Super Mario 64 DS is a great remake of the original, but there are things that make the original better. So let's start out with the bad stuff. The controls are kind of clunky, it's a bit weird using the Touch Screen as an analog stick, oh, and in order to get to play as all the characters, you have to unlock them (EVEN MARIO!!!), and then the graphics, even though they're better overall than the original, slightly, and they look great...from a distance. Up close all you see is just a bunch of pixel squares. My final complaint about this game is probably the big one that REALLY makes the original better. It's the difficulty. Since this game features Yoshi, Mario, Luigi, and even Wario, the game's a lot easier, and not just the characters, the power-ups they have.
So in the original, Mario has three power-ups, the Wing cap, the Metal cap, and the Vanish cap. All of those have returned, but first of all there are no caps, this time it's a flower which kind of sucks, and they're split up with the other characters along with some new ones. So Mario has the wing cap AND a new one which is the balloon which makes him float. He's the only character to have two power-ups, because nobody else can use the wing cap. The Wing cap is obtained by a feather...not a hat, and then the balloon is obtained by the flower. Mario is the balanced character, who can break bricks, he can jump quite good, and is pretty fast, and can also perform the wall kick. Luigi, who's power-up is the Vanish cap, which of course, is obtained by the flower, and can run through enemies and certain walls. Luigi has the best jumping skills, he can still break blocks, he's pretty fast, and his jump is fantastic. He can walk on water for a bit, too. Now Yoshi, has the other new power-up which is to breathe fire. Yoshi can't break bricks, but has very good jumping just like Luigi. Now Wario, who's power-up, you may have guessed is the Metal one. He gets the flower and turns into Metal Wario. Now, Wario is VERY slow and sucks at jumping, but can break blocks others can't. He's the strongest guy, and really shows that with his power-up. So as you can see, all the power-ups were split with the different characters.
Now I'll give you an example of one of the power-ups making it easier, in the original Mario 64, there was a level called Dire Dire Docks where in one of the tasks you had to go in the canon and aim it at this thorn pole thing you grab on and make Mario land on a platform to get a Star which is in a box. In this one, all you can do is just get the power-up and float there...even though there's 30 new stars, it's actually easier to get them, especially since this time there's a map on the Touch Screen which tells you where the star is located.
The game has some new levels, but not much. They're not those big levels where it has like the 7 star task thing, it's those ones with one or two "secret" stars.
Overall, this is a great remake of the original, but is not as good as the original. If you own a DS, there's no reason why you shouldn't have this game!
So in the original, Mario has three power-ups, the Wing cap, the Metal cap, and the Vanish cap. All of those have returned, but first of all there are no caps, this time it's a flower which kind of sucks, and they're split up with the other characters along with some new ones. So Mario has the wing cap AND a new one which is the balloon which makes him float. He's the only character to have two power-ups, because nobody else can use the wing cap. The Wing cap is obtained by a feather...not a hat, and then the balloon is obtained by the flower. Mario is the balanced character, who can break bricks, he can jump quite good, and is pretty fast, and can also perform the wall kick. Luigi, who's power-up is the Vanish cap, which of course, is obtained by the flower, and can run through enemies and certain walls. Luigi has the best jumping skills, he can still break blocks, he's pretty fast, and his jump is fantastic. He can walk on water for a bit, too. Now Yoshi, has the other new power-up which is to breathe fire. Yoshi can't break bricks, but has very good jumping just like Luigi. Now Wario, who's power-up, you may have guessed is the Metal one. He gets the flower and turns into Metal Wario. Now, Wario is VERY slow and sucks at jumping, but can break blocks others can't. He's the strongest guy, and really shows that with his power-up. So as you can see, all the power-ups were split with the different characters.
Now I'll give you an example of one of the power-ups making it easier, in the original Mario 64, there was a level called Dire Dire Docks where in one of the tasks you had to go in the canon and aim it at this thorn pole thing you grab on and make Mario land on a platform to get a Star which is in a box. In this one, all you can do is just get the power-up and float there...even though there's 30 new stars, it's actually easier to get them, especially since this time there's a map on the Touch Screen which tells you where the star is located.
The game has some new levels, but not much. They're not those big levels where it has like the 7 star task thing, it's those ones with one or two "secret" stars.
Overall, this is a great remake of the original, but is not as good as the original. If you own a DS, there's no reason why you shouldn't have this game!