scottie, I doubt we could find another person on this website who believes that.
...I can't even think how I would convince you otherwise.
In SMG, no exploration is required. It is always obvious what your objective is; where you should go next. In the case of Luigi's Purple Coins, you can see them all and it's a matter of tactics to plot a path.
In SM64, you're given a whole world with just the name of the star to give you a hint, but you can collect most of the stars in any order and with completely different routes around the level (how are you going to get to X platform - jumping from above, Wing Cap, cannon, somersault up a ledge etc.). The red coins are hidden around the level and it can take a long time to discover all their locations, and they are not visible from each other and no obvious path is there. There was always another way to get to a star, and you didn't have to collect the stars within a world in a fixed order.
The linear parts of SM64 were the Bowser levels - indeed, all Galaxy's levels are styled after that. A linear series of obstacles.
