Review - Mario Kart DS
Overview: Mario Kart is a very well-loved series. Chances are, you have played one of the many iterations, either on Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Gameboy Advance or Gamecube. It is most likely that I do not have to explain to you that it is a racing game featuring Mario and friends, where there are items to chuck at each other. This is all irrelevant information to you. Mario Kart DS does not break any molds, such as with Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Gamecube, where you had two racers in one kart. No, this game is pure Mario Kart. If you were to ask Nintendo to make ONE Mario Kart game that you could take with you on a deserted island that just happened to have a wifi connection, this would be the one. Featuring over 32 tracks, including original creations and retro revivals, this is the comprehensive Mario Kart title. Single-cart multiplayer for up to 8 racers, 4 different modes, 2 different circuits, and online play make this a huge game, both in scope and size.
Funness: I don't really need to tell you that Mario Kart is fun. You know it, your mom knows it, your grandma probably even knows it. Everyone I know that has played any Mario Kart game has loved it, and the series tends to draw non-gamers into the mix nicely. It's a fun game for the whole family, as well as being a pretty darn fun party game. All the standard fun things about Mario Kart are here: interesting tracks with multiple levels, different racers with different abilities, crazy items and more. There are a couple great additions that Mario Kart DS brings to the series, including 2 different karts for each racer, one standard and one wacky. There are your favorite items from previous games, including some new ones such as the blooper, which when used covers all other racer's screens with ink, obstructing their vision. Just like in Double Dash, you can do "blue sparks", which help you drift around corners and gain a little boost if you can do it correctly. A brand new feature is drafting, where you can ride your opponent's coat-tails and gain a little bit of speed to surge ahead. All these additions make this a game that is easy to pick up, but hard to master. The two different circuits in the game consist of the standard new assortment of tracks (the "Nitro" circuit. Get it?) and a whole 4 cups worth of old school retro tracks. Select tracks from SNES, GBA, N64 and Gamecube are brought into the mix, and they are beautiful. It is fantastic to be able to play Koopa Beach 2 again, and listen to the fabulous music that accompanied it. There are tons of unlockables as well, such as new characters and more cups.
There are a couple of different modes in the game, including the grand prix, vs mode, time trial, and a new "missions" mode. What really makes this game shine, however, is not the single player modes, but the multiplayer. If you want to play a local multiplayer game, you just have to have people around you with DSes. Mario Kart supports 8 players off of one cartridge. Everyone you play with in local mode is added to your friends list, and you can race them in online mode afterwards. The online element is brilliant. Just being able to connect to the interweb with this thing that I have been playing with for almost a year now is surprising and neat. Setting up your online connection is super simple, and if you have the official Nintendo wifi usb dongle thingy it's even easier. Want to know what's even easier than that? McDonald's and Nintendo are partnering to bring free wifi DS access to all McDonald's restaurants. I went down to my local McDonald's to test it out, and you don't even have to set anything up. You just connect and go. You can find opponents by the aforementioned friends list, regional, "rivals", or worldwide. Once you get enough people to play you choose a map and race 4 tracks. Your scores are tallied and you can race again. It keeps track of your wins and losses for all to see, and you can even edit a small emblem to go on the front of your car. Imagine how many wang-karts there are going to be in a couple weeks. The prospect is very exciting.
The funness of this game is amplified tenfold with the online element. Nothing beats competition with real humans, and there are some pretty intense online races. I can definitely see people using this feature for a long time to come.
Shininess: I have never really been that impressed with the DS's 3d capabilities. While the graphics processor is slightly better than the N64, to me the polygonal models always look a little distorted. Kind of organic or melty looking. That is not to say that Mario Kart DS looks horrible, it looks the way it has to. The tracks are rendered nicely, there are no hit detection problems, and the retro tracks are faithful. The menu interface is simple and elegant, so what else do you need? This series has never been about stunning graphics and effects, it's all about the gameplay. One major gripe I have, however, is that the music sucks. The retro tracks have their own original music, and it is to be expected that they are going to sound as they sounded when their games were released. The DS track music is just plain low-quality, and I find myself wanting to turn it off most of the time. I can see how most of the memory on the cart is taken up by the massive amount of tracks and unlockables, which most likely made the music suffer. No matter, the funness majorly outweighs the shininess of this game.
Worthiness: If you are at all a fan of the Mario Kart series, either seriously or in passing, this is a must-have title for you. If you own a Nintendo DS and want another game to spend a lot of time on, this is a must-have title for you. If you enjoy competing online in any capacity, this is a must-have game for you. I actually feel really sorry for Nintendo's competition this season, because there are just a massive amount of great games for the Nintendo DS. I honestly do not have any time for anything else, and why would I want to? Games like Mario Kart DS are incredible amounts of fun, and with the online component it is just expanded near infinitely. Pick it up, don't rent it. This is a killer app and everyone with a DS (or without one... yet) should own it.
----Frodo (chrisfurniss@gmail.com)
Score: 5/5 Buy it!
What say you?!