Ultra's Reviews: Super Mario 64 DS (DS, WiiU)

Hello and Welcome Back, When the DS was around Release date in 2004 Nintendo needed to prove that the DS could Render 3D models and Maintain a smooth Frame rate, and Thus released Super Mario 64 DS, a Remake to the Classic N64 Original, A game that, some hardcore fans actually dont like because of the Controls or something else. but today I will answer the question, does this remake improve the original? or does it Ruin the Greatness of the classic?

Today we are looking at Super Mario 64 DS on the Nintendo DS and the WiiU Virtual Console, Released in 2004

(image from MobyGames)

Story

Mario 64 DS' Story is pretty much the same as the N64 Original, With Princess Peach Inviting Mario over to Simply have some Cake, However in this Version Luigi and Wario Crash the Party to have some Cake as well, The Camera goes over to Yoshi on top of the Castle, then the Screen goes black.

(image taken by me)

Later on, we see Yoshi....somehow got off the Castle while Asleep where Lakitu tells Yoshi that Mario and the Others have not come out of the castle in a while, then the Player is given control of Yoshi and the game begins.

(image from Mario wiki)

After a bit of investigating Yoshi finds that Bowser has Taken over the Castle, Kidnapped Peach, and Captured Mario and Co as prisoners. it is Up to Yoshi to Travel Across the Magic Paintings of the Castle, Rescue Mario and Co. and ofcourse, Defeat Bowser.

This story is a bit of a Spin off of the Classic story of Mario 64, its... well....Mario! you should know that story is not the strong point. but it works

Gameplay

Ok here is the Controversial Part, the Controls. IT. IS. NOT. AS. BAD. AS. PEOPLE. SAY. IT. IS.

There are actually Multiple Methods of Controlling the game, Standard, Touch, and Dual-hand

in Standard, You Move Forward by Pressing a direction on the D-Pad, B to Jump, A to attack, Y to Run, X and change Camera Distance, L to Center the Camera, R to Crouch, Pressing the Arrows on the Touch Screen will Move the Camera in the Direction the Arrow in pointing at.

In Touch Mode, the character is controlled by having the player move their thumb or the Stylus across the touch screen. By using the thumb or stylus, the character's speed and direction can be adjusted by the player in a manner similar to the Nintendo 64's Control Stick. A, B, L, and R do the same as in Standard, X and Y rotates the Camera, the Arrows on the touch screen is replace with a new icon that Changes Camera distance

In Dual-Hand Mode, the character is controlled with the stylus, and The characters Moves are done Via the Face buttons(for Left Handed) or the D-Pad(For Right Handed). X or Up on the D-Pad is Jump, A or Right on the D-Pad is Attack, Y or Left on D-Pad Centers Camera, and B and Down on the D-Pad Is Crouch, All other Camera controls is done on the touch screen, The movement radius is larger with this control option. While the Touch mode was Designed to play with your thumb, Dual-Hand was Designed for the Stylus,

In All control Styles there is a Map on the bottom screen, so getting lost is hardly an issue, while it can help, it also ruins some missions later, but i will get to that later.

For this Review I play with Standard Controls, and is Pretty much the controls I use.

It Should Be noted that in Standard, if you are Playing on a 3DS or WiiU the Circle pad and Control Stick Respectively Feels Very Similar to the N64 Control Stick(But you still have to hold down the Y button to run), Even without the Circle pad/Control Stick, the game still feels very natural with a D-pad, this is because the N64 Control Stick has 8 Prongs at the Edge of the Stick's Movement Range, and Mario 64 was Designed Around this.

Ya see? Because of that Mario 64 was Indirectly Designed for D-Pad. Differences is how Mario Moves, in the Original Mario had Full 360 Degree movement. and in the DS remake they Sorta Changed it a little bit to accommodate for the D-pad to where Mario sorta Veers(or Slow turn) in a Direction pressed on the D-pad if Mario is moving, the slower he is moving the faster he turns. Personally, after playing both the N64 Classic and the DS Remake, I prefer the New controls.

Ok now that we are done with controls Now onto the actual game.

Like Sunshine the Game is Mission Based. where when you go into a world you get to pick a mission to aim to complete in the stage. in 64 you are collecting stars instead of shine sprites. you can actually collect Stars you are not supposed to get at that point, this is because the stages in 64 Barely change...or dont change at all between missions....which makes them kicking you out of the stage every time you collect a star makes 0 sense. you would expect them to keep you in the stage since the levels barely change. but no they kick you out....probably to expand playtime. it makes sense in Sunshine and Galaxy because the levels change, at least enough to justify them kicking you out (like with sunshine), or it changes Dramatically(like in the Galaxy games). Mario Odyssey Got it Right!

In the Original there was 120 stars for you to collect, but in the remake there are 30 more adding up to 150. some old stars are even Redone, replaced, or removed entirely

in the DS remake you get a map on the bottom screen, this map shows where the star is for the current mission. however, this map kinda ruins the point of a Open world 3D mario. where you go out and explore to find the star on your own. plus there is a maze Part in the game where you get a map for the maze in the original that you have to remember, but in the DS remake you get that map at all times in that level.

As you may expect, in the DS remake there are 4 playable characters, Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi. You Start with Yoshi, but you will eventually find the other 3 characters and Rescue them. Each have their own Strengths and weaknesses. Like for example, Mario is the Best All-Around, Luigi is the best for platforming, but not great for combat, Wario is great for combat, but bad for platforming, and Yoshi is a more of a Technical character.

There are a ton of levels in the game, while im not going into ALL 15 of them. I will say Each one is actually really fun to run around in and mess around.

When Trying to 100% this game. Note that there is not much of a reward, in the original you got 100 lives and a better triple jump. while in the DS remake...you get a slot machine.....

Presentation

Ohh man, this game looks good for a 2004 handheld. I personally think this game looks better then the original, while the Remake does look more pixelated. it looks better then the Smeary and Polygonal Look of the original.

The music has no changes from this and the original, I will say that the music sounds better in the original due to sound compression, and the Voice clips of Each new playable character was brought over from sports titles, and Mario's voices are still the same. which just sounds lazy

The one part i will say is a huge improvement from the original is the 3D models, Oh man They look much nicer.

Final Level and Ending (you know the drill. if you dont want the ending spoiled for a 13 year old game then skip ahead)

After getting atleast 80 stars, Mario(and only Mario) can go to the top of the endless stairs to the final bowser level and fight Bowser for the final time. this fight is actually pretty tough on the D-Pad, and the only part of the controls I dont like, you have to Throw Bowser into a Spike bomb all around the Perimeter of the arena. you have to do this 3 times, Bowser can breath fire and Teleport to mess you up, he can even Break parts of the arena, after the second hit Bowser will cause the arena to break and forming it to the shape of a star. after the third hit you have defeated bowser, now just grab the grand star to see the ending.

(image taken from ingame)

The game ends with Mario Using the Power of the Stars to Free the Princess, Mario gets a kiss on the nose and goes off to finally bake that cake, the other characters will be there too if you have rescued them.

(image taken from ingame)

then the Credits roll.

Conclusion

This game is a much improvement over the original, With not only the things that made the original good. with good level design and Just being fun. However with the little 100% reward. and complaints about the controls. this Game gets a

8/10
Perfect game for those who can handle the controls

And that is Mario 64 DS. I Wish you all a great Day