Better than the original in almost every way.
Super Mario 64 DS
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Platformer
Platform: Nintendo DS
The most impressive thing to me about the realization and release of the Nintendo DS is the absurdly short amount of time between it's announcement and launch. The DS was announced in January of 2004, and was released 10 months later in November. That kind of development speed is unheard of, and it spelled disaster in the minds of many Nintendo fanatics.
Now that the handheld has been out for over a month, most fans have had a substantial amount of time with the device and have come to their own personal conclusions as to the strength of this new handheld. I personally think that it's a solid piece of hardware, and eagerly anticipate a widening of the software selection available on it. I'm not going to come out and say that it's the be-all end-all of handheld gaming devices. That's the job of PR agents and fanboys. I will say that I am very pleased with it, and that spending quality time with the system's best launch title has left me itching for more dual-screened action.
But this isn't about the hardware, now is it? This is supposed to be a friggin' game review. So, let's cut to the chase, shall we?
When the DS' launch lineup was announced, I readily admit I was not happy. Ridge Racer, Spiderman and Tiger Woods Golf did not get my blood boiling with anticipation. One game, however, immediately secured my decision to purchase a DS on launch day: Super Mario 64 DS, a dual-screened, handheld, enhanced port of the most dramatically influential 3D platformer ever made.
When Super Mario 64 was originally released, the world of 3D gaming hadn't really hit it's stride yet. People were still trying to wrap their minds around the idea of manipulating a character in a 3D field of movement, and most attempts at doing so only served to confuse the fanbase. Then Mario 64 hit, and brought with it the innovation of full 360 degree control, massive, sprawling worlds and exploration-based challenges that pitted you against dangerous pitfalls and massive bosses. It changed the face of 3D gaming completely, and every 3D game that has followed it has utilized the innovations built by that single game.
Eight years later, Nintendo decides to give this legendary title a proper re-working in a handheld medium. Better graphics, more characters, more star challenges, more minigames, more areas, more bosses, more everything. For the launch of their newest handheld, Nintendo pulled out all of the stops, and nearly everything about this enhanced port serves to trump the original in every possible way.
Story
Our adventure begins with a letter. Princess Peach has planned a picnic on her castle grounds, and has invited Mario, his brother Luigi and his rival Wario to the festivities. With promises of a delicious cake to be offered at this shindig, Mario and crew are powerless to refuse and arrive shortly after recieving the invite. While the three plumbers make their way up to the castle, Yoshi, napping on top of the castle roof, wakes momentarily and watches the three walk through the door before drifting back to sleep.
Some number of hours later, Yoshi awakens and is dismayed to find that the group is not currently in the process of their courtyard picnic, as was planned. Worried by their absence, the dinosaur enters the castle only to find that tragedy has struck during his sleep! Bowser, that monstrous jackass and perpetual nuisance, has sealed the Princess, Mario and his compatriots inside the very walls of the castle and has used the power of 150 Magical Stars to lock them there. It's now up to Yoshi to use the power of the Stars to free Mario and his friends and eventually conquer Bowser, ending his temporary reign of terror.
Gameplay
So, right there, you see a huge change between the functionality of the two games. Originally, it was only Mario who was invited to the party, and it was Mario that you started the adventure with. This time around,
Yoshi is the beginning character, although very quickly you will unlock Mario, followed by Luigi sometime later and Wario last.
Here's a quick rundown of the controls:
D-Pad/Touchscreen - Move
A Button - Attack
B Button - Jump
Y Button - Move camera left/Hold to run (dependant upon your chosen control type)
X Button - Move camera right/First person look (ditto)
L Trigger - Center camera
R Trigger - Crouch/Ground Pound
First I'm going to explain the whole "control type" thing. You see, you've got three different control options available to you at the start of the game. Standard, Touch Mode and Dual-Hand. Standard allows you to move with either the d-pad or the touchscreen. When using the d-pad you have to hold Y to run, otherwise Mario will just walk at a normal pace. The camera controls are mapped directly to the touchscreen in little boxes, so if you want to shift the camera right, you touch the box in the lower left-hand corner with the right-arrow in it. This mode is good to start off with, simply to get yourself used to the game, however, once you get used to the touchscreen controls, you'll never want to use the d-pad again. The d-pad just simply isn't responsive enough, and the camera-mapping and run-button make it more cumbersome than it should be.
Which brings us to the Touch Mode. In Touch Mode, you control Mario solely with the touchscreen. Because of this, there is no need for a run button, because the touchscreen
emulates the sensitivity of the N64 joystick, which the game was originally designed to be played with. Without the run button, the camera controls are mapped to the X and Y buttons, which is a lot less complicated than the touchscreen-buttons used in the Standard Mode. Finally, the Dual-Hand mode is just a flipped version of the Touch mode for left-handed players.
Now, if you've read other reviews or have visited any message boards pertaining to this game, the one constant complaint from a lot of people is in regards to the movement controls. The d-pad is absolutely no good for controlling Mario, and this sentiment is 100% accurate. It's slow, imprecise and awkward. However, the crowd seems to be pretty split in regards to the usage of the touchscreen. Some say that it's an abomination and that it does not make up for the lack of the joystick in any way. Some say that it's actually
more precise than the original joystick and that it's much easier to manipulate Mario with it. I fall into the second category.
To be totally honest, I hated the touchscreen at first. I agreed with those who complained about it and said that because of the lack of the spring-resistance that a joystick offers, it was clumsy and difficult to control Mario and get him to do what I wanted. After beating the game, I have actually come to the conclusion that that complaint isn't valid in the slightest. It's actually
far easier to move Mario around with the touchscreen, the screen is far more sensitive, and when using the stumb-strap that comes with the handheld, controlling the characters just feels as smooth and sleek as you could possibly imagine. The thing with the touchscreen is that it just takes some getting used to. You need to really become acclimated to using it in order to really appreciate it. And to be perfectly fair, using the joystick when Mario 64 was originally released was no cakewalk either. It took quite some time to become used to. When looking at the touchscreen in that light, it becomes a perfectly acceptable alternative to a traditional analog joystick.
Each of the characters handles a bit differently, with Yoshi handling fundamentally altered from his companions. With Yoshi, you have full 360 degree control, as per usual. Instead of a punch attack like the other three, when you push the A button, Yoshi will stick out his tongue. You can use this attack to swallow baddies and turn them into Yoshi eggs which can be hurled at other enemies as a ranged attack. In addition, Yoshi also brings his patented "Flutter Kick" with him that allows him to a get a lot of extra distance on jumps.
The three plumbers all handle very similarly with some minor differences in their abilities. Mario, for example, has the best traction of the four characters. His jump, speed and strength are all average, and he's the only character who can use the Wall Kick to leap upwards between walls. Luigi has slightly less solid traction than Mario and he's a tad slower, but his jump height is incredible and when he uses the backflip he will descend to the ground with his Helicopter Spin ability which slows his descent dramatically, allowing you to land in tricky areas much easier. Wario is the slowest of the bunch, and he handles like a friggin' tank. However, basically anything that he punches gets flattened, including black brick boxes, which none of the other characters can destroy.
In addition to these ingrained control differences, each of the four characters also has their own signature "Power Flower" abilities. In some situations, these abilities take the place of Mario's selection of hats from the original game, while some add a completely new ability to the adventure. Throughout each level, you will find red "!" boxes that contain a Power Flower. When a character touches the Power Flower, their special ability activates. If Mario touches a Power Flower, he suddenly inflates with air and floats through the air like a balloon. Yoshi gains the ability to breathe fire for a limited amount of time, Luigi becomes invisible and can walk through some walls and evade the attention of enemies, and Wario turns into Metal Wario, making him impervious to damage and allowing him to walk underwater. In addition to these Power Flowers, some "!" boxes contain Flight Feathers, which grant any of the plumbers the ability to fly for a limited time. Yoshi, sadly, cannot use the powers of flight like the other three can.
There are also a number of hidden extras that are sure to please any longstanding fan of the series. The most notable addition is the revival of the famous Super Mushrooms from the 2D games. In some levels, you can locate carefully hidden Super Mushrooms that, when touched, cause the character to increase in size
tenfold. The character temporarily becomes a massive, invincible hulk that stomps through the levels and obliterates anything in his way. The first time I found one, I literally squealed with joy. Kudos, Nintendo. Awesome call.
The levels themselves have undergone very few changes, however. There are
noticeable graphical alterations, but this is the gameplay section, so you'll have to wait on that one. In terms of
structure, the levels are basically identical to their original counterparts. Each level
does, however, feature one new Star challenge, raising the total number of challenges per level from seven to eight. Some of the original Star challenges have been changed or replaced entirely, and to be perfectly honest, the changes are usually for the better. Each level still features those godforsaken 100-coin challenges, though, so if you're really going for the full 150 Stars, you've got your work cut out for you. I managed to do it, but it's no easy task.
There is also a small selection of completely new areas to explore. Now, none of these levels are full-blown worlds, let's get that out in the open right now. The core worlds are still the original 15 from the N64 game. However, there are at least 6 or 7 brand new smaller, side-areas to be found and looted for Stars. In addition to these new areas, there are also a handful of brand new bosses to fight! These boss battles actually turned out to be some of my favorite moments in the game. The first new boss battle is a fight against the Goomboss, a renamed version of the Goomba King from Paper Mario. In each of these new boss battles, you'll be challenged repeatedly and forced to really use your wits in order to complete them. The last new boss challenge in particular is probably my favorite new addition to the entire game.
Speaking of new additions, fans of the original game might have noticed that I've been spouting off the phrase "150 Stars" here and there. You might be thinking to yourself, "wait...huh? There were only 120 Stars in the original." Well, no longer! Nintendo has stuck 30 new Star challenges into this game. Some are included in the new areas, some are the extra Stars added to the core levels and some are brand new Secret Stars to be found in the castle itself. So, right off the bat, there's a lot more game here than there was in the original.
Finally, the last major new addition to the gameplay is the selection of some 40 new touchscreen-based minigames. During the main adventure, each of the four characters will have to catch their own cadre of quick-witted rabbits that are running around the castle. Each of these rabbits, when caught, yields a golden key which unlocks a new minigame to be played in the title's "Rec Room" option. These games are all based upon using the touchscreen and can range from traditional card games like Poker and Blackjack to tests of reflex where you draw trampolines underneath a series of falling Marios. Each character has about 9 minigames to be unlocked, and each character's minigames follow a certain theme. Yoshi's minigames are mostly memory and puzzle-based, Mario's are reflex and speed based (like the trampoline game I mentioned above), Luigi's are all casino-type games that rely on luck and strategy, and Wario's sort of fall into the "other" category. All of Wario's games are pretty varied and weird, and serve to be some of the most entertaining of the bunch.
These mingames are actually a great addition to the overall package, and can serve to extend your time with the game substantially. Luigi's Poker game and Mario's shell game have kept me entertained for a groutesque amount of time while at work.
All in all, the gameplay is pretty solid. My only major complaint with the gameplay is the same complaint I had with the original game. However, to be fair, I must list it here as well.
My biggest complaint with Mario 64 was always that the various worlds in the game (though huge and full of neat stuff) felt like little more than levels from a videogame to me. There was no reasonable explanation for why there was a series of floating platforms located in the air around Wet/Dry World, or why there were weird diamond-shaped things that you could use to raise and lower the water level. You just accepted it and played the game. However, after seeing so many new platformers (including the sequel to Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine) actually structure the levels as though they were real,
functioning locations, it's hard to go back to Mario 64 and still find the same amount of charm in the level designs. The levels from Mario Sunshine felt like real places with real purposes, while the levels in Mario 64 feel like nothing more than videogame levels. Granted, that's a flaw inherent in the fact that it was the first of it's kind, but when revisiting a game, you can't just ignore a flaw based on that.
Graphics
Upon porting Mario 64 to the DS, Nintendo realized a number of important things. One, that the game was no longer limited by the storage capacities of dated N64 cartridges. A single DS card, which is about 1/50th the size of an N64 cart, is capable of holding several times the amount of data that even the
biggest of N64 carts was capable of holding. A single DS card can hold something like 20 copies of the original Mario 64 on it and still have room for some extra stuff. So, with that in mind, they took advantage of the new storage freedom and
severely amped up the graphics.
Every single character, creature and object in the game features a brand new model. The character models have
exponentially higher polygon counts than the originals, the animations are
far more varied and detailed, the textures are a lot clearer and more intricate, the draw distance is far better, the framerate is rock-solid, and the effects are much more immersive as well. The absolute most staggering graphical difference between the two versions is in the villain, Bowser. I'm going to present you with a comparison shot of the original Mario 64 Bowser and the new DS Bowser.
Bowser from Mario 64
Bowser from Mario 64 DS
I can't find a better DS screenshot than that, but if I find one, I'll update the review.
However, the difference is pretty clearly evident.
Far more polygons, better textures and the difference in animation quality will floor you. In the original, Bowser clumped along like a chunky automaton. Barely animated enough to convey any sort of life or vitality. The newly realized DS Bowser is massive, terrifying and stomps across the battlefield like an enraged T-Rex, tail swinging from side to side, a fiendish grin spread across his face. That kind of difference in the character models and animation quality pervades
all graphical aspects of the game. In short, Mario 64 DS looks worlds better than the original.
Sound
And here is where the original still trumps the remake. Now, the DS
does have stereo sound, and very good stereo at that. It has two powerful, crisp speakers that complete their job
very well. However, no matter how good the speakers are, they cannot compete with home audio. The DS' stereo speakers simply cannot display the clarity or range of a home theatre system, and to say otherwise is asinine. Considering that the music and sound effects are largely unchanged from the original version, it's safe to say the N64 game is the better of the two in terms of sound.
However, standing solely on it's own merits, the game sounds great. All of the playable characters feature their own set of voice samples that are used frequently whenever a character jumps, punches, takes damage, falls from a great height or any number of other circumstantial situations. Even eight years later, hearing Mario howl in terror as he falls from the top of Tall Tall Mountain and then grunts in agony as he slams into the ground below makes me laugh. The other three characters all have their own distinct voices and individual vocal exclamations.
My only real complaint with the voices is that Nintendo, for some reason, chose to use Leslie Swan (the woman who originally played Peach in Mario 64) as the voice of Peach instead of Jen Taylor, who played the Princess in Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Paper Mario 2 and
every other Mario game starring peach since Mario Sunshine. The thing is, there are some noticeable differences in the actual dialogue during her speaking segment, so they
must have brought her back into the studio in order to redo the Princess' voice. WHY? Jen Taylor has set the new precedent for how Peach is supposed to sound these days. She's the voice that I, along with every other Nintendo fan, am used to by this point. Leslie Swan played Peach in
one game! Why not just have Taylor completely re-do Peach's lines instead of retreading the vocality of the original game?
Flaws
1) The touchscreen is seen by some as a flaw. I think it's actually
better than the original joystick sometimes, and the rest of the time I think it's pretty much equal. Some people are apparently turned off by it, I was not one of them.
2) My complaints with the level designs are the same as they were eight years ago. The levels don't feel like real, functioning places. They feel like videogame levels, nothing more. After seeing Super Mario Sunshine, Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day feature level designs that feel like real, living, functional locales, it's really a sign of Mario 64's age that the worlds don't stand up as well eight years later.
3) The sound simply cannot compare to the possibilities of home audio. The speakers are good, but limited, whereas the original's sound capabilities were only limited by how nice your stereo was.
4) I cannot for the life of me understand why Nintendo brought Leslie Swan back in to do Peach's voice. Mario 64 was the
only game she ever played Peach in, and Jen Taylor has portrayed the Princess in nearly ten games over the last few years. Jen Taylor is the recognized voice of the Princess, and they should have had her re-do Swan's lines.
Overall
If you never played the original Mario 64, I have to wonder for the stability of your videogaming development in general. The game revolutionized 3D gaming as we know it, and in spite of my criticisms about the game's level design, it's still a challenging, entertaining and
huge platforming masterpiece even today. If you never played the original game, now would be the best time for you to rectify this error in your judgment and grab Mario 64 DS. You're getting about 40% more game, better graphics, more characters, more abilities, a slew of addictive minigames and the best part is, it's all portable. Honestly, there's little else you could possibly ask for!
Well, that concludes this article. To paraphrase Mario himself:
"Thank you for-to reading-a my review!"
Score: 9.4
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