Super Mario 64 DS Review

Super Mario 64 DS

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Nintendo DS Players: 1 (Adventure, Minigames), 2-4 (Vs.) Release: 2004Genre: 3D Platformer / AdventureRating: 9.0 \ 10.0: Masterful

I may have already played the original Super Mario 64 via Wii Virtual Console and liked it a lot, but in some ways, this portable remake, also a DS launch title (as was Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64), is better. After you receive a letter form Princess Peach inviting Mario to come to the castle for cake, a Lakitu Bro. begins circling around Peach Castle with a video camera, and you see Yoshi sleeping on the roof. Let me get this straight, Lakitu Bros. are helpful Lakitus, unlike the spiky bug-tossing enemies you’ll encounter. Mario then pops out of a pipe near the castle, followed by Luigi and Wario. Then Luigi jumps on Wario’s head, and get the pleasure of viewing a short animated fight sequence. As the three mustachioed heroes (one being a troublesome brute) enter the Mushroom Castle, Yoshi awakens and asks the Lakitu Bro. where Mario is, thus beginning your adventure. As it turns out, Mario, Luigi and Wario, and Peach have been trapped inside the castle. Yes, it may seem like a hindrance that you can’t play as Mario at the start of the game, but after defeating Goomboss the Goomba king on a hidden course, you obtain the key to unlocking Mario from behind a door. Walking through this door changes you from your current character to Mario and vice versa (if you're playing as Yoshi, that is). Beside that door are the doors which Luigi and Wario are trapped behind. The only other way to play as another character is to dispatch the enemy wearing that character’s hat and touch it. Unfortunately, you’ll lose the cap if you take  a single enemy hit. But playing as Yoshi has its advantages. You can swallow enemies and turn them into eggs, and his famous flutter kick, makes reaching high places easy. There are four power-ups to use. There’s the Koopa shell, returning from the original SM64, which you can ride around on and plow through enemies; the Mushroom, which makes temporarily gigantic and invincible; the Wing Cap, a Mario-only power-up that allows you to soar over the landscape and reach high places; and the Power Flower, a plant that grants you a special ability depending on the character you’re playing as. Mario’s ability is to swell up and float. Yoshi’s ability is to breathe fire. Luigi’s ability is to become invisible, allowing him to pass through certain enemies and objects. And Wario’s ability is to turn to metal, making him immune and allowing him to walk on the seabed in underwater areas. If you're a player of the original SM64 and think Luigi and Wario's superpowers sound similar to the effects of the Vanishing and Metal Caps, you're not wrong. In fact, they're literally replaced by those powers-- there's now only one Question Mark Switch and  one color of item-holding blocks (the red Question Mark Block). Unfortunately, this remake brings back of the issues of the original SM64. Minor (and sometimes major) visual glitches sometimes occur, and just one death will earn you a hurl back into the castle if you're not already there. Also, the playable characters walk sluggishly, and the only way to pick up the pace without holding X or Y to dash is to walk without stopping for several seconds. Even then, you'll be wishing you would move faster. All the playable characters but Mario have different strengths and weak points. Mario is rounded, Yoshi and Luigi jump very high, but Luigi’s low on power, and Yoshi can’t even attack-- he can only swallow enemies and objects to turn them into eggs or single bursts of fire to breath. Wario lacks speed and agility (not to mention intelligence), but he's able to smash large objects and can punch enemies all the way across the screen! And I got this all from the instruction manual. One of the biggest differences between SM64DS and the original is the fact that there are 150 Power Stars to collects-- 30 more than in the original. There’s also a new room in then castle-- the Rec Room, a place where Peach used to play as a child. It not only contains old toys, but you can find a hidden star by jumping into the painting of a beach. There’s also a door that can be entered only after you’ve obtained eight stars. Behind is a room with a window with a balcony behind it and a painting of Mario. Ironically enough, passing through the painting brings you to the course in which you must battle Goomboss for the key to rescuing Mario. Also, selecting the Rec Room icon from the home menu allows you to play minigames which you can unlock by catching rabbits in the castle. As you choose a minigame, the World 1 world map music from Super Mario Bros. 3, reminding me of the good and bad times I had with that classic.  I’d already played some of these minigames in New Super Mario Bros., so they felt a bit dull, having been played by me so many times in the past but they're still mildly enjoyable, although there's also a large chunk of minigames that weren't featured in New Super Mario Bros., all of which are enjoyable. To be fair, this game was released before NSMB, but the former was the first Mario game I ever played. There's also a Vs. mode, where you and up to three DS owners can battle each other to obtain stars in a wireless free-for-all via Download Play. Although it brings back some of the flaws of the original, Super Mario 64 DS is superior to the original in pretty much every way. The gameplay, the music, although recycled from the original, hasn't aged a bit and is still amazing. The graphics have been most significantly improved. The character design, and object detail have all been vastly enhanced, although the vibrant, impressive, and smooth texture works now look blocky and ridged from some angles. This is a launch title of a decade-old system, and the visuals still rank among some of the best ever seen on the DS. This is a little sad, given that DS titles were already visually inferior to console games at the launch of the system. Another improvement that's very helpful is stage map displayed on the touchscreen. You can even move by sliding the stylus across the touchscreen. Many may argue that the original is better, but I wasn't raised in the olden days of gaming, and I'm not as used to the classics. Despite these very minor faults, SM64DS is a top-notch remake of a fondly remembered classic, a platforming masterpiece, and one of the best portable titles I've ever played.

Ups
Fun minigames
Vs. Mode
Improved visuals and sound
One of the best-looking games on DS
Touchscreen map

Downs
Not many issues fixed
Blocky, ridged textures

ESRB: E Content: Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $19.99 (Retail)

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