Super Mario 64 DS

Super Mario 64 DS (known as Super Mario 64 × 4 in development ) is a game from the Super Mario series made for the handheld game system Nintendo DS. It was the first Mario game to be released on the Nintendo DS and is also the first 3D Mario game for a handheld console. The game is a remake of Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64, bearing some new features on its storyline, gameplay and graphics. Unlike Super Mario 64, Mario is not the only playable character (nor is he even available at the start); Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario become playable characters and also join the adventure in order to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. Other new features within the game include a multi-player mode, in which up to four players can play simultaneously on each Nintendo DS connected together locally; minigames to play with each character, and new additions to the story mode such as new missions and levels.

General
Princess Peach writes a letter to Mario, telling him to come to her castle because she baked a cake for him. This letter is assumed to be a clever forgery from Bowser, who guesses that Mario and his friends would come looking and so employs his minions to capture them beforehand after he had captured Princess Peach.

Apparently, Luigi and Wario somehow read the letter themselves and catch up behind Mario. The three race into the castle, when Bowser ambushes them.

Yoshi is asleep, only to be awakened by one of the Lakitu Bros who instructs Yoshi to locate Mario, Luigi, and Wario.

Yoshi tries to enter the castle, but the doors are locked. The Lakitu Bro. says that he saw a rabbit with the key. After grabbing the rabbit, the rabbit gives up the key to Yoshi. Inside, Toad tells him Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach and stolen the Power Stars. He also says the last time he saw the heroes is when they jumped into the Bob-omb painting. Yoshi decides to investigate.

Yoshi starts collecting Power Stars, rescuing Mario, Luigi, and Wario in the process. As the heroes continue to collect the rest of the stars, they encounter Bowser twice. After collecting at least 80 stars, Mario finally battles Bowser for the final time at the top of the castle.

Bowser ends up defeated, gives up, and hands Mario the Giant Power Star before he explodes. When Mario grabs the final Power Star, wings suddenly appear on his cap allowing him to fly.

Finally, he lands in front of the castle where Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi are waiting for him. As his wings fade away, Mario uses the power of the Power Stars to make Peach appear in front of the castle. All four rush up to her as she wakes up. Peach thanks them, and kisses Mario and says they will make a cake for her heroes. Peach and the heroes walk into the castle, the credits roll and after the credits, the cake, with Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi figures, is shown at the very end.

From the instruction booklet
At the invitation of Princess Peach, Mario, accompanied by party crashers Luigi and Wario, enter the Mushroom Castle.

But when the three don't come out for a long time, Yoshi decides to check up on them.

Upon entering the castle, Yoshi discovers that no one is there. According to Toad, Bowser has stolen the Power Stars guarding the castle and locked Princess Peach into the walls and paintings. Maybe Mario and his friends have been captured in the paintings, too!

Now it's up to Yoshi to rescue Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Wario from the castle's paintings and walls!

Gameplay
As in Super Mario 64, the courses are accessed by the different paintings on the castle's walls, but in the DS game, the player can collect 150 power stars; 30 more than the original game.

Controls
Making use of the Nintendo DS's features, the player is offered three different ways to control the character. All three modes are always accessible by pressing the Select button.


 * In standard mode, the chosen character is controlled with the Control Pad. The stylus can also be used in Standard Mode. Jump is ; punching, kicking, and sticking out Yoshi's tongue is ; and dashing is . The button is used for crouching, while  handles the camera together with the  Control Pad. Additionally, if the player presses and holds  and presses, the player will wall kick (if playing as Mario). Compared to Super Mario 64, where Mario was moving as fast as the player tilted the  of the Nintendo 64 controller, the characters in Super Mario 64 DS move much more slowly when the running button is not pressed.
 * In touch mode, the character is controlled by having the player move their thumb or the stylus across the touch screen. By using the thumb or stylus, the character's speed and direction can be adjusted by the player in a manner similar to what was possible with the Nintendo 64's Control Stick. Jumping, crouching, and kicking are still executed with the buttons.
 * In two hand mode, the character is controlled with the stylus, and jumping, kicking, and crouching are done by utilizing either the buttons, for left-handed players, or the Control Pad, for right-handed players.  The movement radius is larger with this control option, and all camera adjustments are done with the touch screen as well. The  and  buttons are not used.

On the Nintendo 3DS, however, the makes for a more authentic feel of using the Control Stick, making for better and easier controls. However, the player will still need to press to run and can still only move in eight different directions.

Character Selection


To switch between characters, there are three doors each symbolizing the character's first letter of their name. To use them, the player must go through the door, and the corresponding character will come out of the door. Switching to Yoshi will mean reentering the door that complements the same character once more. There are four doors in total. The white door contains a secret power star which can be unlocked if player catches the 8 glowing rabbits. Once the power star is obtained, the player can re-enter the door, but there will be no effect, and the player will simply exit it.

Characters
To complete the game, the player needs to find the three heroes who where locked behind doors by Bowser:

The Plumbers' Caps
In the painting worlds, caps of Mario, Luigi, and Wario can be found and are visible on the touch screen. When a cap is put on, the player's character turns into the corresponding character who owns the cap. He gets all moves of the character who owns the cap including the Power Flower power-ups, but keep his original voice. The caps are usually found on the heads of Goombas, on land, or underwater.

When hit by an enemy, the cap topples off and the character needs to retrieve it in limited time. When the cap disappears, it reappears on a different, set, random location in the course. If Mario, Luigi, or Wario lose their original caps, they cannot pick up any other characters' caps until they retrieve their own.

With Yoshi, a player can select the cap when selecting a star right after jumping into a painting. If a cap is selected, Yoshi will put it on after entering the course. Yoshi is the only character that can use all three caps.


 * Mario's Cap - a Red cap that allows the player to turn into Mario.
 * Luigi's Cap - a Green cap that allows the player to turn into Luigi.
 * Wario's Cap - a Yellow cap that allows the player to turn into Wario.

Coins
Coins can be accepted and collected by each character. In each course there are a little over 100 coins and collecting 100 gives the player 15 extra stars for the 15 courses. They can be found on land, in the sea, or in enemies.

Types:
 * Yellow Coins – worth 1 and are found in most enemies
 * Red Coins – worth 2 and have to be collected in the quantity of 8 for one episode in each world.
 * Blue Coins – worth 5 and are often temporary, found in tougher enemies, on slides or invisible until Mario hits a Blue Coin Switch.

Power Flower Powers
Each of the four characters has a special power from the Power Flower found inside a ? Block. Only Mario can get something other than a Power Flower from the ? Block, which is the feather that transforms him into Wing Mario. Once he has taken the flower, a hero uses his new powers in a short time, that may last about 20 seconds. Notwithstanding, Mario's wing form can last a bit longer, about one minute. Additionally, Luigi's and Wario's powers last shorter compared to Mario's equivalent forms in Super Mario 64.

Rabbits
Each character has seven colour coded rabbits to catch. Yoshi's rabbits are yellow, Mario's rabbits are pink, Luigi's rabbits are green, and Wario's rabbits are orange. The rabbits will give up keys to minigames drawers in the Rec Room. Since Yoshi has to open up the castle, there are eight yellow rabbits, instead of the regular seven.

Rabbit Locations
The following table displays information pertaining to the whereabouts of each rabbit, which minigame its related key unlocks, and the amount of Power Stars required to make the rabbit appear. For more information regarding the minigames unlocked, view the section about the Rec Room. However, after 50 Power Stars are collected, there will be eight shiny rabbits that will be randomly placed where a regular rabbit that has been caught used to be within the castle grounds and inside the castle.

Keys
Keys are used to unlock Mario, Luigi, or Wario. They are obtained after boss battles. Mario's key is obtained once Goomboss is defeated, Luigi's key is obtained once King Boo is defeated, and Wario's key is obtained after Chief Chilly is defeated.

Upon catching all of the 8 shiny rabbits, the player receives a key that opens the white room in the character switch room. The first time to open it and enter, a character finds a Power Star. However, if the character comes back after taking it, Boo laughs can be heard, and the hero comes out from the door, startled.

Courses
The following table displays information regarding each course, the Power Stars found within each course, and what character is required to obtain the Power Star. As stated above, when the player's coin meter reaches 100 for the first time in a particular course, a bonus Power Star appears, making a total of 8 Power Stars available in each course.

Secret Stars
Secret Stars are scattered throughout the castle. All secret stars are necessary for a perfect completion.

Bowser Boss Battles
Bowser has kidnapped Peach, and holds the keys to the next floors as in the original. Mario is required to open the Star Doors so he and the other three playable characters can battle him, unless it is the final stage. However, a glitch can be used to fight Bowser with another character, with Yoshi using hats to fight Bowser. He can be beaten by swinging him into the spike balls once (three times for Bowser's final battle) to get a key and, in the last battle, the final star.

The following is a list of Bowser's subversive worlds and the number of stars required to unlock them:
 * Bowser in the Dark World (12 Power Stars)
 * Bowser in the Fire Sea (30 Power Stars)
 * Bowser in the Sky (80 Power Stars)

VS Mode
Super Mario 64 DS includes a multiplayer VS mode, which can be played with up to four players. When DS systems are connected, the host player will select a stage. Once the stage has been select, each player will compete to get the most Power Stars and Coins within the time limit. After the round is finished, the results will shown the ranks of player with the most stars and coins. All players in this mode play as a Yoshi; the first player (the host) plays as the default green Yoshi, the second player plays as Red Yoshi, the third player plays as Blue Yoshi, and the fourth player plays as Yellow Yoshi. Despite the color differences, each Yoshi has identical abilities, and all are able to pick up the caps of Mario, Luigi, and Wario to use the abilities of those characters.

Rec Room
Once keys are gained, they can open shelves to unlock minigames. Mario's and Wario's minigames are action packed, Luigi's are casino (or luck based) games, and Yoshi's are puzzle.

The following is a complete listing of all minigames, which includes also the unlockables, throughout the game. They are followed by the in-game instructions. These minigames are reused in New Super Mario Bros., along with some new ones. For information regarding how to unlock the minigames, view the section about Rabbit locations.

Yoshi

 * Wanted! – It's easy to get lost in a crowd! Find the one who disappeared and touch him. There he is!
 * Loves Me...? – Play this minigame for advice on your love life! Pluck the petals to find out how your crush feels about you.
 * Hide and Boo Seek – Rub the Touch Screen where the Boos are hiding! For the first 15 levels, you get three seconds to find them. After that, you only get two seconds.
 * Puzzle Panel – Match the Touch Screen picture to the top screen. Touch a panel to turn over the surrounding panels. Harder levels will take more turns to solve.
 * Boom Box – Each time you open a treasure chest, you'll hear a sound. Open 2 chests with the same sound. Win by matching all the pairs.
 * Tox Box Shuffle – Oh, no! Yoshi's trapped in a Tox Box! Find which one he's in to save him!
 * Which Wiggler? – Touch the Wiggler on the Touch Screen that matches the one on the top of the screen. Choose carefully, though; he has a terrible temper.
 * Mix-a-Mug – Line up the slots on the Touch Screen to form a face. Win more coins by matching the center face in the slots to the one on the top screen.
 * Puzzle Panic – This minigame takes the Puzzle Panel to a whole new level. Put on your thinking cap. You're going to need it.

Mario

 * Mario's Slides – Guide Mario down the slides to the Star. Draw lines on the Touch Screen to create new routes for him. Collect 5 Stars to move up a stage.
 * Bounce and Pounce – Mario's in free fall, but he can bounce back if you touch him. Stomp the Fly Guys, but make sure he doesn't fall off the Touch Screen.
 * Sort or 'Splode – Guide Bob-ombs to the black carpet and Bob-omb Buddies to the pink carpet. If you bring in a wrong-colored Bob-omb, it will blow up!
 * Trampoline Time – Draw a line on the Touch Screen to turn it into a trampoline. You can draw up to 3 lines at a time. Help Mario bounce to safety!
 * Shuffle Shell – Use the paddle to push the Koopa shells to the target. The closer the shells land to the center of the target, the more points you will earn.
 * Bounce and Trounce – Mario's surrounded by Fly Guys to trounce. Touch him on his left, right, or center to make him bounce in that direction.
 * Connect the Characters – Draw lines to match the characters' head to their bodies. Press "GO!" when you're finished to see how you fared!
 * Shell Smash – Hit Koopa shells together to score points. Hit many in a row for even more points. Score even higher points by smashing green shells together.
 * Trampoline Terror – Only players with superb stylus skills will be able to make Mario bounce through rings.

Luigi

 * Memory Match – Pick two matching cards to make them disappear. Clear all the cards to win.
 * Pair-a-Gone – Touch 2 identical cards that are connected vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to make them disappear. Clear them all to win!
 * Picture Poker – Get a better hand than Luigi to win! If you're confident your hand is best, increase the number of coins you bet!
 * Mushroom Roulette – Guess where the ball will land on the roulette wheel. Guess correctly to win coins!
 * Mario Slot – Touch the spinning slots to stop them. Get 3 items in a row to earn coins! The Superstar is wild.
 * Lucky Stars – From a pair of cards, pick the one with more Stars to win coins. Beat Luigi at his own game!
 * Pair-a-Gone and On – This game of Pair-a-Gone goes on forever! Test your skill and see how many cards you can clear. Go for the record!
 * Memory Master – If Memory Match was a piece of cake for you, try out this harder version. You now have more cards to play with.
 * Super Mario Slot – Touch the spinning slots to stop them. Get 3 items in a row to earn coins! The Superstar is wild. Are you feeling super lucky?

Wario

 * Bob-omb Squad – The parachuting Bob-ombs are destroying your flowers! Use your slingshot to knock them out of the air. Hit Lakitu to blow them all up.
 * Snowball Slalom – Rub the Touch Screen to roll the snowman's head to the goal before time runs out! Rocks will slow you down, as will touching his head!
 * Bingo Ball – Launch a ball into a numbered slot on the Touch Screen. That number will light up the top screen. Get 3 numbers in a row to score!
 * Coincentration – Pay attention to where the falling coins land. Touch the blocks to retrieve the coins. But, if you choose the wrong block, your game will end.
 * Psyche Out! – Are you psychic? Can you guess what's on the card's other side? Maybe if you stare at it long enough, a vision will come to you.
 * Slots Shot – The bars swing open when a ball goes in a Piranha Plant. Sink the ball into the pipe to trigger the slots Switch. Get 3 items in a row for a bonus!
 * Lakitu Launch – Shoots as many balls as you can into the tubs within the allotted time.
 * Intense Coincentration – There aren't as many falling coins this time around, but that won't stop Wario. Watch the coins carefully!
 * Giant Snowball Slalom – Roll the snowball over a longer course! As before, avoid rocks because they'll slow the player down.

List of changes from the original
Though Super Mario 64 DS is a clear remake of the Nintendo 64 game Super Mario 64, there are some components added in the game that the original did not have, as well as elements only seen in the first rendition which were taken out in its remake.


 * Luigi, Yoshi and Wario are now playable. Only Mario was playable in the original, while Yoshi makes an unplayable cameo appearance on the Castle Roof after the original game is finished and Luigi and Wario did not make any appearances or cameos in the original. There were, however, rumors that Luigi could be unlocked in the original, but those have since been debunked.
 * Utilizing the stylus and touch screen, the player can now draw and stretch the characters which appear on the title screen.
 * Princess Peach wears her hair up in her appearances instead of wearing her hair down. This is based on how she appeared in Super Mario Sunshine which was the debut appearance of her ponytail hairstyle.
 * In the remake, coins are octagonal, but in the original, they are circular. Additionally, they are 3D objects in the remake, while they were 2D animated sprites in the original.
 * Mario is able to float, Luigi can become invisible, Wario can become a metal version of himself and Yoshi can breathe fire out of his mouth when anyone collects a Power Flower. Mario can also fly by collecting a Wing Feather. In the original, Mario was able to collect different caps to use these various abilities (excluding the fire and balloon power-ups) such as the Wing Cap, the Vanish Cap and the Metal Cap.
 * There are red ? boxes and yellow ! boxes. In the original, there were also blue and green boxes and all had "!"s on them. The red and yellow boxes also had "!"s on them in the original.
 * There are seven missions in each portrait world (plus the 100 coin Star). The original has only six missions, plus the 100 coin Star.
 * There are seven multicolored rabbits for each character to catch. In the original, there is only one rabbit which is caught twice.
 * There are 150 stars in the whole game. There were 120 in the original.
 * Thwomps are gray, spiked and rectangular prism shaped but the player can still stand on top of them, the original Thwomps are blue and cube-shaped and the player can stand on top of them.
 * Wario, Luigi and Yoshi figures appear on the cake at the end, along with those of Mario and Peach (with Wario and Luigi only appearing if the player has unlocked them). Only Mario and Peach are seen in the original.
 * Wario is now able to pick up signs and throw them like any other enemy that is picked up. He is also able to jump on signs and ground-pound them into the ground. In the original, Mario is not able to pick up signs, nor is he able to ground-pound them.
 * After collecting all Stars, the player may be shot out of a cannon to the top of Princess Peach's Castle. Three 1-Up Mushrooms can be found there, as well as one of Luigi's Rabbits. Also present on the roof is a red ! Box, which gives the player a Feather for Mario and a Power Flower for Luigi, Wario and Yoshi. In the original game, Mario will find Yoshi on the Roof. He will award the player with 101 lives and a new animation for his Triple Jump.
 * Several enemies and objects have updated designs from the original. For instance, Boss Bass has its pre-N64 design and Kuromame resemble Fire Chomps.
 * The Super Mushroom power-up was added, mainly found in bricks, and caused the player to grow to an enormous size (and gave Yoshi punching abilities). Within a time limit, one can defeat virtually every enemy, something that couldn't be done in Super Mario 64. A nineties Got Milk commercial shows footage from Super Mario 64 featuring a giant Mario, but it was impossible in the original.
 * Upon the game's start-up, Mario does not say anything on the Nintendo logo screen and says "It's-a me, Mario!" only on the title screen. In the original, he says "It's-a me! Mario!" on the Nintendo logo screen and "Hello!" on the title screen.
 * Yoshi appears on the title screen if the player returns to it without turning the game off, or if the player touches the Yoshi icon.
 * As the Nintendo DS does not have the analog stick that the Nintendo 64 has, either the D-pad or the stylus can be used (depending on the settings). However, the Circle Pad on the Nintendo 3DS revives the classic analog stick feel.
 * On the title screen, Mario or Yoshi's face can be dragged by the stylus. While being dragged, they become wireframe. The user can also design a custom picture to drag around. In the original, Mario's face can be pulled by the cursor.
 * The L and X buttons on the Nintendo DS control the camera. In the original, the C buttons on the Nintendo 64 control the camera.
 * Rabbits, when caught by the player, can unlock minigames in the Rec Room. In the original, Rabbits provided hints and/or a Star.
 * The door on the top right corner of the lobby only contains two Peach murals (one still leading to The Princess' Secret Slide), as well as five additional doors. The three doors with letters above them allow the player to switch between characters; the remaining door contains a Power Star and the door in the back center leads to the Rec Room. In the original, the room is smaller and contains three Peach murals inside it (one leading to the Secret Slide).
 * Silver Stars were added in the remake. During Silver Star missions, the player must collect five Silver Stars to make a Power Star appear.
 * Whenever Hoot gives his speech, he isn't frozen and still flaps his wings. Additional music is played slower and is similar to the Wing Mario music. When the player flies with Hoot, he flaps slower than the original. In the original, Hoot is frozen when he gives his speech and his wings flap faster.
 * King Bob-omb of Bob-omb Battlefield is obsessed with his mustache. In the original, he is not shown to have any particular interests.
 * Mr. Blizzards have zig-zag mouths and wear buckets like hats, while in the original they have circular mouths and wear nothing on their head. They also did by spinning (similar to Mr I.) instead of falling on their side.
 * In the original, a glitch can cause Mario to backwards Long Jump. In the remake, backwards long jumping is impossible without hacks.
 * The player is given three save files to play on. In the original, the player was given four.
 * Lakitu's Cloud looks less like a real cloud and has a happy face, while in the original it resembles a normal cloud. Additionally, Lakitu is smiling in the remake, while in the original, he looks unhappy.
 * When a pipe appears at the start of a new game, Mario pauses before saying "Ha Ha!". In the original, he immediately says "Ha Ha!" after saying "Yahoo!".
 * Some Brick Blocks are red, while others are black. Black Brick Blocks can only be broken by Wario. In the original, all crates are brown and have cracks in them.
 * Star Switches are seen in this game. They make a Power Star appear for a limited time in a Star Sphere.
 * After collecting a 1-Up Mushroom, the words "1-UP" appear in orange text. In the original, no on-screen icon appears.
 * Klepto the Condor appears in three different levels, while in the original he only appears in the level Shifting Sand Land.
 * The Toxic Gas in Hazy Maze Cave is purple; it is green (or yellow) in the original. The toxic gas also pushes the player back a little in the remake, but not in the original.
 * The interior of the igloo in Snowman's Land has been entirely changed in the DS version.
 * Two Power Flowers appear in the mirror room of Peach's Castle (four if the ones through the mirror are counted), but only if Luigi is used. In the original, no Power-Ups appear whatsoever in the room.
 * There is one ? Switch found in the course Tower of the Wing Cap. In the original, there was an ! Switch instead. Two other ! Switches are also seen in the original; one in the moat of Peach's Castle and the other in Hazy Maze Cave.
 * In the original, during the final scene after the credits (after everyone waves goodbye to the player), the cake awarded to Mario is displayed and the player must reset the system to continue playing. However, in the remake, after the cake is shown, pressing any button takes the player back to the title screen.
 * The penguins in Cool, Cool Mountain have slightly different crying sounds than in the original.
 * When entering Rainbow Ride, the sound effect for entering a mini-course plays; in the original, it plays the sound effect for entering any other main course.
 * Unlike the remake, in the original game, two Toads accompanied Princess Peach.

Notable mistakes and errors

 * When the player puts on the Mario cap for the first time, the game states that the player must press to do a wall jump. This is incorrect, as the player must press  to wall jump.
 * King Boo claims to be Big Boo.
 * The 50 Star by the third floor has the carpet texture sound instead of the normal floor texture sound.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros. 2 - Luigi has the same scuttle jump in this game.
 * Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - Wario has the same attacks in this game.
 * Super Mario 64 - This game is a remake of Super Mario 64, Mario has the same attacks, moves and some of his voice clips in this game and Yoshi is seen on the Roof in the beginning, which is a reference to the original Super Mario 64 where you can find Yoshi on the Roof if you collect 120 Power Stars and Blast yourself to the top. Also, some of Peach's voice clips were reused in this game.
 * Mario Kart 64 - Some of Luigi's and Wario's voice clips are reused from that game.
 * Yoshi's Story - Yoshi's moves, animations, and voice clips are the same in this game.
 * Luigi's Mansion - Some of Luigi's voice clips in this game are the same in Luigi's Mansion. Also, King Boo is a boss imprisoning Luigi in a reference to King Boo imprisoning Mario in this game. King Boo's laugh is also the same.
 * Super Mario Sunshine - Some of Mario's voice clips are recycled from this game. In addition, Sunshine Isles uses the music from Delfino Plaza, and other music can be heard in some minigames (Luigi's games use the theme from Casino Delfino, and some other games use Sunshine's a cappella version of the original Super Mario Bros. theme song).
 * Wario World - Some of Wario's moves, attacks and his voice clips are the same in this game.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! - Some of Mario, Luigi, Wario and Yoshi's voice clips are recycled from this game.

References in later games

 * Mario Kart DS - All the bosses reappear in this game. Also, some of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Wario's quotes and sounds are reused here. Tick Tock Clock is now a playable course.
 * New Super Mario Bros. - Some of the minigames and enemy models from Super Mario 64 DS are reused in New Super Mario Bros..
 * New Super Luigi U - The portrait used to enter Big Boo Battle is reused as a hidden Luigi.
 * Mario Kart 8 - Mario Kart DS ' s race course Tick Tock Clock returns as the first track in the Retro Lightning Cup.

Pre-release and unused content
The game was initially announced as Super Mario 64×4. This iteration featured co-op multiplayer, different graphics and slightly different level layout among other things.

A fully functional Red Koopa Troopa enemy is present in the game's code and can be accessed with an Action Replay code.

Reception
Super Mario 64 DS received many positive reviews from critics. Following its release in Japan, it sold over 241,000 copies in December 2004. Super Mario 64 DS is the 10th best selling game for the Nintendo DS, and as of March 31, 2014, the game has sold 11.03 million copies worldwide.

Staff
The game was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, who also served as the supervising director, and directed by Shinichi Ikematsu. The main system programmer was Toshio Iwawaki, the other system programmers were Kenzo Hayakawa, Yuichi Yamamoto, Kenji Matsutani and Hiroshi Umemiya.

Sometimes, when the player long jumps under a falling pillar in Jolly Roger Bay, the pillar will be destroyed, and the player stay squished until the player loses a life. Note that this only works in version 2 of the game.

The player should enter Tall Tall Mountain as Mario, Luigi, or Wario. Mario, Luigi, or Wario should obtain the Power Flower (or the Wing Cap in Mario's case) atop the mountain, and then grab Ukiki, while the Power Flower is still in effect. He should wait for it to wear off and, while he is flashing back to normal, he should hop into the water, but should be back to normal by the time he hits it. When in the water, Mario, Luigi, or Wario should head back on land via the waterfall (if he goes on land normally, Ukiki will give his speech, causing Mario, Luigi, or Wario to return to normal). When he has climbed the waterfall slightly, then he can get on land. Mario, Luigi, or Wario can then go to the top of the mountain via the owl and obtain the Power Flower. Depending on which cap he has, the following effects will happen:


 * Luigi: His body will be invisible, but his head will remain the same.
 * Mario: Everything will be normal, but he will have wings growing out of his head.
 * Wario: The game will freeze the instant the Power Flower is touched. It can also be used to find the debug screen.

This glitch can be performed with any character (although Mario should not have a wing cap). First, to perform this glitch, the character would have to go to Bob-Omb Battlefield. Once he is on the mountain trail, he should enter the cannon by a Goomba, a Brick Block, and a tree. Then, the character should aim so that the tip of the bottom arrow aligns with the tip of the bottom of the floating island. Then once the character fires, he makes a glitchy movement going back and forth and then passes through the fence at an certain angle.

Boo

 * (caught by Yoshi) "You...can't...EAT...ghosts! Eee hee hee!"

King Boo

 * (to Wario) "Eee hee hee...I am Big Boo, the scariest of the spirits. Eek! What's this?! Your face...It would even scare a ghost. How horrible! You've got it backwards...I do the scaring around here! All right, now I'll put some real fear in that frightening face of yours! Eee hee hee!"
 * (defeated) "Augh! The scariest one wins, and your face is flesh-creepingly frightening. Good thing I don't have any flesh! Eee hee hee! This is not the end. See you again."

Lakitu

 * (to Yoshi) "Yoshi...Yoshi... (wakes Yoshi) Listen...Mario hasn't returned yet..."

Regional differences

 * The minigames, and by extension the rabbits that have the keys to unlock extra minigames, are removed in the South Korean release because of some minigames' inclination to gambling.
 * The Korean version colors the word "Super" in many colors rather than just one color, making it look a lot like the original game's title screen.
 * There is an orange ! Block along the red ? Block on the roof of Peach's Castle in the South Korean version, rather than only the ? Block in the other releases. This ! Block gives the heroes to an extra life: the block doesn't disappear, so that they can easily earn up to 100 lives.

Trivia

 * The artwork of the castle on the box art is different from the design in-game. The design on the box art is actually based off the castle that appears in Mario Circuit from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. This also applies to the star.
 * In all regions, the painting for Jolly Roger Bay is from the original Japanese Nintendo 64 release, even though it was also changed in the Shindou edition. Similarly, when Mario goes to sleep after idling for too long, he does not talk in his sleep.
 * In the title screen, if the player taps Mario or Yoshi's face, a drawing of Mario or Yoshi (respectively) appears. The third time this occurs, a Luigi drawing appears.
 * This is the first and presently only Super Mario game where Wario appears and is playable.
 * Thirty-three stars can be collected with Yoshi before unlocking Mario.
 * It is possible to finish the game without unlocking Luigi and Wario. If the player finishes the game without them unlocked, they will not be in the ending.