Difference between revisions of "Mario Kart DS"

Latest revision as of 17:47, February 15, 2024

Mario Kart DS
Game developer(s)	Nintendo
Game publisher(s)	Nintendo
Franchise	Mario
Platforms	Nintendo DS
Release dates	November 14, 2005[1] November 25, 2005[1] November 17, 2005[1] December 8, 2005[1]
Genre	Kart racing
Modes	Single player, multiplayer, online multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: Everyone

Mario Kart DS (ESRB: E) is a kart racing video game for the Nintendo DS, and was first released in 2005. It is part of the Mario Kart series, and is family friendly like the other installments. Unlike most Mario titles, the game first released in America instead of Japan. It was Nintendo's first game to be compatible with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service, although since May 20, 2014, the service has been discontinued, therefore disabling online play. In 2015, Mario Kart DS has been re-released as a digital download for the Wii U's Virtual Console.

Modes

There are no unlockable modes in Mario Kart DS.

Grand Prix

In Grand Prix mode, the player competes against computer-controlled racers, or, in Multiplayer mode, other players. There are two Grand Prix in Mario Kart DS: Nitro GP and Retro GP, each having four cups that each have four race tracks. Nitro GP has sixteen tracks, which were newly created for the game, while Retro GP contains sixteen tracks from earlier Mario Kart games, hence the name. The game starts out with three engine classes that represent the difficulty levels: 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. A fourth engine class is unlockable, 150cc Mirror Mode, in which all the 150cc tracks are flipped horizontally.

Time Trials

In Time Trials, the player can choose any course for their racer to race on, with the objective being to complete it as quickly as possible. There are no items or opponents in this mode. The results of a Time Trial run are saved as "Ghost Data", which the player can compete against later (for a faster time), or traded with friends.

Battle Mode

Battle Mode was not available online, and is only available in single-player and multiplayer modes.

Balloon Battle

In Balloon Battle mode, the goal is for racer to try and pop each other's balloons, while keeping their own intact. Each racer starts with five balloons, which are either red or blue, depending on whether the racer is on the red team or the blue team. Every racer starts out with one of their balloons inflated. Players may inflate their racer's balloons by either holding the Select button or by blowing into the DS microphone while the kart is stationary. Only up to three balloons can be inflated at once.

A racer can pop another racer's balloon by attacking them with an item. If a racer has one or two inflated balloons, they can steal one from another racer by dashing into them with a Mushroom.

Players with fewer inflated balloons can gain more powerful items from Item Boxes, just like in races, where racers in lower positions can gain more powerful items. The last player or team remaining wins the battle. If a racer loses all of their balloons in Wireless Play mode, they become invisible and will periodically spawn Item Boxes for other racers to pick up.

Shine Runners

This mode is a reintroduction of the Shine Thief mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The goal is for players to collect the most Shine Sprites, which are scattered throughout a course, within the time limit. If a racer gets hit, they lose one of their Shine Sprites. Whoever ends up with the most Shine Sprites wins.

Mission Mode

In the Mission Mode, which was newly introduced in Mario Kart DS, the goal is for players to clear each level, which consists of eight individual missions with objectives ranging from collecting coins to attacking enemies. Each mission has a specific character, as well as a kart pertaining to that character, that the player is forced to use. When a mission's goal has been completed, the player is ranked based on their performance, the highest ranking being three stars. After completing all eight missions of a level, a boss level is unlocked, and the player must complete it to unlock the next level. There is a hidden Level 7, which is unlocked after the player achieves a minimal of a one-star ranking on every mission of the previous six levels.

Options

The options menu has the usual options for adjusting audio or deleting one's data. However, there is an emblem maker unique to Mario Kart DS, in which players can create their own emblem on a character's vehicle. The player can create their own using a Paint-like interface or choose from a variety of pre-selected items. During races, they show up on the player's kart and are displayed prominently in the blurbs; players can see custom emblems when the racer is in front of them. During Wi-Fi, they are shown in the selection screen and in the blurb above the player during a race.

Multiplayer

The game features 8-player single-card and multi-card LAN play. Single-card play can be played with a mix of players using either a game cartridge or Nintendo DS's built-in wireless service, DS Download Play. In single-card play, players with a cartridge can choose their characters, but those using DS Download Play are forced to play as a randomly colored Shy Guy. In single-card play, only the courses from Mushroom Cup and Shell Cup are available, but if all players are using a Mario Kart DS game cartridge, then all of the tracks become available. In wireless play, every player can choose their own character to play as.

Nintendo WFC

Before Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was shutdown on May 20, 2014, players could use either a wireless router, an access point or a Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector to connect to Nintendo's service and access the mode. Players could choose to gather opponents worldwide, locally, or only with friends. Up to four players can race online, so for a short while, the game would search for up to three opponents. After this, players would each select a kart and vote on the track that they want to race on, and the game would select the track with the most votes for players to play on. However, in cases where none of the tracks were voted for more than once or if two tracks were each voted for twice, the game would choose a track randomly. After a set of four tracks were played, the winning and losing players were chosen based on the points they receive after each race, like in Grand Prix mode. All of the online races were at 100cc.

Only twenty courses can be played over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Several of the more complex and/or obstacle-ridden courses were likely disabled from online play because of possible latency issues.

Every copy of Mario Kart DS has a record of a player's online wins and losses, which was displayed to other players when opponents were found via Wi-Fi. Whenever online racers completed a set of four courses, a number of wins were added to the record depending on how many opponents that racer placed ahead of. Likewise, with losses, their number is equal to the number opponents that they lost to. If any racer disconnected during an online play, the other racers automatically receive a win at the end of the series, regardless of their performance. If a player won first place in a set of four races, a loss is subtracted from their record. Any player that disconnects from online play during an active match is penalized with a number of losses equal to how many opponents were in the race that they disconnected from.

Playable characters

In Mario Kart DS, there are a total of 13 playable characters: eight are available from the start, four are unlocked by completing certain objectives, and one character is only available to users playing the game via DS Download Play. The eight starting characters make up every playable character from Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

Each character falls under one of the three weight classes — light, medium, and heavy — which affect a racer's top speed, acceleration, and off-road performance. Light characters have low top speed but high acceleration and off-road performance. Medium characters are average in every stat. Heavy characters are the opposite of light characters in that they have high top speed but low acceleration and off-road performance.

Starter characters

Unlockable characters

Note that these characters are not mentioned in the instruction booklet and therefore do not have a bio.

Courses

All of the Retro GP cups have one course from each of the previous Mario Kart titles. The courses in each of the cups are sorted chronologically from earliest to latest game, and have a console abbreviation at the start of their title to indicate the game of origin: SNES (Super Mario Kart), N64 (Mario Kart 64), GBA (Mario Kart: Super Circuit), and GCN (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!).

Legend: Tracks highlighted in green were playable on Nintendo WFC prior to the service's closure whereas tracks in red were not.

Staff Ghost times

Battle courses

There are six battle courses in total, two of which are from an earlier Mario Kart game:

• Nintendo DS
• Twilight House
• Palm Shore
• Tart Top
• N64 Block Fort
• GCN Pipe Plaza

Items

As in previous Mario Kart games, there are Item Boxes found in certain parts of each track that racers can drive through to obtain a randomly-selected item. Doing this triggers a short roulette animation with the Item slot, placed at the top-left corner of the screen, as it rotates between item icons before stopping on one. Racers in lower positions receive more powerful items than those in higher positions, as it gives them a chance to catch up. Racers in higher positions always receive basic defensive items from an Item Box. A player can have their racer use an item by pressing either L or X. Certain items can be thrown in front by holding Up on the D-Pad.

For certain items, the player can hold either L or X to have their racer hold that item behind their kart. This allows them to block basic homing attacks. While doing this, they can drive through another Item Box to pick up another item. If a racer is hit while holding an item out, that item drops onto the track. In Nintendo WFC mode, racers could not carry items behind their kart.

Karts

There are a total of 36 usable karts, three pertaining to each racer.

At first, each racer begins with two karts, one of which is designed after a traditional go-kart; these all have the word "Standard" in their title and custom initials for the character that it pertains to. The player can unlock a third kart for each character by earning a gold trophy in all four 100cc cups of Nitro GP. In Battle mode, Standard karts are the only ones that can be used for each character.

Other characters' karts gradually become available to other racers. By earning a gold trophy in all four 150cc cups of Nitro GP, each character can use up to seven karts. When all four cups of either Nitro GP or Retro GP in 150cc Mirror (depending on which GP was completed first, as this unlocks R.O.B.), all 36 karts become available for every character.

There exists a 37th kart, Standard SG, which is only usable by Shy Guy in DS Download Play and the only kart available for him.

Stats

Like characters, karts have their own set of stats, which themselves are affected by whether a character is light, medium, or heavyweight. Karts have six different stats:

• Speed: Represents a kart's top speed. Higher speeds are usually balanced out with lower Acceleration and Handling.

• Acceleration: How quickly a kart can reach its top speed, such as after it gets by an item. Karts with higher acceleration have faster boosts.

• Weight: Represents the total weight of a kart. Heavier karts can knock lighter opponents aside.

• Handling: How tightly a kart can steer without drifting.

• Drift: How tightly a kart can corner while drifting. Karts with high drifting capabilities usually have low handling.

• Items: The higher the stat, the greater a chance that the racer earns more powerful items during a race. It also affects the longevity of a Bullet Bill, although it also has the negative effect of causing Blooper ink to remaind for a longer period of time. Karts with a higher Items stat start out with more Mushrooms during Time Trials mode (three being the highest possible number).

Reception

Mario Kart DS has been met with large critical and commercial success. It is one of the best-selling Nintendo DS titles.

Christ Centered Gamer

A Christian video game review website, Christ Centered Gamer, gave the game a score of 95/100.^[2] It also provided some additional ratings:

• Gameplay: 19/20
• Graphics: 8/10
• Sound: 9/10
• Stability: 5/5
• Controls/Interface: 5/5
• Violence: 10/10
• Language: 10/10
• Sexual Content: 10/10
• Occult/Supernatural: 9/10
• Cultural/Moral/Ethical: 10/10

References

External links

• Game manual