Change the controls for Super Mario 64

Once you have 70 stars, the staircase is no longer endless and you reach the door at the top.

Or the long jump trick to reach the top of the staircase without 70 stars is:

Do a long jump away from the stairs, then tilt the control stick up. Mario should still be doing long jumps and facing you, but at the same time going up the stairs instead of down. Press the jump button as fast as you can, and Mario will eventually make it up the stairs.

P.S.-- in the DS version the only way to do it, if even possible is to use a mod like action replay to have all the stars {in which case you will already have 70} so there is absolutely no way to do it becasue DS makes it impossible

(source)

The DS version's main feature is a few extra playable characters with special abilities. The Wikipedia article covers most of the functional differences.

However, I would like to bring attention to the main difference in my head: the DS controls are horrible. Since the DS doesn't have an analog stick, you are forced to use either the DPad or the stylus. Both controls are clunkier and more annoying than their 64 counterparts.

I loved the 64 version and got every star in it, and really wanted to play it again with new characters. Unfortunately, the DS controls made me unable to stand playing the DS version for more than a few levels in. It would be nice if they would rereleased the rerelease on the Wii instead so I have some chance of ever completing it. However, if you play it on a 3DS, you can use the circle pad in place of the DPad, which fixes all of those problems. On 3DS, the DS version controls just fine.