L and R shoulder buttons on a controller, and the basic design of the SNES controller was emulated by basically everythin that came after, including the PS1, Dreamcast, Xbox, you name it. The N64 controller introduced the idea of a home console controller having both an analog stick, a "trigger button", and the controller rumble feature (with the rumble pack). There are a great many things Nintendo have created or innovated, including such things as the "kart racer" genre with Mario Kart, and the "party fighter" genre with Smash Bros. Not to mention they were the first to incorporate true touch pad or motion controll input into gaming, both of which others have blatantly copied since.

B) Mario 64 was not the FIRST attempt at a 3D game, but Mario 64 perfected it. And there is no way that they could have borrowed ideas from Jumping Flash, when Mario 64 was in development before JF was, in fact it started as an FX-chip powered SNES game concept. There were other games before JF that attempted 3D gameplay, but none of them, JF included, were able to really get it "right". The remarkable thing about SM64 wasn't merely the camera, which was notable, but it was the sheer level of control and mobility that you had over your character, and the interactivity in the 3D game world, jumping off walls, picking up blocks, crawling, doing backflips to reach higher areas, etc.

This is like those threads that claim Space Panic, a game where you can't jump, as the first ever platformer.