Super Mario 64 DS

Super Mario 64 DS
Super Mario 64 DS box art Super Mario 64 DS box art
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release	November 21, 2004 December 2, 2004 February 24, 2005 11 March, 2005 29 June, 2006
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Super Mario 64 DS is an enhanced remake of the 1996 video game Super Mario 64. It was one of the launch titles for the Nintendo DS. This remake features various new characters, levels, modes of play and minigames, much of which takes advantage of the features of the DS system. Certain graphical elements were also updated, most noticeably the character models, which have a higher polygon count and are therefore more detailed; the characters more closely resemble their respective high-detail renders used in promotional material. However, because the DS does not support texture filtering, the graphics look rather pixelated from up close.

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.

Gameplay

File:Mario64dscourtyardlwm.jpg

Wario, Mario, and Luigi stand in the courtyard outside of the castle (beta screenshot).

New stars/courses

There are 150 Power Stars in the game — an addition of thirty from the original (although seven of the original stars have been removed, resulting in 37 unique stars). Each of the fifteen main courses from the original game now has eight stars to be obtained (including the stars the player receives if they collect 100 coins in that course), and there are now thirty castle secret stars, up from the original's fifteen. However, unlike the original, the player now needs to collect 80 Power Stars to unlock the last Bowser level, compared to the original's 70.

Secret stars

There are 30 secret stars that can be found in the castle. They come from a variety of sources, including speaking with Toads, entering paintings that lead to small extra courses, and small worlds that lead to fights with Bowser. There are also some stars hidden in the castle.

Caps

Mario, Luigi, and Wario Hats are available in some levels. By wearing a character's hat, a character can transform into the character whose hat they are wearing (their physical appearance changes, but their voice doesn't). The hats fall off if the character gets 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 don't usually appear until the player unlocks that character.

Characters (except Yoshi) cannot wear a hat if they are lacking their own.

Types of new Power Stars

Switch Star - Upon pressing a star-shaped switch, a Power Star appears in a glass sphere somewhere in the level. The player must run to the star before the timer expires. Switch Stars are featured in Courses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 15, the Goomboss battle, all three Bowser levels, and The Secret Under the Moat.

5 Silver Stars - The player must collect five Silver Stars scattered around the level for a Power Star to appear. Each time the player is hit by an enemy, he/she loses one silver star and must recollect it. Silver stars are featured in Courses 1, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 14, as well as Sunshine Isles and Battle Fort.

The only course that does not have either of the new types of stars is course 12, and courses 8 and 14 are the only ones which have both.

There is a glitch in the European version of the game concerning the Silver Stars in Snowman's Land. If the player enters and exits the igloo, the stars will re-appear, even after he or she has all 5. Collecting a sixth one will freeze everything except the player.

The rabbits

Talking to the Toad in the Rec Room unlocks the rabbits. These hold keys which unlock minigames for single-player use outside of the game. They are hidden in all areas of Princess Peach's castle. They can also be found in the castle's courtyard and the main outside area, but are never within levels and paintings themselves. If the player captures a rabbit with any character, they will earn the key they have, unlocking a minigame. Rabbits can be captured by Yoshi's tongue or by picking them up by attempting to punch, dashing at them, or other attacks with the other characters. Although the rabbits flee when the player approach them in the game, each rabbit will stay in a specific area and will not leave said area, which has led to certain glitches, one of which allows the player to reach the second Bowser stage with as few as one star with Yoshi, bypassing Dire, Dire Docks, originally a feat which required a minimum of 31 stars.

There are seven rabbits for each character to catch, and the color and location of rabbits changes, based on the character that is currently being played. When Mario is being played, the rabbits are purple, when Luigi is played, the rabbits are green. Wario will see brown rabbits, and Yoshi will see yellow rabbits. These colors are based off the characters themselves, but Yoshi is both green and red, so he has another normal color remaining.

Any time after unlocking the rabbits, occasionally a sparkling white one appears. These only replace rabbits which the player has already caught in that file, and the chances of seeing them seems to increase with more stars. Once the rabbit is caught, they will not give a key as with other rabbits, but they will give the player a speech and a number out of eight. The number indicates the amount of sparkling rabbits that have been caught so far. When that total reaches 8, the player is given the key to unlock the white door in the character select room, which will contain a star, necessary when playing to gain all 150. Attempts to visit that room afterwards lead to ghost sounds and the character exiting the room without any effect. There are rumours that a certain amount of stars are needed to first activate the glowing rabbits (normally 50 or 80 is the rumour), or having to collect every normal rabbit(except for Luigi's on the roof), but these are entirely false.

Template:Spoiler-about If a player collects 150 stars, 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. Template:Endspoiler

Minigames

One of the new features of Super Mario 64 DS are the minigames. It offers nine minigames for each character, adding up to 36 minigames. These minigames largely take advantage of the touch screen of the Nintendo DS. The player starts with eight minigames, and the rest are unlocked in the single player adventure by catching various rabbits, similar to the rabbit MIPS in the original game (the one the player needed to chase around in the castle basement). Each rabbit gives the player one key to the drawer in Princess Peach's rec room, which allows one more minigame to be played. Some minigames have the same way to play but have different gameplay. Most of the minigames have been put on to New Super Mario Bros for the DS with some new additions.

Multiplayer

In Mario's multiplayer mode, up to four people can participate in a capture-the-flag style game. Everyone drives 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 (player one is green, player two is red, player three is blue, player four is yellow), but Mario, Luigi, and Wario caps can be found in the stages, allowing players to switch. Only one Super Mario 64 DS card is necessary for multiplayer matches; other players' DS units must download the necessary data. Also, all four characters can fly in multiplayer mode, while in adventure mode, only Mario can fly.

Story

Template:Spoiler Super Mario 64 DS begins when Mario receives an invitation to eat a cake at Princess Peach's castle, with Luigi and Wario tagging along. Yoshi is sleeping on the castle as they enter, and awakes later on to realize they still have not left. He uses a key acquired from MIPS the rabbit, and enters the castle. Once inside, however, Yoshi discovers that Bowser has taken over, and has kidnapped Mario, Luigi, Wario, Princess Peach and all of the Toads in the castle. Mario and friends must defeat King Bowser and release Princess Peach from captivity by obtaining Power Stars scattered throughout the different levels, along with secret stars that Bowser himself was unaware of. Template:Endspoiler

Characters

Super Mario 64 DS features Mario, Yoshi, Luigi and Wario as playable characters. Each character has unique abilities and move sets. A box containing a flower has different effects on different characters; Yoshi breathes flames which scorch enemies and melt ice; Mario inflates into a balloon and floats as in Super Mario World; Luigi vanishes allowing him to pass by enemies and through some obstacles, as the Vanish Cap allowed Mario to do in the original Super Mario 64; Wario transforms into metal, making him invulnerable to water, lava, and strong winds, as the Metal Cap allowed Mario to do in the original Super Mario 64. A summary of the unique character abilities is as follows:

Character	Unlocked At	Power Flower Effect	Exclusive Move(s)	Exclusive Stars
Mario	Goomboss Battle	P-balloon	Wallkick, Feather,	18
Luigi	King Boo Battle	Vanish Cap	Scuttle jump, Spin backflip, Run on water briefly.	15
Yoshi	Have at Beginning	Fire breath	Swallow enemies, Spit enemies, Toss eggs, Flutter jump, Can swallow fire and exhale it on objects and enemies. Can start a level wearing any unlocked character's hat.	2
Wario	Chief Chilly Challenge	Metal Cap	Smash black bricks/other heavy objects. Can Swing and Fling, as well as Piledrive other players in VS. mode.	13

Being Bundled

During June and July of 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" DS ^[1].

Waluigi rumors the "black box and the secret level"

Just as Luigi was rumored (but never found) to be in Super Mario 64, similar rumors about Waluigi have been spread about in Super Mario 64 DS. A source behind a number of rumors is a black box (or possibly a small aperture) visible on the castle wall on the adventure select screen, but these rumors are false. The black box does exist in the game but it is in the pool of water near the waterfall. As for Waluigi he is not in the box because even if Metal Wario groundpounds into the box nothing happens. A new rumor about where Waluigi is has involved the secret level. The secret level can be accessed in the Castles in the Sky level and you can warp to the secret level by longjumping into a flower patch. This sends you to another part of the level with a box. Hit the box and you will be sent to the secret level. Once in the secret level you will see a blue star which indicates you need to collect red coins. Since you already have 150 stars, this red coin star may(or may not) allow you to unlock Waluigi, but it has yet to be proved.

There is a video of a secret course in the game [2]. It seems that the "secret level" is no more then a beta test room that can only be played in by using Action Replay or Gameshark.

Reviews

Reviews were almost universally positive, and it quickly became one of the DS' top-selling games. However, there has been plenty of criticism as well, such as the absence of a reward for collecting all 150 Stars, the D-Pad is not as good as the control stick, and the Wing, Vanish, and Metal caps were replaced by Power Flowers and Feathers.

Awards

• IGN: Editors' Choice Award

Voices

Mario, Luigi, and Wario: Charles Martinet

Yoshi: Kazumi Totaka

Princess "Peach" Toadstool: Leslie Swan

Many credit Jen Taylor as the voice actor of Toad. However, the voice of Toad only appears in one mini-game, Bob-omb Squad.

References

1. ^ "Electric Blue Nintendo DS Bundle Sparks Sales", Nintendo.com, July 1 2005.

External links

• Super Mario 64 DS official site
• Super Mario 64 DS at MobyGames
• StrategyWiki's SM64 DS wiki guide (previously hosted by Wikibooks)
• GameSpot review of SM64DS
• GameFAQs profile
• Super Mario 64 at IMDb