I'm pretty sure the only reason mega mushrooms were added was because they were planning to make them a central mechanic in the upcoming New Super Mario Bros, and wanted to get the idea into players' heads early
I think they just wanted to see what it would be like to add a Super Mushroom into a 3D game, the same way they later put the Fire Flower into Mario Galaxy
@@KeanineMight of been a scrapped idea too like how Luigi was meant to be in 64 original as well a rideable Yoshi which also got scrapped till Sunshine
Underrated change to tall tall mountain was that they added an owl at the base of the mountain after you clear star 1. this means you don't have to repeatedly go up the mountain as much
Owls were also added to other stages, like Cool, Cool Mountain (near the mother penguin) and Snowman's Land (near the patch of ice at the base of the snowman). Didn't know about that second one for a long time.
It's worth noting that most if not all stages in the DS version have more coins than the original stages. This makes the 100 coin stars easier and quicker to nab which is particularly nice for stages like Dire Dire Docks where getting the 100 coin star can be a drag. I think the DS version also has a longer draw distance for its coins.
2:00 "In Mario 64, there was never a situation where I thought 'man, I wish I was huge right now'" Did he forget about the necessary Milk powerup required to get up that one ledge in Wet Dry World by making Mario huge?
After watching pannenkoek's video on all of the invisible walls in the original game, I have to say that that's probably the biggest improvement that the DS version's level design has over it, especially in Tick Tock Clock. At least, I assume the whole "ceilings and out of bounds leaking out of the ground and edges" thing was fixed in the DS version since it's basically a remake, not an emulation.
There are no invisible walls because there are no walls in the game. You can go out of bounds very easily but its better for regular play. SM64 was too strict with its out of bounds.
honestly, i always saw koopa the quick as the hat tutorial so maybe the king bob-omb refight should have just been cut, because Koopa the quick telling you directly you need to be mario is more obvious than figuring out why Yoshi can't do anything to king bob-omb for a few hours and then just giving up, Koopa the Quick directly incentivizes you to look for something Mario related which is more obvious to a kid i think
The Mario Vs. King Bob-omb fight in this game, as well as the original, is actually a tutorial for fighting Bowser. Since this was the first 3-D venture, it introduced grabbing Bowser by the tail as a weak point. King Bob-omb is the same, only slower and without the added challenge of the mines. So I understand why it wasn't cut.
Who the fuck would try to fight King Bob-Omb for a few hours as Yoshi instead of just trying something else after like one attempt 😂 Only very small children did this
@@ChunkSchuldinga unfortunately DS doesnt have any demos that play, so theres more of a reason to have a king bombomb refight that shows charaters with mustaches can pick up huge characters from behind.
I hate how awful Wario is in this game. In every one of his own games, Wario is a power trip and a total badass. In this game he's a complete and utter drag. Such a missed opportunity.
Here's the weird thing; Wario's jump height is actually the same as Mario's from the original game. Mario jumps higher in this version and is tied with Yoshi for jump height, although Yoshi edges out a bit with the Flutter Jump. Luigi has the highest jump height. Running speed wise, Yoshi and Luigi have the same running speed as Mario from the original game, while Wario runs the slowest, and Mario runs the fastest. I think Mario and Yoshi's running speeds got mixed up late in development.
I'd argue Dire Dire Docks was improved because of Luigis faster swim speed and backflip and Marios balloon powerup making the 8 red coin star easier and the level less tedious in general. Cool Cool Mountain has an Owl now as well as Snowmans Land in addition to a Wing Cap, which is great for quick traversal for 100 coins. Marios balloon powerup is also available in the first Bowser stage, which completely breaks it as you can just float to the top. I also like how the carpets are completely optional now in Rainbow Road (and it's easier to pull off thanks to how broken Luigi is) whereas in the N64 version you'd have to pull off carpetless
When I learned you can cheese Bowser in the Dark World with Balloon Mario, it was my main mode of traversal when I wanted to bother Bowser lol Eventually I tried for the additional stars in the stage
Honestly, I actually kinda like DS more than 64, mainly because it was my first experience of Super Mario 64. It wasn't until _many years later_ that I learned about the "controversy" with the control scheme... I just played DS with the D-pad and it felt entirely natural to me, as if the game had been _designed_ around it (and they certainly did make changes to the camera and stuff to make it feel that natural).
I just don't get why people always seem to completely write off DS's controls and feeling compared to the original. I agree that an analogue stick is much better but like you said the dpad works fine enough most the time (only big issue really being the Bowser fights); on a 3DS the two are quite similar. However, what is forgotten is how the original was one of the first 3D platforms of its time, and has a lot of weird jank in it's control sets that the DS version generally irons out (more death by a thousand paper cuts type problem) leading to both versions being rather similar overall.
@Dead_Metal in the bowser fights and when fighting the eyes, I just used the touch pad to move around, as well as literally any time I needed precise movement
I'll give you one better: for some platforming challenges, I actually think the 8 directional pad is actually *better* than the analog. It makes going through narrow platforms a lot easier.
I will be Mr. Unpopular and say that I outright did not enjoy Super Mario 64 on the N64, but the DS version I enjoyed a lot. And I have been around since the N64 version came out, didn't like it back thn either.
Surprised you didn't mention the new floor in Tick Tock Clock. I'd imagine that's probably an addition that splits the room a bit since some people like the ruthlessness of the original while others would thank the devs for their mercy.
Here's my instant fix to Wario. Instead of a bunch of black bricks everywhere, drop the frequency of coins back to the original and give him a passive ability to double the value of every coin collected. Because he has that whole thief connection to coins. This means he becomes the dedicated character to use for the 100 coin stars.
@@Schwarzorn That would also make him the designate combat unit since it would mean he can restore health easier (not that the game has remotely difficult combat).
@@Jotari I would instead keep most of the Black Bricks but remove the Mega Mushrooms, thus actually incentivizing the use of Wario to break those. There are a couple I would remove though, such as the one that blocks the entrance to the moat, because that one doesn’t make any sense.
@@Jotariin the flash game Super Mario 63, one chunk of health would only be restored by collecting 5 coins and breathing underwater had its own health meter. The combat in 64 DS would've been more interesting with this mechanic in place.
4:51 The point of the chest lowering the water is an implication as to the reason why the ship raises in all the later stars, and the three chests probably made a lot of kids fail the star since of the whole "shocks you when you hit a wrong chest" deal
I discovered it completely by chance myself. For some reason, I developed a peculiar habit while playing the original version of the game, where whenever I wound up under the Tox Box that reaches one end of its track with its 'safe' side down, I'd give it a punch.
7:35 Slight correction - both versions have the Red Coins be outside the Pyramid - with the original video having hidden yellow coins in roughly the same positions as the Silver Stars are in the DS version. 12:05 What timer are you exactly referring to? There was no timer in the original for Breathtaking View - the star was always sitting there, just without a black brick in the way. Minor corrections aside - the video does a decent job at illustrating the differences between the two versions stage design wise.
Doh, I meant to say Pyramid Puzzle swapped finding the secrets with finding Silver Stars I should've been clearer on that, there's a switch you can press to cause some blocks to appear in front of that star. I recognize you don't need that to actually get the star but I prefer the overall set up in the original
5:27 Idk why but this thought has me dying of laughter: If Yoshi could've carried the penguin, he should've been able use his mouth to hold the penguin... leading to the penguin struggling and moving around in Yoshi's mouth to try and get out 😭
The only notable difference in Wet-Dry World beyond the silver stars is that the Bob-omb Buddy is put in a MUCH more reasonable spot, meaning that you no longer need to ridiculously precise backflip or side-jump just to unlock the cannon in the level. You can also use Luigi’s OP backflip to completely bypass the snowman in Snowman’s Land. Plus, Yoshi could TECHNICALLY pick up and carry the baby penguin in Cool Cool Mountain provided you’re using one of the character caps. Although I can’t wrap my head around why the blue coin button is in a different spot in Jolly Rodger Bay, not that it really matters. All that aside, this is pretty nice👍 video.
one of my favorite things about Wario or a char using the Wario Cap is legit using the metal cap in lethal lava land and watching them sink down til they die, which's a pretty unique situation for 64 ds- it really makes you wonder if Mario 64's metal cap would've/could've had that same property if it were possible 🤔
This is the version of 64 I grew up with. I would love for them to remake it some time. maybe have the levels changed more drastically from the original 64 game to further build on the multiple characters maybe make all the characters fun to play as and remove the caps. then have all the different characters visit the same world but from different entries. making all the different characters give completely different experiences.
1:39 The Mushroom also gives you an extra life for everything you destroy past the 8th thing you did. The only time this gets use is the infinite lives glitch at the board in whomp’s fortress. Also the game has some ? boxes exclusive to certain characters. If you hit them with the wrong character (the one in WF as Mario) or without your hat on, instead of a power flower, a bob-omb will spawn, immediately chasing you with its fuse lit. It doesn’t produce a coin, sadly.
4:35 the trigger for getting Unagi to get out of the ship is not conveyed well at all in the original. You have to go up to the eel, then swim up about halfway to the surface, and then Unagi _teleports_ out of the ship. I assume the reason they did this is because they never made an animation for Unagi exiting the ship. Maybe they thought it'd look bad because of clipping? Either way, this is why they make you swim up towards the water's surface: the camera follows Mario and won't show the eel teleporting.
Agreed. I prefer both the sharp edges, with less details but strong and saturated colors of the original over the dry colors and high pixelated textures of the remake. The original feels less strenuous on the eyes and the low poly models emit their own charme
very much agreed, i find it super ugly. if i were to describe the aesthetic of 64, like how Galaxy is majestic and Sunshine is relaxing, i’d say 64 has a really dreamlike and kinda surreal atmosphere. so with that being said, the ugly-ass, realistic Minecraft texture pack styled grass does NOT fit 😭
I'm so glad people still talk about this game, the DS version will always be the best version to me. Even better on an emulator with a PS4/Xbox controller. I do a playthough every few weeks. Never gets old
The idea of using the Hats to "fake" the other characters bothers me more than it really should. I never lie to Koopa, I just go do other stages until I actually have Mario. Can't explain it.
Fun fact: you can finish watch for rolling rocks without the big mushroom, as Wario can break the rolling boulders via punching them from the side with some decent timing
Shifting Sand Land has a warp next to the palm tree that takes you to where the Star Switch is. This star is much, _much_ easier that way than using the cannon.
Thanks for this. The ds version is so different from the original, that it feels more like a sequel than a remake. It has its own ideas and which were limited by the ds, but I think later Mario games would benefit from taking these ideas and expand on them, like make an open world game out of it.
I feel like you should have mentioned how 64ds improves some of the 100 coins stars especially in the water levels. Also you can run faster with wario when holding a sign as wario. I can forgive them for removing the collect the caps star from the original version since they added a better version through the red coin mission in the mario stage.
My opinion is: Colour pallet: OG Overhaul Grafix: DS Controls: OG (and its not even close, but with a 3ds and a cpad patch ds plays almost the same) Content: DS Ost: OG (Theres something in the OG ost that makes it magical) Mechanics: DS (Luigi for the W)
Thank you for another SM64DS video, I like these a lot! Not sure if it's your thing, but maybe you could consider making a video on the controls and physics of DS, one that goes deeper than just the fact there's a D-Pad. Maybe a dive into how Nintendo overall translated this to the DS version and whether things could've been done better. Some examples. As for buttons and button mapping, the camera snapping with L is pretty good, but to rotate the camera you're obliged to use the touch screen which can be a bit annoying. There's a run button you basically need to hold the whole time. But was there enough room left to be more creative with this? As for physics, changing direction while jumping is verg stiff - you don't have much in-air control - and making a 180° turn while walking is troublesome too. There may be more things. Could that have been improved?
I'm glad you enjoy them! I'm probably going to cover other games for a little bit (although some of them are still Mario), but I do have other ideas with 64DS which could potentially be interesting. An entire video on Wario and how they could hypothetically improve him would be fun.
I think Tall Tall Mountain is better in DS, because the 100 coin star doesn't force you to take the slide anymore, and there is an hidden owl after the first star, so you don't need to climb all the way back up every time you get a star.
I think the reason why you don't have to take the slide anymore for the coin star is the fact that the slide's star itself is now completely caged off. If you were short coins after the slide in the 64 version, you could jump out and continue to collect. Not so in the DS version.
@@nuclearcommando9729 Here is the fucked up thing though. If the star spawns in the slide, and get out of the slide, the star won't be there anymore apparently.
There are some improvements, some things that make it worse, but ultimately I love the concept of the game as a semi-remake because there's so much throwback content to the original but also so much new to discover. When do you see games like this anymore - pretty much every remake/remaster you see today feels like it plays it very straight with very little new content (and if there is new content, it is usually segregated from the main game in some way)
If the Koopalings stayed in the story, whom would you place where? I'd love to imagine Morton and Roy being the end bosses in Bobomb Field to be a shocker to see two bosses to beat.Or Ludwig and Lemmy in place of the ice boss, using yodeling with Lemmy frantic random moving, to another fun shocker. Butttt we didn't get this.
Nice commentary, I agree with the majority of your takes about SM64DS but I still feel like I'd prefer it over the original. As you said, the minigames being a nice refresher between play sessions of the main game is such a nice convenience, and I'd even boot up the game just for the minigames sometimes. Great video, I hope to see more in the future 🙏
Hearing Wet Dry World be lambasted as a level that needed serious rework baffles me. It was always my favorite level, I thought the vertical construction, water level gimmick, and hidden underground city was really cool.
I know a lot of fans don't like the DS version primarily due to the controls, but I prefer it just because I find the N64's controls on a lot of games...cumbersome. Probably just because I didn't play that console till later in life after control schemes had been perfected on other systems.
So, you actually don't have to take the carpet up to the floating castle on Rainbow Ride at all now. It's well hidden but there's actually a warp that connects the very top of the maze (there's a 1-up block near it) to the floating castle's porch. In the original N64 game this warp's usefulness is limited to speedrunning (due to the infamous Carpetless strat) and to be able to leave the castle should you end up stranded there, but in SM64DS you have access to the P-Balloon ability which lets you float to the top of the castle easily, drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to complete both The Big House in the Sky and Switch Star of the Manor.
I like this video a lot, but I think it would have been better to show some more of the differences between 64 and 64 DS. You did explain most of them rather well, but not seeing the differences would likely mean this info will go in one ear and out the other for a lot of people.
Tick tock clock probably benefits the most from character select, if incidentally, since the base level was climbing the same path up, getting a star, getting kicked out, redoing it again until you find a slightly higher star anyways. Heck, even hobbling down a ledge as Wario feels like an exciting new experience.
5:29 even if you do somehow get down the mountain with yoshi, the mama penguin doesnt recognise you rescuing their baby, and will not give you the star
Small changes between the two that bugged me as a kid who’s first true game was Super Mario 64 was having your hat stolen. I loved as a kid having my hat stolen early in Shifting Sands to make the game harder (take more damage… also thought Mario looked cooler without his hat lol) if you lost your hat on Shifting Sands it wouldn’t appear on any other map but in DS it spawns on any map your hat could be lost on and/or the toad at the castle entrance would have it for you if you didn’t get it back in the level, also if you didn’t have your hat you couldn’t use your special ability instead you would get a bob-bomb from power up blocks. But either way to this day I love both games and have done multiple play throughs of both and would do it again today!
The floor layout of the DS igloo is a nearly exact copy of the wall layout in the N64 igloo, if you compare them side by side. It's such an odd and neat detail to keep when the area is so radically different to play.
It was exciting to find out you could combine two different power-ups. In previous games, they'd all been seperate. Fire Mario grabbing a Cape Feather wouldn't make Caped Fire Mario.
I've spent a good deal of time thinking about the history of Nintendo's design philosophy changes over the years. And they're more and more reaching the point of "If you don't play the game in the way we intend, you're playing it wrong." Part of what made SM64 so fun for me was that it had a larger possibility space for each star. There are lots of ways to do most of the things in the game. And if you weren't good enough for one thing, you could often do it in a different way. Everything I've seen about the DS version suggests that Nintendo was pushing more towards "There's one right way to play this game." It's not as pronounced as their later games, but you can definitely see some of it. Ceave covered this while talking about a challenge run he attempted for the recent Zelda game where you play as Zelda. It's a very interesting view on things, and I think explains some of the backtracking. And backtracking seems to be something Nintendo likes these days...
I think it did, for the most part...@6:35 One thing I didn't like about the DS version is that at the beginning of "Go on a ghost hunt" they don't have the Boo saying "Come on in here! Heh heh heh..." when you first enter the course... @6:52 On the other hand, Wario could use the exercise! @8:08 I didn't know Wario could hit the Tox Boxes!
You know, everyone brings up the waluigi door, which is the natural conclusion to come to... yet no one seems to talk about how peach has non-cutscene animations that went unused but can still be viewed. I'm not saying she ever was planned to be playable-- games have unused content all the time-- but it's still neat and could explain why her hair is tied up in the remake when she's not doing any activity that she'd normally tie her hair up for (i.e sports, driving, ect)
My opinion: Bob omb battlefield is too “in the middle” between bright and vibrant and dark and sad, its supposed to be a battlefield, so by making the grass darker in this version it makes sense lorewise, but just makes it look ugly. Whomps hardly changed at all, and the mega mushroom made this remake really cool. Same with jolly roger bay. They made the snow and ice “bluer” in cool cool mountain, which in my opinion, i like. They changed the fog of hazy maze cave from greenish-yellowish to purple, i feel like purple doesn’t really make sense for this map, almost all the enemies have that weird, gross colour, so to change it only here makes it just stand out too much. The grass on tiny-huge island is a dull undersaturated green, which should’ve been used instead of yellow for the grass in bob omb’s. There aren’t any other notable changes EXCEPT, they completely changed all the colours on tick tock clock to make it have the same colour scheme as the mario kart track.
Love Whomp's changes. It gives the level a bit more life and kinda makes going back to the old version or Throwback Galaxy a bit weird. Also I know its a completely new stage but the Goomboss stage is heavily underrated.
The Glowing Rabbits not appearing until you get 50 Stars makes sense. After all, they could replace any of the original rabbits around the castle, and you can't catch all the Original Rabbits until you get the 50 stars needed to enter that Star Door.
The "Glowing" Rabbits (or Sparkling Rabbis if we're being honest here) could've been replaced by Bowser's Koopalings much more exciting. I imagine that they could've done this by saying that Bowser is letting his Koopalings let loose on the castle grounds to keep Mario and friends busy.
I see some people talking about Wario so here is something: You know how Wario grabs things differently? If you spin around you will throw something like if you where throwing Bowser, this works in multiplayer aswell, chuckya is going to get a taste of his own medicine.
My opinions: Starting Area (Peach’s Castle - Front Yard): Nothing changed. Inside the Castle (Main): No, there are more rooms (although few), making it less realistic, not that the original was to begin with. Inside the Castle (Basement): Nothing changed. Inside the Castle (Upper Floors): Same issue as the main floor, though it would appear as it’s in a different dimension, so it may not be part of the physical castle. Otherwise, basically nothing is different. Courtyard: Yes In regards to the rabbits, I don’t really care too much. Bob-omb Battlefield: Not much changed, but it’s less glitchy so yes. Whomp’s Fortress: Yes, even with the infinite lives trick, which was patched on my cartridge. Cool Cool Mountain: Again, not much changed. Jolly Roger Bay: Yes, the eel looks less creepy. Big Boo’s Haunt: Not much changed, again. Shifting Sand Land: No, and it’s because nothing changed. It feels clunky trying to explore the outer area because of this. Lethal Lava Land: Yes, though it’s mainly just graphical changes. Hazy Maze Cave: I’m indifferent. On one hand, it’s much more pleasant to the eyes, but on the other hand, it’s another one that feels clunky to traverse. Dire Dire Docks: Hard yes, the 100 coin-star is FAR less brutal and doesn’t require cheese to be made easy. Tall Tall Mountain: Yes, it’s a very fun stage to traverse. It also has an alternative infinite lives trick. Tiny Huge Island: No, feels worse than the original. Klepto is an issue for me. Wiggler looks way better though. Wet Dry World: Not much changed, I didn’t notice anything at least. Snowman’s Land: No, it’s too easy. Tick Tock Clock: Hard to say, since both are pretty hard, and not too much changed. After watching the video, I guess so. Rainbow Ride: Nothing was improved. I’m literally that pug when asked “Did you eat a treat?” All of the Bowser stages have an extra challenge added to them, which improves the stage for sure. Some of the original secret areas went mostly unchanged, but I feel that they are better fitted for this control scheme (with the exception of Over the Rainbows.) The cap stages (except wing cap) have a pretty fun extra challenge though.
I think Mario 64 DS is straight up better, but they messed up the controls. I hope that someday we get a remake with the DS content, proper controls and modern graphics ! And who knows, maybe Warrio can be less unusable… and maybe we can get Waluigi !!
As a kid, I never liked Wet Dry World, because it didn't feel like a place. As you said, it felt more like a random assortment of assets rather than a space in the world.
Waluigi should have been at the top of the castle, and when you beat the game, you should have been able to ride around the Castle Grounds on Waluigi as if Waluigi was a Yoshi.
I feel like most of the dislike for the changes is from the backtracking with different characters which is pretty subjective personally I like going back to old levels and seeing what new stuff I can do with my new character its like playing sonic 3 as knuckles or going back to the first zelda dungeon after you get all the key items, it's just fun to see new stuff in levels you've already been in
Bob-omb battlefield looks less nice (although to be fair, maybe that's deliberate). Not much else to say. I agree that two Mario Cap Stars in a row is Not Fun, although I think my preferred solution would be to do away with the King Bob-Omb rematch in favor of something else. The green zone in Whomps' is a good idea, but the new shape of the cage feels like someone had a grudge against owlless. JRB Is A Stage That Exists. CCM's linear nature (combined with all the caps being at the end/bottom) makes doing certain stars (like grabbing the baby penguin) as Yoshi *incredibly* annoying. Boo's Big Booty Mansion almost hides the Luigi Portrait *too* well--I wish there was something hinting at it somewhere, especially since you've got no reason to suspect the Luigi Portrait is inside another painting (since both Mario and Wario are in the castle) LLL: LLL is surprisingly kind to Wario in general, since he makes the annoying process of fighting Big Bullies significantly easier. SSL: Holy crap I never knew Wario could own the Tox Boxes. Sweet. I notice you didn't list a benefit for *Yoshi* in SSL, though... HMC: There's basically two kinds of Switch Stars: "Wario-Only Switch Stars" and "Actually Interesting Switch Stars". There's way too many of the former. DDD: Yah, this is deffo worse. Somehow. Moat Secret: I think the intention is for you to unlock the stage with Wario, go to the character select room, switch characters, and then enter as Mario or Luigi (as opposed to entering as Wario), but that's aggressively not better. Behind the Waterfall: Honestly, I think that Mario's balloon powerup was a bad idea---there's a few fun uses for it (like cheesing the pyramid interior), but it's mostly used for incredibly brain-dead stars like this one. SL: I actually kinda like the changed Snowman's Land more--wrestling with the camera to navigate cramped spaces is not my idea of fun, even if the replacement stars are a little on the easy side. WDW: functionally unchanged, except that the characters differing jump behavior make certain combinations of character and starting water level hard to achieve. TTM: Eliminating the "invisible walls" glitch significantly improves TTM, imo. THI: did you notice that they did away with all of the "5 secrets" missions where the secrets weren't blindingly obvious? Good for Nintendo. TTC: Making TTC harder on a version of the game with objectively worse controls was an interesting decision. RR: Agreed. OTR: Man, that wario brick represents everything wrong with SM64DS. CG: GOD I hate the white rabbits. WAY too much work for a single star. a general problem that this game has is that it's imposed a bunch of weird and annoying restrictions on Yoshi to make other characters more necessary (he can't carry baby penguins in his mouth, he can't break orange bricks or kill boos with his ground pound, etc).
Every black brick feels like the devs panicked when they realized there’s no reason to use Wario lol
If only they made him play like Wario Land or Wario World Wario.
wario with a shoulder bash in 3D would go so hard
Yeah it’s pretty forced.
@@davidthecommenter Wario World exists
There's no reason to use any character but Yoshi tbh. You can pick the hat of the character you really want.
I'm pretty sure the only reason mega mushrooms were added was because they were planning to make them a central mechanic in the upcoming New Super Mario Bros, and wanted to get the idea into players' heads early
And they weren’t central in that game either.
@@TheFloodFourmThey appeared in a few levels and also had their own Toad House.
that makes no sense, why would you introduce a _novelty_ powerup 2 years before fully marketing it
I think they just wanted to see what it would be like to add a Super Mushroom into a 3D game, the same way they later put the Fire Flower into Mario Galaxy
@@KeanineMight of been a scrapped idea too like how Luigi was meant to be in 64 original as well a rideable Yoshi which also got scrapped till Sunshine
"Each three plumbers"? Wario's not a plumber. He is a businessman. A CEO even.
They should've made him wear a suit instead of overalls
he’s technically a gamedev too lol
Maybe he has multiple jobs to earn a lot of income
he's also an "archeologist."
This did not age well.
Today I learned you can punch Tox Boxes with Wario
It was the moment while writing the script that I went "why is there so much here"
@@Just_Jasenwhat abiut grabbing the text sign from behind and throwing?
Same! Wtf!?
I didn't know you could do that either!!
@@luma4682 i knew about this one but the tox boxes are new to me
Underrated change to tall tall mountain was that they added an owl at the base of the mountain after you clear star 1. this means you don't have to repeatedly go up the mountain as much
YES i’m sad that Nitro Rad missed this on his review of 64 DS.
I grew up playing the DS version and was in for a RUDE AWAKENING when I learned that going for 100% on 3D All Stars
Owls were also added to other stages, like Cool, Cool Mountain (near the mother penguin) and Snowman's Land (near the patch of ice at the base of the snowman). Didn't know about that second one for a long time.
I guess it's a little more obvious than the secret wind short cut behind where you spawn
In my opinion the DS version is just different - more like a fan mod that gives you an excuse to revisit.
It's worth noting that most if not all stages in the DS version have more coins than the original stages. This makes the 100 coin stars easier and quicker to nab which is particularly nice for stages like Dire Dire Docks where getting the 100 coin star can be a drag. I think the DS version also has a longer draw distance for its coins.
DS Version is easier for sure.
This makes every stage worse EXCEPT Jolly Roger Bay and Dire Dire Docks
Mario sunshine needs this change.
It makes it a lot harder to grab *every* coin in a level, though.
@@ParodyKnaveBob There's not really a reason to do that though
They should have put Waluigi on top of the castle.
Lol
I remember watching all the videos discussing how to unlock waluigi as a kid. good times
White Door would have fit I think… they should have at least put something there better than a star.
You were looking for Yoshi but you found me instead WAHH!!
@@WarioTimeWarioTimeWarioTime
Then again, there’s nothing new he’d provide compared to the other characters.
2:00
"In Mario 64, there was never a situation where I thought 'man, I wish I was huge right now'"
Did he forget about the necessary Milk powerup required to get up that one ledge in Wet Dry World by making Mario huge?
Sudden flashbacks to the old Mario milk commercial in the late 90's
After watching pannenkoek's video on all of the invisible walls in the original game, I have to say that that's probably the biggest improvement that the DS version's level design has over it, especially in Tick Tock Clock. At least, I assume the whole "ceilings and out of bounds leaking out of the ground and edges" thing was fixed in the DS version since it's basically a remake, not an emulation.
Yes it was fixed, aside out of bounds glitches, invisible walls basicly dont exist
There are no invisible walls because there are no walls in the game. You can go out of bounds very easily but its better for regular play. SM64 was too strict with its out of bounds.
DS game engines are more traditional by today's standards, so yeah, no weird misalignments
honestly, i always saw koopa the quick as the hat tutorial so maybe the king bob-omb refight should have just been cut, because Koopa the quick telling you directly you need to be mario is more obvious than figuring out why Yoshi can't do anything to king bob-omb for a few hours and then just giving up, Koopa the Quick directly incentivizes you to look for something Mario related which is more obvious to a kid i think
That's actually a really good point that it does make it really obvious
The Mario Vs. King Bob-omb fight in this game, as well as the original, is actually a tutorial for fighting Bowser. Since this was the first 3-D venture, it introduced grabbing Bowser by the tail as a weak point. King Bob-omb is the same, only slower and without the added challenge of the mines. So I understand why it wasn't cut.
@@DrTimes99Hardly even counts. Bowser gives away his weakness in both dialogue and the title screen demo.
Who the fuck would try to fight King Bob-Omb for a few hours as Yoshi instead of just trying something else after like one attempt 😂 Only very small children did this
@@ChunkSchuldinga unfortunately DS doesnt have any demos that play, so theres more of a reason to have a king bombomb refight that shows charaters with mustaches can pick up huge characters from behind.
I hate how awful Wario is in this game. In every one of his own games, Wario is a power trip and a total badass. In this game he's a complete and utter drag. Such a missed opportunity.
Might have been more interesting if he had his dash move from the Wario Land games.
@@pokepressRender96 pc port adds Warios dash move and it's awesome
Hmm
When I was a kid he was always my favorite. It took me forever to unlock him so I think I just tricked myself into thinking he was better somehow
Here's the weird thing; Wario's jump height is actually the same as Mario's from the original game. Mario jumps higher in this version and is tied with Yoshi for jump height, although Yoshi edges out a bit with the Flutter Jump. Luigi has the highest jump height. Running speed wise, Yoshi and Luigi have the same running speed as Mario from the original game, while Wario runs the slowest, and Mario runs the fastest. I think Mario and Yoshi's running speeds got mixed up late in development.
I'd argue Dire Dire Docks was improved because of Luigis faster swim speed and backflip and Marios balloon powerup making the 8 red coin star easier and the level less tedious in general.
Cool Cool Mountain has an Owl now as well as Snowmans Land in addition to a Wing Cap, which is great for quick traversal for 100 coins.
Marios balloon powerup is also available in the first Bowser stage, which completely breaks it as you can just float to the top.
I also like how the carpets are completely optional now in Rainbow Road (and it's easier to pull off thanks to how broken Luigi is) whereas in the N64 version you'd have to pull off carpetless
When I learned you can cheese Bowser in the Dark World with Balloon Mario, it was my main mode of traversal when I wanted to bother Bowser lol
Eventually I tried for the additional stars in the stage
They also fixed the level geometry so that the submarine wont make the game drop to 5 fps
Honestly, I actually kinda like DS more than 64, mainly because it was my first experience of Super Mario 64. It wasn't until _many years later_ that I learned about the "controversy" with the control scheme... I just played DS with the D-pad and it felt entirely natural to me, as if the game had been _designed_ around it (and they certainly did make changes to the camera and stuff to make it feel that natural).
I just don't get why people always seem to completely write off DS's controls and feeling compared to the original. I agree that an analogue stick is much better but like you said the dpad works fine enough most the time (only big issue really being the Bowser fights); on a 3DS the two are quite similar. However, what is forgotten is how the original was one of the first 3D platforms of its time, and has a lot of weird jank in it's control sets that the DS version generally irons out (more death by a thousand paper cuts type problem) leading to both versions being rather similar overall.
@Dead_Metal in the bowser fights and when fighting the eyes, I just used the touch pad to move around, as well as literally any time I needed precise movement
The “controversy” was just skill issue, evidence? I, at 5, beat the game with d-pad on ds
I'll give you one better: for some platforming challenges, I actually think the 8 directional pad is actually *better* than the analog. It makes going through narrow platforms a lot easier.
I will be Mr. Unpopular and say that I outright did not enjoy Super Mario 64 on the N64, but the DS version I enjoyed a lot. And I have been around since the N64 version came out, didn't like it back thn either.
Surprised you didn't mention the new floor in Tick Tock Clock. I'd imagine that's probably an addition that splits the room a bit since some people like the ruthlessness of the original while others would thank the devs for their mercy.
Was looking for this one. Definitely a welcome change.
Here's my instant fix to Wario. Instead of a bunch of black bricks everywhere, drop the frequency of coins back to the original and give him a passive ability to double the value of every coin collected. Because he has that whole thief connection to coins. This means he becomes the dedicated character to use for the 100 coin stars.
Or rather, he gets a coin for defeating enemies. That's what happens in Wario Land. That should help with the coin count surely.
@@Schwarzorn That would also make him the designate combat unit since it would mean he can restore health easier (not that the game has remotely difficult combat).
@@Schwarzorn
I’m pretty sure everyone gets that though, especially Yoshi.
@@Jotari
I would instead keep most of the Black Bricks but remove the Mega Mushrooms, thus actually incentivizing the use of Wario to break those. There are a couple I would remove though, such as the one that blocks the entrance to the moat, because that one doesn’t make any sense.
@@Jotariin the flash game Super Mario 63, one chunk of health would only be restored by collecting 5 coins and breathing underwater had its own health meter. The combat in 64 DS would've been more interesting with this mechanic in place.
4:51 The point of the chest lowering the water is an implication as to the reason why the ship raises in all the later stars, and the three chests probably made a lot of kids fail the star since of the whole "shocks you when you hit a wrong chest" deal
OH
Yeah I remember as a kid being stuck on the chests because I just assumed I needed a key or something lol
Luigi makes Rainbow Ride actually enjoyable imo. The carpets become a suggestion.
Luigi is broken in this game in general.
Finally you can get on top of the floating house without having to pull off frame perfect carpetless
8:02 YOU CAN DO THAT!? I've played this game so many times and had no idea Wario could do that
I discovered it completely by chance myself. For some reason, I developed a peculiar habit while playing the original version of the game, where whenever I wound up under the Tox Box that reaches one end of its track with its 'safe' side down, I'd give it a punch.
thank you for picking the timestamp AFTER he showed it
When you switched scenes at 11:40, I accidentally pulled my speaker cord and killed the audio, thinking the audio going silent was part of the joke.
7:35 Slight correction - both versions have the Red Coins be outside the Pyramid - with the original video having hidden yellow coins in roughly the same positions as the Silver Stars are in the DS version.
12:05 What timer are you exactly referring to? There was no timer in the original for Breathtaking View - the star was always sitting there, just without a black brick in the way.
Minor corrections aside - the video does a decent job at illustrating the differences between the two versions stage design wise.
Doh, I meant to say Pyramid Puzzle swapped finding the secrets with finding Silver Stars
I should've been clearer on that, there's a switch you can press to cause some blocks to appear in front of that star. I recognize you don't need that to actually get the star but I prefer the overall set up in the original
@@Just_Jasen
I would’ve kept both the switch AND the Black Brick.
5:27 Idk why but this thought has me dying of laughter:
If Yoshi could've carried the penguin, he should've been able use his mouth to hold the penguin... leading to the penguin struggling and moving around in Yoshi's mouth to try and get out 😭
You can grab the penguin in your mouth, and he will beg you not to eat him because he tastes horrible
The only notable difference in Wet-Dry World beyond the silver stars is that the Bob-omb Buddy is put in a MUCH more reasonable spot, meaning that you no longer need to ridiculously precise backflip or side-jump just to unlock the cannon in the level. You can also use Luigi’s OP backflip to completely bypass the snowman in Snowman’s Land. Plus, Yoshi could TECHNICALLY pick up and carry the baby penguin in Cool Cool Mountain provided you’re using one of the character caps. Although I can’t wrap my head around why the blue coin button is in a different spot in Jolly Rodger Bay, not that it really matters. All that aside, this is pretty nice👍 video.
I think they moved the blue coin switch in JRB to show off Luigi's ability to run on water? There's also a shell nearby, so who knows.
I guess that makes sense.
one of my favorite things about Wario or a char using the Wario Cap
is legit using the metal cap in lethal lava land and watching them sink down til they die, which's a pretty unique situation for 64 ds-
it really makes you wonder if Mario 64's metal cap would've/could've had that same property if it were possible 🤔
This is the version of 64 I grew up with. I would love for them to remake it some time. maybe have the levels changed more drastically from the original 64 game to further build on the multiple characters maybe make all the characters fun to play as and remove the caps. then have all the different characters visit the same world but from different entries. making all the different characters give completely different experiences.
7:59 I've had the DS version of this game for almost 16 years, and I JUST learned this right now!
Same! I can't believe I never considered trying it
1:39 The Mushroom also gives you an extra life for everything you destroy past the 8th thing you did. The only time this gets use is the infinite lives glitch at the board in whomp’s fortress.
Also the game has some ? boxes exclusive to certain characters. If you hit them with the wrong character (the one in WF as Mario) or without your hat on, instead of a power flower, a bob-omb will spawn, immediately chasing you with its fuse lit. It doesn’t produce a coin, sadly.
1:32 " The new giant mushroom can be found in certain bricks!" Luigi proceeds to get one from a wooden post.
4:35 the trigger for getting Unagi to get out of the ship is not conveyed well at all in the original. You have to go up to the eel, then swim up about halfway to the surface, and then Unagi _teleports_ out of the ship.
I assume the reason they did this is because they never made an animation for Unagi exiting the ship. Maybe they thought it'd look bad because of clipping? Either way, this is why they make you swim up towards the water's surface: the camera follows Mario and won't show the eel teleporting.
I dislike how grass in bob omb battlefield is dry looking, I got used to vibrant green of the 64 version
Agreed. I prefer both the sharp edges, with less details but strong and saturated colors of the original over the dry colors and high pixelated textures of the remake. The original feels less strenuous on the eyes and the low poly models emit their own charme
very much agreed, i find it super ugly. if i were to describe the aesthetic of 64, like how Galaxy is majestic and Sunshine is relaxing, i’d say 64 has a really dreamlike and kinda surreal atmosphere.
so with that being said, the ugly-ass, realistic Minecraft texture pack styled grass does NOT fit 😭
I hope we can agree that changing the breakable blicks too bricks was an improvment tho?
But in the original DDD underwater cage Star you can get it with just the vanish cap, no need for cap combining even though it's pretty cool.
The mirror void room scared me so much as a kid, I wish I could replay the 3DS version again
8:00 20 years later I discovered something new about the game...
I'm so glad people still talk about this game, the DS version will always be the best version to me. Even better on an emulator with a PS4/Xbox controller. I do a playthough every few weeks. Never gets old
The idea of using the Hats to "fake" the other characters bothers me more than it really should. I never lie to Koopa, I just go do other stages until I actually have Mario. Can't explain it.
Fun fact: you can finish watch for rolling rocks without the big mushroom, as Wario can break the rolling boulders via punching them from the side with some decent timing
Shifting Sand Land has a warp next to the palm tree that takes you to where the Star Switch is. This star is much, _much_ easier that way than using the cannon.
Thanks for this. The ds version is so different from the original, that it feels more like a sequel than a remake. It has its own ideas and which were limited by the ds, but I think later Mario games would benefit from taking these ideas and expand on them, like make an open world game out of it.
I feel like you should have mentioned how 64ds improves some of the 100 coins stars especially in the water levels. Also you can run faster with wario when holding a sign as wario.
I can forgive them for removing the collect the caps star from the original version since they added a better version through the red coin mission in the mario stage.
9:31 you know the metal cap was never needed right
My opinion is:
Colour pallet: OG
Overhaul Grafix: DS
Controls: OG (and its not even close, but with a 3ds and a cpad patch ds plays almost the same)
Content: DS
Ost: OG (Theres something in the OG ost that makes it magical)
Mechanics: DS (Luigi for the W)
Isn't the OST the same?
@@unanec the essence ye but they remade it, like what they did with wwhd and mm3d, the beat is the same but the samples are diferent
@fugi_the_fugiPretty sure most of the samples are ported from the original.
@@Baconator2558 afaik they used higher quality samples, like they did with wwhd
@fugi_the_fugi I just compared them, and I believe you are mistaken.
Thank you for another SM64DS video, I like these a lot! Not sure if it's your thing, but maybe you could consider making a video on the controls and physics of DS, one that goes deeper than just the fact there's a D-Pad. Maybe a dive into how Nintendo overall translated this to the DS version and whether things could've been done better. Some examples. As for buttons and button mapping, the camera snapping with L is pretty good, but to rotate the camera you're obliged to use the touch screen which can be a bit annoying. There's a run button you basically need to hold the whole time. But was there enough room left to be more creative with this? As for physics, changing direction while jumping is verg stiff - you don't have much in-air control - and making a 180° turn while walking is troublesome too. There may be more things. Could that have been improved?
I'm glad you enjoy them! I'm probably going to cover other games for a little bit (although some of them are still Mario), but I do have other ideas with 64DS which could potentially be interesting. An entire video on Wario and how they could hypothetically improve him would be fun.
@@Just_Jasenwould love a wario video yesss
I think Tall Tall Mountain is better in DS, because the 100 coin star doesn't force you to take the slide anymore, and there is an hidden owl after the first star, so you don't need to climb all the way back up every time you get a star.
I think the reason why you don't have to take the slide anymore for the coin star is the fact that the slide's star itself is now completely caged off.
If you were short coins after the slide in the 64 version, you could jump out and continue to collect. Not so in the DS version.
@@nuclearcommando9729 Here is the fucked up thing though. If the star spawns in the slide, and get out of the slide, the star won't be there anymore apparently.
@@Eclipsmon8421 unless I'm mistaken, I believe it was like that in the original games as well, because of the map change
@@nuclearcommando9729 Yeah, that's what I meant.
There are some improvements, some things that make it worse, but ultimately I love the concept of the game as a semi-remake because there's so much throwback content to the original but also so much new to discover. When do you see games like this anymore - pretty much every remake/remaster you see today feels like it plays it very straight with very little new content (and if there is new content, it is usually segregated from the main game in some way)
If the Koopalings stayed in the story, whom would you place where? I'd love to imagine Morton and Roy being the end bosses in Bobomb Field to be a shocker to see two bosses to beat.Or Ludwig and Lemmy in place of the ice boss, using yodeling with Lemmy frantic random moving, to another fun shocker. Butttt we didn't get this.
I wish you did a side by side comparison of Mario 64 and Mario 64 DS
I think it would be funny if you could still find Yoshi on the roof, like Luigi meeting Luigi in Super Luigi Galaxy
Nice commentary, I agree with the majority of your takes about SM64DS but I still feel like I'd prefer it over the original. As you said, the minigames being a nice refresher between play sessions of the main game is such a nice convenience, and I'd even boot up the game just for the minigames sometimes. Great video, I hope to see more in the future 🙏
The DS version feels more like a romhack instead of an actual official game, and not in the good way
Hearing Wet Dry World be lambasted as a level that needed serious rework baffles me. It was always my favorite level, I thought the vertical construction, water level gimmick, and hidden underground city was really cool.
I know a lot of fans don't like the DS version primarily due to the controls, but I prefer it just because I find the N64's controls on a lot of games...cumbersome.
Probably just because I didn't play that console till later in life after control schemes had been perfected on other systems.
Its cool that luigis picture is in that stage cause back there is where the L is real thing came from
So, you actually don't have to take the carpet up to the floating castle on Rainbow Ride at all now. It's well hidden but there's actually a warp that connects the very top of the maze (there's a 1-up block near it) to the floating castle's porch. In the original N64 game this warp's usefulness is limited to speedrunning (due to the infamous Carpetless strat) and to be able to leave the castle should you end up stranded there, but in SM64DS you have access to the P-Balloon ability which lets you float to the top of the castle easily, drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to complete both The Big House in the Sky and Switch Star of the Manor.
11:43 To quote a comment on an iceberg video: ““The level has a negative aura” The level might just be shit”
I like that it wasn't just a port but a new game
I like this video a lot, but I think it would have been better to show some more of the differences between 64 and 64 DS. You did explain most of them rather well, but not seeing the differences would likely mean this info will go in one ear and out the other for a lot of people.
Yoshi CAN kill the boo to get into BBH, but he has to ground pound it and he can't eat the ghosts.
Nope. Yoshi's ground pound can't damage Boos, only push them.
Yoshi can't get into BBH.
The front spire at the front of the castle is also different making it have a lower roof, making it harder to get to the very very top of the castle.
Tick tock clock probably benefits the most from character select, if incidentally, since the base level was climbing the same path up, getting a star, getting kicked out, redoing it again until you find a slightly higher star anyways. Heck, even hobbling down a ledge as Wario feels like an exciting new experience.
3:45 just realized the third ball is representing King bob-omb itself..
I never realized how yellow Bomb-omb Battlefield was in the DS version
5:29 even if you do somehow get down the mountain with yoshi, the mama penguin doesnt recognise you rescuing their baby, and will not give you the star
9:47 that was so funny XD
Small changes between the two that bugged me as a kid who’s first true game was Super Mario 64 was having your hat stolen. I loved as a kid having my hat stolen early in Shifting Sands to make the game harder (take more damage… also thought Mario looked cooler without his hat lol) if you lost your hat on Shifting Sands it wouldn’t appear on any other map but in DS it spawns on any map your hat could be lost on and/or the toad at the castle entrance would have it for you if you didn’t get it back in the level, also if you didn’t have your hat you couldn’t use your special ability instead you would get a bob-bomb from power up blocks. But either way to this day I love both games and have done multiple play throughs of both and would do it again today!
The floor layout of the DS igloo is a nearly exact copy of the wall layout in the N64 igloo, if you compare them side by side. It's such an odd and neat detail to keep when the area is so radically different to play.
9:39 as if the original version was thrilling
It was exciting to find out you could combine two different power-ups. In previous games, they'd all been seperate. Fire Mario grabbing a Cape Feather wouldn't make Caped Fire Mario.
Would love to see someone go over even the most minute changes in geometry and general changes between SM64 and SM64DS
I've spent a good deal of time thinking about the history of Nintendo's design philosophy changes over the years. And they're more and more reaching the point of "If you don't play the game in the way we intend, you're playing it wrong." Part of what made SM64 so fun for me was that it had a larger possibility space for each star. There are lots of ways to do most of the things in the game. And if you weren't good enough for one thing, you could often do it in a different way.
Everything I've seen about the DS version suggests that Nintendo was pushing more towards "There's one right way to play this game." It's not as pronounced as their later games, but you can definitely see some of it. Ceave covered this while talking about a challenge run he attempted for the recent Zelda game where you play as Zelda. It's a very interesting view on things, and I think explains some of the backtracking. And backtracking seems to be something Nintendo likes these days...
6:19 What do you mean? You don't get kicked out for grabbing the bowser stage stars on the N64 either
I just wanted to point out that the Switch Stars also don't kick you out, I didn't mean to potentially imply that the red coins do
I think it did, for the most part...@6:35 One thing I didn't like about the DS version is that at the beginning of "Go on a ghost hunt" they don't have the Boo saying "Come on in here! Heh heh heh..." when you first enter the course... @6:52 On the other hand, Wario could use the exercise! @8:08 I didn't know Wario could hit the Tox Boxes!
I got all the stars in the game, and totally forgot the black bricks existed. I think that tells how good of an additon they were...
The mega mushroom in whomps fortress allows you to do a glitch and get maxed out lives very quickly
You know, everyone brings up the waluigi door, which is the natural conclusion to come to... yet no one seems to talk about how peach has non-cutscene animations that went unused but can still be viewed.
I'm not saying she ever was planned to be playable-- games have unused content all the time-- but it's still neat and could explain why her hair is tied up in the remake when she's not doing any activity that she'd normally tie her hair up for (i.e sports, driving, ect)
My opinion:
Bob omb battlefield is too “in the middle” between bright and vibrant and dark and sad, its supposed to be a battlefield, so by making the grass darker in this version it makes sense lorewise, but just makes it look ugly.
Whomps hardly changed at all, and the mega mushroom made this remake really cool.
Same with jolly roger bay.
They made the snow and ice “bluer” in cool cool mountain, which in my opinion, i like.
They changed the fog of hazy maze cave from greenish-yellowish to purple, i feel like purple doesn’t really make sense for this map, almost all the enemies have that weird, gross colour, so to change it only here makes it just stand out too much.
The grass on tiny-huge island is a dull undersaturated green, which should’ve been used instead of yellow for the grass in bob omb’s.
There aren’t any other notable changes EXCEPT, they completely changed all the colours on tick tock clock to make it have the same colour scheme as the mario kart track.
A lot of the game areas don't wan't you to use Yoshi.
A famous quote: "Why does the universe hate Waspinator ?"
Love Whomp's changes. It gives the level a bit more life and kinda makes going back to the old version or Throwback Galaxy a bit weird.
Also I know its a completely new stage but the Goomboss stage is heavily underrated.
The Glowing Rabbits not appearing until you get 50 Stars makes sense. After all, they could replace any of the original rabbits around the castle, and you can't catch all the Original Rabbits until you get the 50 stars needed to enter that Star Door.
8:00 You learn something new everyday. I didn't know this was a thing and I have been playing this game for almost 20 years
6:19 no bowser stars kick you out on n64, only cap, slide, rainbow and aquarium stars
apropos: you missed aquarium :D
The "Glowing" Rabbits (or Sparkling Rabbis if we're being honest here) could've been replaced by Bowser's Koopalings much more exciting. I imagine that they could've done this by saying that Bowser is letting his Koopalings let loose on the castle grounds to keep Mario and friends busy.
I see some people talking about Wario so here is something: You know how Wario grabs things differently? If you spin around you will throw something like if you where throwing Bowser, this works in multiplayer aswell, chuckya is going to get a taste of his own medicine.
In my entire time watching anything Mario 64 related, I have *NEVER* heard or seen anything about stacking the Metal Cap and Vanish Cap.
Tall, Tall Mountain added an owl which turned it from arguably one of the most tedious stages to my personal favorite in the game.
From 4:29 to 7:04, what is the name of that soundtrack? It's so good
Edit: nvm I found it in my recommended
8:00 WHAT?! I’ve been playing this game my whole life and I never knew that!
The biggest sin of the last Bowser stage, is that he's no longer Rainbow in the remake.
Ds>64
Why? Luigi Poker
My opinions:
Starting Area (Peach’s Castle - Front Yard): Nothing changed.
Inside the Castle (Main): No, there are more rooms (although few), making it less realistic, not that the original was to begin with.
Inside the Castle (Basement): Nothing changed.
Inside the Castle (Upper Floors): Same issue as the main floor, though it would appear as it’s in a different dimension, so it may not be part of the physical castle. Otherwise, basically nothing is different.
Courtyard: Yes
In regards to the rabbits, I don’t really care too much.
Bob-omb Battlefield: Not much changed, but it’s less glitchy so yes.
Whomp’s Fortress: Yes, even with the infinite lives trick, which was patched on my cartridge.
Cool Cool Mountain: Again, not much changed.
Jolly Roger Bay: Yes, the eel looks less creepy.
Big Boo’s Haunt: Not much changed, again.
Shifting Sand Land: No, and it’s because nothing changed. It feels clunky trying to explore the outer area because of this.
Lethal Lava Land: Yes, though it’s mainly just graphical changes.
Hazy Maze Cave: I’m indifferent. On one hand, it’s much more pleasant to the eyes, but on the other hand, it’s another one that feels clunky to traverse.
Dire Dire Docks: Hard yes, the 100 coin-star is FAR less brutal and doesn’t require cheese to be made easy.
Tall Tall Mountain: Yes, it’s a very fun stage to traverse. It also has an alternative infinite lives trick.
Tiny Huge Island: No, feels worse than the original. Klepto is an issue for me. Wiggler looks way better though.
Wet Dry World: Not much changed, I didn’t notice anything at least.
Snowman’s Land: No, it’s too easy.
Tick Tock Clock: Hard to say, since both are pretty hard, and not too much changed. After watching the video, I guess so.
Rainbow Ride: Nothing was improved. I’m literally that pug when asked “Did you eat a treat?”
All of the Bowser stages have an extra challenge added to them, which improves the stage for sure.
Some of the original secret areas went mostly unchanged, but I feel that they are better fitted for this control scheme (with the exception of Over the Rainbows.) The cap stages (except wing cap) have a pretty fun extra challenge though.
I think Mario 64 DS is straight up better, but they messed up the controls. I hope that someday we get a remake with the DS content, proper controls and modern graphics ! And who knows, maybe Warrio can be less unusable… and maybe we can get Waluigi !!
*wario
i feel like a lot of the character locking stuff makes way more sense in the context of multiplayer
As a kid, I never liked Wet Dry World, because it didn't feel like a place. As you said, it felt more like a random assortment of assets rather than a space in the world.
My biggest gripe with the BBB is that the grass looks straight up dead in the remake compared to the original
I remember for a solid decade after SM64 DD came out, there were a bunch of "hidden Waluigi" conspiracies lmao.
Waluigi should have been at the top of the castle, and when you beat the game, you should have been able to ride around the Castle Grounds on Waluigi as if Waluigi was a Yoshi.
I dont care if the remake has a little bit worse controles its much better in my opinion
Aww, you didn't talk about the brand new levels
One nice change they made to JRB is that it's a lot less stingy with its coins in the DS version, so the 100-coin star is a lot less frustrating.
I feel like most of the dislike for the changes is from the backtracking with different characters which is pretty subjective
personally I like going back to old levels and seeing what new stuff I can do with my new character
its like playing sonic 3 as knuckles or going back to the first zelda dungeon after you get all the key items, it's just fun to see new stuff in levels you've already been in
i knew you’d check the comments like a good boy.
Waluigi should have been on top of the castle as a 100% secret reward
Bob-omb battlefield looks less nice (although to be fair, maybe that's deliberate). Not much else to say. I agree that two Mario Cap Stars in a row is Not Fun, although I think my preferred solution would be to do away with the King Bob-Omb rematch in favor of something else.
The green zone in Whomps' is a good idea, but the new shape of the cage feels like someone had a grudge against owlless.
JRB Is A Stage That Exists.
CCM's linear nature (combined with all the caps being at the end/bottom) makes doing certain stars (like grabbing the baby penguin) as Yoshi *incredibly* annoying.
Boo's Big Booty Mansion almost hides the Luigi Portrait *too* well--I wish there was something hinting at it somewhere, especially since you've got no reason to suspect the Luigi Portrait is inside another painting (since both Mario and Wario are in the castle)
LLL: LLL is surprisingly kind to Wario in general, since he makes the annoying process of fighting Big Bullies significantly easier.
SSL: Holy crap I never knew Wario could own the Tox Boxes. Sweet. I notice you didn't list a benefit for *Yoshi* in SSL, though...
HMC: There's basically two kinds of Switch Stars: "Wario-Only Switch Stars" and "Actually Interesting Switch Stars". There's way too many of the former.
DDD: Yah, this is deffo worse. Somehow.
Moat Secret: I think the intention is for you to unlock the stage with Wario, go to the character select room, switch characters, and then enter as Mario or Luigi (as opposed to entering as Wario), but that's aggressively not better.
Behind the Waterfall: Honestly, I think that Mario's balloon powerup was a bad idea---there's a few fun uses for it (like cheesing the pyramid interior), but it's mostly used for incredibly brain-dead stars like this one.
SL: I actually kinda like the changed Snowman's Land more--wrestling with the camera to navigate cramped spaces is not my idea of fun, even if the replacement stars are a little on the easy side.
WDW: functionally unchanged, except that the characters differing jump behavior make certain combinations of character and starting water level hard to achieve.
TTM: Eliminating the "invisible walls" glitch significantly improves TTM, imo.
THI: did you notice that they did away with all of the "5 secrets" missions where the secrets weren't blindingly obvious? Good for Nintendo.
TTC: Making TTC harder on a version of the game with objectively worse controls was an interesting decision.
RR: Agreed.
OTR: Man, that wario brick represents everything wrong with SM64DS.
CG: GOD I hate the white rabbits. WAY too much work for a single star.
a general problem that this game has is that it's imposed a bunch of weird and annoying restrictions on Yoshi to make other characters more necessary (he can't carry baby penguins in his mouth, he can't break orange bricks or kill boos with his ground pound, etc).
the black brick actually respawns so you HAVE to enter as Wario