Mario Kart DS on DS (2005)

Average rating: 80%

from 1,334 member

14 Members' reviews

Certificate:
User collections:	The Bestest Greatest Games of All Time. Period, My Nintendo DS Collection (past & present)
Developers:	NINTENDO
Format:	DS
Number of players:	1-8
Released:	07/07/2007

Brief synopsis of Mario Kart DS

Get this: its been thirteen years since the first Mario Kart was released on the Super Nintendo. Thirteen years since racing games were changed forever by Nintendos masterpiece, which enshrined drifting and weaponry as staples of the genre. An extremely rich game, it had so much to offer: racing friends two player through a cup, facing off in a battle arena, or even shaving of the split seconds in time trials (as Donkey Kong Jr., naturally).

Since those heady days of cultural leadership, Nintendo has seen fit to bless us with an update every generation. But that classic status that the original enjoyed has proved elusive. Many felt that the N64 version lacked the purity of the original, and plenty of them preferred Rares Diddy Kong Racing. N64 owners would have to wait until F-Zero X for the racer that defined the machine. Double Dash on the GameCube seemed gimmicky. If any new version captured the imagination, it was that which differed least from the original: the GBA version, which in fact contained the SNES tracks as an unlockable bonus.

Every version, though, has been eagerly anticipated, a situation magnified by Nintendos tradition of surrounding the release in a healthy dollop of hype. That hype seems more than justified in this particular case, as Mario Kart comes to the Nintendo DS. Not content with simply adapting the N64 version, Nintendo has gone the whole hog and delivered an all-new version with four new cups, plus four additional cups comprising classic tracks from Mario Kart history. Tracks are fully 3D and so are the karts themselves, with all your favourite characters returning to join in the fun.

The best bit though, is the multiplayer mode. The game is the showcase debut for the DSs much-touted online abilities. Sitting in a Wi-Fi hot spots or using your own broadband connection via a Nintendo dongle, youll be able to play against real opponents anywhere a first for handhelds. And the game also makes use of the DSs short range wireless capabilities, supporting races involving up to eight people, even if some dont have their own copy. Its great to see Mario Kart breaking new ground, and needless to say this game is going to be a necessary purchase for anyone wishing to put their DS through its paces.

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Members' Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Shellshocked

ChrisBarraclough from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 25/05/2008

If you were a deprived child like myself, the only toy you had to play with when you were a child would have been a ball-and-cup. Simply flick the cup and catch the ball in it. Don't worry, the ball's on a string, so even if you've got the hand-eye coordination of a gorilla on smack you'll eventually manage it. And when you do, you can take a bow in front of your imaginary friends and then repeat the whole tragic procedure until your muscles atrophy and you soil yourself.

But if you actually had a friend, and that friend had parents with cash to blow, you will have bypassed the ball-cup shenanigans and instead played Mario Kart on the Snes. You will have experienced that special moment that only Mario Kart can bring, where you're bearing down on the finish line and your mate is slightly in front. You've got no hope of catching him/her up - until, that is, you drive through the final set of crates and find yourself in possesion of a red shell, which you immediately launch right up his/her a**e. And then you scream past him/her and joyously inform him/her that he/she can eat your dust. Or maybe something a bit ruder if you were from up North, like myself.

Mario Kart DS is the same package as usual - classic tracks and some new ones, the usual power ups and tournaments, and multiplayer capacity via wireless/internet. It's as random as ever, and it doesn't involve adding numbers together or stroking ponies like most frigging DS games these days. If you own a DS, this is one of the few games that justify the purchase. If you don't, then back to the balls and cups for you...

For more random nonsense, check out ChrisBarraclough dot co dot uk

11 out of 11 people found this review helpful

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