Super Mario 64 DS
I finally wrote a new review! Since I have a DS now, I can finally start to review some DS games. This week’s review is the first DS game review and ironically, it’s of the game that launched with the system. That game is known to us mortals as Super Mario 64 DS. Now, when I first heard that Mario 64 would be ported to the DS, I didn’t really think much about it. “Spend more money for a port with updated graphics and four similar characters! Woopdedoo!” Plus I was deathly afraid of controlling a 3-D game with a control pad. Now that I’ve actually played it, I can say that everything I thought about it is true. HOWEVER! It actually seems like they tried a little on this one. More stars, mini-games that are actually fun, characters that play differently, much better graphics sans textures, and so on. It really is a great game to show off the power of a DS, and I think it accomplishes it quite well.
Name: Super Mario 64 DS
Game Ownership: No
Game Status: Beat last boss. Got 106 stars.
How it was Acquired: Borrowed from friend
Condition when Bought: N/A
Game Type: Adventure Platformer
Preliminary Comments:
Rant: OMGHIGHPOLYBOWSER!!!!1111
Fact: This was a launch title for the DS.
Rant: Is the peace sign with your fingers copyrighted by some guy in France or something? Why doesn’t Mario do it anymore!?
Rant: Remember at the end of the room of the first Bowser that painting that switched from Peach to Bowser when you got closer to it? The original picture looks better!
Graphics - 8.0
As we all remember, Super Mario 64 was Nintendo’s first foray into the pure 3-D realm. I understand that it was their first 3-D game, and that technology was limited so on, so forth. Even so, it still wasn’t really that great looking a game. However, this new DS port has done a lot to increase not only the overall polygon count, but also the presentation. First, let’s talk about the graphics themselves. Individual characters like Mario have been greatly improved as shown in this picture that I found in the magicbox forums:
As you can see, the new Mario model looks much more like he is supposed to. Course he still has a ball for a hand, but we can’t be too picky.
In addition, the enemies have been updated too. Goombas actually look more like goombas and have a lot more animation than ever before. However, the one that has probably benefited most from the graphical jump is Bowser. I’m sure that we all knew that the Bowser in SM64 looked like a polygontal mishmash. However, that has been greatly improved. If you can’t tell from the image at the top of the screen, here is a comparison:
^VERY BIG IMPROVEMENT.
As evident in the photographs, some textures for the scenery have taken a hit. Also, the graphics seem to be more pixelated. There’s this whole technical reason about DS not supporting texture filtering and TV blur effects and blah blah blah, but it’s not really that much of a big deal when you’re playing. A lot of the textures have been changed from the originals, and really it’s for the better since they help make the game feel more Marioish.
Something that I never liked about Super Mario 64 was that it never really had a Mario feel to it. It felt completely detached from past Mario games because it was devoid of Mario objects. There weren’t any mushrooms or flowers and all the enemies didn’t really look like Mario enemies. Not even the music was really the same. Don’t get me wrong, I like change every now and then, but SM64 was so completely detached from the games that came before it that it almost seemed unnecessary for it to be a Mario game. The only things in the game that were recognizable were Bowser, Peach, and all the enemies in the first level. However, Nintendo has added some new things to this port to give it more of a Mario feel. For example, some levels have a big mushroom hidden that allows you to grow huge and trample over enemies like in New Super Mario Bros. Also, instead of there being three different caps that give you powers, there is one super flower remeniscent of the old days that would give a super power depending on who touched it (more on that later). Also, the enemies have been updated to look more like Mario enemies. For instance, the weird red spiders in SM64 now look kinda like the spiders that float on the water in Super Mario Sunshine and those black orbs that shoot fire now look like the Fire Chomps from SMB3. Overall, even with worse textures and a pixelated look from upclose, the game is still able to change the graphics enough to make up for these shortcomings.
Sound - 8.0
The sound of the port was one of the most impressive things to me when I first played the game. After coming off bad sound transitions from other ports *coughMarioAdvance2cough*, I’m glad that the music quality was able to stay close to the original. Sound effects are pretty good too. There isn’t really much more to say since there wasn’t much new music added. If you want a more in-depth look at the sound, you can see the review for the original Super Mario 64.
Story - 4.0
Save Peach. Well, it’s not like I can really expect anything different. However, since you can play as four different characters, the opening sequence has changed a little. It turns our Mario, Luigi, and Wario were all invited for cake while Yoshi slept on the castle roof. Later, Yoshi SOMEHOW appears at the bottom of the castle and is awakened by the camera-toting Lakitu telling him that Mario, Luigi, and Wario haven’t come back in a while. When Yoshi travels inside the castle to see what’s wrong, he finds out that Bowser has trapped them all within paintings. From there unravels an adventure to save the others and then save Peach. The ending sequence has also changed a little bit in that everyone is there (obviously). I found the new ending to be kinda confusing, but I’ll let you decide for yourself.
Fun - 8.5
The original game is in my eyes the first good 3-D platformer. This new updated version makes it even better. Many new things have been added to the game as well as many old things being changed.
Perhaps the biggest new change is that now you get to play as four people: Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi. Each character has their own special abilities. For example, Mario is the only one who can wall jump while Wario has the most strength and can break super tough blocks that no one else can dent and Yoshi can eat enemies and turn them into eggs. In addition, all four characters each have a different ability due to the change in power-ups.* Mario is the only one that can get a feather and fly as well as the only one that can have the ability to turn into a large balloon a la Super Mario World. Wario can turn into metal and Luigi can become invisible like Mario could in the original SM64. Yoshi can shoot fireballs for a limited time. Certain characters are necessary at some points of the game to get certain stars or open new paths. To keep from having to switch from each character all the time, the character you are using can transform into one of the other characters by grabbing their hats that are somewhere on the landscape so that you can get the special stars. Having four characters brings a new twist to playing the old levels.
*In Super Mario 64, there were three power-ups: Vanish Cap, Wing Cap, and Metal Cap. In SM64DS, all of these caps have been replaced by a flower that gives a specific ability depending on who touches it. In some places a feather appears for Mario instead of a flower so he can use the Wing Cap and fly.
Some would argue that the game seems to be tipped more towards Luigi than anybody since he jumps the highest and has the ability to go far distances with his backflip. Of course, the character with the highest jump in a platformer would be the most useful. However, no one is forcing you to use him all the time. Just because one character can make the game easy doesn’t mean the game sucks. If you think Luigi makes it too easy, use Wario in that difficult level or one of the others. Now that’s a challenge!
Another large change is that there are now 150 stars instead of the original 120. One new star has been added to each level as well as a few smaller levels being added throughout the castle (and even within other levels!). In addition, some of the conditions to get the old stars were changed to comply with the three new characters and some were removed completely and replaced with other stars. New missions normally involve collecting five Silver Stars from around the course (similar to the red coins) or hitting a switch that makes a star appear somewhere else and getting the star before it disappears. The replacement of some original stars might sound upsetting to some people, but the stars that were replaced weren’t really that great in the first place. Is anyone gonna seriously miss “On the island in the sky” in Bomb-Omb Battlefield? Didn’t think so.
Another cool addition is the inclusion of many minigames that utilize the touch screen. First off, remember the original Mario 64 when you could stretch out that face of Mario and make it look silly and awesome? Yeah? It’s gone. Now now, don’t get so upset. They replaced it with something just as good. When you tap Mario (or sometimes Yoshi’s) face on the screen, the game draws out the face and allows you to manipulate it as you want. “Big deal! That’s not better than manipulating a 3-D object!” you may be thinking. However, there is also the option to be able to draw your own picture and manipulate it how you want! You can draw anything! Swear words, genitalia, an actual picture–these are all now in your reach! You may think it’s not that great at first, but I spent well over an hour drawing stuff ALONE. Maybe it’s cause I like to draw, but I think it’d be fun for anyone.
Second, there are a large amount of minigames that can be found during normal play by catching random bunnies that run around the castle. As stated, the minigames each use the touch screen and many are very addictive. It makes you wonder why there isn’t a Mario Party in the works for the DS yet. There is also a large variety in the mini-games. They involve things such as gambling, puzzle-solving, and others. Although it may take a long time to get all of the mini-games, you won’t be sorry after you’re done.
The last major change to the game is the addition of multiplayer. Unfortunately, since this was one of the DS’s launch titles, it can’t be played over WiFi, but it’s still good with 4 people in close perimeter. In multiplayer, stars randomly appear on a map and players race to see how many of the stars they can get in a certain amount of time. When attacked, stars can be dropped and picked up by the other characters. This multiplayer is pretty fun, but it looks pretty obvious that this was tacked on at the last minute. First off, there’s a little animation whenever you get a star. While you’re in the animation, you’re invincible, but when you go out of it, your immediately vulnerable to the opponent. This means the opponent just has to wait there for the animation to end, then hit you as soon as you get out of it since you don’t have enough time to escape. This makes playing multiplayer with two people almost pointless. Another problem is that you can’t customize the rules like setting how long it will be or how many stars will appear, which is pretty lame. The multiplayer could have been one of the best parts of Mario 64 DS, but I think that most people have forgotten about it due to it’s shortcomings.
Even with the lackluster multiplayer, the main game has enough good changes and additions to put a new spin on the old game and make it enjoyable again.
Difficulty - 6.5
The game has done some changes to some levels in order to make them easier. The most notable difference is probably the large platform that covers the bottom of Tick Tock Clock. Now the only way to die by falling is to fall down the middle, which has greatly slashed the difficulty of that level. Other than the addition of some extra platforms and the simplifying of one or two stars, the difficulty has remained mostly the same, which is all I could ask for.
A problem that inadvertently adds to the difficulty is getting used to the controls. Super Mario 64 was remarkable in that it demonstrated the absolute need for an analog stick in a 3-D environment as well as being very easy to control. In this game, you can either use the control pad or the touch screen to move around. Even though I know people that like using the stylus or thumbstrap and touch screen, I absolutely can’t stand it and really suck at it so I just use the control pad. Even though controlling in 3-D with a pad wasn’t the absolute nightmare that Playstation had me believing, it still isn’t as smooth as controlling with an analog stick. The thumb strap that comes with the DS might be more comfortable than the stylus and might be more accurate in representing an analog stick, but it’s still not perfect. Any way you choose to play, controls are gonna take some getting used to. This goes double for those of you with a DS Lite. Since the DS Lite’s control pad is smaller than the original DS, you’ll really have to find a way to run without suddenly stopping because you weren’t pushing that direction on the pad hard enough.
Replayable - 7.5
Super Mario 64 was always a fun game to play through from the start, and Super Mario 64 DS is just as good. It may even be more replayable due to the minigames that are included. Of course, that may not be as true now since many of those same minigames were put in other Mario games such as New Super Mario Bros. However, the main game itself still retains a lot of the old SM64 charm. It should be worth a few good playthroughs in your lifetime.
