Loads of Fun - Lots to Do (Mario Kart DS (DS))

Member Name: Recon

Product:	Mario Kart DS (DS)
Date:	03/02/08 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Graphics, Sound, Characters + Tracks (Large Variety)

Disadvantages: Snakers online, Lack of story

Mario Kart DS was released on the 25th November 2005. This game was the first game to be released on the DS where you could play online using the built in wifi. I pre-ordered this game from amazon.co.uk, and I was so excited about playing it that I had an accident when I got home. I couldn't wait to see how the online play worked, and was so excited about playing people around the world from my portable Nintendo DS that I almost started a fire! It was November and very cold, so after I got home from work I switched on the fan heater and threw my jacket on the floor. Coincidently my jacket landed right over the fan heater that was blowing out hot air and shouldn't be covered. I smelt burning when I started up the game and looked on the floor to see smoke coming from the heater. I quickly lifted the jacket off, which was just very warm but it had burnt the carpet! From that day onwards, there was a hard patch on my carpet, which will always remind me of the day Mario Kart DS was released. I don't think I was ever so excited about the release of a game, to actually burn my carpet.

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Story
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There is no story really. However, the game is based upon some race tracks that appear in other Nintendo Games such as Peach's Castle, Luigi's Mansion and Delfino square. Therefore, not only are the race tracks all different and exciting, but they give you a really good experience to race through these places that you can't do in the game where you actually play them. These levels are from Super Mario 64, Luigi's Mansion the game and Super Mario Sunshine. There are many other levels that are from past games that you can race through. Other tracks are repeated from other Mario kart games such as Rainbow road, which is a new version for the DS. Despite no story being present, the game is fun to play with plenty to do. You cannot really expect a story, because it is a racing game, so you simply race through different cups and tournaments. In the Missions part of the game, which is new to Mario Kart, some of the characters you meet are from other Nintendo Games such as the Bob-ombs and enemies from the Mario 64 game. The other characters appear in most the Mario Kart games, and there are also some new ones to unlock.

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Characters & Karts
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There are 12 characters to choose from in this game, some if which you must unlock first by completing the one player. Here is a complete list of all the characters:

Mario
Luigi
Princess Peach
Yoshi
Toad
Donkey Kong
Wario
Bowser
Daisy
Dry Bones
Waluigi
R.O.B (Robot guy)

Myself, I am not sure who the R.O.B guy is at all, and I have no idea where Dry Bones comes from, but I do know that they are real Nintendo characters. For each character, you can choose one of 36 karts! Some karts are designed especially for certain characters and they all have at least one kart that is specially made for them. There are more karts to unlock which all have different physics such as speed, acceleration, weight, handling, drift and items. The items bit will determine your chances of getting better items.

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Gameplay
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The gameplay is brilliant. The game is really fun like all the other Mario kart games, and for such a small console, this game has loads to do compared to Mario Kart: Double Dash on the Gamecube for example. In the Grand Prix, there are four sections: 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and 150cc Mirror. They get increasingly hard with 50cc being the slowest and easiest. Once you have chosen the power of the kart, your character and kart itself, you can choose which Grand Prix you will enter. Each Grand Prix, the Nitro Grand Prix and the Retro Grand Prix consist of 16 tracks each spread amongst four different cups. That is 32 different tracks in total! If you work out how many total races you have to do in the Grand Prix section of the game, it is 32 multiplied by 4 (for each power of the kart), which comes out at 128 races!

In each race, you don't only get points depending on your position, but your race time is recorded, which are totalled up from the four races in each cup to give a grand total time. This time will determine what rank you are achieved. You can get anything from 3 stars (being the best) to an F. Therefore it is important that you drive well, not only winning the races. There are many things to help you do better, which are fun such as a 'Rocket Start', Drifting, Mini-Turbo's and items. A Rocket Start is done at the beginning of a race by hitting the A button and holding it during the countdown to go. There are many items just like in every Mario Kart game that can be used to your advantage. The items are scattered around each track, so you will normally run through them to pick them up. You can get anything from the banana to the red shells, the spiny shell, mushrooms, bob-ombs, bullet bills, bloopers, boo hoos, thunderbolts and stars. Most of these items are classics but some are new too, which is what makes the game so much more original. The bullet bills literally fire you ahead really fast to catch you up a bit, blasting anyone in the way to the side. The bloopers shoot an ink cloud to their screen to cloud their vision. The bom-ombs explode causing anyone hit to fly in the air. Some items can be laid behind such as bananas and the bob-ombs, but some can only be used one way.

The gameplay is very exciting with all these items and 8 racers on the track. It is like the classic Mario Kart; things can get very intense and it can be scary when you are in first place just about to cross the line on the last lap and a spiny shell hits you blasting you into the air! With the added extra of drifting, mini-turbo's following your drifts and Rocket Starts, it is a great game to get good at, and fun for all! It doesn't take skill to be good at this game like some games do; at least not that much skill. However, people online tend to take advantage of the drifting and mini-turbo's to do something known as 'snaking', which is really annoying and un-fair.

As well as Grand Prix mode, there is an all new Mission mode as well as Time Trials. The mission mode features different levels, in which you have to complete a series of missions and you get ranked according to how well and quickly you complete them. There is a boss at the end of each series that you must complete too. Missions include things such as driving through numbered gates, collecting coins and firing shells at enemies to kill them. Time Trials mode allows you to choose any unlocked characters and tracks to practice tracks, whilst recording your fastest times.

The top screen will feature your racer on it, so you will be watching this most the time. It has your lap number, position and item box on it if you pick one up, it will show what you get. The touch screen shows a map of the track that can be triggered to a bird's eye view, or a moving view of the track around you, which is very useful. It also shows the positions of all the players.

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Graphics
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The graphics are surprisingly good. The menus look great and really smooth. The graphics in the races are really good too. A lot of the levels are from real Nintendo Games and past Mario Kart games, so they look similar although some of them have had a makeover and changed, like the Rainbow Road is different in this game. Some of the tracks just float there, so you see interactive backgrounds which move. If not, the scenery on the tracks are very good for such a small console. You are going so fast, that you don't take much notice of the graphics, but they are pretty good and defiantly acceptable.

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Sound
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Each track has different music in the background which is great! The menus all have the same music in the background, but it's quite catchy. The music in the game is from the Nintendo Games that the tracks are from. For Example, on the Delfino Square track, the music featured is also in Super Mario Sunshine. The quality of the music is excellent compared to other DS games, so it gets top marks from me!

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Wifi
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This is where you head to play it online. I was so excited about trying this, and it worked really well! To start you simply click on Nintendo WFC (WiFi Connection), and then go to Nintendo Wifi Match. You have to obtain your friend code after you have connected once so you can get your friends know it so they can add you. There are also options in the main menu where you can change your name and use different paints and shapes to create an emblem, or make your own custom emblem by painting certain pixels to make up a picture! It should take a few seconds to connect to Wifi. You must have your Wifi settings configured, which you can do by going to Wifi Settings on the game. Once online, it will show your connection signal on the top screen in the corner. A full green bar is the best connection you can have. From this menu, you can choose whether to search for friends (they must be searching at the same time) that you have added. You can also search for Rivals, which will match you up with people with similar wins and losses to you, although this isn't always the case. You can then choose Continental and Worldwide, which are self explanatory. Your online record is kept by how many races you have won and lost. A symbol shows up when one of your friends is searching in friends, so you know that you can search as well to play with them.

The races themselves are normally quite smooth without a lot of lag. You can only choose from a number of the tracks actually in the game to play online, but there is a good variety to choose from; they only took out some of the tracks from online play. As I said before, people tend to 'snake', where they drift one way and the other, getting mini-boosts along the way. They will swerve along the track but will gain more speed because of these mini-boosts. It is annoying, but most people learn how to do it and join in. It is hard to do though, and really hurts your hands by the end of the race, because the mini-turbo's include having to tap the left and right directions on the D-Pad rapidly! Most people race fairly though, and it is good fun playing Mario Kart with people across the world! It works quite well, and couldn't be much better.

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Price
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This game is available on Amazon.co.uk for £24.98. You can easily buy this in any game stores such as Game, Game stop, Game station and anywhere else that sells games! Debenhams in London do, Selfridges do, and Virgin Megastores and HMV sell games too, and are bound to have this one in stock for a similar price as it was a big hit! Offline, I imagine you will be able to buy it for either £24.99 or £29.99.

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Scores
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Story - 7/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 10/10
Wifi - 8.5/10
Characters - 9.5/10
Tracks - 10/10

Overall Average: 9.1

Highly recommended to everyone who has a DS! This game is still very popular online, with people on everyday and no trouble finding people to play with! It is one of the best Nintendo DS games on the market, so make sure you have it!

Thanks for reading,

- Recon -

Summary: The first DS game with online play with loads of extras and lots to do!