Mario Kart DS
- Two modes to choose from: “Balloon Battle” and “Shine Runners.” Balloon
The ultimate Mario Kart race is on…and online via your Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in Mario Kart DS. Drawing on more than 30 courses and battle arenas from every game in the Mario Kart series – not to mention tons of new ones, Mario Kart DS allows you to play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Toad, Bowser and Shy Guy as you put the pedal to the go-kart metal, grab coins to max out your speed and blast rivals with the ever-popular arsenal of red, green and spiked Koopa shells in a race to finally put to rest the question of who is the true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racing circuit.
Race the Mushroom circuit
Mario is a veteran of the circuit.
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Choose your favorite character.
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Peach is a master drifter.
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Select the Kart you want.
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Bowser is the bruiser of the track.
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Watch your position in the pack.
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List Price: $ 39.99
Price:
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403 of 441 people found the following review helpful
 Right on track, By
Lestor neeker Wong (Singapore) – See all my reviews
This review is from: Mario Kart DS (Video Game)
It seems just like yesterday when the original Mario Kart made its debut on the SNES in 1992. The game was a hit back then, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. A racing game that emphasizes on sabotaging your opponents with weapons like banana skins, flying shells and lightning bolts was almost unheard of then, and to do so with your favorite Nintendo characters was, quite simply, pure bliss. Not surprisingly, the game captured the hearts of many gamers then. Fast forward to the year 2005. Fans of the series have seen a few sequels through the years, but the DS version of Mario Kart was greeted with much more anticipation than its predecessors. The main reason, obviously, is the game’s inclusion of integrated online play. For the first time in Mario Kart’s history, gamers can now take on players from all over the world as long as they’re using a wireless router that is supported by Nintendo. The game also allows up to eight players to multiplay in close proximity with only one copy of the cartridge, which essentially means that a gamer who decides not to buy the game can still perform a download play and race against a friend who owns a cartridge. Of course, to enjoy the other features in Mario Kart DS, you’ll still have to purchase the game, especially when you’re interested in taking on the single-player campaign. As with previous instalments, Mario Kart DS has a grand prix mode, which comprises of four races each that are span across eight different competitions. This means a total of 32 tracks for your racing pleasure. 16 of these tracks are brand new, but the rest consists of classic ones from previous renditions of Mario Kart. These include the Moo Moo Farm from N64, Peach Circuit from the GBA and even the original Mario Circuit from the SNES. These will no doubt bring much joy for Mario Kart fans. Yet, even in the presence of the classic tracks, the newer tracks do not pale in comparison. The innovative minds at Nintendo have once again developed a series of circuits that are visually stunning, mildly challenging and always entertaining. You’ll get to race through a pinball machine, a clock and even an airship fortress! The combination of both old and new tracks is indeed a masterstroke that allows you to engage new challenges, as well as indulge in some nostalgia. Mario Kart DS also has a mission mode that requires you to perform a series of tasks within a certain time limit. These include collecting a designated number of coins, passing through a series of numbered gates in sequence, and even hitting specified enemies with specified weapons. The missions are divided into “worlds”, and each world various stages. Completing all stages in a world will unlock a “boss fight”, which could involve winning in a race against the boss, or even to knock him out from a platform. Defeating a boss unlocks the next world, up to a maximum of six worlds and a total of 54 missions. Obviously, the missions get tougher as the game progresses, but they aren’t exactly impossible to complete. Gamers who enjoy more than merely racing should find the mission mode in Mario Kart DS a fun and captivating feature. The other modes in the single player campaign include a VS challenge and a battle mode. The VS challenge basically pits you against seven CPU-controlled racers in a never-ending series of races. This is the perfect training ground for learning the techniques of the game. The battle mode consists of a balloon battle and a shine runners game. The balloon battle requires you to burst the balloons of your opponents, while the shine runners game requires you grab as many shines as possible. These two mini-games are quite forgettable when played alone, so it’s recommended that you engage them with a friend or two. Bursting balloons has never been so much fun. A Mario Kart game is never complete without an array of usable weapons against your fellow racers. In Mario Kart DS, the arsenal gets even better with the inclusion of some new items. One of these new weapons is the Bob-omb, which causes an explosion. If used accurately, the Bob-omb’s impact on an opponent is tremendous, as it drastically slows down his or her progress. The Bullet Bill is another new item that is extremely cool. Using it will turn you into a flying bullet. You’ll find yourself bursting forward with much speed, knocking over anyone who dares stand in your way, and most importantly, covering a lot of ground. The Blooper, one of Mario’s nastiest enemies, is the third new addition. It’ll squirt ink onto your opponent’s windscreen, causing a temporary loss of vision. The range of old and new items more than complement each other, and you’ll no doubt find great usage with them as you progress. The controls of Mario Kart DS are extremely simple, making it a game that anyone could pick up and play without much hassle. Of course, learning more techniques are useful when you…
35 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Mario Kart DS is easily the best in series, By
This review is from: Mario Kart DS (Video Game)
I had my doubts about Mario Kart DS in the early stages of its development. Mario Kart: Double Dash (Gamecube) was never one of my favorite games, and I was hoping that Nintendo would stick to the roots with their DS edition of the high-selling, fan-favorite racing game. With Mario Kart DS, they’ve done just that.
It seems that the developers took everything great from Super Mario Kart (SNES), Mario Kart 64 (N64), Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA), and Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC) and put all of those elements into a single Mario Kart game. When you consider how wonderful all of these games have been and how much fun they still are today, that’s quite an achievement. Mario Kart DS features some of the same gameplay modes that fans have seen for years: Grand Prix, Time Trial, and Battle. They’re the same as always, with three ranks of difficulty in Grand Prix and several different battle modes in Battle. Nintendo didn’t stop with the classic game modes. In fact, they added another interesting mode called “Challenge” in which you pick up certain numbers of coins or do a set number of power slides in a lap under a certain amount of time. These challenges can be excruciatingly difficult but they make you a much more weathered Mario Kart player and therefore are a great addition to the game. Also, Multiplayer has come in the form of Nintendo’s first WiFi-enabled online multiplayer DS game. The races in WiFi multiplayer are relatively simple but it’s a great addition to the game nonetheless. On the track itself, the controls are easy but don’t utilize the DS very much–driving is done with the directional pad, acceleration and braking are done with the A and B buttons, power sliding is done with the R trigger, and item usage comes from the L trigger. This simple system goes alongside several classic items and three new ones. The Bullet Bill thrusts you forward knocking anyone in your path off of the track. The Bob-Omb explodes, causing anything in its blast radius to spin out and slow down considerably. Last of all, the Blooper spits ink on every other racer’s screen, making steering very difficult due to limited visibility. Visually Mario Kart DS stands out as one of the best-looking Nintendo DS games to date. It faithfully recreates some of the classic 3D tracks from Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash (like the ghost house level from MK64 and Luigi’s Circuit from MKDD) while also bringing SNES and GBA tracks to life in 3D. Of course, there have also been sixteen new tracks added to the mix, making a grand total of 32 different tracks that all look unique but beautifully show off the wacky Nintendo universe. The music from all of the classic tracks return as well (even the GBA tracks) and the new beats are as catchy as the old ones. Sound bytes, like the different celebrations and yelps of pain when a character is hit with a shell, sound just like they always have. Mario Kart DS is the essential Nintendo DS game. If you’ve almost given up on the DS, than you clearly haven’t played Mario Kart DS and for that reason you’re missing out. MKDS is being sold for , and if you see it how I do, that’s .09 per race track and you could easily get more than a few dozen hours of enjoyment out of this before you want to play something else. Is Mario Kart DS worth it? I’d say so.
36 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Just plain awesome, By
This review is from: Mario Kart DS (Video Game)
As of this writing, Mario Kart DS is hands down the absolute best game available for the DS. As one would expect from the long running series, Mario Kart DS allows you to play as Mario and co. in a series of go-kart races. The gameplay mechanics will feel like putting on an old glove for longtime fans of the series, while newcomers will have no trouble getting into the game. As you progress through the various circuits, you’ll find bonus tracks, karts, and characters to unlock as well, which adds a nice amount of replayability to the single player mode. Along with the new tracks, there are some retro tracks available as well taken from the past incarnations of the series. The real main attraction of Mario Kart DS however, is the fantastic Wi-Fi multiplayer mode. There are only a handful of DS games which support Wi-Fi capability, and none is better at it than Mario Kart. This is where the real meat and potatoes of the game lies, and you’ll have a hard time putting down your DS after getting a taste of it. The game looks, sounds, and plays phenominally, and all in all, Mario Kart DS is yet another excellent, must own, first party title for the DS, and the Wi-Fi options make it even more of a smash.
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Right on track,
It seems just like yesterday when the original Mario Kart made its debut on the SNES in 1992. The game was a hit back then, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. A racing game that emphasizes on sabotaging your opponents with weapons like banana skins, flying shells and lightning bolts was almost unheard of then, and to do so with your favorite Nintendo characters was, quite simply, pure bliss. Not surprisingly, the game captured the hearts of many gamers then.
Fast forward to the year 2005. Fans of the series have seen a few sequels through the years, but the DS version of Mario Kart was greeted with much more anticipation than its predecessors. The main reason, obviously, is the game’s inclusion of integrated online play. For the first time in Mario Kart’s history, gamers can now take on players from all over the world as long as they’re using a wireless router that is supported by Nintendo. The game also allows up to eight players to multiplay in close proximity with only one copy of the cartridge, which essentially means that a gamer who decides not to buy the game can still perform a download play and race against a friend who owns a cartridge.
Of course, to enjoy the other features in Mario Kart DS, you’ll still have to purchase the game, especially when you’re interested in taking on the single-player campaign. As with previous instalments, Mario Kart DS has a grand prix mode, which comprises of four races each that are span across eight different competitions. This means a total of 32 tracks for your racing pleasure. 16 of these tracks are brand new, but the rest consists of classic ones from previous renditions of Mario Kart. These include the Moo Moo Farm from N64, Peach Circuit from the GBA and even the original Mario Circuit from the SNES. These will no doubt bring much joy for Mario Kart fans.
Yet, even in the presence of the classic tracks, the newer tracks do not pale in comparison. The innovative minds at Nintendo have once again developed a series of circuits that are visually stunning, mildly challenging and always entertaining. You’ll get to race through a pinball machine, a clock and even an airship fortress! The combination of both old and new tracks is indeed a masterstroke that allows you to engage new challenges, as well as indulge in some nostalgia.
Mario Kart DS also has a mission mode that requires you to perform a series of tasks within a certain time limit. These include collecting a designated number of coins, passing through a series of numbered gates in sequence, and even hitting specified enemies with specified weapons. The missions are divided into “worlds”, and each world various stages. Completing all stages in a world will unlock a “boss fight”, which could involve winning in a race against the boss, or even to knock him out from a platform. Defeating a boss unlocks the next world, up to a maximum of six worlds and a total of 54 missions. Obviously, the missions get tougher as the game progresses, but they aren’t exactly impossible to complete. Gamers who enjoy more than merely racing should find the mission mode in Mario Kart DS a fun and captivating feature.
The other modes in the single player campaign include a VS challenge and a battle mode. The VS challenge basically pits you against seven CPU-controlled racers in a never-ending series of races. This is the perfect training ground for learning the techniques of the game. The battle mode consists of a balloon battle and a shine runners game. The balloon battle requires you to burst the balloons of your opponents, while the shine runners game requires you grab as many shines as possible. These two mini-games are quite forgettable when played alone, so it’s recommended that you engage them with a friend or two. Bursting balloons has never been so much fun.
A Mario Kart game is never complete without an array of usable weapons against your fellow racers. In Mario Kart DS, the arsenal gets even better with the inclusion of some new items. One of these new weapons is the Bob-omb, which causes an explosion. If used accurately, the Bob-omb’s impact on an opponent is tremendous, as it drastically slows down his or her progress. The Bullet Bill is another new item that is extremely cool. Using it will turn you into a flying bullet. You’ll find yourself bursting forward with much speed, knocking over anyone who dares stand in your way, and most importantly, covering a lot of ground. The Blooper, one of Mario’s nastiest enemies, is the third new addition. It’ll squirt ink onto your opponent’s windscreen, causing a temporary loss of vision. The range of old and new items more than complement each other, and you’ll no doubt find great usage with them as you progress.
The controls of Mario Kart DS are extremely simple, making it a game that anyone could pick up and play without much hassle. Of course, learning more techniques are useful when you…
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Was this review helpful to you?
|Mario Kart DS is easily the best in series,
It seems that the developers took everything great from Super Mario Kart (SNES), Mario Kart 64 (N64), Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA), and Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC) and put all of those elements into a single Mario Kart game. When you consider how wonderful all of these games have been and how much fun they still are today, that’s quite an achievement. Mario Kart DS features some of the same gameplay modes that fans have seen for years: Grand Prix, Time Trial, and Battle. They’re the same as always, with three ranks of difficulty in Grand Prix and several different battle modes in Battle.
Nintendo didn’t stop with the classic game modes. In fact, they added another interesting mode called “Challenge” in which you pick up certain numbers of coins or do a set number of power slides in a lap under a certain amount of time. These challenges can be excruciatingly difficult but they make you a much more weathered Mario Kart player and therefore are a great addition to the game. Also, Multiplayer has come in the form of Nintendo’s first WiFi-enabled online multiplayer DS game. The races in WiFi multiplayer are relatively simple but it’s a great addition to the game nonetheless.
On the track itself, the controls are easy but don’t utilize the DS very much–driving is done with the directional pad, acceleration and braking are done with the A and B buttons, power sliding is done with the R trigger, and item usage comes from the L trigger. This simple system goes alongside several classic items and three new ones. The Bullet Bill thrusts you forward knocking anyone in your path off of the track. The Bob-Omb explodes, causing anything in its blast radius to spin out and slow down considerably. Last of all, the Blooper spits ink on every other racer’s screen, making steering very difficult due to limited visibility.
Visually Mario Kart DS stands out as one of the best-looking Nintendo DS games to date. It faithfully recreates some of the classic 3D tracks from Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash (like the ghost house level from MK64 and Luigi’s Circuit from MKDD) while also bringing SNES and GBA tracks to life in 3D. Of course, there have also been sixteen new tracks added to the mix, making a grand total of 32 different tracks that all look unique but beautifully show off the wacky Nintendo universe. The music from all of the classic tracks return as well (even the GBA tracks) and the new beats are as catchy as the old ones. Sound bytes, like the different celebrations and yelps of pain when a character is hit with a shell, sound just like they always have.
Mario Kart DS is the essential Nintendo DS game. If you’ve almost given up on the DS, than you clearly haven’t played Mario Kart DS and for that reason you’re missing out. MKDS is being sold for $35, and if you see it how I do, that’s $1.09 per race track and you could easily get more than a few dozen hours of enjoyment out of this before you want to play something else. Is Mario Kart DS worth it? I’d say so.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Just plain awesome,
Was this review helpful to you?
|