Super Mario 64 DS (DS)

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The game will bring back fond memories

Mario 64 DS also includes a number of mini-games, 36 in total, unlocked by catching rabbits in the main game with each of the four characters. These are clearly designed to show off the system's new abilities, and for the most part they're a creative bunch. Whether you're sorting bob-ombs onto different-coloured mats, playing shove-ha'penny with shells, or firing catapults at invading parachutists, you'll find the best of these to be enormously addictive as well as an excellent demonstration of what can be achieved with a stylus and a little imagination. Sadly, the quality control isn't all it should be. Of the 36 games on offer, nearly a quarter - virtually all of Luigi's games - are dull, simplistic gambling games; one of Yoshi's titles isn't even a game at all; and several games find themselves repeated with only very slight variations. In total, there are probably about half a dozen truly great games here, and maybe a dozen more that you'll find yourself coming back to from time to time. It's not a bad average, but should have been so much more.

Finally, there's multiplayer, a simplistic romp around cut-down levels for up to four players. It's mildly diverting and can be played with a single copy of the game, but with only one game mode (chase the stars, essentially) and four levels, it's unlikely to entertain for any length of time. As a demonstration of the wireless link-up, it works fine, but as a multiplayer game there's simply not enough to it to keep you coming back.

Many of the new additions appear to have been shoehorned in at the last minute

Scoring Super Mario 64 DS is a difficult task. On the one hand, it's Mario 64 - undoubtedly one of the greatest games ever made, and one whose lustre has barely been dimmed by the passage of time. If, through negligence or youthfulness, you've never had the chance to play this gem, then the purchase of Super Mario 64 DS should be compulsory. The rest of us, however, will find that Nintendo's flagship release for their new console is in fact a game we've already played and completed. Many of the new additions - specifically the four-character system and the multiplayer - appear to have been shoehorned in at the last minute, and the whole thing has the faint but distinct whiff of a rush job.

What the DS really needed was a new Mario adventure that lived up to the quality of its predecessors and also showcased the system's new features. Nintendo's handheld arms race with Sony has clearly precluded this kind of development, and what we're left with is a great, but old, game that's been given a bit of a scrub and a superficially shiny new coating. Super Mario 64 DS, then, is the gaming equivalent of Lucas's ham-fisted Star Wars special editions: fantastic entertainment, to be sure, but something of a cash-in all the same. It's only really a compulsory purchase for those that missed the game first time around, and with all the goodwill in the world, for the DS's premier launch title, that's a disappointment.

Note to Nintendo: Very good. 8/10. Must try harder.

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