SUPER MARIO 64 DS

'''Super Mario 64 DS''' is an enhanced remake of the 1996 video game ''Super Mario 64'', produced by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in the United States on November 21, 2004, in Japan on December 2, 2004, and in Europe on March 11, 2005 as one of the launch titles for the Nintendo DS handheld game console.^[1] The remake includes various new characters, levels, modes of play and minigames, as well as updated graphics to take advantage of the capabilities of the DS system.

Contents

Plot

Characters

Gameplay

Power Stars

Power-Ups

Rabbits

Multiplayer

Mini-games

Production and release

Reception

Sales information

Awards

Differences between Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS versions

References

External links

Plot

Princess Toadstool sends an invitation to Mario and co., revealing that she has baked a lovely cake for their efforts.
Super Mario 64 DS begins when Lakitu flys down to Peach's castle, holding cameras. Mario jumps out of a pipe in the castle grounds, soon followed by party-crashers Luigi and Wario. They rush to the castle, leaving Yoshi dozing on the castle roof. A Lakitu wakes Yoshi up (who, somehow, has ended up in front of the castle where Mario was) and tells him that Mario, Wario and Luigi have not returned. Yoshi dashes into the castle (after retrieving a key from a yellow rabbit) to find that Bowser has sealed the princess and the Toads inside the castle walls, and that he is using the Power Stars to create worlds inside the castle paintings for his minions. Yoshi must now rescue Mario, Luigi and Wario, who have mysteriously disappeared.
Further on, Yoshi collects eight Power Stars and jumps into the Mario painting behind the rec room. He defeats Goomboss, who gives Yoshi the key for Mario's door after an embarrassing defeat. Once Mario is freed, he fights King Boo and rescues Luigi, who then moves on to the mirror room. Once there, he collects the power flower(s) (having the ability to turn invisible and run through certain objects) and dashes through the mirror and into Wario's painting. Luigi defeats Chief Chilly, who turns over the key for the powerful Wario. After collecting a certain amount of stars Mario is allowed up to the top of the castle to defeat Bowser for the last time. Once he is defeated, peace is restored to the castle once more and Peach is rescued.

Characters

''Super Mario 64 DS'' features Mario, Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario. Each character has unique abilities and move sets. Yoshi can swallow enemies and turn them into eggs. He can also perform a flutter kick which allows him to gain extra height while jumping. Mario can perform the famous wall kick and so reach places which others cannot; he is also the only character who can confront Bowser in the final stage. Luigi has strong jumping abilities, such the scuttle jump which allows him to fall slower than normal, and the special back flip which makes him spin around, allowing him to traverse certain gaps. He can also run on water for a short time. Wario's strength allows him to break large blocks that others cannot. There is also a Power Flower, the effect of which depends on the character that uses it, and a Feather which can only be used by Mario. (In the multi-player mode, all can use it).

★ 'Mario Power Flower': Makes Mario like a balloon so he can float up to places he originally couldn't get to.

★ 'Luigi Power Flower': Makes Luigi invisible and transparent so he can avoid enemies and run through cages.

★ 'Wario Power Flower': Makes Wario into a metal man so he is stronger and can walk underwater.

★ 'Yoshi Power Flower': Makes Yoshi breathe fire to melt ice and defeat enemies.
Despite rumors regarding him, Waluigi is not in the game in any way, shape, or form.

Gameplay

Power Stars

The goal of ''Super Mario 64 DS'' is to collect Power Stars hidden throughout the various worlds within the castle, in order to reach Bowser. The game has a total of 150 Power Stars to collect, 30 more than in ''Super Mario 64''. If a player collects 150 stars, Bowser says a secret message when he is defeated for the final time, and a cannon will be opened in the front of the castle. The player can use the cannon that is opened to launch a character to the top of Peach's castle. If Luigi is used, a green rabbit can be found which will unlock one of Luigi's minigames.

Power-Ups

Power-ups in this game are in the form of special hats. Mario, Luigi, and Wario all have unique hats that are available in some levels. Wearing another character's hat will change the character into the corresponding character (although their voice stays the same). The hats fall off if the character is hit physically, but can be reacquired before disappearing. Hats are shown on the touch screen map. Yoshi comes with the ability to start a level wearing the hat of any of the unlocked characters. Luigi and Wario hats do not usually appear until the player unlocks that character. The Power Flowers are also a form of power-ups, giving Mario floating abilities, making Luigi invisible and transparent, making Wario made of metal to make him stronger, and Yoshi gains fire breathing abilities. Also available is a Mega Mushroom (which also reappears in ''New Super Mario Bros.''), which causes a player to grow to enormous size and plow through enemies. Mega Yoshi can punch and kick, which is impossible in his normal form.

Rabbits

At the beginning of the game, Yoshi cannot go into the castle as the doors are locked. A Lakitu then points out a rabbit hiding in the hedge maze outside of the castle. Catching this rabbit will give Yoshi the key to the castle. More rabbits are found throughout the palace. There are seven rabbits for each character to catch, and their color and location changes based on the character that is being used. When a rabbit is caught, a key is earned which unlocks a minigame. There are also eight rabbits which will provide the player with a Power Star when they are all caught.

Multiplayer

In the game's multiplayer mode, up to four people can participate in a capture-the-flag style game. Everyone runs around the level collecting stars and coins, and the player with the most stars at the end of the allotted time wins. All players start off as Yoshi (all four are different colours so each player can recognize his or her Yoshi), but Mario, Luigi, and Wario caps can be found in the stages, allowing players to switch. Only one game card is necessary for multiplayer matches; other players' DS units must download the necessary data. Also, it is possible for all four characters to fly in multiplayer mode.The colors of Yoshi are: green, red, blue and yellow.

Mini-games

One of the new features of ''Super Mario 64 DS'' are the mini-games. It offers nine mini-games for each character. These mini-games largely take advantage of the touch screen of the Nintendo DS. The player starts with eight mini-games in total (two for each character), and the rest are unlocked in the single player adventure by catching various rabbits. Each rabbit gives the player one key to the drawer in the castle's Rec Room, which allows one more mini-game to be played. The tune played when selecting a mini-game is the Grass Land tune from Super Mario Bros. 3. Some of these mini-games also appeared in ''New Super Mario Bros'', with some new games added.

Production and release

When the Nintendo DS was first revealed, ''Super Mario 64 DS'' was an early production demo. It was later confirmed as a Nintendo DS release game. In its early stages, the game was referred to as Super Mario 64x4. Early screenshots show all four characters playing at the same time, flying around with the wing cap.
Voice acting was used throughout the game. Charles Martinet returned as Mario, Luigi, and Wario, along with Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi, Leslie Swan as Princess Peach and Frank Welker as Bowser. Although Jen Taylor is in the credits for voicing Toad, her voice only appears in one of the minigames.
During June and July 2005, ''Super Mario 64 DS'' was included free with the purchase of an Electric Blue Nintendo DS system in North America. Many retailers also honored the deal with the original Titanium Nintendo DS.

Reception

Reviews were universally positive, and it quickly became one of the top-selling games for the Nintendo DS. However, there have been criticisms regarding the D-Pad and touch screen not being as easy to use as the N64's control stick, and Luigi's backflip move (which allows him to descend slowly while spinning like a helicopter, similar to the spring platform in New Super Mario Bros.) giving him an unfair advantage over the other characters and making some segments of the game too easy. Also, criticism has been leveled at the removal of some of the more challenging segments of the original game. The Star and Red Coin locations can be viewed on the map. Plus, many platforms have been added or removed, and as a result, the player's objectives become substantially easier.

Sales information

As of July 25, 2007, ''Super Mario 64 DS'' has sold 4.97 million copies worldwide.^[2]

Awards

★ IGN: Editors' Choice Award^[3]

Differences between Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS versions

★ The number of power stars needed to achieve certain goals, such as unlocking new levels and entering the final stage, is higher than in the original game. For example, the final stage now requires 80 stars, up from 70.

★ Every level now has seven named stars instead of six (in addition to an eighth star in each level for collecting 100 coins) and there are now 30 secret stars instead of 15. This gives a total of 150, 30 more than the Nintendo 64 version.

★ On obtaining all stars possible, the cannon in front of the castle is unlocked as before, but Yoshi was removed from the top of the castle as he is now a playable character. However, using the cannon to shoot Luigi on top of the castle allows the player to collect a green rabbit and unlock another mini-game.

★ Yoshi is now the starter character and must rescue Mario, the previous starter character, as well as Luigi and Wario. Mario, Luigi and Wario must also be unlocked in order to progress.

★ The menus and in-game visuals have undergone a major update with better graphics and a different layout.

★ The "It's me, Mario!" now appears after Mario's head appears at the title screen and the "Hello!" has been removed. Also, Yoshi appears on after Mario falls asleep, using the drawing function and returning, or doing a mini game.

★ Metal and vanishing caps are removed as each of the four characters recives a different power from the red box, Wario's replaced the metal box and Luigi's replaced the vanishing box. Mario's power-ups are the winged cap, redone as a feather and the other will transform him into a large balloon. Yoshi's powerup gives him the power to breathe fire for a short time.

References

1. Super Mario 64 DS
2. Nintendo Sales Update Matt Casamassina
3. IGN Editors' Choice Games

External links

★ Official website

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★ GameSpot review

★ GameFAQs profile

★ Super Mario 64 DS Nintendo of Korea page

★ Super Mario 64 DS iQue Page