Mario Kart DS

Mario Kart DS is a video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. Mario Kart DS was one of Nintendo's most anticipated games at the time, as it is the first to use Nintendo's free online service, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Mario Kart DS is the latest installment in the hit series Mario Kart in which Mario, Luigi, and other characters from the Mario universe race in go-kart style vehicles while fighting for the top position through the use of weapons (such as Koopa Troopa shells) from the Mario Bros. series. The player's character races on tracks themed after various locations in the Mario universe. To this day, Mario Kart DS still remains the most critically acclaimed game on the DS.^*

Gameplay

Mario Kart DS is a racing game in which characters from the Mario universe race each other around also Mario-themed tracks. Power-up items, such as homing projectiles, speed boosts, and explosives can be found on each track in Item Boxes. Both skill in driving and use of items is important in Mario Kart DS. While racing, the top screen of the Nintendo DS displays a third-person perspective behind and slightly above the player's vehicle. The bottom screen lists the current race standings, items carried by each player, and a map of the course. The map can be toggled to show an overall view of the entire course, or a close-up view of the racer's immediate vicinity. The close-up view is very detailed, showing nearby racer positions, course hazards, item boxes, and even incoming attacks. As the closeup rotates in orientation to the racer, it is possible to complete an entire race focusing only on the bottom screen.

Mini-Turbos

A feature first introduced in Mario Kart 64, Mini-Turbos are momentary speed boosts that can be obtained while drifting, by alternately pressing Left and Right on the D-Pad buttons during a power-slide, until orange sparks appear around their kart. At that point, when the player stops drifting, their kart will receive a short speed boost.

Snaking

The execution of several consecutive mini-turbos during races has caused minor controversy in Wi-Fi play in the form of snaking -- players who drift their karts back and forth across a straight stretch to generate repeated mini-Turbos (a movement likened to actual snakes, hence the term, "snaking"). Because this gives the user a distinct speed advantage over other, "non-snaking" opponents, players regard snaking as anything from legitimate and advanced racing strategy, to an unfair tactic, or even outright cheating. Some players have attempted to form leagues (or "Friends" groups) composed of avowed non-snakers, but the distinction between a "snaker" and "non-snaker" is vague, largely depending on whether the player uses Mini-Turbos on straight areas of the track or on curves.

Nintendo Power magazine once responded to a reader mail in its Pulse section, describing snaking as "kind of lame" and that it goes against the original intentions of the game's developers. Others have similarly argued that snaking is an exploitation of game's Mini-Turbo mechanics; on the other hand, some Nintendo officials have described snaking as an intentional part of the game's design^*, considering that the snaking technique could also be performed in Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (which featured similar Mini-Turbo mechanics). Most, if not all, of the quickest Time Trial records in Mario Kart DS were accomplished using the snaking technique.

Snaking can be compared to a similar snaking technique in F-Zero GX, the "wavedashing" technique in Super Smash Bros. Melee, as well as other phenomena such as bunny hopping in first-person shooter games.

Drafting

Featured in Mario Kart DS is the ability to draft behind an opponent's kart. If the player is close enough, blue streaks will start flying by their kart, and their speed will begin to increase. If the player maintains this position (without hitting the opponent, an obstacle, or otherwise losing speed) long enough, they will receive a noticeable speed boost, allowing them to easily overtake and pass the opponent.

Emblems

New to this game are 'emblems', or player icons. Using a simple drawing program interface, a player can select from (and modify) a variety of pre-made shapes, or create a customized emblem from scratch. During the race, each player's emblem appears as a decal on their kart, and in multi-player matches, opponents can see the player's name and emblem prominently overlaid above their kart's position on the opponent's screen (as a way to identify and discern one opponent from another). The player's emblem is also, on Wi-Fi play, shown to their opponents once the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has found opponents and initiated a match.

Items

As in previous Mario Kart games, each course features numerous item boxes that players can drive through to receive a randomly-selected item. Whichever item the player receives is generally dependent upon their current position in the race (and, to a lesser extent, their kart's Items stat); players near the front will tend to receive rear-attack items (such as Bananas or Green Shells), while players trailing in the back of the race will tend to receive more powerful and forward-attack items like the Spiny Shell or Thunderbolt. As in previous Mario Kart games, most but not all attack items (e.g., spiny shells) can be targeted forwards or backwards by holding the appropriate direction on the D-pad when using the item against other players.

Mushroom and Triple Mushrooms: Gives the player a short burst of speed, which can be used to take shortcuts across rough, off-road terrain or ram into other racers. In Balloon Battle mode, they also allow the player to steal one balloon from an opponent, provided the player has less than three balloons inflated. Mushrooms are available individually, and also in sets of three.

Golden Mushroom: Allows the player to use infinite Mushroom boosts for a limited amount of time.

Banana: A stationary item that the player can toss forwards or drop behind; karts which slip on a banana will spin out and lose speed.

Triple Bananas: A set of three bananas that trail behind the player's kart. The player can set them down individually, or use them as a shield against red or green shells.

Fake Item Box: A stationary obstacle resembling an Item box. Players who hit a Fake Item Box will tumble over and lose speed (more so than hitting a Banana). Unlike Bananas, Fake Item boxes will not block shells; the shells will simply pass through it.

Green Shell: A green Koopa shell that the player can throw forwards or backwards, which will richochet off of walls and cause other players' karts to tumble over and lose speed if hit. Green shells can also be used to defend against other items.

Red Shell: A red Koopa shell which follows the course of the track and homes in on a player in front, causing them to tumble over and lose speed. Red Shells target players in a slightly different manner than in previous Mario Kart games, often hitting the opponent from the sides rather than behind, making them more difficult to block with a Banana or shell. Red shells can also be thrown backwards, but will go straight and not home in.

Triple Green Shell and Triple Red Shell: Three Koopa shells appear rotating about the player's kart, which can be launched individually, or used like a shield against other players and attacks.

Spiny Shell: Same as its appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, this is a spiked, winged, blue Koopa shell that flies down the track and crashes into the racer currently in first place, causing a large explosion that knocks the target (and any nearby racers) into the air. Spinies also destroy any nearby items. Unlike other Mario Kart games, the Spiny Shell targets the player that was in first place once the shell sees them, thus you cannot sink back to second or third place to avoid the shell after it has been fired. Once the Spiny Shell closes in on its target, escape is virtually impossible except for using a Star, Boo, or a well timed mini-boos hop.

Blooper: A new item to Mario Kart DS, this causes a Blooper squid to squirt ink on the top screen of every racer in front of the user, partially obscuring their view for several seconds. A skilled player may still be able to see through the ink, or simply use the close-up map on the DS's bottom screen to continue racing. Also, a racer can also go over a speed boost or use a mushroom to make the ink fly off of the screen. Computer-controlled opponents will lose some speed and veer erratically until the ink wears off. When using this item while leading the race yourself, you cause the ink to squirt on your own screen.

Bob-omb: Previously introduced as a character-specific item in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Bob-ombs can be thrown forwards or dropped behind the player. If another racer or a shell hits (or is hit by) the Bob-omb, it causes a large explosion that knocks the racer (and any nearby opponents) into the air.

Boo: A ghost that renders its user invisible to other players, and attempts to steal one item from another racer. Additionally, while invisible, the player cannot be hit by attacks and is not affected by offroad terrain.

Star: Gives its user a speed boost (without loss of speed across offroad terrain) and invincibility against all attacks. Any opponent they hit while using a Star will get tumbled over.

Bullet Bill: Another item new to Mario Kart DS, this turns its user into a Bullet Bill, which travels down the track on autopilot at a high speed, knocking aside any opponents that might be in the way -- similar to the Chain Chomp special item in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Lightning: Strikes all opponents in the race regardless of their position. Opponents spin out, drop any items held, and shrink to half size (and speed). When a player is affected, the course's normal background music plays in a muted, humorously distorted fashion. Unlike in previous Mario Kart games, the Lightning's effect wears off in reverse order of each player's position, with the racer in first place remaining affected the longest. Also unlike in Mario Kart 64 or the original Super Mario Kart, normal-sized players cannot drive over shrunken players to flatten them.

Several of the items can be "trailed" behind a player's kart by holding down the Item button, allowing the user to hold on to the item while being able to collect a second item from an Item Box at the same time. Trailed items can be used to block an incoming attack, but if the player is hit while trailing an item, the item will drop onto the track.

Players cannot, however, trail items in this fashion during Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection matches; similarly, Triple Shells and Triple Bananas (which orbit around or trail behind the player's kart automatically) also do not appear during Wi-Fi play.

Karts

Each playable character starts out with two karts: one special kart unique to that character, and a standard kart resembling a real go-kart. These karts have slightly different stats, although their general strengths are the same. As a player progresses through the game, he or she can unlock a third special kart for each character, also with slightly different stats. Later, the player can also unlock the ability to choose a few karts not normally available to the particular character, and ultimately, the ability to use any character in any of the 36 total karts.

When a player is selecting their kart for a race, the game openly lists all of the kart's racing stats. This is in contrast to previous Mario Kart games, which openly rated only a kart's Speed, Weight, and/or Acceleration.

The stats are:

Speed: The kart's maximum speed. Higher speeds are usually associated with lower Acceleration and Handling.

Acceleration: How quickly a kart can reach its top speed, and correspondingly, how fast it can recover after being hit by an item. It will also receive more powerful mini-turbo boosts, and is thus more suitable for snaking.

Weight: The kart's total mass, which includes the driver's weight as well. Heavier karts maintain more speed during normal (non-drifting) turns, but lose more speed off-road than lighter Karts. Additionally, heavier characters can knock away other, lighter-weight opponents.

Handling: How tightly a kart can steer without drifting. As such, higher Handling is usually associated with a lower Drift stat.

Drift : How tightly a kart can corner during a power-slide. High Drift ratings are a good choice for beginners as they can drift through tight turns, but ironically, low Drift ratings can also be preferable, as karts with low traction can be used to mini-turbo repeatedly around wide turns or even straight sections of track (see 'snaking').

Items : High item stats give karts a higher chance of getting the more powerful items during a race, as well as making items such as Bullet Bills last longer. Karts with a higher Items stat are also given more Mushrooms during Time Trials mode. Standard karts always have a medium Items stat, while special karts have a high or low Item stat. However, in Battle Mode all racers drive the standard kart, so no player gets an item advantage.

List of karts

For each of the three karts unique to one racer, they can be grouped into three categories: the standard, go-kart style karts; karts with a high Items stat, but lower speeds; and karts with higher speeds, but a low Items stat.

Character	High Items	Standard	High Speed	Available
Mario	B Dasher	Standard MR	Shooting Star¹	Always
Luigi	Streamliner¹	Standard LG	Poltergust 4000	Always
Peach	Royale	Standard PC	Light Tripper¹	Always
Yoshi	Cucumber¹	Standard YS	Egg 1	Always
Toad	4-Wheel Cradle¹	Standard TD	Mushmellow	Always
Donkey Kong	Rambi Rider	Standard DK	Wildlife¹	Always
Wario	Dragonfly¹	Standard WR	Brute	Always
Bowser	Tyrant	Standard BW	Hurricane¹	Always
Daisy	Power Flower	Standard DS	Light Dancer¹	Four gold trophies in Retro Grand Prix 50cc
Dry Bones	Banisher	Standard DB	Dry Bomber¹	Four gold trophies in Nitro Grand Prix 50cc
Waluigi	Zipper¹	Standard WL	Gold Mantis	Four gold trophies in Retro Grand Prix 100cc
R.O.B.	ROB-LGS¹	Standard RB	ROB-BLS	Four gold trophies in either Grand Prix Mirror 150cc
Shy Guy		Standard SG		Simple Multi-Player Mode as client racers

Notes:

Third kart for each character, unlocked by earning gold trophies in all 100cc Nitro Cup courses.

Gameplay modes

Grand Prix

In Grand Prix mode, the player competes against computer-controlled racers, or, in Multiplayer mode, other players. There are two Grands Prix in Mario Kart DS, each consisting of four cups, and each cup consisting of four race tracks. Nitro GP (named after Nintendo Codename NITRO) contains sixteen brand new tracks while Retro GP contains sixteen tracks converted from previous entries in the Mario Kart series. There are three engine classes which serve as difficulty levels for the Grand Prix mode: 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. A 150cc Mirror Mode is also an unlockable, in which all the 150cc tracks are flipped horizontally.

Only twenty of the tracks can be played over Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. Several of the more complex and/or obstacle-ridden courses were disabled for online play due to possible latency issues.

Fans have expressed anger and confusion in which courses were included. For example, Cheep Cheep Beach is playable online, while the similar Koopa Beach 2 is not. Other examples include how Mario Circuit 1 is online-enabled, while the similar Donut Plains 1 is not. A more obvious example is how DK Pass, with rolling snowballs that change size, is playable, whereas the simple-looking Banshee Boardwalk is not, apparently due to a stream of bats in the middle of the track that slow karts down.

Nitro Grand Prix
#	Mushroom Cup	WFC	Flower Cup	WFC	Star Cup	WFC	Special Cup	WFC
1	Figure-8 Circuit	Yes	Desert Hills	Yes	DK Pass	Yes	Wario Stadium	Yes
2	Yoshi Falls	Yes	Delfino Square	Yes	Tick-Tock Clock	No	Peach Gardens	No
3	Cheep Cheep Beach	Yes	Waluigi Pinball	No	Mario Circuit	Yes	Bowser Castle	No
4	Luigi's Mansion	Yes	Shroom Ridge	No	Airship Fortress	No	Rainbow Road	Yes

Retro Grand Prix
#	Origin	Shell Cup	WFC	Banana Cup	WFC	Leaf Cup	WFC	Lightning Cup	WFC
1	SNES	Mario Circuit 1	Yes	Donut Plains 1	No	Koopa Beach 2	No	Choco Island 2	Yes
2	N64	Moo Moo Farm	Yes	Frappe Snowland	Yes	Choco Mountain	Yes	Banshee Boardwalk	No
3	GBA	Peach Circuit	Yes	Bowser Castle 2	No	Luigi Circuit	No	Sky Garden	Yes
4	Double Dash!!	Luigi Circuit	Yes	Baby Park	Yes	Mushroom Bridge	No	Yoshi Circuit	Yes

Battle Mode

Battle Mode is not available online, and can only be played in single-player and regular multiplayer.

The maps available in Battle Mode are:

Block Fort (Mario Kart 64)(N64)
Nintendo DS
Palm Shore
Pipe Plaza ( Double Dash!!)(GCN)
Tart Top
Twilight House

These tracks are typically in some circular or square form, with no start or finish line and no offroad. Some, but not all, have edges that can be fallen off.

Balloon Battle

In Balloon Battle mode, players attempt to pop each other's balloons, while keeping their own intact. Each player starts with one inflated balloon, plus four ballons held in reserve, which the player can inflate by holding the Select button or blowing into the DS microphone while the kart is stationary, up to a maximum of three inflated balloons at any time.

A player loses when he or she has no remaining inflated balloons. Balloons belonging to other players may be popped by attacking them with items. Balloons can also be stolen if a player has less than three inflated balloons and runs into another player while using a Mushroom.

Players with fewer balloons inflated receive more powerful items; however, they run a higher risk of losing if their remaining balloon(s) are popped. The last player or team remaining wins the battle. If a player dies in Wireless Play mode, they become invisible and will periodically collect item boxes which can be dropped for other players to pick up.

Shine Runners

A new battle mode called Shine Runners was introduced, in which players have to collect the most Shine Sprites, which are dotted about the level. They lose Shine Sprites if they get hit. When the clock reaches zero, drivers with the fewest Shine Sprites are eliminated. If all remaining drivers have the same number of Shine Sprites, the clock starts again with no racers eliminated. This continues until one player (or several players all on the same team) are remaining. This is the only battle mode with the Thunderbolt enabled. Shine Runners is similar to the battle mode "Shine Thief" in Double Dash!!. Shine Sprites first appeared in Super Mario Sunshine.

Local Multiplayer

The game features 8-player single-card and multi-card LAN play. Single-card play can be played with a mix of players with and without cards. In single-card play, while the players with cards can choose their characters, downloading players are forced to play as Shy Guy. A limited number of tracks are available for use during single-card multiplayer play. When all players use game cards, all tracks become available.

Mission Mode

In the new Mission Mode, players control a specific character in that character's standard kart, and must perform eight individual missions, whose objectives range from collecting coins to attacking enemies. Players are then ranked based on their performance, and given from one to three stars if the task is completed by a certain time. In order to advance to the next level, players must complete a "boss" task, which is unlocked after all eight of a level's missions are completed. All of the bosses are from Super Mario 64 DS. Level 7 is only unlocked after the player achieves at least a one-star ranking on levels 1 through 6. However, completing Mission Mode does not unlock anything. Here are the individual Bosses and the task players must complete with each one:

Big Bully — Knock Big Bully off the platform using mushrooms.
Eyerok — Hit Eyerok's eyes (in its hands) with shells.
Goomboss — Beat Goomboss to the finish line on Baby Park.
King Boo — Collect fifty coins while avoiding King Boo.
Big Bob-omb — Hit Big Bob-omb with three Bob-omb items.
Chief Chilly — Knock Chief Chilly off the platform three times using mushrooms.
Wiggler — Reach the finish before Wiggler on Mushroom Bridge.

Time Trials

In this mode, the player is able to race against the clock; 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. Also, it is possible to unlock Mario Kart DS "Staff Ghost Data" by completing a circuit within a certain amount of time.

Nintendo of Japan has recently revealed that they will begin holding official time trial tournaments. Times will be validated by an official 16 digit code. The code can be found by viewing the time trials records accessed from the main menu and pressing up, down, L, R, Y, and A in that order. Whether or not Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe will hold similar tournaments has not been announced.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

This mode requires a connection with a wireless router, an access point or a Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector. The American and European versions of the game use servers hosted by Nintendo of America Inc. After connecting to the Nintendo server, players can begin searching for opponents. Up to four players can be matched up for a (100cc) Wi-Fi race (although the server may also initiate a match between only two or three players). Once decided, each player selects their racer and kart, and vote on which track to race. The track chosen is a simple majority vote (or, if no clear majority is present, chosen randomly from the votes) and then the race begins. Players are scored in the same style as a Grand Prix, depending on the position they finish a race in; after a set of four tracks is played, the winners and losers are announced based on the points they earned, and each player receives one win for every opponent they scored higher than, and one loss for every opponent who out-scored them. Their total wins and losses are stored on the player's game card, and the score is shown to other players when opponents are found using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service.

Also, it is important to note that any player disconnecting (or powering down) from an online race immediately receives one loss per opponent, regardless of how well they were doing up until the disconnect; conversely, after all four races are complete, each player also receives one win for any opponent who disconnected during the match. However, if all the other player(s) disconnect during a race, you don't get anything but a Error Message and a Boot.

The pointers of each player indicate the regional version of the game through its color. Red is a Japanese version, blue is a North American copy and green for European.

Normally, there are only twenty tracks available for online play. Recently, however, a user with the alias "Parasyte" discovered how to unlock single player tracks for use over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, using a PassMe and a Game Boy Advance Flash Cartridge. Tracks such as Airship Fortress, Tick-Tock Clock, Waluigi Pinball, and others have been played online. Apart from a few minor glitches, these tracks can be played just like the others. A hack has been released online by another user, with the alias "Natrium42." [http://www.natrium42.com/downloads/mktest.ds.gba

Anyone with the proper equipment can load it onto their game and race these single player tracks against other players using the Wi-Fi Connection. These people are in great demand, seeing as many of the most popular tracks are disabled for online play, but users still want to race in them.

Sales information

On November 21, 2005, Nintendo announced that out of the 112,000 copies of Mario Kart DS sold in the United States during the first week of release, 52,000 (45%) of those buyers had connected to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Comparatively, 18% of Halo 2 owners connected to Xbox Live within the first three weeks of its release. [http://www.mysticgaming.net/forum

Mario Kart DS had a better launch in Japan, where it sold 219,000 copies during its first four days of availability, at the time this was the third best performance for a Nintendo DS title after Wild World and Jump Superstars. ^*

On January 2, 2006, Nintendo announced that Mario Kart DS had sold over one million copies in North America alone, joining other million sellers such as Super Mario 64 DS and Nintendogs.

Community

There are several online clans and communities for Mario Kart DS. Most of these clans and communities are started by Mario Kart DS enthusiasts on sites such as GameFAQs or the Nintendo forums to reduce the number of disconnectors or "quitters".

Trivia

Mario Kart DS was originally planned to launch the same date as the DS, but developers wanted more time to refine the title.
The artwork in the alternate title screen is based off the Mario Kart DS promotional artwork.
All staff ghost karts use the Mario sprite from Super Mario Bros. as their kart emblem.
The game was originally set to be released in Europe first on November 11, 2005. However, about a month before launch, Nintendo announced the game would be delayed for two weeks in Europe, to allow more copies to be distributed to stores. This led to a small outcry among European fans.
The Japanese version of the game shows R.O.B. (known as Family Robot) with a red and white motif, while in America, Europe and Australia R.O.B. is gray, after their real life robotic counterparts. The difference is preserved while playing online.
King Boo returns from Double Dash!! as the fourth boss in Mission mode.
Shy Guy, Dry Bones, and R.O.B. are new characters to the Mario Kart series. Shy Guy can only be used by another player who joins in a "simple mode" multiplayer game.
The name of one of Mario's go-karts (the B Dasher) is derived from a hit single composed by The Tongari Kids, titled "B-dash," inspired by the NES best-seller "Super Mario Bros." The song title itself is inspired by the fact that one had to press the B button on the NES' controller to make Mario dash.
There is a typo in the game manual for the US version.^*
When the game loads for the first time Mario yells "Here we go!", every other time he yells "WA-hoo!" When played in a V5 DS (DS Lite), Mario yells "Here we go!" every time the game is started.[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1039410324830639692&q=nintendo+ds+lite
On the case of the Canadian release the British Pound sign "£" is put in the description of the game on the back in a seemingly random pattern.

Reaction

Game reviews

GameRankings ^*: 93% average
Metacritic ^*: 91/100
Joystiq: 9.0 out of 10 (90%)
GameSpot ^* : 9.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: ^*: 81% (fresh)
X-Play - 5/5
World-Gaming Network : 9.8/10 (98%)
Nintendo Power: 9.0/10
IGN: 9.5/10
Hyper (magazine): 93/100
Nintendo Official Magazine (UK): 95%
Smashgames ^*: 51.5/55
Gamer Mania 2 - 4/5

The average of all the above reviews is 91.7%.

Awards

IGN: Editors' Choice Award

Voices

Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi
Jen Taylor as Princess Peach and Toad
Scott Burns as Bowser
Nate Bihldorff
Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi
Takashi Nagasako as Donkey Kong
Deanna Mustard as Princess Daisy
Toru Asakawa
Dolores Rogers

References

External links

Mario Kart games | Nintendo Wi-Fi games | Nintendo DS games | 2005 computer and video games

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