nintendo salvaging the american gaming market with the release of the NES was the modern inflection point for our industry, in some ways that are less obvious than others. the console enshrined gaming as a medium with legitimacy beyond the original fad-like relevance of the atari VCS, but the centralization of this success around nintendo gave the company an uncomfortable amount of leverage. this immediately portended poorly with the simultaneous release of the console's killer app: super mario bros., which gestured to a sinister rejection of the console's original intent. look to the japanese launch line-up and you'll see arcade staples such as donkey kong and popeye; games that lauded precise, restricted play with definitive rules and short runtimes. super mario bros. was a refutation of this design philosophy in favor of the loosey-goosey variable jump heights, frequent health restoration items, and long hallways of copy-paste content replacing the tightly paced experiences that defined the era before. the NES still featured arguably the greatest console expressions of the rigorous arcade action experiences that defined the '80s - castlevania, ninja gaiden, and the early mega mans all come to mind - but the seeds super mario bros. planted would presage a shift into more and more experiences that coddled the player rather than testing their fortitude. in some ways, super mario bros. lit the match that would leave our gaming landscape in the smoldering ruins of the AAA design philosophy.
the '90s only deepened nintendo's exploration of trends that would further attempt to curb the arcade philosophy, which still floated on thanks to the valiant efforts of their competitors at sega, capcom, konami, and others. super mario world kicked off nintendo's 16-bit era with an explicitly non-linear world map that favored the illusion of charting unknown lands over the concrete reality of learning play fundamentals, and its pseudo-sequel yoshi's island would further de-emphasize actual platforming chops by giving the player a generous hover and grading them on their ability to pixel hunt for collectables rather than play well, but the most stunning example of nintendo's decadence in this era is undoubtedly donkey kong '94. the original donkey kong had four levels tightly wound around a fixed jump arc and limited ability for mario to deal with obstacles; its ostensible "remake" shat all over its legacy by infusing mario's toolkit with such ridiculous pablum such as exaggerated flip jumps, handstands, and other such acrobatics. by this point nintendo was engaging in blatant historical revisionism, turning this cornerstone of the genre into a bug-eyed circus romp, stuffed with dozens of new puzzle-centric levels that completely jettisoned any semblance of toolkit-oriented level design from the original game. and yet, this was the final fissure before the dam fully burst in 1996.
with the release of the nintendo 64 came the death knell of the industry: the analog stick. nintendo's most cunning engineers and depraved designers had cooked up a new way to hand unprecedented control to the player and tear down all obstacles standing in the way of the paternalistic head-pat of a "job well done" that came with finishing a game. with it also came this demonic interloper's physical vessel, super mario 64; the refined, sneering coalescence of all of nintendo's design tendencies up to this point. see here a game with enormous, previously unfathomable player expression, with virtually every objective solvable in myriad different ways to accommodate those who refuse to engage with the essential challenges the game offers. too lazy to even attempt some challenges at all? feel free to skip over a third of the game's "star" objectives on your way to the final boss; you can almost see the designers snickering as they copy-pasted objectives left and right, knowing that the majority of their player base would never even catch them in the act due to their zombie-like waddle to the atrociously easy finish line. even as arcade games stood proud at the apex of the early 3D era, super mario 64 pulled the ground out underneath them, leaving millions of gamers flocking to similar experiences bereft of the true game design fundamentals that had existed since the origination of the medium.
this context is long but hopefully sobering to you, the reader, likely a gamer so inoculated by the drip-feed of modern AAA slop that you likely have regarded super mario 64 as a milestone in 3D design up to now. yet, it also serves as a stark contrast to super mario 64 ds, a revelation and admission of guilt by nintendo a decade after their donkey kong remake plunged modern platformers into oblivion.
the d-pad alone is cool water against the brow of one in the throes of a desert of permissive design techniques. tightening up the input space from the shallow dazzle of an analog surface to the limitations of eight directions instantly reframes the way one looks at the open environments of the original super mario 64. sure, there's a touch screen option, but the awkward translation of a stick to the literal flat surface of the screen seems to be intentionally hobbled in order to encourage use of the d-pad. while moving in a straight line may still be simple, any sort of other action now begets a pause for reflection over the exact way one should proceed. is the sharp 45 or 90 degree turn to one side "good enough", or will I need to make a camera adjustment in-place? for this bridge, what combination of angles should I concoct in order to work through this section? the removal of analog control also forces the addition of an extra button to differentiate between running and walking, slapping the player on the wrist if they try to gently segue between the two states as in the original. the precision rewards those who aim to learn their way around the rapid shifts in speed while punishing those who hope they can squeak by with the same sloppy handling that the original game allowed.
on its own this change is crucial, but it still doesn't cure the ills of the original's permissive objective structure. however, the remake wisely adds a new character selection system that subtly injects routing fundamentals into the game's core. for starters: each of the characters has a separate moveset, and while some characters such as yoshi and luigi regrettably have the floaty hover and scuttle that I disdained in yoshi's island, it's at least balanced here by removing other key aspects of their kit such as wall jumps and punches. the addition of wario gives the game a proper "hard mode," with wario's lumbering speed and poor jump characteristics putting much-needed limiters on the game's handling. for objectives that now explicitly require wario to complete, the game is effectively barring you from abusing the superior movement of the original game by forcing you into a much more limited toolkit with rigid d-pad controls, the kind of limitations this game absolutely needed in order to shine.
that last point about objectives that specifically require a given character is key: the remake segments its objectives based on which characters are viable to use to complete them. however, while in some cases the game may telegraph which specific characters are required for a particular task, in many cases the "correct" solution is actually to bounce between the characters in real time. this is done by strategically placing hats for each of the characters throughout the map - some attached to enemies and some free-floating - which allow the player to switch on the fly. this adds new detours to the otherwise simple objectives that vastly increases their complexity: which toolkit is best suited for which part of each mission? how should my route be planned around the level to accommodate hats I need to pick up? will I be able to defeat an enemy that's guarding the hat if I had to? this decision-making fleshes out what was previously a mindless experience.
there's one additional element to this system that truly elevates it to something resembling the arcade experiences of yore. while you can enter a level as any character, entering as yoshi allows you to preemptively don the cap of any other character as you spawn in, preventing the player from having to back-track to switch characters. on the surface this seems like another ill-advised QoL feature, but some subtle features reveal something more fascinating. yoshi has no cap associated with him, so to play as him, one must enter the level with him. however, you often need to switch to another character in the middle of a level. how do you switch back? by taking damage. to solve the ridiculously overstuffed eight piece health bar of the original, this remake transforms it into a resource you expend in order to undergo transformation. sure, one could theoretically collect coins in order to replenish this resource, but this adds a new layer onto the routing that simply didn't exist in the original game, where there were so many ways to circumvent obstacles with the permissive controls that getting hit in the first place was often harder than completing the objective. by reframing the way that the player looks at their heath gauge, the game is calling to mind classic beat 'em ups, where the health gauge often doubled as a resource to expend for powerful AoE supers.
the game still suffers from much of the rotten design at the core of its forebear; these above changes are phenomenal additions, but they're grafted onto a framework that's crumbling as you delve into it. regardless, the effort is admirable. for a brief moment, nintendo offered an apology to all of those hurt by their curbstomping of the design philosophies that springboarded them into juggernaut status in the first place, and they revitalized classic design perspectives for many millions more who first entered the world of gaming after it had already been tainted by nintendo's misdeeds. the galaxy duology, released a few years after this game, attempted to rework the series from the ground up with a new appreciation for arcade design by limiting the bloated toolkit of previous games and linearizing levels, but the damage had already been done. the modern switch era has magnified nintendo's worst tendencies, putting proper execution and mechanical comprehension to the wayside as they accelerate the disturbing "the player is always right" principles that have infested their games since that original super mario bros. by looking at super mario 64 ds in this context, we at least get a glimpse of what a better world could have looked like had nintendo listened to their elders all along.
the '90s only deepened nintendo's exploration of trends that would further attempt to curb the arcade philosophy, which still floated on thanks to the valiant efforts of their competitors at sega, capcom, konami, and others. super mario world kicked off nintendo's 16-bit era with an explicitly non-linear world map that favored the illusion of charting unknown lands over the concrete reality of learning play fundamentals, and its pseudo-sequel yoshi's island would further de-emphasize actual platforming chops by giving the player a generous hover and grading them on their ability to pixel hunt for collectables rather than play well, but the most stunning example of nintendo's decadence in this era is undoubtedly donkey kong '94. the original donkey kong had four levels tightly wound around a fixed jump arc and limited ability for mario to deal with obstacles; its ostensible "remake" shat all over its legacy by infusing mario's toolkit with such ridiculous pablum such as exaggerated flip jumps, handstands, and other such acrobatics. by this point nintendo was engaging in blatant historical revisionism, turning this cornerstone of the genre into a bug-eyed circus romp, stuffed with dozens of new puzzle-centric levels that completely jettisoned any semblance of toolkit-oriented level design from the original game. and yet, this was the final fissure before the dam fully burst in 1996.
with the release of the nintendo 64 came the death knell of the industry: the analog stick. nintendo's most cunning engineers and depraved designers had cooked up a new way to hand unprecedented control to the player and tear down all obstacles standing in the way of the paternalistic head-pat of a "job well done" that came with finishing a game. with it also came this demonic interloper's physical vessel, super mario 64; the refined, sneering coalescence of all of nintendo's design tendencies up to this point. see here a game with enormous, previously unfathomable player expression, with virtually every objective solvable in myriad different ways to accommodate those who refuse to engage with the essential challenges the game offers. too lazy to even attempt some challenges at all? feel free to skip over a third of the game's "star" objectives on your way to the final boss; you can almost see the designers snickering as they copy-pasted objectives left and right, knowing that the majority of their player base would never even catch them in the act due to their zombie-like waddle to the atrociously easy finish line. even as arcade games stood proud at the apex of the early 3D era, super mario 64 pulled the ground out underneath them, leaving millions of gamers flocking to similar experiences bereft of the true game design fundamentals that had existed since the origination of the medium.
this context is long but hopefully sobering to you, the reader, likely a gamer so inoculated by the drip-feed of modern AAA slop that you likely have regarded super mario 64 as a milestone in 3D design up to now. yet, it also serves as a stark contrast to super mario 64 ds, a revelation and admission of guilt by nintendo a decade after their donkey kong remake plunged modern platformers into oblivion.
the d-pad alone is cool water against the brow of one in the throes of a desert of permissive design techniques. tightening up the input space from the shallow dazzle of an analog surface to the limitations of eight directions instantly reframes the way one looks at the open environments of the original super mario 64. sure, there's a touch screen option, but the awkward translation of a stick to the literal flat surface of the screen seems to be intentionally hobbled in order to encourage use of the d-pad. while moving in a straight line may still be simple, any sort of other action now begets a pause for reflection over the exact way one should proceed. is the sharp 45 or 90 degree turn to one side "good enough", or will I need to make a camera adjustment in-place? for this bridge, what combination of angles should I concoct in order to work through this section? the removal of analog control also forces the addition of an extra button to differentiate between running and walking, slapping the player on the wrist if they try to gently segue between the two states as in the original. the precision rewards those who aim to learn their way around the rapid shifts in speed while punishing those who hope they can squeak by with the same sloppy handling that the original game allowed.
on its own this change is crucial, but it still doesn't cure the ills of the original's permissive objective structure. however, the remake wisely adds a new character selection system that subtly injects routing fundamentals into the game's core. for starters: each of the characters has a separate moveset, and while some characters such as yoshi and luigi regrettably have the floaty hover and scuttle that I disdained in yoshi's island, it's at least balanced here by removing other key aspects of their kit such as wall jumps and punches. the addition of wario gives the game a proper "hard mode," with wario's lumbering speed and poor jump characteristics putting much-needed limiters on the game's handling. for objectives that now explicitly require wario to complete, the game is effectively barring you from abusing the superior movement of the original game by forcing you into a much more limited toolkit with rigid d-pad controls, the kind of limitations this game absolutely needed in order to shine.
that last point about objectives that specifically require a given character is key: the remake segments its objectives based on which characters are viable to use to complete them. however, while in some cases the game may telegraph which specific characters are required for a particular task, in many cases the "correct" solution is actually to bounce between the characters in real time. this is done by strategically placing hats for each of the characters throughout the map - some attached to enemies and some free-floating - which allow the player to switch on the fly. this adds new detours to the otherwise simple objectives that vastly increases their complexity: which toolkit is best suited for which part of each mission? how should my route be planned around the level to accommodate hats I need to pick up? will I be able to defeat an enemy that's guarding the hat if I had to? this decision-making fleshes out what was previously a mindless experience.
there's one additional element to this system that truly elevates it to something resembling the arcade experiences of yore. while you can enter a level as any character, entering as yoshi allows you to preemptively don the cap of any other character as you spawn in, preventing the player from having to back-track to switch characters. on the surface this seems like another ill-advised QoL feature, but some subtle features reveal something more fascinating. yoshi has no cap associated with him, so to play as him, one must enter the level with him. however, you often need to switch to another character in the middle of a level. how do you switch back? by taking damage. to solve the ridiculously overstuffed eight piece health bar of the original, this remake transforms it into a resource you expend in order to undergo transformation. sure, one could theoretically collect coins in order to replenish this resource, but this adds a new layer onto the routing that simply didn't exist in the original game, where there were so many ways to circumvent obstacles with the permissive controls that getting hit in the first place was often harder than completing the objective. by reframing the way that the player looks at their heath gauge, the game is calling to mind classic beat 'em ups, where the health gauge often doubled as a resource to expend for powerful AoE supers.
the game still suffers from much of the rotten design at the core of its forebear; these above changes are phenomenal additions, but they're grafted onto a framework that's crumbling as you delve into it. regardless, the effort is admirable. for a brief moment, nintendo offered an apology to all of those hurt by their curbstomping of the design philosophies that springboarded them into juggernaut status in the first place, and they revitalized classic design perspectives for many millions more who first entered the world of gaming after it had already been tainted by nintendo's misdeeds. the galaxy duology, released a few years after this game, attempted to rework the series from the ground up with a new appreciation for arcade design by limiting the bloated toolkit of previous games and linearizing levels, but the damage had already been done. the modern switch era has magnified nintendo's worst tendencies, putting proper execution and mechanical comprehension to the wayside as they accelerate the disturbing "the player is always right" principles that have infested their games since that original super mario bros. by looking at super mario 64 ds in this context, we at least get a glimpse of what a better world could have looked like had nintendo listened to their elders all along.
I got about 55 stars and decided I got my fill. I've beaten the N64 version and I may come back to this and finish it sometime but for now I wanna focus on other games.
Anyways, dare I say, better than the original? I mean, obviously we have a ton of extra content here, so that's a plus. But the controls honestly aren't THAT big of a downgrade if you're playing with some sort of analog stick or the circle pad on the 3DS. It's not 1-to-1, moving around is still designed around the d-pad, but it's not bad! I also grew up with this version so there's heavy bias, but overall I love this version of the game.
Anyways, dare I say, better than the original? I mean, obviously we have a ton of extra content here, so that's a plus. But the controls honestly aren't THAT big of a downgrade if you're playing with some sort of analog stick or the circle pad on the 3DS. It's not 1-to-1, moving around is still designed around the d-pad, but it's not bad! I also grew up with this version so there's heavy bias, but overall I love this version of the game.
My preferred version of Mario 64. The new content isn't amazing or anything (except the peak fiction that is Luigi's casino) but it helps add to the existing Mario 64 package very nicely. The biggest controversy surrounding this game are the controls but they aren't bad and you can get used to them. Though spinning bowser around with the d-pad feels terrible and some stages like Rainbow Ride and Tiny Huge Island are a bit annoying without an analog stick, but for 80% of the game it controls well. I guess my main complaint with 64 DS is that it doesn't really fix a lot of issues that the original game had. It doesn't exist to be the definitive Mario 64 experience because it's different in so many ways that it doesn't invalidate playing the original. it's still a very cool version of the game despite of that
I am a 64DS defender. Additional stars, characters, and areas are all cool, and I am able to enjoy them because I spent years since childhood knowing the ins and outs of how to best approach things in this game with the controls provided.
I played the game with the toxinput analog control mod for the game, and while it definitely feels like a handicap has been lifted from the 64DS's controls, problems still persist: Long Jumps, Triple Jumps, Dives, Somersaults, and Backflips feel stiff and no longer carry that swaying free-form momentum the original had. It doesn't feel satisfying to play whether its with the analog mod or dpad controls the game shipped with.
As for the game itself I genuinely can't agree on it being better than the original. The new content it adds/modifies is cool but some of the content comes at the cost of ruining the nice flow & pacing the original had when designed for one character. I wish the new playable characters were supplementary instead of being forced into certain missions that were changed. Yeah, the cap system exists, but it just adds a layer of busywork & backtracking that messes with the pace of the game. You can't fully complete certain levels anymore because "oh look you need Wario to punch a black brick in Shifting Sand Land" or "You need Luigi to Vanish Cap to do the Mr. I mission"
These things probably won't matter to people that grew up on 64DS but as someone that played the OG and a bit of this one growing up, I always just preferred the original with it's satisfying feel and progression.
This is my second time beating 64DS since 2020 and I think I hate it more than I did 3 years ago. As a game on it's own, it's a fine time, but as a remake of SM64? I personally don't see how its better than it.
As for the game itself I genuinely can't agree on it being better than the original. The new content it adds/modifies is cool but some of the content comes at the cost of ruining the nice flow & pacing the original had when designed for one character. I wish the new playable characters were supplementary instead of being forced into certain missions that were changed. Yeah, the cap system exists, but it just adds a layer of busywork & backtracking that messes with the pace of the game. You can't fully complete certain levels anymore because "oh look you need Wario to punch a black brick in Shifting Sand Land" or "You need Luigi to Vanish Cap to do the Mr. I mission"
These things probably won't matter to people that grew up on 64DS but as someone that played the OG and a bit of this one growing up, I always just preferred the original with it's satisfying feel and progression.
This is my second time beating 64DS since 2020 and I think I hate it more than I did 3 years ago. As a game on it's own, it's a fine time, but as a remake of SM64? I personally don't see how its better than it.
I find it strange how easily dismissed this version of the game is due to the controls. It's true, it's not the same to use the d-pad instead of an analogue stick but after adjusting for a few minutes, maybe a couple of stages, I was playing this game all well and good.
They improved the camera controls, graphics are way more lively with better textures and updated character designs, the extra levels are nice (except for Mario's unlock stage) and switching characters is actually far from annoying thanks to being able to pick up their caps and transform into them, usually near where you need them.
I just had a lot of fun playing this version for the first time even while being very nostalgic for the original. The mix of nostalgia and also surprise at whatever was new makes my brain happy, and even though they could be more distinct, playing as different characters still helps make this game even more lively.
Just as much as this was a technical showcase of the N64, it proves to be a technical showcase of the DS as well. The textures and models are heavily improved, with levels even being given some more detail while at it. I honestly always hated the look of filtered N64 games, even when I was playing them constantly, and luckily this version of the game gives me something my eyes like a lot more despite being on a smaller screen.
I think this is definitely better than the original game and I wish it got a new release, with analogue controls, so more people could come around to it. Sadly, just as with the original I find that the best stages happen early on in the game, with the later ones even often being annoying to play that I just want to tap out. By the time I get to the stages near the infinite staircase I just get tired of going through them, so I'm happy just getting enough stars to beat Bowser and leaving the game there. If it wasn't for this issue mostly being unaddressed I'd rate this even higher.
They improved the camera controls, graphics are way more lively with better textures and updated character designs, the extra levels are nice (except for Mario's unlock stage) and switching characters is actually far from annoying thanks to being able to pick up their caps and transform into them, usually near where you need them.
I just had a lot of fun playing this version for the first time even while being very nostalgic for the original. The mix of nostalgia and also surprise at whatever was new makes my brain happy, and even though they could be more distinct, playing as different characters still helps make this game even more lively.
Just as much as this was a technical showcase of the N64, it proves to be a technical showcase of the DS as well. The textures and models are heavily improved, with levels even being given some more detail while at it. I honestly always hated the look of filtered N64 games, even when I was playing them constantly, and luckily this version of the game gives me something my eyes like a lot more despite being on a smaller screen.
I think this is definitely better than the original game and I wish it got a new release, with analogue controls, so more people could come around to it. Sadly, just as with the original I find that the best stages happen early on in the game, with the later ones even often being annoying to play that I just want to tap out. By the time I get to the stages near the infinite staircase I just get tired of going through them, so I'm happy just getting enough stars to beat Bowser and leaving the game there. If it wasn't for this issue mostly being unaddressed I'd rate this even higher.
Let's set the record straight. This is better than the OG.
Vamo lá...
Portar um jogo de peso na história da Nintendo e da indústria em um geral para um console portátil da época, é uma boa ideia?
Não vou dizer sobre o conteúdo original, apenas sobre as mudanças, e as mais notáveis são os gráficos e o conteúdo novo.
Graficamente, esse jogo deixa o original obsoleto, o jogo original tem o charme da época mas inegavelmente envelheceu mal, ja aqui, os modelos são lindos, os visuais das fases, as texturas, os novos tons de cores deixando o jogo bem mais lindo(tirando Bob omb Battlefield, eu não gosto muito do novo visual), se você usar uma boa configuração no emulador, esse jogo realmente se torna extremamente belo para sua época(não sei como ele é na resolução de um DS original e eu ainda não tenho um 3DS para saber como ele ficaria em uma telinha).
Agora sobre conteúdos novos, temos mais fases, mais estrelas, mais personagens e bosses, que por sinal, as fases são visualmente muito bonitas, os personagens são interessantes assim como as novas missões, eu apenas quero dar destaque a Wario e ao Luigi.
O Wario é um personagem que não há necessidade de jogar sem ser nas suas missões, ele é lento, seu pulo é ridiculo de baixo e seu controle é bem mais travado, sua única vantagem é ser mais forte, algo que na real, não faz tanta diferença. Talvez, ele ser mais rapido que os demais e ter mais vida, sendo como um personagem tank o faria mais interessante e balanceado, ao invés de ser um personagem que é apenas desvantajoso de se jogar.
Já o Luigi... se tem um motivo pra eu ter me divertido tanto e meu amor pelo personagem até cresceu, ele é extremamente confortável de se jogar, ele da uma leve planada, seus pulos são mais altos, coisa que QUEBRA MUITO o jogo, algumas missões ficam absurdamente mais fáceis de se completar e nossa, como é bom, o jogo não tem uma jogabilidade muito boa(e ja ja falo sobre isso) e o Luigi facilita o jogo e o torna muito satisfatório.
Minha maior critica referente ao jogo é a jogabilidade, ela não é muito precisa e é extremamente comum morrer por besteira, seja pois o personagem não voltou após pular, pois não virou quando era para virar, pois não foi possível pular, coisa que no jogo original não tem, afinal, a jogabilidade foi simplificada para o DS porém isso fez com que o jogo fosse bem mais difícil de se acostumar e muito mais complicado do que deveria. É possível se acostumar, eu mesmo me acostumei, mas depois de dropar muitas vezes por isso, é um jogo que você aprende á gostar, depois que se acostuma fica muito bom, mas até lá é extremamente frustrante e injusto e se não fosse isso, eu daria nota até maior pois depois que me acostumei o jogo ficou absurdamente melhor.
Enfim, só para deixar claro, ainda não fiz 100% mas eventualmente irei fazer pois to jogando de pouco á pouco, além disso, minha intenção não é analisar ponto á ponto do jogo e dizer sobre todas as novidades, apenas dar minha opinião, cada ponto que afirme ela e as coisas que mais chamaram minha atenção, por isso nem falei do Yoshi por exemplo, algo que gostei mas não foi algo que chamou minha atenção para falar sobre.
OBS: Peguei todas as 150 estrelas e eu tenho duas observações, o Luigi é incrível e a Rainbow Ride ainda é a pior fase.
Portar um jogo de peso na história da Nintendo e da indústria em um geral para um console portátil da época, é uma boa ideia?
Não vou dizer sobre o conteúdo original, apenas sobre as mudanças, e as mais notáveis são os gráficos e o conteúdo novo.
Graficamente, esse jogo deixa o original obsoleto, o jogo original tem o charme da época mas inegavelmente envelheceu mal, ja aqui, os modelos são lindos, os visuais das fases, as texturas, os novos tons de cores deixando o jogo bem mais lindo(tirando Bob omb Battlefield, eu não gosto muito do novo visual), se você usar uma boa configuração no emulador, esse jogo realmente se torna extremamente belo para sua época(não sei como ele é na resolução de um DS original e eu ainda não tenho um 3DS para saber como ele ficaria em uma telinha).
Agora sobre conteúdos novos, temos mais fases, mais estrelas, mais personagens e bosses, que por sinal, as fases são visualmente muito bonitas, os personagens são interessantes assim como as novas missões, eu apenas quero dar destaque a Wario e ao Luigi.
O Wario é um personagem que não há necessidade de jogar sem ser nas suas missões, ele é lento, seu pulo é ridiculo de baixo e seu controle é bem mais travado, sua única vantagem é ser mais forte, algo que na real, não faz tanta diferença. Talvez, ele ser mais rapido que os demais e ter mais vida, sendo como um personagem tank o faria mais interessante e balanceado, ao invés de ser um personagem que é apenas desvantajoso de se jogar.
Já o Luigi... se tem um motivo pra eu ter me divertido tanto e meu amor pelo personagem até cresceu, ele é extremamente confortável de se jogar, ele da uma leve planada, seus pulos são mais altos, coisa que QUEBRA MUITO o jogo, algumas missões ficam absurdamente mais fáceis de se completar e nossa, como é bom, o jogo não tem uma jogabilidade muito boa(e ja ja falo sobre isso) e o Luigi facilita o jogo e o torna muito satisfatório.
Minha maior critica referente ao jogo é a jogabilidade, ela não é muito precisa e é extremamente comum morrer por besteira, seja pois o personagem não voltou após pular, pois não virou quando era para virar, pois não foi possível pular, coisa que no jogo original não tem, afinal, a jogabilidade foi simplificada para o DS porém isso fez com que o jogo fosse bem mais difícil de se acostumar e muito mais complicado do que deveria. É possível se acostumar, eu mesmo me acostumei, mas depois de dropar muitas vezes por isso, é um jogo que você aprende á gostar, depois que se acostuma fica muito bom, mas até lá é extremamente frustrante e injusto e se não fosse isso, eu daria nota até maior pois depois que me acostumei o jogo ficou absurdamente melhor.
Enfim, só para deixar claro, ainda não fiz 100% mas eventualmente irei fazer pois to jogando de pouco á pouco, além disso, minha intenção não é analisar ponto á ponto do jogo e dizer sobre todas as novidades, apenas dar minha opinião, cada ponto que afirme ela e as coisas que mais chamaram minha atenção, por isso nem falei do Yoshi por exemplo, algo que gostei mas não foi algo que chamou minha atenção para falar sobre.
OBS: Peguei todas as 150 estrelas e eu tenho duas observações, o Luigi é incrível e a Rainbow Ride ainda é a pior fase.
Hoje oficialmente desisto de completar esse aqui. Eu o colocava naquela prateleira de "um dia termino, vamo vendo", mas sei que não vou me animar pra vencer os pequenos pulinhos que não consigo dar ou a esquisitice dos movimentos de câmera. Com o tempo eu descobri também que sou o tipo de jogador que a crítica mais abomina: aquele que quer ser guiado pra cima e pra baixo. Chega uma hora que eu canso de rodar o castelo ou vou retomar o game depois de semanas e desaprendi todos os controles. Isso tudo é uma pena porque o que esse jogo é charmoso não está no gibi! Música, atmosfera, os mini-games, tudo é cheio de uma vivacidade impressionante, que é o que me faz retomar o jogo de vez em quando.
the minigames are branded into my brain matter like cattle
This is the best version of Mario 64 but y’all ain’t ready for that discussion.
None of those words are in the bible. This remake sucks, so we should be safe from Xenoblade fans this time.
like the original game, but with the issues i had with it ironed out
"SM64 DS is held back by its controls"
...so it's just like Super Mario 64.
...so it's just like Super Mario 64.
A wonderful remake of a definitive icon, the touch up of a piece of platformer canon. Somehow, the d-pad and touch screen combined work, it is very weird but satisfactory for controls. Of course, nothing beats the Nintendo 64 controller for N64 games. The added playable characters are great fun, there are no components added that I would say 64 DS would be better without.
Ah yes, this brings back memories, back when I was a dumb kid that never even got past unlocking Mario and that genuinely thought that the 64 was because there were other 63 games before it... good times.
Nintendo is no stranger to remastering and porting their games, hell, the last generation and with the Wii U to Switch transition we probably got the most amount of ports we've ever gotten; but they are far more stingy when it comes to fully remaking their previous work. When it happens it’s this unexpected event, and with the exception of maybe the Pokémon franchise, most of their series have so little full-blown re-imaginations of older titles that most can be counted with only the fingers on one hand. So yeah, it’s a big deal when it happens if only to see how it ends up turning up, so I guess it’s kinda obvious to say that when they announced a remake of Super Motherfucking Mario the 64th, for their brand new handheld at the time and as a launch title, it was indeed a pretty huge deal. Even with the original being far from a favorite for me, I’ve said in numerous occasions that Super Mario 64 is an absolute monument of a game; while saying it alone revolutionized the 3D gaming industry is a bit of an exaggeration, it was for sure the most important game for the platforming genre, one that experimented with movement like few other games had done, and to this day it holds up surprisingly well and many play it rigorously to this very day, so it’s only natural to thing that a remake of it would still be talked about to this da- you know where I’m getting at don’t you?
Everytime the SM64 or even the 3D Mario sphere is in a conversation, 64DS is almost always left aside, and results into the almost meme worthy statement that is ‘’3D Land was the first 3D Mario in a handheld (64DS doesn’t count)!’’, like, poor game needs a hug, man… But to be completely honest, for the longest time I didn’t blame anybody if it just forgot about it; just the memories of those years back when I first played it were enough to put me in a bad mood: constant falls, terrible feeling controls, almost headache inducing camera, this was not just a mere case of me sucking at games yet again, this time… this time the game was ass. And so, I really dreaded returning to it, but it was just a matter of time; it is the only remaining 3D Mario game that I had yet to beat, and with the original game behind me, it was time to, yet again, finish what I started… and right off the bat, I think by far the best compliment I give this game is that it doesn’t suck even half of what I expected.
64DS is as much a original game as it is a remake of the original Super Mario 64, and right off the bat I can say it’s a pretty faithful remake; it doesn’t have as many changes as it does additions, and so practically all the levels were completely untouched, with only some sections to accommodate new missions within the levels or simply to make platforming not such a chore as it could be in the original game, like some changes in Whomp Fortress or a ground floor being added to Tick Tock Clock, which is like encountering an oasis admist the desert. Aside from those minor alterations, all of the World Portraits and Peach’s Castle are a carbon copy of their N64 counterparts, and that translates into all the positives I said about them mostly hold up: inspired ‘’toy box’’ design, a wonderful main hub area, fantastic ambience and even pretty funny dialogue, super creative missions, and pretty simple but fun boss fights; these latter two being even greater than before thanks to the new additions made in the remake. A whooping 30 new stars were added to the game, that, plus THREE brand new characters (this game is in fact the first instance of Luigi being playable in a 3D Platformer, so it gets points on that alone), prompted the addition of new small phases and even bosses, and these new content is honestly fantastic! The new mini levels are super fun obstacle courses, and fighting King Goomba and King Boo was a really unexpected surprise, but a welcomed one that references other parts of the series I really wasn’t expecting. So yeah, this game does have a ton of stuff that is pretty good, well that’s fantastic! Maybe this was hidden gem all alon- Yeah I should stop doing this bit, but anyway, the game still blows in many, MANY areas.
First, let’s address the elephant in the room, and no, not that one; the controls. Look, 64 DS was born as a way to showcase what the DS could achieve graphically first, there’s no denying that, but saying that the team simply slapped the game into the system without consideration is also a gross misjudgment. There tried, like, REALLY tried, they made the camera far more responsive and useful than it ever was in the original, they added the whole touch screen support thing to give the 360 movement, there really was attempt, but that’s what it was, an attempt. The D-Pad and the eight directions it can provide just don’t adapt to the complex and 3-Dimensional environments of Super Mario 64, they make the once so fluid action of just moving and jumping so much complicated and unreliable, and coupled with the fact that every action and button feels so cramped considering this a fairly complex game, it results in never truly feeling like you are in total control of ANY of the characters, and even if some sections were changed or made easier to accommodate that, that’s the equivalent of shooting the game with a shotgun and putting a band aid over the wound; that’s just trying to make less painful something that it didn’t have to happen in the first place. Controls are not the only thing that is problematic tho, the squad is here to also be kinda mid! I… do not really understand why there are more characters here, like, the idea IS really cool, but considering that the original game only had Mario to begin with and how it’s implemented, it’s once again a case of solving a problem that wasn’t there on thee first place. The Power-Ups are now grouped together in the singular Flower-Power-Up, which has an different effect on each different character and that, plus the fact that stars are made exclusive to character’s specific capabilities, like Wario’s super strength or Mario’s wall jumping, it does the total opposite of stream lining, it complicates once so simple and fun missions and turns them into a slog that in some cases you have to wait to even beat! Now granted, the fact that there are the hats that let you turn into another character does prevent this from becoming a DK64 situation, but it still can be a pain to get to were the hats are before getting the start itself, and if it just so happens that the start requires Yoshi, the you gotta exit the level and change into him, and oh, what’s that, there are black bricks outside Peach’s Castle? Welp, time to change into Wario! Oh? There are bars you cannot get through? Well, you better change into Luigi to grab the invisibility power-up you scoundrel! And would you look at that, you need to wall jump in this specific area! Time to change into Mario and get over it! Oh wow! Black bricks! Time to head back and- you get the aggravating picture…
And you know, this wouldn’t be half a problem if at least playing as all the characters felt unique and fun in distinct ways, and yes, in a way they do, so you’d think tha- WELL THINK AGAIN BUCKO. Yoshi feels fine enough, the flutter jump is pretty useful but overall he’s severely limited compared to the rest of the cast; Mario is as he was in the original, only worse because of how everyone controls now, and actions before super cool are now borderline impossible; Wario is a gross parody of its own character, it makes sense for him to be the strong one that has the shortest jump, but for him to be so goddam slow and barely acrobatic make him a slog to control, especially when swimming, and just giving him a couple of bonuses instead of a moves like the shoulder-bash and the dash so to make him faster in exchange of being harder to control and making him similar to his Wario Land self is a huge missed opportunity; and then there’s Luigi who is… who is just fucking insane. His backflip makes many of the challenges completely inconsequential, that and other abilities like his run and floaty jump make him by far the best character to play as and makes the rest completely obsolete. Is this terrible balancing and turns the game into essentially Super Luigi 64 but not in a fun or charming way? Absolutely! Do I found this hilarious as hell and love that is Luigi the one that’s so broken? Absolutely!
But the worst part, even if it’s not the worst thing with the game itself, it’s how hellbent it is to just refuse to make changes to the base game. As I said, there are some very minor changes to the levels and stars turned into character specific missions, but that’s it. All the problems I has with the original game are still present here, mainly having to repeat entire sections for different missions, something that was not only left unchanged, but it even plagues the new levels as well… and in spite all of that… it’s still fun.
How. How does the plumber fucking do it. Super Mario 64 DS is by far my least favorite 3D Mario, is the one plagued with the most design flaws, and doesn’t quite reach the same highs as other games in this particular sub series… but it was still fun. It has bad stuff, but nothing I’ve said I would qualify it as terrible; there is still a fantastic game here, with flaws on top of it as well as new good stuff. As absurd as it sounds, maybe it’s a game that with a true remake it could be even greater that the game it remade in the first place, but right now it has too much stuff holding it back. Nevertheless, it’s a great time, and it’s attempt that does succeed in a bunch of things, and for that only it deserves my outmost respect.
Thank you so much for playing my game…
Nintendo is no stranger to remastering and porting their games, hell, the last generation and with the Wii U to Switch transition we probably got the most amount of ports we've ever gotten; but they are far more stingy when it comes to fully remaking their previous work. When it happens it’s this unexpected event, and with the exception of maybe the Pokémon franchise, most of their series have so little full-blown re-imaginations of older titles that most can be counted with only the fingers on one hand. So yeah, it’s a big deal when it happens if only to see how it ends up turning up, so I guess it’s kinda obvious to say that when they announced a remake of Super Motherfucking Mario the 64th, for their brand new handheld at the time and as a launch title, it was indeed a pretty huge deal. Even with the original being far from a favorite for me, I’ve said in numerous occasions that Super Mario 64 is an absolute monument of a game; while saying it alone revolutionized the 3D gaming industry is a bit of an exaggeration, it was for sure the most important game for the platforming genre, one that experimented with movement like few other games had done, and to this day it holds up surprisingly well and many play it rigorously to this very day, so it’s only natural to thing that a remake of it would still be talked about to this da- you know where I’m getting at don’t you?
Everytime the SM64 or even the 3D Mario sphere is in a conversation, 64DS is almost always left aside, and results into the almost meme worthy statement that is ‘’3D Land was the first 3D Mario in a handheld (64DS doesn’t count)!’’, like, poor game needs a hug, man… But to be completely honest, for the longest time I didn’t blame anybody if it just forgot about it; just the memories of those years back when I first played it were enough to put me in a bad mood: constant falls, terrible feeling controls, almost headache inducing camera, this was not just a mere case of me sucking at games yet again, this time… this time the game was ass. And so, I really dreaded returning to it, but it was just a matter of time; it is the only remaining 3D Mario game that I had yet to beat, and with the original game behind me, it was time to, yet again, finish what I started… and right off the bat, I think by far the best compliment I give this game is that it doesn’t suck even half of what I expected.
64DS is as much a original game as it is a remake of the original Super Mario 64, and right off the bat I can say it’s a pretty faithful remake; it doesn’t have as many changes as it does additions, and so practically all the levels were completely untouched, with only some sections to accommodate new missions within the levels or simply to make platforming not such a chore as it could be in the original game, like some changes in Whomp Fortress or a ground floor being added to Tick Tock Clock, which is like encountering an oasis admist the desert. Aside from those minor alterations, all of the World Portraits and Peach’s Castle are a carbon copy of their N64 counterparts, and that translates into all the positives I said about them mostly hold up: inspired ‘’toy box’’ design, a wonderful main hub area, fantastic ambience and even pretty funny dialogue, super creative missions, and pretty simple but fun boss fights; these latter two being even greater than before thanks to the new additions made in the remake. A whooping 30 new stars were added to the game, that, plus THREE brand new characters (this game is in fact the first instance of Luigi being playable in a 3D Platformer, so it gets points on that alone), prompted the addition of new small phases and even bosses, and these new content is honestly fantastic! The new mini levels are super fun obstacle courses, and fighting King Goomba and King Boo was a really unexpected surprise, but a welcomed one that references other parts of the series I really wasn’t expecting. So yeah, this game does have a ton of stuff that is pretty good, well that’s fantastic! Maybe this was hidden gem all alon- Yeah I should stop doing this bit, but anyway, the game still blows in many, MANY areas.
First, let’s address the elephant in the room, and no, not that one; the controls. Look, 64 DS was born as a way to showcase what the DS could achieve graphically first, there’s no denying that, but saying that the team simply slapped the game into the system without consideration is also a gross misjudgment. There tried, like, REALLY tried, they made the camera far more responsive and useful than it ever was in the original, they added the whole touch screen support thing to give the 360 movement, there really was attempt, but that’s what it was, an attempt. The D-Pad and the eight directions it can provide just don’t adapt to the complex and 3-Dimensional environments of Super Mario 64, they make the once so fluid action of just moving and jumping so much complicated and unreliable, and coupled with the fact that every action and button feels so cramped considering this a fairly complex game, it results in never truly feeling like you are in total control of ANY of the characters, and even if some sections were changed or made easier to accommodate that, that’s the equivalent of shooting the game with a shotgun and putting a band aid over the wound; that’s just trying to make less painful something that it didn’t have to happen in the first place. Controls are not the only thing that is problematic tho, the squad is here to also be kinda mid! I… do not really understand why there are more characters here, like, the idea IS really cool, but considering that the original game only had Mario to begin with and how it’s implemented, it’s once again a case of solving a problem that wasn’t there on thee first place. The Power-Ups are now grouped together in the singular Flower-Power-Up, which has an different effect on each different character and that, plus the fact that stars are made exclusive to character’s specific capabilities, like Wario’s super strength or Mario’s wall jumping, it does the total opposite of stream lining, it complicates once so simple and fun missions and turns them into a slog that in some cases you have to wait to even beat! Now granted, the fact that there are the hats that let you turn into another character does prevent this from becoming a DK64 situation, but it still can be a pain to get to were the hats are before getting the start itself, and if it just so happens that the start requires Yoshi, the you gotta exit the level and change into him, and oh, what’s that, there are black bricks outside Peach’s Castle? Welp, time to change into Wario! Oh? There are bars you cannot get through? Well, you better change into Luigi to grab the invisibility power-up you scoundrel! And would you look at that, you need to wall jump in this specific area! Time to change into Mario and get over it! Oh wow! Black bricks! Time to head back and- you get the aggravating picture…
And you know, this wouldn’t be half a problem if at least playing as all the characters felt unique and fun in distinct ways, and yes, in a way they do, so you’d think tha- WELL THINK AGAIN BUCKO. Yoshi feels fine enough, the flutter jump is pretty useful but overall he’s severely limited compared to the rest of the cast; Mario is as he was in the original, only worse because of how everyone controls now, and actions before super cool are now borderline impossible; Wario is a gross parody of its own character, it makes sense for him to be the strong one that has the shortest jump, but for him to be so goddam slow and barely acrobatic make him a slog to control, especially when swimming, and just giving him a couple of bonuses instead of a moves like the shoulder-bash and the dash so to make him faster in exchange of being harder to control and making him similar to his Wario Land self is a huge missed opportunity; and then there’s Luigi who is… who is just fucking insane. His backflip makes many of the challenges completely inconsequential, that and other abilities like his run and floaty jump make him by far the best character to play as and makes the rest completely obsolete. Is this terrible balancing and turns the game into essentially Super Luigi 64 but not in a fun or charming way? Absolutely! Do I found this hilarious as hell and love that is Luigi the one that’s so broken? Absolutely!
But the worst part, even if it’s not the worst thing with the game itself, it’s how hellbent it is to just refuse to make changes to the base game. As I said, there are some very minor changes to the levels and stars turned into character specific missions, but that’s it. All the problems I has with the original game are still present here, mainly having to repeat entire sections for different missions, something that was not only left unchanged, but it even plagues the new levels as well… and in spite all of that… it’s still fun.
How. How does the plumber fucking do it. Super Mario 64 DS is by far my least favorite 3D Mario, is the one plagued with the most design flaws, and doesn’t quite reach the same highs as other games in this particular sub series… but it was still fun. It has bad stuff, but nothing I’ve said I would qualify it as terrible; there is still a fantastic game here, with flaws on top of it as well as new good stuff. As absurd as it sounds, maybe it’s a game that with a true remake it could be even greater that the game it remade in the first place, but right now it has too much stuff holding it back. Nevertheless, it’s a great time, and it’s attempt that does succeed in a bunch of things, and for that only it deserves my outmost respect.
Thank you so much for playing my game…
Mario 64 DS feels like a fan hack, and I mean that in the best way possible.
It's so neat to see a game I like recontextualized in such a novel way. It's got new levels, some really cool new bosses, and it lets you play as three entirely new characters.
The only real issue I have with it is the fact that it's still Mario 64, so everything I said in my review of the original still applies.
Still, a valiant effort.
It's so neat to see a game I like recontextualized in such a novel way. It's got new levels, some really cool new bosses, and it lets you play as three entirely new characters.
The only real issue I have with it is the fact that it's still Mario 64, so everything I said in my review of the original still applies.
Still, a valiant effort.
A great game due to the fact that it is Mario 64. the new aspects that the game brings are actually all pretty awesome, but brought down by the fact that you can only move in 8 directions. the original Mario 64 is still the superior version.
Desperately waiting for an an actual home console/switch remake. With the levels from 64 DS. Maybe at a content, I don’t care, But not a half assed mario 3d all stars.
How did they manage to make every aspect worse? No analog control, so you have to use a run button and dpad, super awkward control scheme. so much padding as well, with some stars changed to require a specific character for no good reason, and loads of uninspired filler stars
Super Mario 64 DS is a somewhat divisive re-release of Super Mario 64, that debuted on a Nintendo console with the same number. A few concessions had to be made to fit the 64 bit classic on a handheld, and in my opinion, Nintendo did a great job that I don’t think receives enough credit.
First, I want to talk about the technical side of this version, and why I consider it to be more impressive, than, say, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D. While DS may seem weak in some aspects, it does actually have a few tricks up its sleeve. For more detailed technical match, I can recommend YouTube video “How Powerful is the Nintendo DS?” by Sharopolis. Nintendo DS has more texture memory than the poor ol’ Nintendo 64, which allows DS to have textures with greater fidelity/variety. This becomes pretty apparent in the first level, Bob-Omb Battlefield. It received a complete face lift, with a different color palette, although it’s more of an artistic decision than a technical one. Nonetheless, the terrain is more varied. The character models are also a good demonstration of Nintendo’s improved grasp on 3D modeling. I highly doubt you can deny that the models in this game are worse than N64 originals. The only aspect in which they’re “worse” is the amount of polygons… which, really, is actually more impressive. The fact that the made new models for Mario and co. that look quite good AND less resource intensive is a great display of improved skills. Of course, I doubt more polys would fly in this game, as Nintendo DS has a limit on how many polygons can be displayed at any given time. But then again, coins are now 3D models instead of 2D sprites and they’re pretty common, so… I think Nintendo went with a trick that doubles that limit at the cost of half the framerate, normally it would be 60 FPS (which explains those smooth-ass 3D games on Nintendo DS), but here it’s about 30. And y’know what? I think it’s fairly consistent, I never felt like the game lagged, which I think is even more impressive, I think the original did struggle in certain areas. Don’t forget that this is a LAUNCH TITLE GAME, and launch title games are usually not very technically impressive, but this game manages to be more impressive than most of the DS’s library, including the very game this is a remake of.
But, alright, let’s put aside technical mumbo jumbo behind us, after all, the game is meant to be played, and games like Half-Life prove that technical achievements aren’t everything. The game plays about the same as the original, but the most obvious and criticized element of Super Mario 64 DS is… the D-Pad. Of course the D-Pad isn’t as reliable as the stick, especially in a 3D game. All the issues of Super Mario 64 DS should be blamed on this one input type. Awkward physics? Turning which isn’t instant? Bad air maneuverability? Slippery surfaces which cause you to slide to your doom? D-Pad, duh! I’ll be honest, I think Super Mario 64 DS is only as bad as the original. Guess what, the instant turning wasn’t in the original! If you stand perfectly still, you’ll change your direction in an instant, otherwise you do an awkward rotation. And other issues where in the original too! Let’s be real, Super Mario 64 wasn’t that great a platforming experience to begin with, so most of the problems are just inherited from that. Of course I’m not saying that the D-Pad is better than the stick, but the controls in this version are more than adequate, there are no sticks on Nintendo DS, if you didn’t know. Actually… when playing Super Mario 64 DS, I felt more confident in controlling playable characters. I have a friend who likes this game and shares the same sentiment of feeling more in control of the game. Granted, it’s possible that I just got better at playing Super Mario 64 in general, but maybe, juuuuuuuuuuuust maybe, the complaints about the D-Pad are overblown. Some people would suggest using the Circle Pad on the Nintendo 3DS, but that doesn’t magically add analog control to the game, it’s still locked to the 8 directions. I prefer playing DS games with a D-Pad, because that’s what they were designed for, and I didn’t find my experience to be all that bad, and using Circle Pad in this game didn’t feel all that great when I tried it (of course, I could’ve sucked it up and get used to it, like how I did with Rune Factory 3 Special, but that’s a different story). Alternatively, you can try using the touch screen for analog controls, this is what the Wii U version’s hack uses to integrate analog with a stick, though you would have to commit to it, and I can’t imagine it feeling all that comfortable.
The camera system is also a bit different. Super Mario 64 used quantized rotation for its camera, and it wasn’t that good of a system… in fact, the camera kind of sucked in that version. Super Mario 64 DS sorta retains the quantized rotation method, but maps it to the touch screen, in a somewhat easy-to reach area. But the most reliable way to rotate the camera is to use the camera center button, which is L button. I found it to be a perfectly fine system. I think camera center actually gives you more control on how you can position the camera, it’s smoother compared to quantized turning. Overall I found camera to be less janky in this version, not 100% free, but I didn’t find it as annoying. Speaking of the touch screen, it houses the game’s mini-map. It’s pretty helpful, as it shows where the star you’re going for is located, most of the time. It also solves one of the issues I had with Bowser fights – the fact that I couldn’t see where the bombs are because the game’s camera wasn’t helpful enough at relaying that important information. Now you can see bombs on the bottom screen, and your facing direction, so throwing bowser at them isn’t as much a pain.
Then there’s all the extra content. Remember that this is a Super Mario 64 remake? It’s not just some “tech demo”, because that would imply it’s simply showing the tech. No, it’s a game with content in it. I’m not implying that the original didn’t have content, but… ok, what I’m getting at is that the devs didn’t just port Super Mario 64 and call it a day. No, no, no! They actually added MORE! The game was originally titled Super Mario 64 x4 during its development, which I think is referring to the game’s new playable characters (rather than the game being 4 times bigger than the OG, try to count all of it’s new/changed content and see if it adds up). It’s also apparent from the box art, that yes! 4 Playable characters! You don’t even start as Mario in this game, as Yoshi takes the lead in rescuing him and then the rest which is Luigi and Wario, if you feel like it. All characters play distinctly from one another. Yoshi can flutter jump for better air control, use his tongue to eat baddies or store some fire to spit it back and turn enemies or other objects into eggs. Mario is Mario. Luigi is slower at running, but he can scuttlejump, which is also useful for better midair maneuverability and run on water for a short amount of time. Also, doing backwards somersault as him will make him spin slowly, again, aiding in air control. Lastly, there’s Wario, a power character. He’s easily the most situational – he’s slow and doesn’t jump very high, which makes him kind of pathetic at platforming. He is only really needed to break extra tough black brick blocks, and turn metal. One of the complaints towards this addition is that switching characters is a pain. Oh no! Well, anyway. Really? That’s what caps are for. Sure, you’ll find yourself changing characters in Peach’s Castle a few times, but I didn’t find myself doing that very often to find it bothersome. I do think it’s silly that only Mario can unlock bowser stages, I’m pretty sure Luigi and Wario are capable of whopping his ass, but it’s not that big a deal. You can play most stages as Mario and use caps when necessary, there are only a few stars that require Yoshi. But even then, you don’t necessarily need to switch from Yoshi after obtaining that one star that only he can obtain, Yoshi is special in that he has all three other characters’ caps available to him. In fact, you can START a stage with a specific cap as Yoshi, which makes going for a particular star even easier. There aren’t even that many stars specific to one character. Really, this entire system isn’t that bad, I didn’t find the addition of new playable characters to be a “downgrade” compared to the original or wish it wasn’t there. I find then neat and applaud the developers for ambition AND the execution is adequate.
Super Mario 64 DS feels sort of like a remix of the original. There are new stars to collect, of course, but a few of the old ones were modified as well. Like the one where you searched for hidden spots in Tiny Huge Island which is basically searching for invisible items has been replaced with a more straightforward condor-held one. The level design has been touched up as well. For example, Tick-Tock Clock, which was a platforming nightmare in the original, has been toned down by placing more platforms to land on if you fail jumping, turning one of the most frustrating ones into one of the more enjoyable experiences. These changes ensure that while there is some stuff retained, there will be surprises for those who have played the original. But, what about those new stars? Each stage now has 2 more stars, like collecting 5 silver stars to unlock one proper, or a timed switch that makes a star appear in a sphere that can be broken, acting as a timed challenge. There are also brand new levels, though these are smaller ones, mostly dedicated to rescuing each of the trapped characters, which have red coins for a bonus star, but there are a few other new ones that require you to collect silver stars. Bowser stages also received an extra star. The total amount of stars has been bumped from 120 to 150. As a result, to beat the game, the final star requirement is also boosted from 70 to 80, but it’s not that big a deal. If you liked Super Mario 64 and don’t hate this version, there’s plenty of new content to explore.
BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET! Mini-games! The one aspect that seems to be liked enough. The one Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages… I mean, MIPS from the original has been traded for a dozen of rabbit spawns, catching them usually yields a key for a mini-game. I tried a few, and they’re fun. Good for a quick bit of fun. There’s also a multiplayer versus mode, because why not? Though I can’t judge if it’s any good, because I didn’t play it. From what I’ve seen, it’s doesn’t seem all that great, but hey… it’s still cool that it’s there, right??
In conclusion, I want to say that Super Mario 64 DS is a fantastic remake of the old classic, it’s not just some emulation (Super Mario 3D All-Stars, cough, cough, sneeze) or a lazy port for cash money, or something that breaks the core game (Half-Life: Source, cough, cough… hack!), it actually went above and beyond. The graphics are improved – you may prefer old models for their charm, but the new models are more recognizable and technically better, the texture work in general is pretty good. There’s a lot of new content and I mean a LOT of new content, as well as some redesigned and reworked existing content to make the experience smoother. The controls aren’t amazing, but they’re good enough given the hardware, and it’s not like the original’s were flawless. While it’s not superior in all regards, I DO find Super Mario 64 DS to be superior overall. By the end of playing Super Mario 64 (via Super Mario 3D All-Stars), I just wanted the game to end and get it over with. However, when playing Super Mario 64 DS, I actually went back to collect a few more stars. That’s how much I enjoyed this version compared to the original (with an asterisk, because you could argue 3DAS version isn't quite the same). The experience transformed from a somewhat average one into a good one. I still don’t think it’s a masterpiece or great really, the controls and physics are still janky at times and the final boss battle is frustrating, but overall I had much more fun playing this classic. Super Mario 64 DS is a great re-release and a good game in its own right.
First, I want to talk about the technical side of this version, and why I consider it to be more impressive, than, say, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D. While DS may seem weak in some aspects, it does actually have a few tricks up its sleeve. For more detailed technical match, I can recommend YouTube video “How Powerful is the Nintendo DS?” by Sharopolis. Nintendo DS has more texture memory than the poor ol’ Nintendo 64, which allows DS to have textures with greater fidelity/variety. This becomes pretty apparent in the first level, Bob-Omb Battlefield. It received a complete face lift, with a different color palette, although it’s more of an artistic decision than a technical one. Nonetheless, the terrain is more varied. The character models are also a good demonstration of Nintendo’s improved grasp on 3D modeling. I highly doubt you can deny that the models in this game are worse than N64 originals. The only aspect in which they’re “worse” is the amount of polygons… which, really, is actually more impressive. The fact that the made new models for Mario and co. that look quite good AND less resource intensive is a great display of improved skills. Of course, I doubt more polys would fly in this game, as Nintendo DS has a limit on how many polygons can be displayed at any given time. But then again, coins are now 3D models instead of 2D sprites and they’re pretty common, so… I think Nintendo went with a trick that doubles that limit at the cost of half the framerate, normally it would be 60 FPS (which explains those smooth-ass 3D games on Nintendo DS), but here it’s about 30. And y’know what? I think it’s fairly consistent, I never felt like the game lagged, which I think is even more impressive, I think the original did struggle in certain areas. Don’t forget that this is a LAUNCH TITLE GAME, and launch title games are usually not very technically impressive, but this game manages to be more impressive than most of the DS’s library, including the very game this is a remake of.
But, alright, let’s put aside technical mumbo jumbo behind us, after all, the game is meant to be played, and games like Half-Life prove that technical achievements aren’t everything. The game plays about the same as the original, but the most obvious and criticized element of Super Mario 64 DS is… the D-Pad. Of course the D-Pad isn’t as reliable as the stick, especially in a 3D game. All the issues of Super Mario 64 DS should be blamed on this one input type. Awkward physics? Turning which isn’t instant? Bad air maneuverability? Slippery surfaces which cause you to slide to your doom? D-Pad, duh! I’ll be honest, I think Super Mario 64 DS is only as bad as the original. Guess what, the instant turning wasn’t in the original! If you stand perfectly still, you’ll change your direction in an instant, otherwise you do an awkward rotation. And other issues where in the original too! Let’s be real, Super Mario 64 wasn’t that great a platforming experience to begin with, so most of the problems are just inherited from that. Of course I’m not saying that the D-Pad is better than the stick, but the controls in this version are more than adequate, there are no sticks on Nintendo DS, if you didn’t know. Actually… when playing Super Mario 64 DS, I felt more confident in controlling playable characters. I have a friend who likes this game and shares the same sentiment of feeling more in control of the game. Granted, it’s possible that I just got better at playing Super Mario 64 in general, but maybe, juuuuuuuuuuuust maybe, the complaints about the D-Pad are overblown. Some people would suggest using the Circle Pad on the Nintendo 3DS, but that doesn’t magically add analog control to the game, it’s still locked to the 8 directions. I prefer playing DS games with a D-Pad, because that’s what they were designed for, and I didn’t find my experience to be all that bad, and using Circle Pad in this game didn’t feel all that great when I tried it (of course, I could’ve sucked it up and get used to it, like how I did with Rune Factory 3 Special, but that’s a different story). Alternatively, you can try using the touch screen for analog controls, this is what the Wii U version’s hack uses to integrate analog with a stick, though you would have to commit to it, and I can’t imagine it feeling all that comfortable.
The camera system is also a bit different. Super Mario 64 used quantized rotation for its camera, and it wasn’t that good of a system… in fact, the camera kind of sucked in that version. Super Mario 64 DS sorta retains the quantized rotation method, but maps it to the touch screen, in a somewhat easy-to reach area. But the most reliable way to rotate the camera is to use the camera center button, which is L button. I found it to be a perfectly fine system. I think camera center actually gives you more control on how you can position the camera, it’s smoother compared to quantized turning. Overall I found camera to be less janky in this version, not 100% free, but I didn’t find it as annoying. Speaking of the touch screen, it houses the game’s mini-map. It’s pretty helpful, as it shows where the star you’re going for is located, most of the time. It also solves one of the issues I had with Bowser fights – the fact that I couldn’t see where the bombs are because the game’s camera wasn’t helpful enough at relaying that important information. Now you can see bombs on the bottom screen, and your facing direction, so throwing bowser at them isn’t as much a pain.
Then there’s all the extra content. Remember that this is a Super Mario 64 remake? It’s not just some “tech demo”, because that would imply it’s simply showing the tech. No, it’s a game with content in it. I’m not implying that the original didn’t have content, but… ok, what I’m getting at is that the devs didn’t just port Super Mario 64 and call it a day. No, no, no! They actually added MORE! The game was originally titled Super Mario 64 x4 during its development, which I think is referring to the game’s new playable characters (rather than the game being 4 times bigger than the OG, try to count all of it’s new/changed content and see if it adds up). It’s also apparent from the box art, that yes! 4 Playable characters! You don’t even start as Mario in this game, as Yoshi takes the lead in rescuing him and then the rest which is Luigi and Wario, if you feel like it. All characters play distinctly from one another. Yoshi can flutter jump for better air control, use his tongue to eat baddies or store some fire to spit it back and turn enemies or other objects into eggs. Mario is Mario. Luigi is slower at running, but he can scuttlejump, which is also useful for better midair maneuverability and run on water for a short amount of time. Also, doing backwards somersault as him will make him spin slowly, again, aiding in air control. Lastly, there’s Wario, a power character. He’s easily the most situational – he’s slow and doesn’t jump very high, which makes him kind of pathetic at platforming. He is only really needed to break extra tough black brick blocks, and turn metal. One of the complaints towards this addition is that switching characters is a pain. Oh no! Well, anyway. Really? That’s what caps are for. Sure, you’ll find yourself changing characters in Peach’s Castle a few times, but I didn’t find myself doing that very often to find it bothersome. I do think it’s silly that only Mario can unlock bowser stages, I’m pretty sure Luigi and Wario are capable of whopping his ass, but it’s not that big a deal. You can play most stages as Mario and use caps when necessary, there are only a few stars that require Yoshi. But even then, you don’t necessarily need to switch from Yoshi after obtaining that one star that only he can obtain, Yoshi is special in that he has all three other characters’ caps available to him. In fact, you can START a stage with a specific cap as Yoshi, which makes going for a particular star even easier. There aren’t even that many stars specific to one character. Really, this entire system isn’t that bad, I didn’t find the addition of new playable characters to be a “downgrade” compared to the original or wish it wasn’t there. I find then neat and applaud the developers for ambition AND the execution is adequate.
Super Mario 64 DS feels sort of like a remix of the original. There are new stars to collect, of course, but a few of the old ones were modified as well. Like the one where you searched for hidden spots in Tiny Huge Island which is basically searching for invisible items has been replaced with a more straightforward condor-held one. The level design has been touched up as well. For example, Tick-Tock Clock, which was a platforming nightmare in the original, has been toned down by placing more platforms to land on if you fail jumping, turning one of the most frustrating ones into one of the more enjoyable experiences. These changes ensure that while there is some stuff retained, there will be surprises for those who have played the original. But, what about those new stars? Each stage now has 2 more stars, like collecting 5 silver stars to unlock one proper, or a timed switch that makes a star appear in a sphere that can be broken, acting as a timed challenge. There are also brand new levels, though these are smaller ones, mostly dedicated to rescuing each of the trapped characters, which have red coins for a bonus star, but there are a few other new ones that require you to collect silver stars. Bowser stages also received an extra star. The total amount of stars has been bumped from 120 to 150. As a result, to beat the game, the final star requirement is also boosted from 70 to 80, but it’s not that big a deal. If you liked Super Mario 64 and don’t hate this version, there’s plenty of new content to explore.
BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET! Mini-games! The one aspect that seems to be liked enough. The one Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages… I mean, MIPS from the original has been traded for a dozen of rabbit spawns, catching them usually yields a key for a mini-game. I tried a few, and they’re fun. Good for a quick bit of fun. There’s also a multiplayer versus mode, because why not? Though I can’t judge if it’s any good, because I didn’t play it. From what I’ve seen, it’s doesn’t seem all that great, but hey… it’s still cool that it’s there, right??
In conclusion, I want to say that Super Mario 64 DS is a fantastic remake of the old classic, it’s not just some emulation (Super Mario 3D All-Stars, cough, cough, sneeze) or a lazy port for cash money, or something that breaks the core game (Half-Life: Source, cough, cough… hack!), it actually went above and beyond. The graphics are improved – you may prefer old models for their charm, but the new models are more recognizable and technically better, the texture work in general is pretty good. There’s a lot of new content and I mean a LOT of new content, as well as some redesigned and reworked existing content to make the experience smoother. The controls aren’t amazing, but they’re good enough given the hardware, and it’s not like the original’s were flawless. While it’s not superior in all regards, I DO find Super Mario 64 DS to be superior overall. By the end of playing Super Mario 64 (via Super Mario 3D All-Stars), I just wanted the game to end and get it over with. However, when playing Super Mario 64 DS, I actually went back to collect a few more stars. That’s how much I enjoyed this version compared to the original (with an asterisk, because you could argue 3DAS version isn't quite the same). The experience transformed from a somewhat average one into a good one. I still don’t think it’s a masterpiece or great really, the controls and physics are still janky at times and the final boss battle is frustrating, but overall I had much more fun playing this classic. Super Mario 64 DS is a great re-release and a good game in its own right.
I personally prefer 64 DS and that is not my nostalgia talking. I love having 4 different playable characters and more stars to collect.
While this remake is pretty rough, it's actually really impressive for its time. It's much harder to appreciate for what it accomplished now though considering we can play the original on basically any device these days, M64 is basically the new Doom in that regard. But, I do still find value in this version. It's just cool to be able to play a somewhat unfamiliar version of one of the most iconic games ever made.
The best of the new content featured here, are the moments that take an existing star or concept from the original game and put a twist on it. Like being able to use the invisibility power up to phase through the mirror room and enter the reflection of the real door to enter a white G-mod lookin' room with a star in it. Or having to break the rocks in watch for rolling rocks instead of the star just being a wall kick away.
Unfortunately though I think a lot of the new stars added to the game don't really add much and only serve to bloat the game. Of course, not helped by the game already feeling more tiring to play than the original as it is due to the controls limited by the hardware. Adding an extra Find 5 of the silver stars mission to these stages really just felt like filler. The few original stages made specifically for these missions ranged from meh to decent, but otherwise the game would be (And actually...IS) better without them. They're never remotely difficult to find and mechanically they're ripped from the multiplayer mode, where the idea of dropping a star when you take damage makes a LOT more sense. And what's up with that Tick Tock Clock silver star mission? They all spawn high up but bounce around and all end up just falling down to the bottom floor where you spawn..?
There's just a handful of things like that that feel weirdly unpolished or not fully realized. Biggest example is the multiple characters. Again this is something that for the time was so cool. So many people have memories trying to unlock luigi, or thinking you could play as yoshi once you got all the stars only for him to give you a bunch of lives and jump away. So finally being able to play as them is kind of a dream come true. Especially interesting is that the game starts off with you playing as Yoshi and you have to unlock Mario. The implementation of all the characters though is like a less graceful version of DK64, and I really don't understand why. To actually change your character you have to go all the way back to the peach's slide entrance room to swap. Otherwise you have to utilize character hats goombas are usually wearing to swap within a level.
Since nobody can turn into Yoshi, as he doesn't have a hat, you're basically forced to play as him for most of the game. Especially since when you play as Yoshi, you actually get a hat select when picking a level. Not sure why nobody else gets this. And when Yoshi's wearing a character hat, you'll be hearing Yoshi's voice coming out of them. Which, is absolutely a minor thing but it's one of the many things making the multiple characters feel kinda sloppy and less fun than it really should have been. Mario 64 isn't made better by splitting all the caps from the original game into character specific power ups. Special shoutout to Wario having the most abysmally slow swim speed in the entire gaming industry. Mario arbitraily is the only one who can wall jump 'cuz he needed to have SOMETHING over the others I guess.
I imagine the game would be a lot more fun just picking Luigi and getting as much as you can. You can already beat the game without unlocking Luigi and Wario without too much trouble. Without going for 100% the game's pretty smooth honestly. But going for 150 stars reveals some cracks in the structure. Doesn't help that now the reward for 150 stars somehow manages to feel even less substantial than the original's, which was already a joke for a 120 reward. You get a second slot machine in the minigames...? The first slot machine only requiring 15 stars to get.
As for the controls which often get criticized with this game, they're mangeable, you can get used to them. They're satisfying enough to weave through levels with if you get good. I had more of a problem with the physics though. So many small actions you do all the time in the original for repositioning, now have this fake momentum shoving you forward a tiny bit. You definitely had a lot more control over the finer details of your momentum in the original, leading to you falling off a cliff 'cuz the game wants to push you forward when in the original you could have held back and survived.
The minigames are seemingly more iconic than the game itself at times. And while I have my fair share of memories and love for them, I actually know the minigames from New Super Mario Bros. Both games share quite a few and 64DS actually has more if I'm not mistaken. But I think NSMB has more of a curated list of games that are generally better than what's seen in this game. They can be a fun distraction though and some are deceptively challenging.
But yeah I think it's definitely worth playing at least once if you're a fan of the original, and plenty of people do actually say the extra content makes it just a better version entirely. I see it as more of an interesting oddity. They really just made this to prove the DS CAN do 3D gaming, and proceeded to almost never use the DS for 3D gaming afterwards. This game serves as both a proof of concept, and a proof against that concept at the same time. I like that it exists more than I actually like playing it. Because personally, I'd rather not just enter and re-enter the castle repeatedly, waiting for RNG white rabbits to spawn until I get 10 of them for a single star. Had a good enough time with it, but I'll take my Mario 64 with less bloat please.
The best of the new content featured here, are the moments that take an existing star or concept from the original game and put a twist on it. Like being able to use the invisibility power up to phase through the mirror room and enter the reflection of the real door to enter a white G-mod lookin' room with a star in it. Or having to break the rocks in watch for rolling rocks instead of the star just being a wall kick away.
Unfortunately though I think a lot of the new stars added to the game don't really add much and only serve to bloat the game. Of course, not helped by the game already feeling more tiring to play than the original as it is due to the controls limited by the hardware. Adding an extra Find 5 of the silver stars mission to these stages really just felt like filler. The few original stages made specifically for these missions ranged from meh to decent, but otherwise the game would be (And actually...IS) better without them. They're never remotely difficult to find and mechanically they're ripped from the multiplayer mode, where the idea of dropping a star when you take damage makes a LOT more sense. And what's up with that Tick Tock Clock silver star mission? They all spawn high up but bounce around and all end up just falling down to the bottom floor where you spawn..?
There's just a handful of things like that that feel weirdly unpolished or not fully realized. Biggest example is the multiple characters. Again this is something that for the time was so cool. So many people have memories trying to unlock luigi, or thinking you could play as yoshi once you got all the stars only for him to give you a bunch of lives and jump away. So finally being able to play as them is kind of a dream come true. Especially interesting is that the game starts off with you playing as Yoshi and you have to unlock Mario. The implementation of all the characters though is like a less graceful version of DK64, and I really don't understand why. To actually change your character you have to go all the way back to the peach's slide entrance room to swap. Otherwise you have to utilize character hats goombas are usually wearing to swap within a level.
Since nobody can turn into Yoshi, as he doesn't have a hat, you're basically forced to play as him for most of the game. Especially since when you play as Yoshi, you actually get a hat select when picking a level. Not sure why nobody else gets this. And when Yoshi's wearing a character hat, you'll be hearing Yoshi's voice coming out of them. Which, is absolutely a minor thing but it's one of the many things making the multiple characters feel kinda sloppy and less fun than it really should have been. Mario 64 isn't made better by splitting all the caps from the original game into character specific power ups. Special shoutout to Wario having the most abysmally slow swim speed in the entire gaming industry. Mario arbitraily is the only one who can wall jump 'cuz he needed to have SOMETHING over the others I guess.
I imagine the game would be a lot more fun just picking Luigi and getting as much as you can. You can already beat the game without unlocking Luigi and Wario without too much trouble. Without going for 100% the game's pretty smooth honestly. But going for 150 stars reveals some cracks in the structure. Doesn't help that now the reward for 150 stars somehow manages to feel even less substantial than the original's, which was already a joke for a 120 reward. You get a second slot machine in the minigames...? The first slot machine only requiring 15 stars to get.
As for the controls which often get criticized with this game, they're mangeable, you can get used to them. They're satisfying enough to weave through levels with if you get good. I had more of a problem with the physics though. So many small actions you do all the time in the original for repositioning, now have this fake momentum shoving you forward a tiny bit. You definitely had a lot more control over the finer details of your momentum in the original, leading to you falling off a cliff 'cuz the game wants to push you forward when in the original you could have held back and survived.
The minigames are seemingly more iconic than the game itself at times. And while I have my fair share of memories and love for them, I actually know the minigames from New Super Mario Bros. Both games share quite a few and 64DS actually has more if I'm not mistaken. But I think NSMB has more of a curated list of games that are generally better than what's seen in this game. They can be a fun distraction though and some are deceptively challenging.
But yeah I think it's definitely worth playing at least once if you're a fan of the original, and plenty of people do actually say the extra content makes it just a better version entirely. I see it as more of an interesting oddity. They really just made this to prove the DS CAN do 3D gaming, and proceeded to almost never use the DS for 3D gaming afterwards. This game serves as both a proof of concept, and a proof against that concept at the same time. I like that it exists more than I actually like playing it. Because personally, I'd rather not just enter and re-enter the castle repeatedly, waiting for RNG white rabbits to spawn until I get 10 of them for a single star. Had a good enough time with it, but I'll take my Mario 64 with less bloat please.
They should've called it Super Luigi 64 DS since he's the only one worth playing!!
I would often play this game as a kid on my DS and it was extremely fun. I loved switching Yoshi with other characters and using their different abilities. The transformation hats and different painted worlds were super fun to use and explore.
Dare I say, I think this one is better than the original Mario 64 in almost every aspect.
The new content is good, the minigames are great, the extra characters are a welcome addition and Luigi is just straight up broken lol. Seriously, you can skip so many platforming challenges with that bastard, it's hilarious.
People like to say that this one is worse than the original because of the controls, and while I do agree that this game should be played with an analog stick instead of a D-pad, I never felt it was that big of an issue. To me this game plays just fine with the D-pad, I never felt like the game was unplayable or the levels were too hard this time because of it.
Sure, doing tricks (Especially sideflips) with these controls is harder, and specifically in the latter half of the game, the D-pad can be an issue with so many precise platforming sections, but by that point I was already used to it. I played this game recently on an emulator (Since I no longer have a DS and I could not get the game for my 3DS) to make sure I wasn't just wearing nostalgia goggles... I actually had a lot of fun even now all these years later!
I did play with a pro controller but I used the pro controller's D-pad to move just to keep it authentic. Is it the same as playing with the tiny DS D-pad? Idk but I still didn't really care about the difference that much, it was still Mario 64 but better.
Overall, I recommend this one after having experienced the original. I genuinely believe that this one is just a better version of that game, with the downside of less accurate controls and kind of ugly graphics; I will always defend it for as long as I live.
The new content is good, the minigames are great, the extra characters are a welcome addition and Luigi is just straight up broken lol. Seriously, you can skip so many platforming challenges with that bastard, it's hilarious.
People like to say that this one is worse than the original because of the controls, and while I do agree that this game should be played with an analog stick instead of a D-pad, I never felt it was that big of an issue. To me this game plays just fine with the D-pad, I never felt like the game was unplayable or the levels were too hard this time because of it.
Sure, doing tricks (Especially sideflips) with these controls is harder, and specifically in the latter half of the game, the D-pad can be an issue with so many precise platforming sections, but by that point I was already used to it. I played this game recently on an emulator (Since I no longer have a DS and I could not get the game for my 3DS) to make sure I wasn't just wearing nostalgia goggles... I actually had a lot of fun even now all these years later!
I did play with a pro controller but I used the pro controller's D-pad to move just to keep it authentic. Is it the same as playing with the tiny DS D-pad? Idk but I still didn't really care about the difference that much, it was still Mario 64 but better.
Overall, I recommend this one after having experienced the original. I genuinely believe that this one is just a better version of that game, with the downside of less accurate controls and kind of ugly graphics; I will always defend it for as long as I live.
you can play as wario
If you hate this game because you don’t like the idea of playing as characters other than Mario, I’m shoving you into a locker.
First game I had on DS. Good as a remake, good as a portable game overall. The new levels and characters added some new fun to a class that felt organic to the game. I remember not loving the controls though.
Forever one of the most iconic mario games. This game is incredibly fun to play on the DS and I have so many good memories playing this game. My friend had a DS along with this game at the same time as me and I remember us both playing it and comparing our progress. Good times.