Mario 64 DS

[OB1]

The game looks crazy enough to buy again! Well, as long as the controls don't suck...

[Great Rumbler]

The textures aren't too great, but the polygon count looks fairly high. Enough of that, though. That game looks crazy! I thought that it was just going to be a remake of Mario 64 with a few extra modes, but it looks like it'll be more than that.

[OB1]

More crazy screens (well most of them... I re-posted some of them):







The problem with the DS is that there is no texture filtering, so even though the poly count is better than the N64 games don't look quite as good (so far).

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, they're pixelated, which I don't particularly like, but the graphics are still pretty good. *wants Mario 64 DS now*

[OB1]

*wants a burrito now*

[Great Rumbler]

*still waiting for a slice of strawberry cheesecake*

[OB1]

*arthur runs away with burrito and strawberry cheesecake*

That bastard!

[OB1]

Ok I've seen the video and the lack of texture filtering looks really bad in that very first area (with the bricks), but the rest of the video looks fine. So it shouldn't be a big deal. I guess I was just hoping for better-than-N64 graphics with the DS.

Anyhow, the game sounds awesome. You actually start out as Yoshi and get to play as Mario, Luigi, and Wario via limited powerups.

October 07, 2004 - One of the very first titles Nintendo revealed for the Nintendo DS platform back at the Electronic Entertainment Expo was Super Mario 64 x4, a multiplayer conversion of one of the most successful 3D platformers ever made.

The game has officially received a namechange to Super Mario 64 DS, dropping the x4 from the title that represented the four player mode. But that doesn't mean the game won't have multiplayer connectivity...in fact, that's one of the game's main focus.
But the big deal is the enhancement of the single player adventure. Yes, it's a conversion of the original Nintendo 64 game. But there have been some modifications to the gameplay to incorporate all four different characters into the single player mode. Not only is Mario playable here, but so is Luigi, Yoshi, and Wario...and each character has his own strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. Yoshi, for example, can eat enemies and turn them into throwable eggs. Wario can break objects that no other character can. And Luigi can jump the highest out of the quartet, which will come in handy to reach those hard-to-leap areas. It will be important to switch between the characters to collect all 150 stars.

That's right, the game now has 30 more stars to earn than the original Nintendo 64 game. The Nintendo DS version will also feature several minigame challenges that utilize the touch sensitive screen.

Of course, the big addition is the four player battle mode, and just as it was announced back at E3, this battle mode will only require one copy of the game for all four players.

We'll have more on the game later today at Nintendo's Gamers Summit.

-- Craig Harris

Control still sounds iffy, but I'm excited!

[Great Rumbler]

I'm excited about this too, Super Mario 64 was great fun and if they can re-create this and do more then I'm all for it.

[OB1]

Miyamoto isn't happy with us...

[Great Rumbler]

:shiggy2:

[OB1]

He pwned us!

[A Black Falcon]

Textures? The complaints center around there being no analog stick more than textures, I think... :)

[Great Rumbler]

How games like Mario 64 DS is control is one of the main things we really need to hear more about, since bad controls could really hurt it.

[OB1]

Most people who've played it said that the controls aren't too bad, especially since the camera is so much better than it was in M64.

[Great Rumbler]

That's good to hear.

[A Black Falcon]

The main question is variable speed... without analog, how do you change your speed? Is there a run/walk toggle key or something?

[Sacred Jellybean]

Most people who've played it said that the controls aren't too bad, especially since the camera is so much better than it was in M64.

That's very good to hear. Mario 64 is one of my favorite games of all time, so I don't want to see it get butchered. The fact that there's new levels is the best part of all this... woo-hoo!

[big guy]

the textures remind me of PSX textures. kinda pixelated, kinda jerky, but preferred by more people than the N64 textures.

[Great Rumbler]

Ironically, yes, although most that said that were PSX fans, so you've got to wonder a bit. Jaggies and pixelation vs. blurryness and less detail, ah, brings back fond memories.

[Sacred Jellybean]

I wish they didn't look so jaggy. :(

[Great Rumbler]

Actually, it's not really that jaggy...just horribly pixelated.

[Undertow]

Couldn't they just of totally revamped the old game with an updated graphics engine? Maybe use Mario Sunshine's graphics, at least? It makes more sense than just porting the old one and giving it a heavily pixelated look.

:graphics:

[Great Rumbler]

Considering that the DS isn't a powerhouse like the PSP, this is probably about the best they can do at this point.

[A Black Falcon]

http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/dssupe...10123.html

Some more details on the minigames (there are 36).

[OB1]

I actually don't care too much about the pixelated textures, as the blurry N64 ones weren't all that much better. My main beef is with the horribly distracting (at least in the official Nintendo videos) shimmering problem in all of the games.