Publisher: Nintendo
Ages:
five and up.
Family
Rating:
Parental
Advisory:
None
To kick off a brand new portable gaming platform, the Nintendo DS (Daytrum Review), Nintendo took no chances and unveiled an accompanying Mario game. Of course, Super Mario was a huge hit back in the Nintendo 64 days, and its resurrection, Super Mario 64 DS, is far more than a remake. The game takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's dual screens, touch screen and wireless multi-player capabilities to update its adventure experience. It's a great title for an excellent new gaming platform.
Players become Mario, Yoshi, Luigi and Wario, each with unique abilities, to locate Princess Peach and search for some 150 Power Stars that are hidden in a castle. Each of the main characters has different jumping capabilities, as well as moves. Yoshi eats enemies and turns them into throwing eggs; Mario punches, kicks and jumps over walls; Wario breaks blocks and Luigi jumps higher than anyone else. In addition, Power Flowers give characters powers such as invisibility, fire breath or levitation.
Those who knew and loved the original game will find this version familiar, but better. One huge difference, the game takes advantage of the DS's dual-screens to display the action in the top screen, and show a top-down navigation screen on the bottom.
In addition to the main adventure, the game features fantastic mini-games that make clever use of the DS' dual screens and touch display. The two displays often serve as a single vertical display that allows characters to move from one to the other. And the touch display offers some innovative new games. For example, in one mini-game, players draw lines that become trampolines that prevent characters from falling.
Up to four DS devices may be connected wirelessly so four can play head-to-head with only a single copy of the game. This is impressive capability that encourages gamers to play together without having to buy multiple copies of the title. The game looks great--even better than it did on original Nintendo 64 console (of course, the DS has a smaller screen than that on a television). The game is only mildly violent with the usual jumping and bloodless fighting.
Super Mario 64 DS rises far above a mere port of the original Nintendo 64 game. On the Nintendo DS, Mario thrives with new worlds, characters, moves, mini-games and multi-player activities. DS players and Nintendo fans will definitely want this one.
1/7/05 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
