Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release: 21 November, 2004
Genre: Platform
Rating: Everyone
<big><big><big>Intro</big>
I have played and was quite a fan of the original Super Mario 64, so I knew this game was going to be good from the first time I looked at it. The new features of the DS have brought it to life like never before. You don't know WHAT I had to do to pull myself away from it just so I could write this review.
<big><big><big>Story</big>
10/10
The story isn't actually that similar to the original, at least for a remake. For all you Pokemon fans that haven't played this (yes, I know there are a lot of you here), lemme tell you that it's similar to Pokemon Emerald in the way that it totally changes around the story to keep it from feeling like a repeat. As before, Princess Peach sends Mario an invitation to come to the castle, and Mario of course accepts and arrives via warp pipe. But this time, Luigi and Wario are also with him (what do they think they're doing, inviting themselves?!). They all enter the castle and disappear, leaving Yoshi to come after them to find out they're gone, and ending up saving them all.
<big><big><big>Gameplay</big>
10/10
The gameplay of Super Mario 64 was excellent, but the gameplay of this far exceeds its predecessor. They added a whole 30 stars to the original 120, leaving a whopping 150 to collect. I have 123 right now, and I gain one or two more each day. They've kept all the old areas we loved, like Bomb-omb Battlefield and Tick Tock Clock, each with two new levels (and therefore two more stars) to collect! They've also added a few new ones, like Gomboss Lair, but unfortunatly the only ones with levels are the originals (
). However, this does not take away anything from the score; I would not change a thing to it.The characters are also fun. Yoshi is different from all the other characters; he cannot punch, but instead relies on his wicked tongue and eggs he can make by swallowing opponents. If you played Super Mario Sunshine (which was a great game, I don't care what you say), you would remember Yoshi could float. Well, he can in this too! Luigi is not as powerful as Mario or Wario, but he can jump better than either of them. He can even control his gliding to the ground, and he can also walk on water! Wario is not fast and has almost no agility, but his strength is better than the others. He can break blocks the others can't, and he can rip up signs and destroy them (fun!)! Mario is the most balanced of them all, and the most dependable in most situations. I also like their special abilities, Yoshi's fire-breathing, Mario wings and ballooning up, Luigi's invisibility, and Wario's turning into metal. Which character is my favorite, you ask? Wario!!!!!
<big><big><big>Music/Sound</big>
9.9/10
With all the touch control and wireless stuff, the music gets unnoticed. However, all video games would be nothing without it, and I highly doubt even Super Mario 64 would be considered as great as it is without it. Although there was one thing of music from Super Mario Sunshine, the rest was from the original, which was kind of a letdown, which is why I did not give it a perfect rating. But don't get me wrong here--the music is still awesome. For a whole decade, the Bowser battle song has been my favorite!
<big><big><big>Graphics</big>
8.5/10
After playing this for about a month, I went back to play the original, and noticed how horrible it looked compared to the new one! This game is proof that the Nintendo DS's graphics exceed the Nintendo 64's. To all the people who don't think that (I know there are many of you out there), play this game!!!
Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm talking about improved graphics yet only gave it a 8.5, right? Well, as I said, they are better then the original, but they are still blocky. Take the spots on Yoshi's eggs for example. You can see the pixels clearly! If Nintendo was able to make the graphics of Nintendogs as good as they were, they should have been able to do it with this too.
<big><big><big>Replay Value</big>
10/10
Super Mario 64 DS is a Platform game, so of course it has a lot of Replay Value. You can revisit worlds and levels and do them over and over again just for fun. And believe me, each level is so fun you WANT to do it over and over again! Also, there are the mini games. Even if you have collected all 150 stars 3 times, the mini games make you want to keep coming back.
<big><big><big>Overall</big>
9.8/10
While the graphics weren't that good, the rest of the game is perfect. Many people thought that the original was as great as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and couldn't be improved, but they were proved wrong when this came out. It gets me thinking--if they could improve Super Mario 64, just imagine all of the possibilities for OOT DS!
I hope you enjoyed my first long review. How was it? I'd really like to know!
