It’s certainly a great way to get to grips with your console, and there won’t be very many people who actively dislike anyhting about the game. Those who have had their fill of the N64 original will understandably be more apathetic. It’s a meat and two veg game, and those who have already scoffed down 100% of Mario 64 may have subsequently become vegetarian. So all that’s left on the plate for them is some rather over-cooked, anaemic and uninspiring multi-player potatoes; but also a fantastically inventive ratatouille of assorted bite-size vegetable mini-games. And at this early stage, every DS owner is hungry for something… whatever it might be. For those still trying to decide if a DS is a suitable option for them, however, Super Mario 64 DS might not be the vote-swinger it could, or should, have been.
SPOnG Rating A -
[i]In itself, it is a fantastic package that includes a re-make of one of the greatest games of all time, and it does a good job of introducing the player to the new system. There is, however, a general sentiment of “Oh, so that’s it then…” which will unfortunately detract from the game’s overall impact at launch. The quality, innovative nature and appeal of the mini-games, on the other hand, proves that the DS is heading out with its eye on the right path. SPOnG just wants to see what’s coming next.[/i]
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Comments
SPInGSPOnG 4 Dec 2004 08:54
1/3
Dudes, all the way through reading this review, I was thinking that you were assuming too much that every potential player of Mario DS had played Mario 64 on a N64.
Then on the last page, you alluded to the fact that this was not the case, and I thought everything was OK.
But then you went on to summarise with the same assumption at the forefront of your minds. But the fact is that the video games market is MUCH bigger now than it was six years ago (or whenever M64 came out).
Outside of hardcore gamers, the target audience for Mario games is kids who have now grown up, and been replaced by a whole new selection of kids who were babies and infants when the first game came out.
Plus you have a whole generation of grown up gamers for whom the N64 looked like a hideous plastic lump of crap made for kids, but for whom the DS will look like... damn.. a hideous plastic lump of crap made for kids.
WHY couldn't Nintendo have made the N64 look as good as the GBA-SP?
Then on the last page, you alluded to the fact that this was not the case, and I thought everything was OK.
But then you went on to summarise with the same assumption at the forefront of your minds. But the fact is that the video games market is MUCH bigger now than it was six years ago (or whenever M64 came out).
Outside of hardcore gamers, the target audience for Mario games is kids who have now grown up, and been replaced by a whole new selection of kids who were babies and infants when the first game came out.
Plus you have a whole generation of grown up gamers for whom the N64 looked like a hideous plastic lump of crap made for kids, but for whom the DS will look like... damn.. a hideous plastic lump of crap made for kids.
WHY couldn't Nintendo have made the N64 look as good as the GBA-SP?
Jayenkai 5 Dec 2004 00:11
2/3
Yup..
Other than the odd 5 minute emulator session I've never played Mario 64. Sad, pathetic, but true..
So, I don't care if it's the same game. Can't wait..
Other than the odd 5 minute emulator session I've never played Mario 64. Sad, pathetic, but true..
So, I don't care if it's the same game. Can't wait..
Beziercurve 10 Dec 2004 15:54
3/3
Having played the game I can agree with the lack of honeymoon - It's been a few years since I completed Mario 64, and I was looking forward to trying it out on the DS, but to be honest after a few moments it all came flooding back, and I'm not sure It'll hold my attention all the way to the end again.
Having said that though, it's still an acheivement for a handheld, and the mini games are a chuckle...
Having said that though, it's still an acheivement for a handheld, and the mini games are a chuckle...
