Overview

Bob-omb Battlefield — the iconic opening course, wide open plains with two Bob-omb factions at war

Mario — the balanced hero available after collecting 8 stars, with Wall Jump, Triple Jump and the Wing cap power

Super Mario 64 DS is an expanded remake of the Nintendo 64 classic Super Mario 64 (1996), released as a launch title for the Nintendo DS. It was the first 3D Mario game available on a portable system and introduced a host of new features: four playable characters (Yoshi, Mario, Luigi and Wario), 30 extra Power Stars (150 total), brand new courses, 30 touch-screen minigames, and a wireless multiplayer VS mode.

While the core adventure — exploring Mushroom Castle and collecting Power Stars hidden in paintings — remains faithful to the original, the DS version adds significant new content and takes full advantage of the DS hardware. The dual screens display the action on top and a touch-screen control option below, and three different control modes are available to suit different play styles.

Story

Princess Peach sends a letter to Mario inviting him to the castle — she’s baked a cake. Mario, accompanied by gate-crashers Luigi and Wario, heads over. But when the trio enter the castle and don’t come back out, Yoshi — waiting outside — decides to investigate.

Inside, Yoshi finds the castle completely empty. Toad explains that Bowser has stolen the Power Stars that protect the castle and imprisoned Princess Peach within the castle walls and paintings. Mario, Luigi and Wario have been captured in the paintings too — it’s up to Yoshi to rescue everyone!

After rescuing Mario, then Luigi and Wario, all four heroes must work together — each using their unique abilities — to collect all 150 Power Stars, storm Bowser’s final lair, and rescue Princess Peach.

Note: Bowser’s letter to Mario is implied to be a clever forgery — he guessed Mario and his friends would come looking and had his minions capture them in advance.

Playable Characters

The biggest addition over the original — four fully playable characters, each with unique abilities. You start as Yoshi and unlock the others by rescuing them from the castle paintings. Each character can also pick up coloured caps to temporarily become another character and use their Power Flower.

YoshiStarting Character

• Eat and spit out enemies
• Flutter jump for extra height
• Power Flower: lay giant eggs that roll and defeat enemies
• Can’t punch, kick or pick up objects normally

MarioUnlock: 8 Stars

• Well-rounded stats — the most balanced character
• Wall kick, triple jump, ground pound
• Power Flower: turns into Wing Mario and can fly
• Only character who can enter the Wing Cap Tower

LuigiUnlock: 30 Stars

• Jumps higher and runs faster than Mario
• Slippery movement — less traction on all surfaces
• Power Flower: becomes invisible and walks through some walls
• Can run across water briefly

WarioUnlock: 30 Stars

• Strongest character — can break black bricks others cannot
• Slowest runner and lowest jumper
• Power Flower: turns into Metal Wario, immune to water currents and knockback
• Can survive some attacks that knock others back

Coloured Caps & Power Flowers

Coloured caps (yellow for Yoshi, red for Mario, green for Luigi, purple for Wario) are found on enemies in paintings. Wearing another character’s cap transforms you into them — you keep your own voice but gain their abilities and Power Flower. If you lose your cap to an enemy hit, you must retrieve it within a time limit or it reappears at a set location. A capless character takes double damage.

Power Flowers replace the original game’s Wing, Vanish and Metal caps as consumable power-ups found in ? blocks throughout the courses. Their effect depends on the character currently wearing it.

Gameplay & Controls

The core gameplay mirrors Super Mario 64 — explore a 3D Mushroom Castle, dive into paintings to reach worlds, and collect Power Stars by completing missions. Each main course has 7 stars (plus a 100-coin star), and there are 30 secret stars hidden around the castle and secret areas.

Three Control Modes

One key difference from the N64 original is the absence of an analogue stick — the DS uses a D-pad. To compensate, three control modes are available:

Rabbit Catching

Each character has 8 colour-coded rabbits hidden throughout the castle grounds and courses (yellow for Yoshi, pink for Mario, green for Luigi, orange for Wario). Catching all 8 of a character’s rabbits earns that character a special key, which unlocks a minigame in the Rec Room. There are 32 rabbits total.

VS Mode

A wireless multiplayer mode for 2–4 players. Players compete to collect Stars on dedicated arenas. Crucially, only one game card is required — additional players can download the VS mode via DS Download Play.

Courses & Worlds

The game features 15 main painting courses, 3 Bowser stages, and 12 secret areas — significantly more than the original’s 15 main courses. Three new courses were added exclusively for the DS version.

Bob-omb BattlefieldCourse 1 · First Floor

Wide open plains where two Bob-omb factions are at war. Big Bob-omb sits atop the summit. Classic opener.

Whomp’s FortressCourse 2 · First Floor

A tower guarded by stone Whomps. King Whomp rules at the top — ground pound his back to defeat him.

Jolly Roger BayCourse 3 · First Floor

Sunken ships and underwater caves. Unagi the eel guards one of the most iconic stars.

Cool, Cool MountainCourse 4 · First Floor

A snowy mountain with a penguin slide race and a lost baby penguin to return home.

Big Boo’s HauntCourse 5 · Basement

A haunted mansion full of Boos, possessed furniture, and merry-go-rounds.

Hazy Maze CaveCourse 6 · Basement

Deep underground caves with toxic gas, rolling rocks, and an underground lake with Dorrie.

Lethal Lava LandCourse 7 · Basement

A volcanic world where the floor is lava. Bully pushes you into the molten surface.

Shifting Sand LandCourse 8 · Basement

A desert with a quicksand pit, a massive pyramid, and the bird boss Eyerok inside.

Dire, Dire DocksCourse 9 · Basement

Underwater docking bay — Bowser’s Sub blocks access to the back half until defeated.

Snowman’s LandCourse 10 · 2nd Floor

An icy blizzard world with a giant snowman whose breath pushes Mario off platforms.

Wet-Dry WorldCourse 11 · 2nd Floor

A flooded town where the water level changes depending on where you enter the painting.

Tall, Tall MountainCourse 12 · 2nd Floor

A towering mountain with strong winds and the beloved Ukkiki monkey who steals Mario’s cap.

Tiny-Huge IslandCourse 13 · 2nd Floor

Two versions — enter from different paintings to be giant or tiny. Koopa the Quick races you here.

Tick Tock ClockCourse 14 · 3rd Floor

A giant clock mechanism — the speed of platforms depends on the clock hand position when you enter.

Rainbow RideCourse 15 · 3rd Floor

The final main course — floating platforms over clouds, magic carpets, and spinning towers high in the sky.

Bowser Stages

DS-Exclusive Courses

SM64 DS vs. SM64 N64 — What Changed?

Super Mario 64 DS isn’t just a port — it’s a significantly expanded remake with a huge number of additions, changes, and a handful of removals. Here’s the full breakdown:

Other Characters

BowserFinal Boss

The Koopa King who stole the Power Stars. Fought three times — defeated by grabbing his tail and swinging him into bombs.

Princess PeachRescued

Imprisoned within the castle walls by Bowser. Freed after defeating Bowser in the Sky with 70+ stars.

Reception & Sales

Super Mario 64 DS was well received as both a faithful remake and a generous expansion of one of the greatest games ever made. Critics praised the added content, characters and minigames, while noting the control limitations of the D-pad compared to the N64’s analogue stick.

Sales

Super Mario 64 DS sold 241,000 copies in its opening month in Japan (December 2004) and became the 10th best-selling DS game of all time with 11.06 million copies worldwide — a remarkable figure for what was primarily a remake.

Notable Glitches

Videos

More Super Mario 64 DS