Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS)

To put it short, it's a brilliant game! The Best Mario Kart game to be released since the original Mario Kart back on the SNES

Gameplay

Control of the karts are perfect. Its what you should expect from a Mario Kart game, proper control to win the race

Features

= 32 tracks (16 new and 16 classic)

= 8 cups to win in 4 different difficulties (32 in total)

= For the first time, battle mode with computer controlled characters (6 battle stages to choose)

= New Mission Mode (e.g. collect 30 coins in 15 seconds, beat this character, etc)

= VS (quick race)

= Multiplayer (DS - DS and WiFi)

Graphics

Best I've seen on a DS, better than the N64 Mario Kart game. Touch screen is used as a course map. There are 2 versions, a zoomed in map which show where objects are placed and there's a standard map, which shows the outline of the course

WiFi - NINTENDO's WINNER

Race against up to 4 people from various places around the world. Limited number of tracks to select, but there are some good ones to select (my personal favourite: Rainbow Road). The only negatives are people quiting the race halfway through, and some jumping around but the good points overshadow the negatives

Lifespan

Cups won't take too long to complete, but you still have mission mode to complete (make sure you get at least 1 star for every mission) and, of course the WiFi races

FINAL VERDICT

What's stopping you? Even if you don't have WiFi, you'll still have loads of fun, get it now!

Well, I never thought Nintendo would do it, but they've created a kart title worthy of rivalling the 1992 SNES classic. I loved that game, and Nintendo have pulled off a great feat on the DS.

Having bought a DS a few weeks ago, I had to choose a title to go with it. I naturally gravitated to a choice of New Super Mario Bros, and Zelda's Phantom Hourglass. But my eye kept getting drawn to the Mario Kart case. I tried to convince myself not to buy it, that it'd only let me down, like Mario Kart 64 did all those years ago. I think I made the right choice.

Mario Kart DS is a very racy game. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Yes, we all know about the various missles, power-ups and other things that can get in your way, but for me, my favourite pasttime on the SNES was getting those personal best times down. MK DS recreates this feeling once more, more so than Mario Kart 64 or Double Dash. It's fun to try and get those times down.

But Nintendo haven't gone all serious on us, no. That's just the 'boring' comparison stuff out of the way. It's an incredibly fun game with an excellent replay value. Hooking up with friends is easy, and the varied tracks, cup and unlockables will keep you entertained for ages. The bottom screen is great. You don't use it for touching anything except the menu choices, yet believe me, it's essential. It gives you a topdown faraway view of the action, and you will find yourself using it a surprising amount of the time. Multiplayer was seamless too, I've never dropped connection once, and it's fun to race against people from all over the world. My only gripe is with people cheating in races. It's not in every race, but common enough to annoy you. I recently had one guy send three blue shells after me, after I had the cheek to overtake him. After he'd been cheating by using invincibility before even hitting a ? block, when he thought I wasn't looking. Hm.

All of your favourite racers are back too, so I don't need to bore you with the details. Many are unlockable, and I still haven't unlocked them all. The graphics are great for a DS. Better than the n64, but not quite as good as the Gamecube. Nintendo have impressed me in other ways though. The animations are great, you can tell the developers put a lot of time into them, and the 60fps also contributes to the fast clean pace.

This is a game I can't recommend highly enough. It's fun, and takes some characteristics from previous kart games, (including tracks) and meshes it together. There's nothing I can really fault it with, and it's great for kids and adults alike.

Fantastic.

When my brother had Mario Kart DS for his N64 I was addicted to the "balloon" battle mode - and it was the first thing I played when I got my hands on this.

The DS version is, if anything, an IMPROVED version! Before you could only battle mode against other 'human' players, whereas now you can do battle against up to 7 CPU controlled players.

There are tracks galore and more to unlock, lots of different characters to choose from and again - more to unlock.

There are new weapons too and for each character you select you can choose different vehicles. Some are faster, some are easier to handle, etc. This makes this classic game bigger than ever before. Once you complete all the tracks in 50cc mode, you can move to bigger engines. You can also play with different characters, select a different car (there are several for each of the CC modes - each individual to the character you choose).

I have played over WiFi via the Nintendo WFC service, and I performed pathetically compared to the international super-players I pitifully tried to beat! But I'll improve!

I have also played the DS to DS two player mode with just one game cartridge (Download play) and this was phenominal! I was beaten this time round too by my good colleague Marc - but I'll soon get him back. You can play Battle mode this way too, which is great - as we both have a DS, but we only have one game card between us!

This looks and sounds fantastic on the DS. The touch screen allows you to change the track view which comes in handy on battle mode. Whether you want to spend a good session on your DS, or a few minutes - this game is perfect - and so much fun on your own, or with others.