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(More customer reviews)It seems just like yesterday when the original Mario Kart made its debut on the SNES in 1992. The game was a hit back then, and it isn't difficult to understand why. A racing game that emphasizes on sabotaging your opponents with weapons like banana skins, flying shells and lightning bolts was almost unheard of then, and to do so with your favorite Nintendo characters was, quite simply, pure bliss. Not surprisingly, the game captured the hearts of many gamers then.
Fast forward to the year 2005. Fans of the series have seen a few sequels through the years, but the DS version of Mario Kart was greeted with much more anticipation than its predecessors. The main reason, obviously, is the game's inclusion of integrated online play. For the first time in Mario Kart's history, gamers can now take on players from all over the world as long as they're using a wireless router that is supported by Nintendo. The game also allows up to eight players to multiplay in close proximity with only one copy of the cartridge, which essentially means that a gamer who decides not to buy the game can still perform a download play and race against a friend who owns a cartridge.
Of course, to enjoy the other features in Mario Kart DS, you'll still have to purchase the game, especially when you're interested in taking on the single-player campaign. As with previous instalments, Mario Kart DS has a grand prix mode, which comprises of four races each that are span across eight different competitions. This means a total of 32 tracks for your racing pleasure. 16 of these tracks are brand new, but the rest consists of classic ones from previous renditions of Mario Kart. These include the Moo Moo Farm from N64, Peach Circuit from the GBA and even the original Mario Circuit from the SNES.These will no doubt bring much joy for Mario Kart fans.
Yet, even in the presence of the classic tracks, the newer tracks do not pale in comparison. The innovative minds at Nintendo have once again developed a series of circuits that are visually stunning, mildly challenging and always entertaining. You'll get to race through a pinball machine, a clock and even an airship fortress! The combination of both old and new tracks is indeed a masterstroke that allows you to engage new challenges, as well as indulge in some nostalgia.
Mario Kart DS also has a mission mode that requires you to perform a series of tasks within a certain time limit. These include collecting a designated number of coins, passing through a series of numbered gates in sequence, and even hitting specified enemies with specified weapons. The missions are divided into "worlds", and each world various stages. Completing all stages in a world will unlock a "boss fight", which could involve winning in a race against the boss, or even to knock him out from a platform. Defeating a boss unlocks the next world, up to a maximum of six worlds and a total of 54 missions. Obviously, the missions get tougher as the game progresses, but they aren't exactly impossible to complete. Gamers who enjoy more than merely racing should find the mission mode in Mario Kart DS a fun and captivating feature.
The other modes in the single player campaign include a VS challenge and a battle mode. The VS challenge basically pits you against seven CPU-controlled racers in a never-ending series of races. This is the perfect training ground for learning the techniques of the game. The battle mode consists of a balloon battle and a shine runners game. The balloon battle requires you to burst the balloons of your opponents, while the shine runners game requires you grab as many shines as possible. These two mini-games are quite forgettable when played alone, so it's recommended that you engage them with a friend or two. Bursting balloons has never been so much fun.
A Mario Kart game is never complete without an array of usable weapons against your fellow racers. In Mario Kart DS, the arsenal gets even better with the inclusion of some new items. One of these new weapons is the Bob-omb, which causes an explosion. If used accurately, the Bob-omb's impact on an opponent is tremendous, as it drastically slows down his or her progress. The Bullet Bill is another new item that is extremely cool. Using it will turn you into a flying bullet. You'll find yourself bursting forward with much speed, knocking over anyone who dares stand in your way, and most importantly, covering a lot of ground. The Blooper, one of Mario's nastiest enemies, is the third new addition. It'll squirt ink onto your opponent's windscreen, causing a temporary loss of vision. The range of old and new items more than complement each other, and you'll no doubt find great usage with them as you progress.
The controls of Mario Kart DS are extremely simple, making it a game that anyone could pick up and play without much hassle. Of course, learning more techniques are useful when you intend to go online for some real challenge, and the game does give you a repertoire of skills to master. One of them is turbo drifting, which requires you to drift, and then quickly press the left and right button on your D-pad to cause your tires to catch fire. Releasing the drift immediately after that will result in a temporary burst of speed. This technique is extremely useful in chasing a seemingly loss cause.
The real meat of the game, obviously, is the online feature. Once you get connected, you'll be able to search for players who're also online at the same time. It may take a while for you to get a full quota of four players, but the game works with one or two opponents as well. You'll have to race through a standard Grand Prix in an online game. You'll also get to vote on which track you want to race, so that you can at least gain an upper hand by (hopefully) getting a track that you're familiar with. It's also advisable for you to practise on the various tracks before proceeding, since you won't want to finish last all the time!
As mentioned earlier, you can also play with fellow friends with the use of only one cartridge, but the player who doesn't have a cartridge will, by default, be using Shy Guy as a character. The player only needs to turn on his DS when another player hosts the game, and he should be able to "download" the game into his DS for a quick race. As with online play, it takes a while for the connection to be established, but my experience with multiplaying has found no lag at all during the gameplay, which is definitely great. Beware, however, when you send a bolt of lightning towards your friend - regular attempts at this could possibly lead to a loss of friendship at the end of the races!
If you're a fan of Nintendo-style graphics, Mario Kart DS will not disappoint you. The game retains the usual awesome graphics from the past, and provides a great sense of details even for a supposedly "cartoony" presentation. The DS' dual screen also comes in handy here, as you can watch the action on the top screen, while still referring to the touch screen for a real-time map. The map is especially useful for dodging attacks from behind. The audios are also highly enjoyable, combining great music and sound effects seamlessly. Somehow, the sound of "vroom vroom" seems to blend perfectly to the lively, catchy tunes in the background. If only prime time radio is that good.
In summary, Mario Kart DS is everything you can expect from a Mario Kart game, and perhaps just a little more. The inclusion of online play makes the experience a little better, but even if you've no access to it, the single player campaign should still be good enough to keep you going back for more. Just remember to change your underpants.
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Mario Kart DSProduct Description: The ultimate
Mario Kart race is on...and online via your NintendoWi-Fi Connection in
Mario Kart DS. Drawing on more than 30 courses and battle arenasfrom every game in the
Mario Kart series - not to mention tons of newones,
Mario Kart DS allows you to play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach,Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Toad, Bowser and Shy Guy as you put the pedal tothe go-kart metal, grab coins to max out your speed and blast rivals with theever-popular arsenal of red, green and spiked Koopa shells in a race to finallyput to rest the question of who is the true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racingcircuit.
Race the Mushroom circuit Mario is a veteran of the circuit.
Viewlarger. Choose your favorite character.
Viewlarger. Peach is a master drifter.
Viewlarger. Select the Kart you want.
Viewlarger. Bowser is the bruiser of the track.
Viewlarger. Watch your position in the pack.
Viewlarger. Progressing Through the Game Place first in Grand Prix circuits or clear skill-based missions to open up increasingly difficult and thrilling circuits. Of course, players can have multiplayer races on any open courses or battle in arenas.
Game Modes: At Least Five Ways to Play Whether you prefer to race by yourself or to mix it up with friends,
MarioKart DS is a game with something for everyone. Features five different gamemodes, these include a 'VS' and 'Battle' mode that are available in multiplayerfor up to eight players via local wireless connection while all modes are availablesingleplayer. See a complete list and description of the play modes below:
Grand Prix Mode: In Grand Prix Mode, the driver who earns the most points at the end of a four-course cup is the victor. Mario Kart DS features eight different cups, with each cup featuring four different tracks.
Time Trial Mode: Your objective in Time Trial Mode is to get the fastest time that you can on a single track. . You can save your best runs as ghost data and share them with a friend.
VS Mode: A competitive mode that can be either singleplayer. or multiplayer.In the singleplayer. version you'll race against computer-controlled karts,while in multiplayer you'll race against human opponents who play using theirown Nintendo DS systems.
Battle Modes: Mario Kart DS contains two battle modes.
Balloon Battle Mode: Your goal is to pop your opponent's balloons by attacking/stealing them by colliding into an opponent via a mushroom boost, before your own balloons are popped.
Shine Runners: In this mode the driver who collects the most Shine Sprites is the winner.
Mission Mode: In this mode you are given sets of specific missions that you must clear in order to move on to the next set of missions. What could wait at the end?
Special Powers, Weapons, Moves & Features Turbo power-drifting and item tossing is the order of the day, whether players are racing around an obstacle-filled track or battling in an arena. Use familiar items taken from every game in the series like Green Shells, homing Red Shells, Bananas, Bombs, Lightning and the destructive Spiny Shell, not to mention new ones like the Blooper. The touch screen features a map that shows items being fired at players, who can even tap it with their fingers mid-race to zoom in or out.
Wireless Communication: Even More Ways to Play:
Mario Kart DS features three different forms of wireless game play: two kinds of local wireless game play and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online game play.
Mario Kart DS offers two different options for LAN Wireless game play: DS Download Play, in which only one player has
Mario Kart DS and all players have Nintendo DS systems, and Multi-Card Play, in which all players have
Mario Kart DS and Nintendo DS systems.
DS Download Play As with all DS Download multiplayer games, the DS Download Play in
Mario Kart DS requires that only one player has a copy of the game. Unlike past DS games, however, DS Download Play in
Mario Kart DS allows multiple players who have the game card to play with multiple players who do not have the game card. DS Download Play offers the following features:
2-8 player simultaneous wireless game play.
A choice of multiplayer racing, Balloon Battle, or Shine Runner modes.
Players who own Mario Kart DS can choose their own characters and use personalized icons, while players who do not own Mario Kart DS must play as Shy Guy and cannot use personalized player icons.
Track selection is limited to eight tracks for racing and three arenas for Balloon Battle and Shine Runner modes.
DS Download Play is limited to the 100 cc engine class
Multi-Card Play Multi-Card Play requires all players to have their own copies of
Mario Kart DS, giving players more options, modes and tracks to choose from. Multi-Card Play offers the following features:
2-8 player simultaneous wireless game play.
Your choice of multiplayer racing, Balloon Battle, or Shine Runner modes.
Players can choose from different engine classes.
No limits on character choice.
No limits on track choice.
Player's win/loss ratio is saved and tracked.
Players who race locally are automatically added to each other's friend roster and then can race via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Players can trade ghost data wirelessly, allowing them to race against each others' best times.
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection:
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is a free online game-play service provided by Nintendo to Nintendo DS owners. It offers seamless access to online game play and an environment that is welcoming to gamers of all skill levels. Features include: Whether it's the updated graphics that retain the side-scrolling feel of classic games in the
Sonic franchise, an expansive world to race through and explore or the multiple and new ways to play,
Sonic Unleashed offers something for players of any age or level of ability.
2-4 players racing simultaneously.
Choice of playing with:
Friends only (players registered as Friends)
Rivals (players with similar skills)
Recent opponents
Regional racers (players in their country)
World racers (players anywhere in the world)
No limit on course choice, but each player votes for a course and the course with the most votes wins (in case of a tie, the course is chosen randomly)
No limit on character choice
Players can create and use personalized player icons
Connecting to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will be quick, easy and seamless. Players can go to an official Nintendo hotspot and immediately go online and start playing. To use their home Wi-Fi routers, players first must configure the DS to connect to their routers by entering the router's network ID and optional security key or install the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector on their PC and configure the DS to enable it to share the PC's broadband connection. After that, players can go online anytime without further configuration. Friends are registered to the friends roster either by exchanging and entering Friend Registration Keys or by playing local Multi-Card Multiplayer mode together.
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