Review by: Duane Simer

Published: March 8th, 2006

Mario Kart DS is a welcome addition to the Mario Kart line, and unlike some of the handheld editions of the past, this one could hold its own as a sequel to any of the previous games.  In fact, there are so many new features in this one that it is a surprise that the game isn’t more renowned than it is, and I say this about a game that is being hailed among other games in its league.  All multiplayer possibilities aside, Mario Kart DS plays as a solid single player experience, and with the addition of the Wi-Fi and local wireless-based multiplayer, exists as a must-have title for DS owners.

The game has a look reminiscent of the N64 version, which in its own rite wasn’t bad at all.  The resolution isn’t as smooth as the Gamecube, but that doesn’t even register on the scale, as this title being made portable and added to as much as it has been, the graphics are an easy carry on the system.  When I look at games like this, I often wonder why other games don’t focus on this standard of graphics for the DS, specifically those that are kept in the 2d realm on a system that can clearly perform better than it is being given credit for.  Sure, Mario Kart DS can get a little pixilated, but what edition of it hasn’t?  At this point, with the colors and “cartoony-ness”, pixels aren’t only part of the scene – they are all but expected.

So what can be said about the game as an improvement and even a sequel to the series?  Well specifically, it delves into a lot of new areas that it is rather surprising the previous editions didn’t.  Specifically, the DS version adds drift, a commonly known factor in more realistic racers that involves using the mass of a racer in front of the player to stay out of the slowing wind.  Stay in the drift long enough, and the racer gets a boost of speed that lasts only seconds, but can allow them to cruise easily around the racer ahead of them, gaining some much-needed ground.

Also added are some new weapons, such as an octopus that shoots inkblots over the player’s screen, obscuring their view until it drains away.  There is the bullet weapon which, like the invincibility star, makes a player invulnerable as they rocket forward at an increased speed, but it does so while also keeping the player on the road without the need to steer.  It does this while changing the player to look like a huge bullet, and it knocks opposing players aside as it speeds by.