Mario Kart DS

Nintendo is the world’s largest leading creator of fanboys. You cannot deny that simple fact. You talk to them and they go on a rant how Nintendo should rule the world and every single game they produce is worth your money, regardless of the quality or originality of the product. At the mere mention of Mario, this particular group of people go into a tremendous cheer, most times for no reason at all. Sometimes, Nintendo releases a game with the Mario name on it and it, well, sucks. But for those other times, Nintendo releases a Mario-brand game that is just awesome. And, of course, I’m referring to Mario Kart DS. Nintendo has created a package that is almost perfect from head to toe. It is probably the largest Mario Kart game to be released, even quite possibly the largest DS game to be released. It has some minor flaws, but overlooking those can give you on fun racing experience

The Mario Kart series has always been known to have incredibly simple controls and the gameplay doesn’t require much thinking, but Nintendo can always make it fun. Mario Kart DS continues the tradition while also including the capabilities of Nintendo’s two-screen handheld. Right when you begin the game, you’ll realize that there are 32 tracks (quite a big number compared to other racing games), although half of them are from past Mario Kart games. There are four apiece from the classic Mario Kart for the SNES, the Nintendo 64 version, the Game Boy Advance version, and GameCube’s Double Dash version. These sixteen tracks have all been remastered and look great. The brand-new tracks are very interesting and varied also. My favorite is Tick Tock Clock, which features giant clocks everywhere (now I don’t quite remember why it is my favorite). The races are just as classic as the gameplay.You can race on 50, 100, or 150 cc tracks (like past versions of Mario Kart). You really have to study the tracks before picking your best racer for that particular track, simply because some strategy is involved. In courses with sharper turns and no guard rails, karts like the sluggish Donkey Kong one wouldn’t be that good of a choice. On the other hand, Princess Peach’s lacks the speed to win the shorter, more straighter, tracks.

Back from the previous games are the power-ups and weapons that you have come to know and love. Bananas, turtle shells, and the lightning bolt that decreases the size of your opponent are back, but some new ones grace the screen of your DS. One problem with the increased selection of weapons is that there is nothing for defending yourself from incoming attacks. Nothing is more fustrating than being in first place, only to lose your lead because of homing missiles that are impossible to avoid. But Mario Kart DS relies more on driving skill than weapon luck, seeing that most of the tracks require fast reflexes and the ability to powerslide (which is a necessity for success). The driving can get tedious for some players considering that there is no analog stick, but after some practice the D-Pad will feel like home. There are plenty of modes to keep you busy playing Mario Kart. First is the classic Grand Prix mode, which has you racing around the tracks in a circuit-like fashion. There are two arena style matches called Balloon Battles and Shine Runners (and anybody who plays the past Mario Kart games should know what you do in those). Time Trails and VS. mode are here as well. There is a brand-new mode on this game, and that is the Missions mode. At beginner levels, Missions mode can act as a training tool for amateur players, but on harder difficulties, these can prove to be fun challenges.

The multiplayer is where Mario Kart DS really shines. You and seven other DS-owning friends can all play with only one cartridge, but there is limited cars for those that don’t have the game. If you can rally up seven people who all have Mario Kart DS, then complete chaos can ensue when you’re on the tracks. And if you lack those friends, you can go online and duke it out with people all across the world. Mario Kart DS is the first DS game to have the ability to go online, and it is really easy if you have a wireless router at home. If not, then you can simply buy a Nintendo USB Wi-Fi drive that simply connects into your PC and uses that internet connection to provide you with the connection you need. And if you don’t want to do neither, then go to the one of the 6000 McDonald’s in the United States that have partnered with Nintendo to give you a free Wi-Fi connection point. When you get online though, the ways to play are quite mediocre. All you can do is click on Optimatch, which randomly puts you in a race against another opponent. All the game gives you in terms of stats is the win/loss record of your opponent. No leaderboards, chat rooms, nothing. If you want to play with a friend, it gets really tedious seeing that you have to input your friend’s 12-digit “friend ID number,” which gets really annoying after a while. Plus, there are only twelve tracks to play online (the others were disabled because of lag concerns). But when you hop into a race online, it can be really fun and it so much better than playing against the CPU.

The graphics and sound are just as good as any other part of the game. The graphics are smooth and no hiccups on the framerate, while the sound and music can keep you hyped up for the next race.

Conclusion – Overall, Mario Kart DS is an outstanding game for the Nintendo DS. The single-player is generally fun all around, and the multiplayer is incredibly fun. I would like to see an improvement in the online server (if there ever is going to be Mario Kart DS 2). You don’t have to be a fanboy to enjoy this Nintendo offering, no doubt about it.

Rating: 90 / 100

Reviewed by Aaron