Like nearly every Nintendo platform since the SNES, Mario Kart returns once more for an outing on the DS. Bringing his buddies into the mix, Mario lines up on the starting line again with the likes of Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and many more for mayhem on the asphalt.
Various bright and sometimes cutesy themes taken from the Mario universe translate into different racetracks. Exotic and exciting tracks like Luigi’s Mansion – a nod to the ghost-hunting Gamecube game, DK Pass – whereby snowmen litter the landscape and gigantic snow boulders chase you down a hill, and a superbly fun track that takes place on an oversized pinball machine are but a few. In total there are thirty-two to unlock through single-player mode. Sixteen of them are new to the DS, whilst the more nostalgic can enjoy previous tracks handpicked from the SNES, the Gameboy advance, the N64 and the Gamecube Mario Kart outings.
Playing single player is satisfyingly difficult, although not overly so. From the beginning of Grand Prix you can start in 50cc mode, which is conquered fairly quickly, as it is the slowest and easiest. 100cc is a little quicker, while 150cc mode provides a good challenge and the computer is unrelenting. Each cup of Grand Prix is split into four tracks and getting the most points overall wins you the cup, opening more cups and tracks to beat. On top of that, beating everything with a gold in 50, 100 or 150cc mode nets you some bonus characters and more karts to choose from.
Each racer is balanced against one another. Yoshi, although quick on the acceleration has a low top speed, weighs very little and has a poor chance of getting decent items. Bowser, on the other hand, is enormous yet slow on the uptake. If Yoshi collides with him, Yoshi will get wiped off the track altogether, which is incredibly satisfying if you’re Bowser and incredibly irritating if you’re not.
Items are also randomly doled out through boxes regularly spread across the tracks. Depending on your position in the race you will either likely receive a crappy banana skin for being in first place, or if you are lagging at the back – a mega boost mushroom to speed your way back up into the rankings. Two new additions to the DS outing are the Bullet Bill power-up, which transforms you into a giant guided bullet that thunders you up the track, knocking anyone else out of your way. The other is the terrifying spikey blue shell. A combination of a bob-omb and a red shell – this homing explosive missile is the bane of all 1st placers. It locks onto whoever is at the front and there is absolutely no way to escape it. Worse still, you can hear it whizzing towards you a mile off, so you know your fate is sealed before it even appears above your kart. Other old favourites like the invincibility star and the ghost power up return.
The touch screen of the DS is not really taken advantage of, although it can be used to navigate the menus before racing, or used to draw your own logo for your kart. Instead the lower screen is reserved for rather detailed information during races. The top screen will show you all the action, yet the lower screen will give you all the position details, a top down view of the track, who has what item, and any hazards like approaching shells or bananas still left on the track. Given such detail, it is entirely possible to race successfully using just the lower screen.
The real racing fun comes from multiplayer mode against other people through the wireless connection. Up to eight people can play together; even those without a copy of Mario Kart DS can join in because of the DS’ unique downloading function. I have only played with one other person, but even if there are just two of you, the rest can be taken up by the computer to harass the both of you. Even more so, through the DS’ Wi-Fi function you can connect to the Nintendo’s online WFC with piss-ease if there is an access point nearby. However, online, you are limited to three opponents, the speed is set to 100cc, some of the tracks that have a lot of detail are not available (such as the aforesaid pinball dodging track) and unless you know other people’s “friend codes” you’ll be randomly dumped into an ad hoc game – but it is still fun to play against other people. In my limited experience through taking advantage of Nintendo’s free access points (put your postcode into nintendowifi.com to see if any are nearby) the players tend to be very bad, or irritatingly good. As always, hardcore players will find the tiniest little things to exploit and use them with abandon and because there is no function in place to arrange players by their wins and losses, you will rarely randomly encounter someone of your equal to provide a decent challenge to one another.
Despite online gripes, Mario Kart is still a very good experience, even in the single player. Although it is not original, the DS version doesn’t feel like some cheap cash in either. The trouble-free controls are perfectly suited to the DS and even if you get tired of racing, there are plenty of challenges available in ‘Mission’ mode. Such things include mowing down dozens of crabs with shells or knocking over big bad bosses using turbo boosts. Slightly pointless but fun, and a lot of them do help improve your overall racing. Racing games are fairly limited on the DS so far, but you will be hard pressed to find a better racing experience on something the size of a pocket diary.
wireless, letting you race and battle locally with up to eight karts at once, regardless of whether everyone has a Game Card. Plus, play with up to three people around...
wireless, letting you race and battle locally with up to eight karts at once, regardless of whether everyone has a Game Card. Plus, play with up to three people around...
Mario Kart DS Nintendo DS
Time to race... no wires attached. The acclaimed Mario Kart series has gone wireless
... more
letting players race and battle with up to eight karts at once regardless of whether everyone has a game card. An all-star cast that includes Mario Luigi Peach Yoshi D...
Nintendo DS™ Mario Kart Game
5 single player modes - grand prix, time trial, VS, battles and missions 8 player wireless
... more
racing and battle modes More than 30 tracks Design your own custom cart emblems Nintendo wi-fi connection support Save your best times and send to friends Suitab...
very helpful
very helpful
