Post by Lezard on Mar 21, 2009 23:13:22 GMT -5
Alright, here comes another review. It’s something I’ve written for another site, but hey, it’s still nice to use. Review for Super Mario 64 DS coming up!
Super Mario 64 hit the Nintendo 64 way back in 1996, so 8 years later, Nintendo prepared an enhanced version of it for the launch of their new portable system, the Nintendo Dual Screen.
The Story of SM64 is somewhat simple. Mario comes over to the castle for some cake, but find out that Peach and Toad are trapped in the walls of Peach's Castle by Bowser, so you have to collect Power Stars in Courses to free them and beat the big Koopa once again.
The difference in the story that we see is that, not only Mario appears to have some cake, but Wario and Luigi as well. They head in, get inprisoned in the walls, and now Yoshi has to go in and rescue them, so that the 4 of them can confront Bowser.
This is a drastic change from the original story, but still provides a unique story, while still staying as the same game.
Alright, so we’ve got some changes in the gameplay. First of all is that you can play as 4 different characters, and each of them have their own specific moves, like Yoshi’s Tongue attacks/Eggs, Luigi’s ridiculously useful Backflip, and Mario’s Wall Jump.
To make it fair and to make it so you have to use everyone, they made some restrictions. For example, only Luigi can use the Invisibility Cap, only Wario can use the Metal Cap, and only Mario can use the Wing Cap.
In each Course, though, it is slightly easier if you want to switch characters. If you’ve unlocked a plumber you can find their cap around each world, or start off the Course with their Cap on, transforming you into them, until you get hit and you lose their cap, returning you to your original character.
Also, instead of different colored Blocks are the Power Flowers which give each character their specific cap to use, aside from Mario, whom gets a Feather rather than a Power Flower.
The Presentation is also much, much more drastic of a change. The Polygon Count of the graphics engine for the game has been increased by a lot, and it makes the game look much more detailed than the original game looked. It looks much more "Ocarina of Time" than it originally did. Sure, that’s still on the N64, but it looks a lot better than the original version of the game did.
Music has remained the same. Everywhere you go, you’ll hear the same versions of the same songs. Which, is not a bad thing, since the soundtrack is a very good one, with pumped up themes, like the Bowser Battle theme songs, as well as soft, soothing songs like the Jolly Roger Bay theme.
A lot of changes have been made to the game. Aside from the changes that have already been listed are the addition of a few things. One is the Map on the Lower Screen. That shows you the exact locations of Power Stars, Caps, Red Coins, etc, making a lot of the game much easier, though a lot of you would probably already know where they are from playing the original game.
30 New Power Stars have been added to this game, making it quite a bit longer than the original, along with the 3 new Courses where you free Mario, Luigi, and Wario with new Boss Battles within those Courses.
Another addition are the Mini-Game Rabbits. Playing as each character, there are many Rabbits lurking around the castle, inside and out, for you to catch to unlock Mini-Games. Some are pretty easy to find, but some are tricky, such as both Wario and Luigi having rabbits on top of the castle roof.
The ending has also been changed to feature dialogue between Peach and Yoshi, and to include all of the characters that you unlocked before beating the game.
This technically isn’t part of the review, but just for the record, you don’t have to get all 150 Stars and Unlock the Cannon outside to get on top of the castle roof. Yoshi and Luigi can get on top of it pretty easy, without you having to get a single Power Star.
Alright, this game is definitely one of the DS's better titles. The DS has seen a lot of very strange titles in it’s lifetime, and has seen some very good titles, like Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, Final Fantasy III, and New Super Mario Bros., but I hold Super Mario 64’s Reincarnation as the best looking game on the platform, and the most addictive, aside from CG cutscenes from the Final Fantasy DS games, of course.
If you own a DS and don’t have this game, you really should go and get it. Super Mario 64 was one of gaming's greatest moments and it is much more fun, in my opinion, being able to control all 4 characters.
Super Mario 64 hit the Nintendo 64 way back in 1996, so 8 years later, Nintendo prepared an enhanced version of it for the launch of their new portable system, the Nintendo Dual Screen.
Storyline
The Story of SM64 is somewhat simple. Mario comes over to the castle for some cake, but find out that Peach and Toad are trapped in the walls of Peach's Castle by Bowser, so you have to collect Power Stars in Courses to free them and beat the big Koopa once again.
The difference in the story that we see is that, not only Mario appears to have some cake, but Wario and Luigi as well. They head in, get inprisoned in the walls, and now Yoshi has to go in and rescue them, so that the 4 of them can confront Bowser.
This is a drastic change from the original story, but still provides a unique story, while still staying as the same game.
Gameplay
Alright, so we’ve got some changes in the gameplay. First of all is that you can play as 4 different characters, and each of them have their own specific moves, like Yoshi’s Tongue attacks/Eggs, Luigi’s ridiculously useful Backflip, and Mario’s Wall Jump.
To make it fair and to make it so you have to use everyone, they made some restrictions. For example, only Luigi can use the Invisibility Cap, only Wario can use the Metal Cap, and only Mario can use the Wing Cap.
In each Course, though, it is slightly easier if you want to switch characters. If you’ve unlocked a plumber you can find their cap around each world, or start off the Course with their Cap on, transforming you into them, until you get hit and you lose their cap, returning you to your original character.
Also, instead of different colored Blocks are the Power Flowers which give each character their specific cap to use, aside from Mario, whom gets a Feather rather than a Power Flower.
Presentation
The Presentation is also much, much more drastic of a change. The Polygon Count of the graphics engine for the game has been increased by a lot, and it makes the game look much more detailed than the original game looked. It looks much more "Ocarina of Time" than it originally did. Sure, that’s still on the N64, but it looks a lot better than the original version of the game did.
Music has remained the same. Everywhere you go, you’ll hear the same versions of the same songs. Which, is not a bad thing, since the soundtrack is a very good one, with pumped up themes, like the Bowser Battle theme songs, as well as soft, soothing songs like the Jolly Roger Bay theme.
Changes
A lot of changes have been made to the game. Aside from the changes that have already been listed are the addition of a few things. One is the Map on the Lower Screen. That shows you the exact locations of Power Stars, Caps, Red Coins, etc, making a lot of the game much easier, though a lot of you would probably already know where they are from playing the original game.
30 New Power Stars have been added to this game, making it quite a bit longer than the original, along with the 3 new Courses where you free Mario, Luigi, and Wario with new Boss Battles within those Courses.
Another addition are the Mini-Game Rabbits. Playing as each character, there are many Rabbits lurking around the castle, inside and out, for you to catch to unlock Mini-Games. Some are pretty easy to find, but some are tricky, such as both Wario and Luigi having rabbits on top of the castle roof.
The ending has also been changed to feature dialogue between Peach and Yoshi, and to include all of the characters that you unlocked before beating the game.
Just for Fun – Cheating the Castle Roof
This technically isn’t part of the review, but just for the record, you don’t have to get all 150 Stars and Unlock the Cannon outside to get on top of the castle roof. Yoshi and Luigi can get on top of it pretty easy, without you having to get a single Power Star.
Overall
Alright, this game is definitely one of the DS's better titles. The DS has seen a lot of very strange titles in it’s lifetime, and has seen some very good titles, like Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, Final Fantasy III, and New Super Mario Bros., but I hold Super Mario 64’s Reincarnation as the best looking game on the platform, and the most addictive, aside from CG cutscenes from the Final Fantasy DS games, of course.
If you own a DS and don’t have this game, you really should go and get it. Super Mario 64 was one of gaming's greatest moments and it is much more fun, in my opinion, being able to control all 4 characters.
My Rating: 8.5/10
It could have been better, as all games could, but it really is a nice, addictive reincarnation of one of gaming’s greatest achievements
It could have been better, as all games could, but it really is a nice, addictive reincarnation of one of gaming’s greatest achievements