Nintendo could have just ported over the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Kart. But they went all out for the DS version. You have a ton of tracks both new and old (over 30 tracks). The retro courses takes you back to SNES, GBA, N64 and GameCube tracks. I was very happy to see such classic tracks as the Rainbow track and Wario’s track. You can now relive those awesome tracks in your car, on the road, in a airplane or in the bathroom. A portable Mario Kart that lives up to the big boys.

And trust me, Mario Kart is where it all began. There have been countless copy-cats. But the Mario Kart series is the real deal. Mario Kart DS features playable characters Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, and Toad. You will also be able to unlock secret characters as well when you score the gold trophies (Bones, Daisy, Waluigi and R.O.B. the Robot from the original NES system).

Racing is extremely easy in Mario Kart DS. Like the older Mario Kart games, you can ride into rainbow boxes to get goodies to use against your opponents. There are some old classics like bananas, green turtle shells and red kart seeking shells. The shrinking karts also return as well. The new goodies range from you turning into a big bullet and shooting ahead of everybody else, to an octopus that smears ink on the screen and blinding your vision. You can also still jump your kart as well. The overall experience is just as good now as it was on the GameCube and N64. 

Yes, I thought I would never hear those words come out of my mouth but they have. Nintendo is finally online! Thanks to Nintendo free Wi-Fi Connection (now over 200,000 users in only a few weeks) you can take your Mario Kart skills online. You can find a hotspot (or use the Nintendo USB Wi-Fi card for your own hotspot) and go to town with friends and others you don’t know.

Now let me go a bit into Mario’s first online experience a bit. First this is no Xbox live. You basically log on and choose if you want to race between “friends” from your own friends list. You can go online and give put your friend code, so that every time one of your friends logs onto Mario Kart DS online, they will show up on the screen and you can play them. You can also play people regional and worldwide.

There are no ways of communicating to other players with voice. And you cant save friends to your friends list while racing. But remember, this is the first online title for the DS, and I am sure it was rushed just to meat the deadline so we could be playing this before the holidays. So I am not going to complain one bit.  When you log in, the system will find you three other players to play with. Sometimes you will end up playing one or two other players and not get four. Before you start you can choose which track you would like to race on. And the majority vote will win.

Racing online is seamless. I found no lag or slowdown as I was racing the other opponents. I did find that if you log off before the race you’d be handed a loss in your online records. Also, you can link your Nintendo DS to Nintendo’s wi-fi site online and it will keep track of your stats. Nintendo’s wi-fi site has become a very good friend of mine. It shows you a graph of how much you have been playing online, your last online DS game played, and much more. It is very handy and Nintendo has done a great job with it.

Graphics:

The Mario Kart series has always been a colorful wonder to watch and look at. Mario Kart DS is no different. The game looks amazingly like the GameCube version on the small DS screen. The levels are all in 3D and the characters and karts themselves are also in 3D. The game runs along at a smooth 60fps. This is by far the best-looking Nintendo DS racing game to date.

Characters like Mario and Luigi pump their fists into the air when they out maneuver another opponent. I also might add that along with some new levels, the older levels from the SNES, N64 and GameCube games look amazing. The DS duel screens also put to some great use. The top screen is the main race screen while the bottom screen acts as the track map. You will be able to follow who is behind you or who is ahead of you during each race.

You can zoom in to the track map or get a full track map. Overall, Mario Kart DS looks amazing on the Nintendo DS!

Music and Sound:

As someone who has the Mario Bros. theme on his cell, I love Mario music. And as with all of the older Mario Kart games, the DS version continues the tradition with happy & excitedly fun tunes. The music jams along on the Nintendo DS and brings the colorful wonders that are appearing on the screens to life.

The game also features a ton of funny and hilarious voices from all of your favorite Nintendo characters. Hear the sounds of Mario laughing as he hits another character with a red shell. Hear the sounds or Donkey Kong as he knocks another kart off the road. They are all here for your ear’s delight. Nintendo always knows how to bring joy in sound, and once again they have succeeded. Excellent job guys!

Overall:

What can I say? Mario Kart DS is the best DS game to date. It is like having the best from every Mario Kart game and bundled into one great package. The graphics are colorful and detailed. Also having the game run at a fluid 60 fps does not hurt as well. And we finally have a Mario Kart game that is online. What more could one ask for? Mario Kart DS is totally addicting and fun to play. I you have a Nintendo DS and have not experienced it online, buy this game! As a matter of fact you might as well pick up the extremely cool Mario Kart DS – Red Nintendo DS bundle for $150. It would make a great Christmas present. Now… Bring me the Nintendo Revolution version of Mario Kart online and I will be in Heaven. Oh yeah baby… that would be so sweet…

[Review by NLGSean (Sean Foster)]