Super Mario 64 DS almost made it to be better than it's amazing original, but failed on it's missing control stick.
THE GOOD
+ awesome remake
+ lots of new content to be found
+ great updated graphics that look beautiful at times
+ same awesome levels with some new just as well designed levels
THE BAD
- controls aren't really responsive enough
Super Mario 64 DS is an awesome package. First the presentational side of the game:
The graphics look great. They have been updated and environments, characters, animations and more look better than in the original. The audio also sounds better. The game also has alot more to it: New content like more levels, more playable character, other little additions, even minigames are with in this game. They are pretty fun and also a few plays worth, though you have to unlock them during your adventure by catching those bunnies, which aren't the easiest to catch.
There is also a multiplayer mode where you can play on five different stages against up to three other competitors, it's about who collects the most stars after 30 seconds.
It's okay, but nothing really memorable.
The best mode of course is still the main adventure, and man does it feel fresh again. Some old levels have been removed, but for that there are now alot more new levels to discover, and overall more stars to collect, with more hidden stars as well. But maybe the biggest and best addition is that you can now also play as Yoshi, Luigi and Wario, all with different abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Mario, Luigi and Wario aren't to different from each other with their abilities, but Yoshi is a complete different story. He can't punch like the others, but he can swallow up enemies that fit in his mouth, and turn them into eggs which Yoshi than can target at other enemies. It works surprisingly good and is surprisingly satisfying. He also has a flutter jump that works when holding the B-button pressed long enough.
Mario is the most average of all, he hasn't really any abilities he is the best in, but no ability he is the worst in. He is the fastest though, I think.
Luigi is the by far best jumper out of the bunch, and Wario is the most powerful out of the bunch, though also the slowest and the one with the weakest jumps.
All in all the addition of four different characters is a great idea. They also all have a different powerup. For example, when Mario grabs a flower he turns into a balloon and can reach heights of which the others just dream about. Luigi on an other hand turns invisible and can walk through walls and other obstacles. There are also different levels that require one specific character out of the bunch to get a power star. It all turns out to be very awesome indeed.
Now, the gameplay isn't changed really when playing as Mario, Luigi and Wario. You still got the long jump, back flip and more as well as the punch and kick. But because of the abilities and strengths as well as the weaknesses every character has, the gameplay feels very well fresh again.
The original levels still hold up in this game exceptional good and are a real joy ot play. The 15 main worlds still feel very familiar, but every world has some neat changes here and there, all for the good. There are also some new levels in the game. Instead of 6 stars in every world plus a hidden star there are now 7 stars plus the hidden 100 coin star. Some old levels also have been removed and replaced for some maybe even better levels. Instead of 120 stars there are now 150 stars, impressive, or?
The worlds all have some extra paths that are totally new and add to the worlds nicely.
Some new little extra worlds are also included, also very well designed and are a joy to play through. There are also 3 new bosses put into the game: Goomboss, King Boo and Chief Chilly. Unlike the other bosses in Mario 64, those bosses do put up a bit of a challenge, and are very well designed and also satisfying to beat.
All in all, Super Mario 64 is an outstanding package: but unfortunately the game sadly suffers from one big problem: the missing control stick. Super Mario 64 never was meant to be played with a D-pad, so it doesn't really work that good with this game. The controls just aren't responsive enough to keep you away from some cheap deaths. It's far from unplayable though, the D-pad does respond on your actions, it's just that it doesn't do it all that well most of the times. Nintendo tried to find a solution for that: You can also use the touchscreen to move Mario. What you do here is that you pretend that the touchscreen is the joy-stick and you simply move your thumb on the touchscreen in the direction you want your character to walk at. It definitely works better than the D-pad, but your thumb can easily slip out of place and that also can lead to some cheap deaths. It also needs some practise time until you've got the hang out of it.
All in all it's pretty sad that Super Mario 64 DS suffers from the control issues, because overall this package is simply more complete and robust than it's superb original, and it was by far the most complete package of all the launch titles. But even with the control issues, the game is still one hell of an adventure, and one everybody should have picked up when buying the DS at it's release.