Super Mario 64 DS

"Super Mario 64 DS is a great way to enjoy one of the best Mario games in portable form, despite a few annoyances."

Score:
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Value: 10
Tilt: 9

Overall: 8.9

The Good: Faithful port of the original; 30 new stars to collect; 4 playable characters, 3 of them are new; a bunch of new touch screen mini-games included; huge replay value; great graphics and music; fun boss fights; it's portable Super Mario 64...

The Bad: Some textures are nasty looking; despite the upgraded graphics you will noticed the aged "architecture" in certain levels; sound is a little tinny; some star changes may irritate purists; no Mario face stretching on the main menu; you start as Yoshi instead of Mario; Mario has to be unlocked...

Super Mario 64 was one of the first games for the Nintendo 64, and during the Nintendo 64's lifespan it was one of the absolute, all-time best games for the system. It boasted amazing graphics and sound, great replay value, and it was just plain fun. Now Super Mario 64 has returned, except this time on the DS. And this time, Mario decided to bring some of his pals along for the ride. Did you ever sit there playing Super Mario 64 feeling sad that you couldn't play as Mario's younger brother Luigi? Well now you can, and you can ever play as Wario and Yoshi for good measure. Fans will be pleased to know that along with updated graphics for the DS there are many other changes and additions that make this classic adventure game worth experiencing all over again.

The first noticeable change is that instead of having Mario invited to Princess Peach's castle all by his lonesome, Mario, Luigi and even Wario venture to the castle. After being missing for some time, Yoshi decides to investigate. This change may irritate purists of Super Mario 64, but it sure to please hardcore Yoshi fans. I myself was slightly irritated by this because it's more difficult to learn how to play the game (for newcomers) as Yoshi than it is as Mario. Fortunately though, you only need to recover 8 stars in order to unlock Mario. Yes, Mario actually has to be unlocked, as well as Luigi and Wario.

It's not really a big deal but it was slightly irritating. I have fond memories of playing as Mario, and I didn't really want to have to mess around with Yoshi at the beginning of the game, especially because he plays vastly different from Mario, Luigi and Wario. Mario, Luigi and Wario are all very similar except that their running speeds, jumping heights, and strengths are all varying. Yoshi on the other hand does not control the same as the others. Instead of punching enemies Yoshi gobbles them up. You can either turn them into an egg to throw it, or spit them back out. Because of how Yoshi handles, it makes certain stars impossible to obtain by using him, and fighting certain enemies is also impossible.

That leads to another minor yet significant change in Super Mario 64 DS. Because Yoshi, Luigi and Wario are all playable characters there are certain stars that have been modified so that other certain characters can obtain them. This is slightly irritating at first and may confuse veterans of Mario 64, as well as Mario abilities have all been dispersed throughout the new characters. Mario can now only use the wing cap ability, while Luigi uses the invisibility cap, Wario uses the metal cap, and Yoshi can spit fire. There is also a new bizarre addition where when you use one character, each of the other characters hat will be in the level except Yoshi. So when you play as Yoshi there will be Mario, Luigi and Wario's hats somewhere in the level. If you wear their hat you will turn into that character, but if you get hit you will lose the hat and turn back into whoever you were. This is a little strange because when you turn into someone else you still make the sounds of the original character. Yoshi also does not have a cap, so you cannot turn into him at all. Thankfully finding these caps is easy thanks to the handy new map system, but it's also not as great as it sounds. The maps are useful for locating stars and certain other things, but ultimately lack the proper detail that would make them absolutely worthwhile. However, suffice it to say is that the game definitely is better with the maps rather than without them like in the original Super Mario 64.

The game basically puts you in the role of the four heroes to try and recover as many stars as possible in order to defeat Bowser who has like usual, kidnapped the princess. The reason why you need to collect stars is because Bowser has sealed off certain doors in the castle that can only be opened once you have obtained the required amount of stars. If my memory is correct, you only need 80 stars in order to fight Bowser for the final time and see the ending; however there are a total of 150 stars so even once you beat the game you have a ton of other ways to occupy yourself.

The transition to the DS is a great one, but at times you can't help but feel like it's a little gimmicky. There are other DS games that feel this way but the DS additions to Super Mario 64 DS feel a little tacked on. There are some decent touch screen controls to try and make up for the lack of an analog stick. You can either use the style or the thumb pad, the stylus is completely unwieldy, I've tried it and it just doesn't work very well. However, the thumb pad works decent, but ultimately the d-pad is the best suitable choice. It might not work as well as the analog stick but it does its job well enough. This can lead to some frustrating deaths though, I was just recently trying to collect 100 coins for the 100 coin star on tiny-huge island and fell off a ledge when I was over half way there because of the d-pads occasional "spasms" that cause you to move in bizarre directions. Fortunately though this does not happen often, but if you are trying to collect everything in the game like myself then it will lead to some occasionally frustrating deaths. The thumb pad can offer more precise control but takes a lot of getting used to. The d-pad is still the best choice, but the only real downside to the d-pad other than the precision being less accurate than an analog stick is that you have to hold down the Y button to run. The other slightly annoying aspect of the touch screen is that the game literally forces you to use to touch screen to navigate the menus. I'm all for innovation and all, but deliberately forcing the player to use the touch screen controls on the menus is kind of dumb. What if I don't want to scroll the menu using my finger? I don't want to have to take the stylus out every time, I'd rather just use the d-pad, but no, Super Mario 64 DS won't let you. The only menu that actually prohibits the use of the d-pad is the in-game one but it's still annoying.

Other than being great fun having in portal form, Super Mario 64 DS is also a great update because of the updated graphics. On the Nintendo 64 the game already looked amazing for it's time, but on the DS it looks significantly better. You may not think it from looking at the screen shots, but once you actually go and compare the two you will notice a difference, especially when character models come to mind. Mario's new character mode in Super Mario 64 DS is a large improvement over the N64 original. The graphics in other areas still aren't always super impressive though. The game looks great but you will still notice muddy textures here and there, and even some architecture of the game will look bland and dated occasionally. For instance you will see a lot of square geometric shapes that don't really make sense in games that you see today, and are just randomly put together. Otherwise the game's level design is still great and it still plays almost every bit as good as it did back in the day.

The music from Super Mario 64 is still all intact and sounds great on the DS speakers. However, the sound effects don't sound as great. They often sound tinny and like they are played back at a low-bit rate so I often found myself wondering why they did update the sound effects more than they did. Even the new sound effects for Luigi, Wario and Yoshi (which are probably recycled from other games) sound a little strange. There is nothing technically wrong with it at all, it just sounds a little strange when there are other games with much superior sound quality.

Super Mario 64 was a really long game and even now with this new DS version is even longer. There are a total of 30 new stars to collect and there are also a bunch of mini-games thrown in for good measure. These mini-games take use of the DS touch screen and serve as a much more beneficial way of using the touch screen than the actual main game itself. They also serve as a great distraction from the main game, or when you don't feel like getting into the main game and just want to play some weird mini-games for a few minutes. Despite the nice touch screen mini-games there is one touch screen feature that is sort of irritating. Instead of that memorable mini-game where you could stretch and distort Mario's face, they have actually changed to simply drawing. You click on Mario's face and it turns into a black line drawing. You can drag it around but it doesn't really do anything and it's not as fun as the original. However you can draw your own pictures and mess around with them, but it still would have been nice to have the original face distorting Mario game on the main menu.

The 150 stars will really take you a long time to collect so Super Mario 64 DS is a great portable game to have, especially one to keep you busy for a long time. It's got great replay value and a ton of mini-games so if you like Mario than there is really no reason not to get this game at all. Super Mario 64 DS was the must-have DS game at the systems launch, and it's still one of the best offerings for the portable now. Despite some minor changes, and some lackluster touch screen additions, Super Mario 64 DS is still a great game. So whether you already have a DS or are planning on picking one up, Super Mario 64 DS is a great game to add to your collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/28/07