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Super Mario 64 DS Review
Written by Modojo Staff on Sunday, January 30, 2005
User Score
Extra levels of the greatest game ever? Manna from heaven.
The control easily trips what could have been a world class title.
Mario goes with Nintendo like peanut butter and jelly, yin and yang, and rice and beans, so it goes without saying that everyone's favorite plumber would make an appearance on the Nintendo DS, and make an appearance he did! Super Mario 64 DS is much more than a port of the N64 classic. This version has been tweaked for the new hardware, but touch screen controls is only one facet to its charm. But is this Mario 64 just as good or (choke!) better than the original? Unfortunately, yes and no.
Mario 64 DS is fabulous because it's jam packed with all sorts of goodies. You can naturally play the famous single player game, except this time you begin it as Yoshi, who's searching for Mario and friends after they've disappeared while at a party, so in a sense what's old is new again because you'll be able to use Yoshi's abilities (like eating enemies), but what's also cool is the ability to play as the other characters as well. Ever wanted to see what it'd be like to play as Luigi or Wario? Mario 64 DS makes this possible.
Another neat feature to the game is the Rec Room, a section that contains 20 plus mini games that are played using the DS's touch screen and stylus. These range from rolling a snow ball to the finish line to matching picture cards in a casino. My favorite is definitely the sling shot mini game where you can pull back and let loose on a bunch of parachuting enemies. Whatever you choose, each game will keep you busy for quite some time. In fact, it's very easy to just completely lose yourself in the Rec Room. There were times where I completely forgot about the main game!
Way back in the mid nineties, Mario 64's graphics were considered to be cutting edge for a game console, and today they're equally as impressive on the Nintendo DS. The game runs in a much higher resolution so all of the fuzzies from the original have been washed away. It also runs wonderfully without a hint of slowdown, and the music and character sounds shine on the system's tiny speakers.
