Review 5: Super Mario 64 DS (NDS)

It wasn't often they did this, but there was a period where Nintendo 64 Classics were remade as opposed to being merely ported 1:1. One such case, and the first among them, was Super Mario 64, the debut title for that system. Nintendo chose to reprise that role with the remake, Super Mario 64 DS as a Nintendo DS launch title.

Those familiar with the original game expected it to be a copy and paste of the game to the letter... but that's where the differences begin. But on the off chance nobody played that prior to this, I'll explain. As with most Super Mario games, Princess Peach Toadstool is a key figure in the plot. By her invitation, Mario comes to the castle in his usual plumber-style travel, but instead, he learns that once again, Peach is taken in the clutches of the Koopa King, Bowser, with him claiming residence over her castle. Now on a rescue mission, Mario must go star hunting in all sections of the castle grounds, making use of worlds hidden within paintings, to find the power stars to reach and defeat Bowser, all in order to rescue Peach and liberate the castle from his evil. Now, the plot in SM64DS isn't that different, but more people are involved now, and you start with Yoshi. Originally a cameo hidden in the original, you start off AS the dinosaur, who is tasked with, in addition to finding Peach, locating the whereabouts of Mario, Luigi, and Wario. And if that's not enough, there are more stars to seek out as well. To save the day, it will take all 4 of you, so find them, Yoshi!

While the same game to its core, the differences between the two releases are a night and day contrast. Let's break this down bit-by-bit, shall we?

Differences between Super Mario 64 (< Left) and Super Mario 64 DS (Right >)

#1. Design

As the first game on Nintendo 64, the rendering was made so that they were recognizable, but even then, the designs in the final product were rough, especially when it came to Bowser himself. While an unfair example, think of it as comparison the original Smash entry, Super Smash Brothers 64, to it's successor Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube (or worse still, to the recent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch). Designs of SM64 did not age all that well, and compared to the DS version, the cosmetics were awfully pale. But to be fair, the N64 had its limitations, plus, this was the debut title for the N64, so in their defense, they had more time to experiment with 3D rendering between then and making the DS remake.

#2. Content

If the N64 was made by current generation standards, this would be an awful lot of DLC, something that the overseas exclusive CD expansion Nintendo 64DD would have a hard time handling. But as they altered the plot itself, that'd be impossible anyway. That being said, it's not a simple copy-and-paste job like other ports of the same game. With SM 64DS,the game was fine tuned visually, bringing all up-to-date details to the core game, which called for newer, yet lower res rendering given the platform it's on. As powerful as the N64 was, the Nintendo DS at the time was a new thing. so emulation aside, this was the first legitimate way of taking Super Mario 64 on the go. Less than a decade separates the 2 versions, as around the time SM 64 DS emerged, the current generation home console was the Nintendo Gamecube, with the Wii being prepped as the next home console. That means the shelf life of the Nintendo 64 was expired prior to the game's release. So to me, this missed the mark of a 10 year anniversary since that release by 2 years. It also incorporated later items, like Shine Sprites from Gamecube's Super Mario Sunshine, that weren't there originally.

#3. Features

Super Mario 64 was packed with a number of things, like red coins, grabbing, shell riding, and the caps. At some point, Mario could unlock caps that endorsed him with temporary abilities. Colored by blocks, the Red granted flight, the Blue contained an invisibility cap, and the Green made Mario metallic, giving him temporary near invulnerability. In Super Mario 64 DS, those powers were made to be character specific. But before that, those said caps are now regressed to being those of certain characters, so upon acquiring it, they can become that character for the duration the hat stays on (i.e. Yoshi can become Wario by grabbing his cap, reverting back if knocked away). To further differ, the aforementioned abilities of the original are now accessed by the Power Flower, an exclusive item to Super Mario 64 DS that grants power-ups that vary upon the character that obtains it. In this case, Mario becomes floaty, much like from Super Mario World on the SNES, while Luigi takes on the Invisible Cap properties, and Wario the Metal Cap's. Only with a feather does the character take flight as with like the Flight Cap, but this is exclusive to Mario alone. Not sure why they did this, but I guess it's to force people to use all four characters. While the polygons increased drastically, the game card can only handle 3 save slots as opposed to 4.

#4. Interface and Controls

Luigi in World 2

There is actually a lot to say about this here. But, let's start first by explaining how it works. Naturally, as it was a Nintendo 64 product first, there's always the issue of mapping controls, to which the DS remake worked around. A (C) option was never available on the DS, debuting only on the 3DS consoles later down the road. Because of this, it was a ripe opportunity to use the touchscreen the DS kept as the highlight of the handheld. With use of the stylus, you can control the camera angle, but unfortunately (at least for me), it was as much of a pain to work with as it was the time before when it was mapped to the C buttons on N64. Another thing it changed was the ability to run. It kind of returned to basics here where you have to press or hold a button (in this case, Y) to run as the D-Pad puts you on a default walk cycle, and even playing on the 3DS, the Circle Pad didn't tilt far enough compared to the N64's Control Stick. And because of the handheld's mapping, you have to use B to jump, something not that usual for Mario games. Going back to the C controls for a moment, it was also capabe for zooming in and out, but it had to make use of the X button to replace the lack of a C-Up and C-Down, giving it three levels mapped to a single button. The biggest contrast were moves that required the Z button, and this I don't apply exclusively to the DS remake. When it was later ported to the Wii via Virtual Console (the N64 version), the Classic Controller and the succeeding Classic Controller Pro) had the ZL and ZR buttons, and it can use the Nintendo Gamecube remote (or something similar) on the VC port, yet a function for said Z buttons were never implemented. While the VC port used L as the Z command, the DS (and 3DS) used R instead.

Now as the DS had 2 screens, it doesn't mean it has no use. By swiping on it (if one should choose to), it can move your character in the direction you are pointing towards, but to that, I say the D-Pad is better, as even doing it the touch pad way would still force you to use X if you want to run. In addition, if you are in a painting level, the bottom screen becomes an overhead map, also presenting your lives and star counters.

#5. Multiplayer and Extras

Poker Minigame

Now, the game was originally a single player title. But on the DS, using the Wireless Play feature (built in to the handheld), up to 4 players can play the game. Now the Multiplayer isn't amazing by a long shot, and like with the main game, all players begin as a Yoshi, but of different colors. The player can use the cap to become one of the 3 characters, but the objective here is to obtain as many stars before your opponents do, limited to only the castle foyer, minus the moat. The game has another feature as well: mini-games. There are a total of 36, but to unlock them, you must catch the rabbits found within the castle. This is in a way faithful to the original, as there was one rabbit found in the N64 release, and catching him got you a hidden Power Star. The minigames themselves are accessible from the title screen (which is controlled by touchscreen only), and the games are mainly on the puzzle category, with some in the casino genre. They are all controlled by touchscreen, and have no connection to the core game, aside from character renders, and how unlockable they are from the Adventure mode. These same minigames would be found on a few other titles on the DS library, such as New Super Mario Bros.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It's interesting that a game that was a rollout on the Nintendo 64 tried it again as a remake on the DS... but the results it got wasn't quite the same. While the original was praised as the best-selling game that elevated Nintendo 64's success (prior to Sony Playstation beating it), the DS remake came in 7th for the platform. It took 5 years for the N64 title to reach 11 million copies sole, while the DS game took longer, hitting that mark only March of the previous year. Like how the Wii's Virtual Console got the original, the Wii U saw a port of this game on their Virtual Console as a downloadable title, utilizing the Wii U pad as the touchscreen that would have been found on the DS. It wasn't a landmark feature where as the original release left behind a legacy that came in the form of:

• Gamecube's Super Mario Sunshine
• Wii's Super Mario Galaxy and it's sequel 
• Nintendo 3DS' Super Mario 3D Land 
• Wii U's Super Mario 3D World
• Nintendo Switch's Super Mario Odyssey

All 5 games used and improved from the same 3D roam mechanics that started from the N64 classic, seemingly getting better with each console generation with each game being a must for a 3D Mario title. To this day, there is still people that plays this, likely on the 3DS, with no hint of it being considered for a Switch release. Though with such an iconic gem... it wouldn't surprise me if that did happen.

That said, Super Mario 64 DS may have been placed in the shadow of its source material, but for a DS launcher, it held its own a fair deal. While not perfect, I can give it an 7/10 for being a decent remake/modernization for on-the-go gameplay.