Mario 64 DS
Released: November 21, 2004
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 , 2005, and in Europe on March 11 , 2005 as one of the launch titles for the Nintendo DS handheld game console . The game drove intitial success, selling 4.22 million copies, which makes it the sixth highest selling game for the DS. 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.
Princess Peach sends a letter to Mario, inviting him over for cake. Mario pops out of a warp pipe in front of the castle. Luigi and Wario soon pop out of their pipes too and tag along with Mario. After a little event they go running into the castle. Yoshi is seen on the roof of the castle sleeping with a big bubble on his nose. Later, somehow Yoshi ended in front of the castle still sleeping. Lakitu, the game's "cameraman", wakes Yoshi and tells him Mario is not back yet. Yoshi then finds the main doors locked. After getting the key from a rabbit, he learns that Bowser cast a spell upon the castle and has kidnapped not only Peach but Mario, Luigi, and Wario too! Yoshi then begins his unexpected journey to break the spell, collect power stars, and free his friends. (Note: Luigi and Wario are optional characters)
Characters
Super Mario 64 DS features Mario, Yoshi, Luigi and Wario as playable characters. 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 can't. Luigi has nice jump abilities, like the flutter jump which allows him to fall slower as normal and the special back flip which makes him spinning around passing certain gaps. He can also run on the water surface for a short time. Wario has no particular abilities but his strength allows him to break things that others can't. There is also a Power Flower, which effect depends on the character that uses it, and a Feather which can only be used by Mario.
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 don't usually appear until the player unlocks that character. The Power Flowers are also a form of power-ups. Each character has his own Power Flower ability, and a few of them are the same as in Super Mario 64. Mario can acquire the ability to blow up like a large balloon and float around level. With Mario, some of his power-up boxes contain feathers, which have the effect of the Wing Cap from the original game, transforming Mario into Airborne Mario and allowing him to fly. Mario can also turn into Balloon Mario (like in Super Mario World) and drift around. Luigi can become Invisible Luigi, which allows him to run through enemies, take no damage from enemy attacks, and run through certain walls (like Invisible Mario in the original game). Wario becomes Metal Wario and can destroy nearly all enemies simply by running into them and walk underwater without breathing (like Metal Mario in the original game). When Yoshi grabs a Power Flower, he can blast a scorching wave of fire. Also available is a Mega Mushroom, 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 silver 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 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 (all four are different colours so each player can recognise 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.
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. Some mini-games have the same way to play but have different game play. Some mini-games also appeared in New Super Mario Bros.
