![]() ![]() Sadly, the quality control isn’t all it should be. Whether you’re sorting bob-ombs onto different-coloured mats, playing shove-ha’penny with shells, or firing catapults at invading parachutists, you’ll find the best of these to be enormously addictive as well as an excellent demonstration of what can be achieved with a stylus and a little imagination. These are clearly designed to show off the system’s new abilities, and for the most part they’re a creative bunch. Mario 64 DS also includes a number of mini-games, 36 in total, unlocked by catching rabbits in the main game with each of the four characters. When the multiple character system really works – for instance, when you need to switch back and forth several times in the course of a single level – it adds a lot to the game, but these instances are few and far between and for the most part the new system is little more than a gimmick. Much the same goes for Luigi’s invisibility and Wario’s metallic coating, both straight swaps for the blue and green switch puzzles from the original game, which have now been removed. Yoshi’s ability to swallow enemies and fire eggs, for instance, is barely touched upon apart from one new boss battle early in the game, and thereafter you’ll mostly use Yoshi only when his longer flutter jump is required (which also makes some sections of the game substantially easier). Fully 90% of the game can still be played through as Mario, and very few of the puzzles make much use of his sidekicks’ new abilities. Although it’s a nice novelty and adds variety to the game, it’s not quite the innovation that might have been expected. Each character has specific abilities and, once unlocked, the player can switch between the four to solve specific puzzles and open new areas. Meanwhile, Mario has been joined in his quest by Yoshi, Luigi and Wario. NOW READ: TODAY'S COIN MASTER FREE SPINS HAVE ARRIVED - FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE HERE! The revamped controls take some getting used to, but with a choice of D-Pad, stylus or thumbstrap control – or a combination of all three – and the bottom screen doubling as an analogue touchpad, most gamers will find something that suits them and, with practice, may even be able to match the control they had in the original. Later treats, such as Wet-Dry World with its changeable water level, and Tiny-Huge Island, almost two levels in one, reach heights of creativity that have rarely been seen since. ![]() While rival games have all too often descended into dull collectathons (Rare, we’re looking at you), Mario 64 has the player throwing giant bombs off mountains, racing penguins down slides, fighting ghosts in haunted houses, and reassembling separated snowmen. The graphics, on the relatively tiny screen of the DS, look almost as good as they did on a big TV all those years ago, and the variety of tasks in the game still has the power to surprise. There’s still something magical about Mario’s tree-climbing, shell-riding, cannon-firing, slip-sliding adventure that no other game has really managed to capture. Even after all this time, it’s a fresh and vibrant experience, more satisfying and more open-ended than almost any 3D platformer that’s followed it (including, sadly, its own sequel). Of course, if you’re going to do a rehash, you can’t get a much better starting point than Mario 64. All things considered, it’s not the greatest of starts. So what do we get? A re-release of an eight-year-old title, with added mini-games. It needs Nintendo to lead the way, to show the world how to use its innovations, to propel the DS into the hands of eager gamers with gameplay experiences the like of which they’ve never seen. The DS, therefore, stands or falls on the strength of its games. Launched virtually head-to-head with Sony’s PSP, it clearly lacks its competitor’s technical grunt and chav-friendly stylings. Yet here’s the DS, a white elephant of a console if ever there was one, a bold experiment that no-one yet really knows what to do with. Having been comprehensively trounced at retail by both the PS1 and the PS2 – despite having, in both cases, a technically superior offering, arguably better games and, in the latter case at least, a far cheaper product – it seems inconceivable that they haven’t learned their lesson. You can launch a console – or, in this case, a handheld – at any price point and with all the promises you like, but if you don’t walk the walk and talk the talk, then you’re destined for trouble. In the end, it all comes down to confidence. ![]()
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