Super Mario 64 (Nintendo DS, 2004)

Super Mario 64 DS is in essence the same game as Super Mario 64 but with new characters, minigames and stars to collect, yet it transitions to the Nintendo DS so well, that it is a perfect choice for any gamer with any travel time booked in their schedule.

STORY
The story is actually much the same as in the original with Bowser stealing away Peach an Mario jumping into action to save her. Only this time Yoshi, Wario and Luigi accompany him on his quest. Yoshi is sleeping on top of the castle at the start of the game and must rescue the other characters who then become playable as you go. The game almost makes no real attempt to assimilate the other characters into the story, so you're sometimes wondering why the rest of the Mario crew are even around.

CONTROL
One of the biggest problems with Mario 64 was controlling Mario was oft made frustrating by his response to moving the joystick. Mario was very agile, but just didn't do exactly what you wanted him to do all the time. This control issue has made the transition to Mario 64 DS and is amplified by the fact that you're using a D-pad instead of a joystick. Sometimes when trying to press two directions at once to move diagonally, your character will just stop altogether. This leads to more than a few frustrating plummets to one's death. Mario 64 DS does try to compensate by allowing for movement via the touch screen, but this isn't much better. Once you touch the screen a target appears and moving the stylus from the center point moves the character in that direction. This would be great if not for the fact that the target moves as you move. So if you drag the stylus up to run forward, eventually your character stops because the target has moved up with the stylus and the stylus ends up pointing to the neutral position again. Another issue is that at one point you are required to use both the stylus and the A-button simultaneously. Executing the move properly is nearly impossible for right-handed players. However, despite these qualms it is relatively easy to get used to the control and see past these flaws through to the great game underneath.

GAMEPLAY
Mario 64 DS plays great and makes collecting stars (the primary objective in the game) a ton of fun. What's great is that each star takes a relatively short amount of time to collect, but there are a lot of them, so its great for short bursts of gaming when your traveling, especially because you can save just about anytime you want. Top that off with the addictive mini-games that average just a minute or two a piece to play, and you've got a really great portable game.

MULTIPLAYER
Multiplayer is actually not all that compelling. You're pretty much limited to racing against each other to collect stars in stripped down sections of the single-player mode and the novelty wears off rapidly.

REPLAY VALUE
The game features unlockable mini-games and plenty of hidden stars to find which makes it easy to get a lot of miles out of Mario 64 DS. It's really ideal for portable gaming in that you can play most aspects of it in short time-intervals and do so repeatedly without getting bored or consuming too much time.

THE GOOD: Ideal for portable gaming.

THE BAD: Multiplayer is so unoriginal it feels like a tacked-on afterthought.

THE UGLY: Control inadvertently intensifies the difficulty and does so frustratingly at times.

LENGTH: 5/5
STORY: 3/5
CONTROL: 3/5
GAMEPLAY: 5/5
REPLAY: 5/5
OVERALL: 4/5

SUMMARY
Mario rarely fails to please, and this is no exception.

Overall this is an excellent game, and I'm glad to see it get the long overdue revival it deserves. If you're one of the fortunate few that shelled out the cash for a Nintendo DS, this game is the obvious choice to buy with it. Super Mario 64 was an amazing Nintendo 64 game - which wowed audiences all around the world when it was launched with the Nintendo 64. Unfortunately for Nintendo, the 64-bit gaming system went under faster than any system they had ever released before, and many of the classics were forgotten. Until now. The Nintendo DS, Nintendo's new portable gaming system, is STRONGER than the 64-bit system, and that old favorite is getting new life here. Read on for my review of Super Mario 64 DS.

LIKES:
THIS IS MORE THAN THE ORIGINAL N64 GAME. I was hesitant to buy this because I already own the Nintendo 64 version. However, I bought it anyway, and I'm glad I did. There are all kinds of new areas, and you can play as more characters than you could in the original game. There are also new minigames and multiplayer modes.
THE GAME LOSES VIRTUALLY NOTHING IN THE TRANSLATION TO THE NINTENDO DS. I was afraid that this game would lose a lot when it was transferred to a portable system - I was stupid to have those fears. Pretty much everything from the original game and then some is here.
SEEMINGLY INFINITE LEVELS. The many levels were one of the things I loved about the original release of this game, and they're all back. There are many new additions to them, and many new levels altogether! This game is much more than the original was.
CONSIDERABLY LESS "GLITCHY" THAN THE N64 VERSION. The N64 version was Nintendo's first venture into full 3D gaming, and it was plagued with glitches. Not true here. The graphics here are a bit more simplistic and to the point, and I like it like that.

DISLIKES:
The Nintendo 64 had analog control - something the DS lacks unless you're willing to control Mario with the touch pad. Using all these buttons in their configurations will feel weird at first. For instance, you must hold down a button if you want to run.
Not that this is a bad thing, but still, if you already owned the game, you're going to be covering a lot of familiar territory.

Other Details of Interest
STORY
The story is actually much the same as in the original with Bowser stealing away Peach an Mario jumping into action to save her. Only this time Yoshi, Wario and Luigi accompany him on his quest. Yoshi is sleeping on top of the castle at the start of the game and must rescue the other characters who then become playable as you go. The game almost makes no real attempt to assimilate the other characters into the story, so you're sometimes wondering why the rest of the Mario crew are even around.

CONTROL
One of the biggest problems with Mario 64 was controlling Mario was oft made frustrating by his response to moving the joystick. Mario was very agile, but just didn't do exactly what you wanted him to do all the time. This control issue has made the transition to Mario 64 DS and is amplified by the fact that you're using a D-pad instead of a joystick. Sometimes when trying to press two directions at once to move diagonally, your character will just stop altogether. This leads to more than a few frustrating plummets to one's death.

A note first. I am a casual gamer. I have been gaming for about 14 years, but I never really gotten too hardcore. I enjoy titles that I can pick up, get comfortable with pretty quickly, and play. Now that we have that out of the way, on with my review.

Super Mario 64 DS is one of the best titles I have played in a number of years. I played a little of the original Super Mario 64 on the N64, but have found this version to improve upon an already excellent title. The controls are excellent, and there were only a few times that left me upset with how my character reacted to my input. The levels were varied and pretty. It is truly amazing that in ten years, Nintendo has developed a system that has the power of the N64 and fits in the palm of your hand.

The graphics are truly fantastic. Don't expect PS3 quality graphics, obviously, but the graphics are still improved over the N64 version. They are crisper and feel less like early 3D graphics. The colors also seem a little more vibrant.

The controls are easy, and Nintendo even gives you an option of three different control styles. I won't go into them here, but these different control schemes make it easy for anyone to pick up and play this title.

The most enjoyable aspect of the title was the inclusion of four playable characters. That's right, 4! You start out with Yoshi in the game, which is a definite break from the original title on the N64. You can unlock Mario, then Luigi, and finally Wario. The best part is that certain levels require you to use a certain character, and, trust me, this is easier than it sounds. The characters are nicely balanced, and you will probably pick a favorite fairly early on.

Finally, you have to collect 150 stars. However, you don't have to collect them all to "beat" the game. That is, to get to the final battle with Bowser, you don't need all of the stars. This gives the title quite a bit of replayability as you trying to get all the stars. I have spent probably over 30 hours so far, and I still don't have all the stars.

With a long amount of playtime, unique characters, gorgeous graphics, and easy controls, this title is definitely one of the best for the DS. Nintendo hit this one out of the park!

From 1987 to the end of the N64 in 2002, Nintendo was the #1 source for anything video game. When Nintendo launched the N64 in late 1996, the original version of Super Mario 64 launched with it. Enough about the past on to the re-release. Yes for those who havent figured it out this is a re-released game... but that doesnt mean pass by it because you still have your N64. Actually the original game had 120 power stars to collect, as does this game plus an additional 30 making a 150 total. remember when you finally got all the stars and got to go see yoshi on top of the castle and everyone and their mother looked all across the internet for codes to play as him or ride him? well now you can, and spit eggs!! you also get luigi and wario too, so a total of 4 playable characters with there own unique stages. now the power block has different capabilities, instead of mario getting all the goodies, they get split up. mario still has the wing cap, the, if not THE coolest cap in the game. its pretty obvious wario gets the metal cap, and luigi gets the invisibility cap. what does yoshi get?? why not find out for yourself!!

As you probably know, this game is more of a remake of the Super Mario game for the Nintendo 64. Well, it is pretty close to the Nintendo 64 version of it, but its now on a little portable system, which does make a difference.

First of all, you can use three modes, using the normal buttons, or using the touch screen, or the dual hand thing where all the configuration is changed and you use the touch screen. You'll have to try it to see what one is best for you. I prefer the last option, it seems to be the easiest to control.

You start off as Yoshi and you can get caps to change into either Mario, Luigi or Wario. Make your way through the castle going into the portal things on the walls into different zones and levels where you can have lots of fun and start to beat the game.

The rec room, in my opinion, is one of the best additions to the game that I have ever saw. First of all, its a very fun place. I like the Wanted game where you either have to look for Wario, Mario, or Luigi and there are a bunch of the other character around him. It's fun. There are some card games which can be played with Luigi. And the game that you play with mario is awesome too where you draw lines with your touch-screen stylus and you guide Mario to the star. Another fun one is the snowball one where you actually steer your snowball towards the end, avoiding the obstacles that come, with your touch screen and your stylus.

The multiplayer VS mode is also cool, but extremely repetetive. It's fun though, I like the slide one where you have to slide down the red slide thing, its cool.

Anyway, that was my review. hopefully you will enjoy this game!