A good 3D platformer for the Nintendo DS

User Rating: 8.2 | Super Mario 64 DS DS
The DS game is a substantial improvement in terms of extras. In the N64 game, things like running and the wall kick depended heavily upon the analog stick (the D-pad was useless); in the DS game, running is accomplished by holding down the D-pad and pressing B, similar to the games from the Spyro series. However, this makes the wall kick harder to pull off, but it does take some getting used to. On the other hand, walking has been facilitated. In the N64 game, walking or running depended upon how far you pushed forward on the analog stick; in the DS game, walking is accomplished simply by pushing forward on the D-pad, which is a good thing because it makes tight spaces and small platforms easier to move across.

As far as extras go, the N64 game gave you three things after you succeeded in collecting all 120 stars: the ability to fly around the castle's courtyard with the wing cap, 99 lives from Yoshi, and a special triple jump, all three of which seemed to have no viable purpose whatsoever. The DS game, however, is loaded with extras, including mini-games, extra levels (one of which was inspired by Super Mario Sunshine), and three unlockable playable characters, namely Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario, each of whom will be required to collect all 150 power stars (they added 30 in this game) because their abilities vary and have a one-to-one correspondence with certain objectives. What this means is that you will not be able to use one character to acquire all 150 power stars. Additionally, the developers have added power-ups that weren't found in the original game, such as Mario's ability to float like a balloon (remarkably similar to his Super Mario World adventures), there are more wing cap boxes scattered throughout the levels, and the bird that helps you fly shows up more frequently.

I guess there's no such thing as perfection when it comes to a Super Mario 64 game, but I can't say that this one is miles from it. Nintendo did well in adding a ton of extras. They also succeeded in making the controls more viable, but for some reason, they downgraded some aspects of Mario's dialogue speech. Other than that, though, this product is definitely worth checking out, especially for anyone interested in an otherwise solid 3D platformer for the Nintendo DS system.