Forum Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Canada Age: 20 Posts: 12,006
| Super Mario 64 DS
A remake of the Nintendo 64 classic. It shows the pwoer of the DS, and revisits one of Nintendo Best games. However I jsut hope, this will not be on of the DS's best. What is really sad is this was teh best of all the DS' launch titles, and that isn't saying alot.
Gameplay: 7.5/10 This was a tough one. The Nintendo 64 game was flawless, and a 9 or 10 rating would be given if they had left much of it the way it was. The thing is, 3 characters were added, but they really are only around to add to the annoyance of switching between them. Like in Donkey Kong 64, to get a certain star, or access a certain area you need a certain character (characters range from Mario, Yoshi, Wario, or Luigi) but in almost all cases, mario is the best choice. Which leaves me to wonder why have more characters, they are only situational. they all have special abilities, Mario can wall kick, Luigi jumps high, Yoshi swallows enemys and makes eggs, and Wario is fat slow and can punch a set of blocks that hardly appears. Then there is the removal of the hat system that worked well in 64, and instead a single red "?" block is left, and now only Luigi can become invisible, and only Wario can become Metal, leaving Mario with the ability to use the wings, and inflate like a baloon (much like in Super Mario world for SNES). then Yoshi must have been added as an afterthought, cause it allows him to shoot out fire?
Not to mention the annoyance factor of changing characters is really high, and when you realize you have gone through a level and you need Wario's ability to become metal and you have to leave the level switch characters and go through the level again, only to discover you could have picked up a wario hat, and in this case you needed it, cause after u use Wario for his single only useful purpose, you need to switch back to Mario.
The controls are annoying as hell, no analog stick, forcing the use of either the D-pad with the y button just to run, or the stylus which is awkward and produces undesireable results. The controls are rather anoting, and I have gotten use to it, but it still doesn't make up for it.
The only thing that saved this game was two things, the fact that original levels were sweet, and the original 120 stars were updated to 150. Many of the new stars are stupid, but I have to admit the new ones are rather fun. However, several ones were stuck in to completely annoy the hell out of me.
Many good levels have been modified, and many cases it is fine, adding a new star to every course. However some of the new additions are rather stupid and could be left out.
with the collection of 150 stars, the original game saw you able to shoot to the castle roof and gain 100 stars from an unridable yoshi. That left me betrayed by nintendo, because I had sought after 120 stars, doing stupid and retarded plus repetative missions. I didn't want to do that all just to get told by Yoshi Nintendo wants me to keep playing then gave me 100 lives. I just beat the game, I have no use for 100 lives, cause there was nothing else to do. Whats even better is in the remake, you get three mushrooms on the roof, and Luigi's final rabbit. only good thing is you get his rabbit.
Finaly, the highlight of the game is the mini games, accessable from the "rec room" option on the main title. This makes the game much more fun. also gives a reason to play, because minigames are unlocked through catching rabbits in the main castle area, and like mentioned earlier Luigi's final rabbit is on the roof accessable only with 150 stars collected. I would give just these games a 10/10, but combined with the main gameplay i found unappealing overall, which I would give a 5/10 for, overall gameplay gets an 7.5.
Graphics 9/10
I have to remind myself it is still a portable system, and the predecessor had graphics no where near the Ds'. the Ds does have some good graphics for a portable system, and those have been improved from the 64. Also many new bosses have been added, and they look really nice. Some things do look off however, and many problems still are around graphicly, from the old 64 days. all in all, they look nice.
Sound 6/10
The music is bland, and recycled from the last game. The Music, though some of it is classic, gets really annoying when playing for long periods. If you value sanity, its good to turn down the music. The SFX were rather good, though not as crisp as they could be.
Story 4/10
Story is the same as the last 64 game, and ultimately is the same as all mario games. Though some people think its classic, and its amazing, the story line is stupid, cause it is non-existant. Bowser stole the princess, save her. There is hardly any real explaination as to why paintings suddenly become worlds, or why there are stupid secret stars that are given for the stupidest reasons. I understand the game requires the hiding of stars, but so many of them are in stupid locations.
Another problem i had was there was no reason for 4 characters. they don't even explain properly why the hell Wario is with Mario, or why they venture together into Peach's castle. We can't forget the main character is Yoshi. What the hell? it's Mario 64, and Mario is only available after unlocking him. Not to well thought out in my oppinion.
replayability 10/10
Mario 64 was an amazing game, one that i played extensively. The game is great to play again, I always get something out of it when I play again.
overall 7.3/10
The game is still Mario 64, and it is an addictive game I can't put down no matter how gay the controls are, or how basic the story line is. The fact is, Nintendo did something right back when it was first released, and this is only a recaptured version of the gretest nintendo characters game.
Last edited by Emperor Pan I; 12-30-2004 at 06:31 AM.
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