I'm the opposite. I hated how SM64 controlled, couldn't get on with it until later 3D Mario games with better camera. TR however, perfect control. The game was grid based, same as the controls. Once you see the grid it became easy to puzzle out the steps needed to get to places. I never liked the reboot, too much combat and the controls are all on auto pilot nowadays. The early games had you plan out the steps to get to places, I miss that. It was more aerobatics than run and gun.

Tough one again, between Pokemon, Civ 2, Wing Commander 4 and Privateer 2.
Also: Realms of Arkania: Shadows Over Riva and Bahamut Lagoon.

I'd really like to give it to Pokemon, but have to go with other: Privateer 2: The Darkening.
I always say it's the best movie I've ever played.

Super Mario 64, for me. Having replayed it recently, I am more convinced than ever of its greatness. It's one of those rare lightning-in-a-bottle games where the cutting-edge technology of the day mixed with total creative inspiration. The camera can be uncooperative at times, and the music tends to repeat toward the end, but the platforming is blissful and the sense of discovery, experimentation, and adventure is exhilarating.

Second place would go to Tomb Raider. It's not quite the equal to Super Mario 64, but I would argue it's damn close. A potent mix of visceral action and cerebral exploration & problem-solving.

I'd also like to give a shout-out to Donkey Kong Country 3. I know it's considered something of a black sheep in the DKC franchise, but I love its production design and expansive overworld. It feels like something of a "missing link" between Rare's tighter, linear SNES platformers and the more open-ended platform-adventure titles the studio would launch on N64.

Super Mario 64 and Resident Evil 1 are two games that just dropped my jaw in awe of the graphics and what they were doing at the time. Neither game has aged well, but I don't think any other games have impressed me more than these two games did at this time. I never imagined video games could do what these two games were doing. That being said I pick Mario 64 but I do wish Resident Evil 1 would have been released a year later so I could vote for it. Super Mario RPG, Wave Race, Metal Slug, Duke Nukem were all great games as well that I really enjoyed. Both Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot were games I never really liked, but both incredibly important games that helped push the video game industry forward.

It's funny that the camera of Mario 64 has always been such a controversial aspect. I get why this is, but personally I've never had any issue with it. I actually always thought, back then and even still to this day, that it works perfectly well. You should just always set it to the Lakitu mode, where it smoothly auto follows you from a mild distance and doesn't move around too much. Sure the other two viewpoints, the closer Mario mode and the fixed one are kinda useless but the Lakitu mode never failed me. I guess I just can't really relate. In fact, even today in modern games, when I mess up yet again and die miserably because I can't see stuff, I often find myself thinking "why can't this just be good, you know, like Mario 64 was 25 years+ ago".

Love Crash Bandicoot, but yeah, no chance against Super Mario 64. That game is just legendary for a reason.

Super Mario 64. It's just that big of an innovation for it's time.

It was between Super Mario 64, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider. I ultimately went for Tomb Raider. Like others, I love the controls and how methodical everything is. One of the few games I play through every year, guaranteed.

Resident Evil is still the peak of the series for me. Experiencing this at release was incredible. The atmosphere and sense of discovery as the story unravelled was unlike anything I'd come across before. Don't think they've ever matched that feeling since, which is probably why I hold this entry in such high esteem.

Super Mario 64 - the first time using a joystick to control Mario was mind blowing. Still loads of fun to play today.

Fair enough.  I wasn't a fan of the grid system.  Lara felt like I was driving a tank.  Meanwhile mario moved where and how I wanted him to.

This was close to my experience.  I haven't played Tomb Raider since the 90's, but I remember it being a lot of fun.  SM64 was disappointing from the moment I first tried it.  I tried it again several years later on the DS and it still wasn't fun.  I think most of the people who really love SM64 are the ones who grew up with it.