GASP! IGN and I agree on something: Super Mario 64 is better on the N64 than the DS. The article is part of their Insider whatsit that they sucker me into with low, low prices every E3, so if you weren’t similarly hoodwinked you’ll just have to believe me. The major point that we agree upon is that control on the DS is terrible compared to the original. It’s decent enough if I didn’t know any better, and quite usable by the uninitiated if its successful use by the witty and attractive Susan is any indication. I do find, however, that I prefer the graphics of the newer version, aliased and pixelated though they may be. The backgrounds and draw distance are both vastly improved. Textures don’t repeat as much and the ever-present N64 fog is nowhere to be seen. Most strikingly, the enemy models are more accurate, as I will show in these images shamelessly (or -fully?) stolen from IGN.



Hopefully those make up for the dearth of pictures recently. Regardless of which graphic style you like better (blurred beyond hope or pointy and jagged), it cannot be denied that the DS version of the enemies look more like they should.
As for the game itself, I’ve only played using Mario and Yoshi thus far so I can’t say much yet. I’ve found a couple of the levels that are new for the DS and defeated Bowser in the Dark World, but then got distracted by chasing bunnies around. Catching them unlocks a myriad of mini-games which I was initially entranced by. This wore off when I realized I needed to get a cover for the touch screen. I’m afraid I’ll scratch it up with some of the violent actions the games want me to perform (like in the curling mini-game). I’ve gotten use to a cover on my PDA, so now I press way too hard on touch screens. I heard that they’ve created some sort of unscratchable DVD coating. They need to start putting that on touch screen devices, stat.