All right, let's get this out of the way: This DS remake of the Nintendo 64 classic to end all classics really butchers its controls. It was a clever idea to use the touchscreen for analog movement, but it's bizarre to play a version of Super Mario 64... the game that showed the world how 3D character movement should feel... that makes movement so gosh-darn unpleasant. I gave up trying back in 2005.

But it's 2020, and in the short list of things going right this year is that no one's taking away our 3DS family of consoles, which have circle pads. Playing today on my New Nintendo 2DS XL, movement still didn't feel great, but after about thirty stars I stopped noticing. And that's when I started appreciating everything this remake does right.

The game's visuals are a tremendous upgrade. The additional stars are really fun and don't feel out of place. Starting the game with Yoshi was an odd choice, but ultimately the extra characters add more variety and depth to the adventure. Overall, this is probably the grandest portable 3-D Mario adventure until Super Mario Odyssey arrived almost a decade and a half later, and that's truly impressive.

Most games would not deserve the time I put into accepting this game's controls. But most games are not Super Mario 64, and certainly not a portable version of Super Mario 64 that feels definitive in almost every other respect. In the end, the fun I had far outweighed the frustration.

The last Mario game in the DS section of my retrospective just so happens to be a launch title for the system. I thought I'd save it for last since it is a remake of one of the most important games ever made.

Anyway, Super Mario 64 DS is a Mario game that always alluded me because I never got to own a DS as a kid because my parents thought it was the same thing as an iPad. That being said, Super Mario 64 DS was a HUGE deal when it was released, and well... In 2023 I don't see many people playing it

This was a full-on Remake of Super Mario 64 that could be played on the go, added mini-games, 30 extra stars, new levels, and 3 new characters... So you would think this would be the definitive version to play it... But it's not and after playing it I can see why.

This game is the same exact story as the original, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and steals the Power Stars, and Mario must collect them. However, you don't start as Mario... You start as one of the 3 new characters to play as... Yoshi. The further you go the more characters you unlock

Yoshi - Can eat and use eggs as weapons, melt ice with fire, and has a flutter jump

Mario - The same as the last game except now he can turn into a balloon and float

Luigi - Can't wall jump but has the highest jump, can turn invisible, and even walk on water

Wario - Can break black bricks and turn into metal.

I think the new characters are cool and all but if you've played the original you will find yourself sticking with Mario for the most part

My main issue with this game is the controls... It just doesn't work with the DS and makes moves that were effortless in the original... Sometimes feel impossible. I got all 150 Stars and towards the end I was just done with it

I feel like the reason why not many people play this game is that it is just too radically different from the original... Why do you think people still speedrun the original? Because that game has been studied and experimented with forever. When you add 3 new characters, 30 new stars, remove the BLJ, and everything else that makes Super Mario 64 what it is, you lose a lot of longevity... Is Super Mario 64 DS a bad game? No, but if I ever wanted to play Super Mario 64... I'd just play the original

Would Lightly Recommend

3/5