Mario Kart DS
- Race and battle with up to 4 karts at once – or enjoy 8-player multiplayer action through your Wi-Fi Connection
- Tour courses from classic Mario Kart games – as well as brand-new tracks and arenas
- All the crazy items and frantic speed players have come to expect
- Five different game modes allows for endless ways to play.
Product Description
The ultimate Mario Kart race is on…and online via your Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in Mario Kart DS. Drawing on more than 30 courses and battle arenas from every game in the Mario Kart series – not to mention tons of new ones, 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 to the go-kart metal, grab coins to max out your speed and blast rivals with t… More >>
Tags: Mario Kart DS
Nintendo DS | ed2yp79 2009/12/20
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By N. Durham "Big Evil", 2009/12/21 @ 1:25 am
As of this writing, Mario Kart DS is hands down the absolute best game available for the DS. As one would expect from the long running series, Mario Kart DS allows you to play as Mario and co. in a series of go-kart races. The gameplay mechanics will feel like putting on an old glove for longtime fans of the series, while newcomers will have no trouble getting into the game. As you progress through the various circuits, you’ll find bonus tracks, karts, and characters to unlock as well, which adds a nice amount of replayability to the single player mode. Along with the new tracks, there are some retro tracks available as well taken from the past incarnations of the series. The real main attraction of Mario Kart DS however, is the fantastic Wi-Fi multiplayer mode. There are only a handful of DS games which support Wi-Fi capability, and none is better at it than Mario Kart. This is where the real meat and potatoes of the game lies, and you’ll have a hard time putting down your DS after getting a taste of it. The game looks, sounds, and plays phenominally, and all in all, Mario Kart DS is yet another excellent, must own, first party title for the DS, and the Wi-Fi options make it even more of a smash.
Rating: 5 / 5
By Matthew Marko "Matthew Marko", 2009/12/21 @ 2:59 am
Mario Kart has always been a brilliant series. From the classic, simple-yet-eternally-playable Super Mario Kart through the newfound 3D chaos of Mario Kart 64, to the new-retro mix of Super Circuit for GBA to the co-op fun of Double Dash, Mario Kart usually doesn’t disappoint. What’s more, every game offers a slightly different experience. It’s never more of the same, because each game has its own unique feel.
Mario Kart DS is another in this line. The game is 3D, but it also pays tribute to games of the past in the Retro circuit with courses from all four previous games. Which mean that there are 8 2D tracks from Super Mario Kart and Super Circuit. And 8 blasts from the not so distant past from Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash. That’s 16 courses, right there. And on top of that, there are 16 new courses designed for this game. Yes, that’s right, 32 tracks.
The most amazing amount of tracks isn’t enough, though. There are plenty of characters. The list as it stands is Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Wario, Waluigi, and the unlockable Daisy, Dry Bones, and even a super secret ROB for all you retro-fans. And each character will eventually get a total of 7 karts each, giving you a massive choice for customization.
But customization doesn’t end there. Mario Kart DS offers a symbol editor that will allow you to create a custom emblem in a stylus-powered paint program. While normally I don’t care for such things, the stylus makes drawing and editing extremely easy. And the emblems have a use, which I’ll detail later.
Mechanics in game have changed little. You can go forward and back, fire weapons, hop with R, and powerslide through turns. The powerslide is important, especially in the 100 and 150CC grand prix mode, unless you want to come in the middle of the pack. Weapons are still incredibly useful, and you still get the best ones when you’re losing. Lightning bolts and blue shells can truly be equalizers, and the new Bullet Bill and Blooper are unique, clever, and fit in very well with the mechanics of the game.
The GP mode is a staple of Mario Kart, but there’s an addition of a mission mode. These special requirement mini-stages lead up to various boss battles with classic Mario villians and are pretty inspired. They start mind-numbingly easy, but eventually become fairly tricky. It’s a nice addition to the single-player game. But I imagine that’s not what you’re playing for.
Multiplayer. Ah yes, Mario Kart has always been a multiplayer game. And never more so than now. You can play with up to 8 people together using the wireless play, and only one person need have a copy of the game (though the others are stuck with default Shy Guy as a racer, and have no say in courses and whatnot). There is the normal races, the standard baloon-destroying battle mode, and a new shine runners game (not something I care for, but you may). The multiplayer runs perfectly, with almost no hint of slow-down. It truly is pretty amazing to see in action, though getting 8 people together with DSs may take some work.
Which leads me to the final thing. Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection, WFC, which allows your DS to go online using a wireless router. This isn’t too complicated, but outside the scope of the review. So head to [...] for information about how to go online. The online experience with Mario Kart is pretty wonderful for Nintendo’s first online title. You’ll be paired with 3 other racers for four races on tracks you choose. Sadly, not all the tracks are available online (the more complex tracks were left out, probably due to trouble making them run fluidly) and you can only have 4 players, but it’s a great experience to be playing online against Kart racers from all over the world, and it opens up a whole world of ideas for new online experiences. AND, it’s FREE. That’s more than enough reason to try, if you ask me. I’m sure you’ll be able to at least find a nearby hotspot if you live in any moderately populated area, so go ahead and give it a try.
Some notes on the online game:
your stats (win/loss) are kept track of automatically, on a profile that is made up by the game and the DS working together, so keep your DS and your game as a ’set’ if you will. Also, dropping out of a game will net you a loss for every person that was racing. So a full game will net you 3 losses.
Other than that, I’m out of thigns to say. Mario Kart is one for the ages, though, and this may be the best one yet. It’s worth it, even if you have no intention of playing online. Enjoy your race!
Rating: 5 / 5
By Jennifer "Mom Of One", 2009/12/21 @ 5:02 am
I got this for my 7 year old son and he loves it. I would say it is his second favorite game to play on his DS. It isn’t a complicated game which makes it a good starter game for kids who are just starting out playing a DS. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five was because he beat the game faster than I thought he would. With that said he still enjoys playing it and always has a blast when playing multiplayer with his friend who also owns it.
Rating: 4 / 5
By Anonymous, 2009/12/21 @ 5:20 am
ok i like the game best graphics and everything but… i am not here to dicribe the whole game like the other peopl so read other peoples reavie for that this is all about the wi fi!
i was excited to get the game online play! but then it happend. if u want your compuers to get viruses like crazy and people hacking your network. this is the kind of thing to do just that.
u have to open things called ports to be able to paly online thos port are wat let people in so when u are opening them its like welcomming a guest through your door to come into your computer. so buy the game its great game paly but dont buy it just for the online party casue u will be disapointed unless u dont care about people hacking your computers and your systems and wat not
this is just a warning so buy the game its great but not for the wi fi.
Rating: 5 / 5
By Anonymous, 2009/12/21 @ 5:47 am
When I bought this game I never thought it would be so fun it even has my favorite character Donkey Kong! Hi Im Chris mei
Rating: 5 / 5