Nintendo DS - Super Mario 64 DS

Format
Nintendo DS
Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
Nintendo
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
Platform

Super Mario 64 DS

By David Rasmussen
30th Dec 05

As 2005 ends, and 2006 rolls in I have finally expanded my reviewing horizons by adding a Nintendo DS to my reviewing schedule, and I love it… but before I get to the games I love I’m going to have to give you the games that I got to start with, their good and bad points and… well… you’ll see. That means two weeks of the dubious reviews before we get to the first gem, Animal Crossing : Wild World!
Starting off this week is the two games that came with the DS itself, mainly Super Mario 64 DS and the demo of Metroid Prime : Hunters. Next week? Football that isn’t Futbol, Madden NFL 2005.

This is Mario, the game featuring the Italian plumber with an aggressive infection of stereotypius. However does a character with such obvious defects as being a complete stereotype, and an annoying one at that, remains as one of the most beloved of the video game icons in the world remains to be seen.
The storymode game starts off with Mario arriving at Princess Peach’s castle (and hooray, you get to hear an actual actress voice Princess Peach) where the original game starts… then Wario and Luigi show up and the three disappear into the castle. That’s where the game stops being normal and starts being abnormal.
Apparently despite the fact that the game is called “Super Mario 64 DS” they might as well have called it “Super Yoshi 64 DS” because it seems the star of the game is NOT the Italian with the bad catch phrases, but the green dinosaur who (bleep)s eggs from his butt after eating enemies! But we might as well give the little green dinosaur a break since his future is only bleakness and despair after this with games like Yoshi : Topsy Turvy for the GBA, and Yoshi : Touch & Go for the DS to look forward to -- so he might as well enjoy this last bit of good gaming left to him before the coming of the (bleep).

The game is basically the same as the original after that, with the only difference being the “Swapping” feature. Along the way you’ll be able to transform into Mario, Luigi and Wario (Mario and his friends… hey, since when did Wario become Mario’s friend?) in order to complete some of the levels of the game, HOWEVER you do not actually become these people! Yoshi just changes into them, which is kind of odd hearing Yoshi’s funny noises comes out of the “heads” of Mario, Luigi and Wario… now this, by the way, is kind of an assumption since I have only played so much and, well, I haven’t reached a part yet where I had a chance to play as Luigi or Wario (only Mario)… but I’m guessing it’s possible since there’s abilities spoken of that only “mustached” heroes can do and abilities only a “red capped” (Mario) hero can do.
If I had to think about it I guess this swapping thing is nice, but I don’t remember them doing this in the original… but then again I didn’t play much of the original so what would I know of it!
Oh, you can control the game either with the controls or the stylus… I stuck with the controls since it was less fuss but there will be times I suppose that the stylus will work best… haven’t found a situation like that yet, but who knows…?

If you get sick of playing the main game (and you will) you do have an alternative, that alternative being a host of keenly crafted mini games that utilize the stylus to the best of it’s abilities. The games, sorted into four categories (listed by each of the four playable characters - Yoshi, Mario, Luigi and Wario) have their own quirks and and playability, just press the A button to get a brief description then jump right in.
Yoshi has games to test your eyesight and pointless games, Mario has stylus heavy action games, Luigi has memory games themed to a card game Casino style setting, while Wario has weird mini games (which hints at the fun to come with his Warioware games in the future)! These mini games will keep you from becoming bored of the game (if you’re tired of doing the storymode as… ugh… Yoshi), and will actually lure you back to the main storymode since you‘ll need to complete more and more of the game to unlock more and more of the mini games! And yes, unlike Mortal Kombat : Shaolin Monks they actually rewrote the story to reflect the fact that you’re playing as Yoshi (unlike MK : SM in which the story acted as if you were Liu Kang even if you were playing as one of the two hidden characters).

However if you had a choice you should probably buy the bundle pack with Mario Kart DS as the extra game instead of this game! Yes, it probably won’t have the amount of extras this bundle had (which had a game, a DEMO of Metroid Prime : Hunters, screen protectors and extra styluses) but you will have a game that X-Play rated as a 5 out of 5, and isn’t that more important? Anyway screen protectors are, what, $6? And extra styluses aren’t much either, though it does have Metroid Prime : Hunters so… ok, let’s break this down since this is short.

Super Mario 64 DS Breakdown
What’s Hot?
If you missed Super Mario 64 when the 64 first came out this is as good a time as any to jump in. Yes, Yoshi was NOT the star in the original but with the nice batch of mini games (unlockable as you play), not to mention the game itself which is not the worse Mario game I ever played (Mario Party Advance has the distinction of being the worse Mario game I ever played) you shouldn’t find too much fault with this game.

What’s Not?
Which is not to say that there isn’t fault with this game. Your character moves a tad sluggish at times, and these aren’t the most responsive controls I’ve used on a Mario game to date. You’ll get the job done but it’s not as fluidic as, say, probably the original N64 version which I felt (from what I played of it) moved more silky smooth than this version (but again from memory only that’s all I remember).
At least there’s the mini games to chase away any fatigue you might get playing this game, which is nice, and yes it might even compel you to play the actual game more to unlock new mini games.
Not to mention the fact that there is a better Mario choice for your first ownership of the DS, mainly Mario Kart DS (which features, for the first time on a Mario Kart game, online play via the DS Wi-Fi Connection).

Moments to Remember?
The unlockable mini games, your one motivation to play the game further (if only to unlock more and more mini games to test your stylus reflexes on).

What to Ignore?
I’d like to ignore the fact that I’m playing a game called Super Mario and the person in question seems to have been delegated to a secondary character role in his own game! What the heck! Why the heck is the so-called “Star” of the game reduced to nothing more than the occasional appearances here and there in the game! And since when did Wario become “friends” with Mario & his mostly ignored brother Luigi? And why the hell wasn’t Luigi made the star?!? Considering that even Yoshi gets more gametime as the hero than Luigi I don’t know why Yoshi was the “star” of this game! Talk about a bummer for Luigi!

Overall?
If you had a choice? Go with Mario Kart DS’ bundle pack. But if you still want this, and want the DEMO of Metroid Prime : Hunters, then maybe going with this won’t be so bad after all. The game isn’t so bad, and having a nice little batch of mini games to break up the tedium also helps this game along. It’s not the best, but it’s worth checking out if you find a DS bundle pack offering it (and Metroid Prime : Hunters).

-- David Rasmussen 30th Dec 05

Nintendo DS Super Mario 64 DS Images