Secondly, you can also use stylus controls via the DS touch screen which also personally felt awkward, neither option is that great but the directional buttons were the lesser of the faulty control options. This DS version suffers from the trade-off that inhibits the system, with the lack of a joystick, the game can now be played in one of two ways, for starters you can now move using the directional buttons which honestly never feels right. The original Nintendo 64 game lived off its joystick control which (while I still found that setup to be fiddly at times) was overall a decent system, the joystick still made running around these 3D settings enjoyable.

The question that will likely be on peoples mind will be, how does this game control? And the answer is poorly most of the time. The changes are only small to this forgettable tale but are appreciated and don’t feel forced at any point. To change the story, this then puts you in the shoes of Yoshi who must now head into the castle to rescue Mario, Luigi and Wario, as well as help get back the power stars that Bowser has stolen. For a reason I never found in the game to explain, Wario and Luigi tag along but soon disappear along with Mario. We all know the story of Super Mario 64 by this point, or do we? Although different, this DS version does change up the story in a refreshing way, Peach calls Mario to her castle for cake and he shows up to discover things are not quite right, however he is not alone. Super Mario 64 DS feels like a retelling of the classic tale striving to do more and offer a somewhat original journey. So where does this leave the remake? Surprisingly, this remake does turn out really well featuring many changes and improvements, but it never felt like the original which is fine because it never tries to. This game showed just how great you could make a Mario game in the 3D space and was loved by many as one of the earliest 2D to 3D transitions, the original is a remarkable game that can never be overshadowed. To this day Super Mario 64 is still widely considered to be one of Mario’s greatest adventures, as well as the 3D adventure that other Mario games try to beat.

The only thing is the big concerns that stem from this remake, the biggest of course being how would a 3D game of such depth as Super Mario 64 work on a handheld system such as the DS? The short answer before we go much further is that it doesn’t, the game suffers from numerous control issues that are often quite frustrating but makes up for this shortcoming with other advantages. A remake of Super Mario 64 was something we never wanted, yet Nintendo brought it back, and to be honest, I could not be happier.

Nintendo 64 super mario 64 3ds