Mario Kart DS

THE BAD:
- What the heck is with Bones and ROB being characters? I found that so random. There were plenty of other choices for characters that would have actually made sense for the game. And why the heck is Shy Guy not a playable character at all times? That is just dumb.
- Multiplayer battle mode is really flawed. How is it normal that I die in one shot, but everyone else takes 3?
- The graphics aren’t the greatest, but they aren’t terrible by any means
- Mission Mode is too easy at times, but at least it gets harder
- I was not a fan of most of the tracks brought back for this game
- When you go off the track onto grass, sand, etc, the consequences are almost too great. You practically stop, instead of just slow down, until you get back on the track. Good addition, but almost too good. Gets quite frustrating on certain tracks.
- The games price. It’s been out for 3 years and is still really high price-wise

SUMMARY:
It was inevitable that the Mario Kart series would end up on the DS, and thank god it was. It is probably one of the best games on the system right now, especially thanks to the online multiplayer addition. I purchased a DS somewhat recently, and was having a hard time deciding which games I wanted to buy first, so I was very happy when I went and got this game.

Everything is pretty much the same from past games of course. You choose one of 13 characters to race as (some being unlockable), choose your kart (tons to be unlocked), select a circuit, and partake in various fun races against a bunch of racers. You can race against CPU players, against friends in Versus Mode, or do various other things (including racing people online).

Other than Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Double Dash for various reasons, in general this is one of the best games in the series. It probably takes the most steps forward in the series, partially in part to do with being on the DS and taking hold of its advantages, and part to do with various series upgrades (which hopefully are in future MK games). Mission Mode is a great addition to the series, and it offers a great alternative to just racing all the time. Single player multiplayer is probably my favorite addition probably, and thank god they finally added it. Why this is not in every MK game is beyond me, though it needs to be beefed up more. Though it is pretty flawed at times, it is so much fun and it’s about damn time that I can fight multiplayer against computer players. Online racing is another amazing addition, although I have not dabbled in it yet. It offers so much to the series and its fans, and is probably the most exciting change. It will definitely keep the game fun, even when you find yourself bored. Another neat little addition is the option to create a little emblem/logo to place on your kart, to set you apart from the rest. It’s a cool little customization aspect. People can really get creative.

There is a lot to do and see in the game. There are tons of characters to use, tons of tracks to race on (new and old), lots of modes to play in, and so much more. Graphically, the game isn’t the greatest, but it is nothing to take away from the game. It was expected for the DS, but they are pretty good for the DS if you look at other games. Sound-wide, the game is great. Everything works well, but that is usually the game in the MK series.

The tracks of the game are probably some of the best in the MK series, which was quite surprising to me. I did not expect much from the game in this area, but I was shocked to find out that there are tons of great, fun and innovative tracks. Most tracks are a good size, and will not be over to quick. The only thing that I did not enjoy was that most of the tracks brought back from past games sucked. There were some awesome choices of course, but there were s many better choices for some tracks. Another bad thing track-wise is that when you go off the track onto grass or dirt or whatever, you are slowed down way too much. It is great to see that going off the track has a penalty, but it is too drastic and really slows you down. Hopefully this will be lessened a bit for future games.

The character selection list is great. There are tons of cool characters too choose from, even though a few are pretty random for the game, such as Bones and ROB. Better choices could have been made there, but oh well. I love that there are many characters to choose from.

The karts of the game are especially great. You start out with two for each characters, and then eventually unlock 30 other karts to choose for each character. This was one of my favorite things for the game, and hope this is added for future games. All the karts are different, both visually and statistically, which is great for the series. One of the best things to point out is that kart stats actually do something in this game, and you will quickly notice that proper kart selection is more critical in this game. You are really going to have to use strategy.

There is not much to say against the game, surprisingly, especially being on the DS. Other than the few small issues already mentioned above, the game is a great addition to the series. If you have a DS and enjoy Mario Kart games, you need to go pick this game up. You will have so much fun. The only downside is that the game is still pretty expensive, 3 years after its release. But this game will keep you entertained for a long time, much longer than any other game in the series so far, so go get it.

THE BAD:
Wi-fi hackers! grr...

Can get boring after awile.

SUMMARY:
Well, to start there are lots of unlockables. You start with 8 standard characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Toad, and Wario! These characters can be used in every mode. There is a total of 12 characters though. The unlockable characters are Daisy, Dry Bones, Waluigi and R.O.B. Each character has a different weight class. The light-weights are Dry Bones, Peach, Waluigi, and Luigi. The medium-weights are Mario, Yoshi, Toad, and Daisy. Finally, the heavy-weights are Bowser, R.O.B., Donkey Kong, and Wario. Depending on a character's weight, it will take longer to accelerate to the karts top-speed. So, choosing your character can affect your chance of winning or beating a computer or friend.

"Mario Kart" wouldn't be "Mario Kart" without the karts/cars for your characters to race in. In this game, ther are 36 of them. Each character starts out with 2 karts: a standard car and an exclusive car only for them to a certain degree. When fulfilling a certain requirement each character will be able to access 3 karts: the standard car and 2 exclusive cars. When fulfilling another requirement, each character will be able to access all 36 karts. Like characters, karts have weight and other stats, such as speed, acceleration, drift and a few others. Speed is, well, speed. The fastest car is the ROB BLS; Egg1 coming in second. Drift can be deceiving to some, I thought it meant how good it was to use the car to drift. It isn't, it's how much it drifts. Use Daisy's "Light Dancer" and you'll know what I mean. It is by far the worst car to use for snaking or power sliding. Acceleration is how much of a boost you get from a power slide turbo boost. The dry bomber has the best acceleration in the game, therefore I recommend it. Finally weight is how much the car weighs, and it is a true enemy, it can take some of the speed away from a car, so altogether, try to avoid cars that weigh a lot. So, the best cars has to do with how much you practice with them, but I recommend the ROB BLS, the Egg1, and the Dry Bomber when going for speed.

The Grand Prix is the main part of the game; it's racing! There are 8 cups - 4 for "Retro Cup" courses from the previous games and the "Nitro Cup" courses, which have new courses. More cups are unlocked by getting a gold trophy on the cup before it. This will keep you busy when you start to try to unlock things. There are 3 different modes to select from in the beginning, 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. Each are a different engines class. They'll be talked about more soon.

Engine Classes are how fast you and the CPUs drive. The 3 standard engine classes are 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. The last class, "Mirror Mode" is unlocked by completing all 150cc cups. Mirror mode is the same as 150cc, except everything is mirrored, so when you would normally turn left, you will now turn right. As hard as it may be in the beginning, there is a reward for finishing all the cups in "Mirror Mode".

Battle mode is, well, when you fight CPUs or your friends in 2 different modes, "Balloon Battle" and "Shine Runners". Balloon Battle is when you use items to pop other people's balloons. When all of your balloons are destroyed you are eliminated. In multi-player you turn invisible and just drop fake item boxes everywhere, but when by yourself the game just chooses a random winner. Shine Runners is basically the same, only you run around picking up shine symbols, and when hit by an item you lose a shine and it goes somewhere else on the course. Every minute, the people with the least shines are eliminated. Both battle game modes are fun and need practice to master. I personally like Balloon Battle the most, but Shine Runners is fun.

Time trials is when you try to beat a course as fast as you can. When you have beat one fast enough you will unlock a "staff ghost". Ghosts are copies of your best time, in the staff ghosts case, it's a ghost from one of the producers in the games staff. Staff ghosts need practice to beat; skill is a must to beat them. Try to beat all of the staff ghosts. Let me just tell you that there is no reward for beating a staff ghost. This will take up some of your time. Even I have yet to beat all of the staff ghosts.

Missions are a new addition to the Mario Kart series. There are six sets of missions to start, in order to unlock the next, you must beat the one before it. You are ranked on missions, so try your best. After doing certain missions, you will unlock a boss stage. Boss stages are fun and are very creative. Try to get at least a star ranking on all missions - there might be a surprise if you do. Missions are one of my favorite additions to the game because they are fun and easy to enjoy.

Finally, there is a mode known as Wi-fi, which is exactly like multi-player, except you can only race in this mode. To use Wi-fi mode, you need a "Nintendo Wifi Adapter". This connects to your USB port in your computer and let's you play with people around the world. You can also play with friends by saving something to your DS called a friend-code. A friend code looks like this: 4444-4444-4444. Wifi will keep you busy if you have done everything else.

Well, altogether, this game is great! I recommend this game to anyone, whether you like Mario games or not. Thank you for reading the review, and I hope it helps you decide whether you want to get it or not.

THE BAD:
**Hackers through Wi-Fi
**Nothing much else!

SUMMARY:
Mario Kart DS is a racing game, but it's not all racing. You can race your way through tracks, try to beat your own (or a staff ghosts) records in Time Trial, battle a Balloon Battle or Shine Runners, race with a friend, do the Grand Prix tournament, or complete missions! There is much more to Mario Kart DS then just racing, and Nintendo has added more characters, tracks, battles, and ways to play then in Mario Kart 64. The gameplay for the original racing is to drive around the tracks, collecting and using items, and trying not to bump into things while maintaining a first, second or third place spot against computer players! There are three levels of difficulty, Easy, Medium, and Hard. Beginners should definitely start out on Easy, while more advanced players can try Medium or even Hard! There is an option to turn off the CPU (computer) players altogether if you want to practice alone, or if you're racing with friend, you can just race against them without the CPU players.

Characters and Karts:: There are 12 characters, 4 of which have to be unlocked. (You can also play as a Shy Guy if you're on DS to DS and you don't have the game, but your friend does). The characters each have three of their own karts, and the kart overviews are very good. It displays the weight of the kart, how good the items you get when you're racing with that kart are, the speed, the drifting ability, etc. The characters are mostly from various Mario games including Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Bowser, ROB, Dry Bones, Waluigi, Toad, and of course Mario himself!

Wi-Fi (and DS to DS) Racing:: The Wi-Fi racing is an incredible feature- you can race or battle with friends anywhere in the world! You can also get together a group of up to 8 people! The same thing with DS to DS racing- you can get together in a group or just race against one friend, CPU characters on or off. You don't have to have the game to play DS to DS, as long as your friend has it, but you have a limited selection of tracks and are forced to play as a Shy Guy.

Drawback to Wi-Fi: Hacking:: You might play against a hacker on Wi-Fi, so they obviously get a huge, unfair advantage.

Tracks:: You can unlock the tracks without too much difficulty. There is a total of 32 different tracks, and each of them is completely different from the others! Some are long, some short, some are windy, and some are straight. There is also different scenery for all courses.

Battles and Missions:: The battles (Balloon Battle and Shine Runners) are fun to do! I personally prefer the Balloon Battles, but if you're looking for something quick, Shine Runners doesn't take up much time. There are 6 battle courses in total. The missions are a challenge- collecting coins, beating bosses, going through gates as a preset character for each one.

Audio:: Many of the courses have their own unique music! The battles have only one type of music (it can get annoying after a while.) But the audio overall is amazing. The sound is usually clear and everything seems to make a sound.

Overall, Mario Kart DS is a very well thought out game. It has everything you need for it to be entertaining, and there are tons of different ways to play! Mario Kart DS is a definite step-up from Mario Kart 64.

THE BAD:
~Graphics are not superior
~Honestly… not much else.

SUMMARY:
Mario Kart DS is a racing game based off the Nintendo legend Mario, and his buddies, including and not limited to Luigi, Peach, and Wario. Playing as a character from the Mario franchise, you race around various tracks that usually belong to certain characters (such as Mario Circuit) or aspects of previous games (such as Tick Tock Clock, Airship Fortress). Along the way, you can unlock several other characters from the franchise for you to play as. Each character has their own personal set of karts, starting with two karts, then three, then four other karts that belong to other characters, and finally all the karts available. Use various items such as banana peels, koopa shells, or the coveted thunderbolt to cheat your way into the lead! But watch out so you don’t get hit by an item yourself! Finish the grand prix? Try out the Time Trials! Beat previous times as you try to get better and better at each track. If you grow bored of racing tracks like normal, why not try out a mission? Just try to finish all 54 missions… but… does that seem like quite enough? Or is there possibly… more? Go online using the WiFi feature to face people from all around the world! Apply yourself, learn the techniques, and become a racing legend!

Gameplay:

Mario Kart DS lasts forever. I’ve been playing this game for two years, and I’m still playing this game as much as when I played two years ago. You simply can not stop. What with the sixteen new tracks, four tracks from each previous game, time trials to beat, a boatload of missions, and the ever changing WiFi, there’s never anything old in this game. There are also certain techniques that you can master to make the game even more thrilling. It’s simply a pleasure to play, and it lasts for ages.

10/10

Audio:

It isn’t inspirational, but it’s certainly some good music. Very good, very good. I simple like how the DS allows a Surround sound approach to it… makes it all the better. There are good songs, and there are bad songs… so I’d have to give it…

8.5/10

WiFi:

The fact that this game has WiFi is good itself. The fact that it’s the first handheld game to have any connection to the Internet whatsoever makes it better. The fact that it’s probably one of the most addicting WiFi features of any game makes this category gold. A normal race with any person around the world is just awesome, to be honest. The only flaws here are that it’ll only take four players, and it’s sometimes a bit difficult to find players nowadays… there are millions and millions of people using WiFi simultaneously, I predict. No doubt you should be able to find at least one person to go WiFi with you. But anyways, WiFi is just awesome with this game. Like butter on toast. If you complain about lag, you should either get a better connection or shush up.

9.5/10

Items:

What a vital part of the game. And what a creative mind Nintendo has. Fake item boxes, banana peels, thunderbolts… not to mention classic Nintendo trademarks, such as Bonzai Bills, Koopa Shells, Mushrooms… and even new trademarks, such as the flying Blue Shell. How they could match the properties of each item with the main ideas for the things in previous games is what makes them so cool. Who would’ve thought a classic annoyance could’ve turned into an 8th place comeback? Or that a Koopa Shell could be turned into a homing torpedo…

2/2

Karts:

Great idea on Nintendo’s part to continue using character specific karts. With sixteen karts available at the beginning of the game – the personalized kart and the classic kart, each now with their own stats – over thirty-six karts are available throughout the game, each with their own statistics that vary in acceleration, speed, steering, and even items. These stats can affect ingame strategies and techniques, like snaking. Essentially, the karts in this game prove to be excellent.

5/5

Characters:

Waluigi and Daisy were well too expected. What makes this category excellent is the fact that an overlooked nobody and an overlooked legend were placed in the hotseats and made famous practically overnight. Dry Bones and R.O.B. I hadn’t even known the name of Dry Bones beforehand, and never even knew what R.O.B. was. Hmmm… R.O.B. is in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well… just noticed the random R.O.B. obsession with Nintendo all of a sudden. *Ahem* Anyways, these two characters are especially prime characters, if you think about it. R.O.B. BLS is the fastest kart in the game, and Dry Bomber is sought over by many snakers for it’s perfect acceleration steering combo. These two characters simply mean a lot. Though it seems they weren’t really trying very hard with Waluigi and Daisy… a random dozer, and a makeover of Peach’s kart. The motorbike and minivan are cool, but seriously.

2/3

Levels:

Awesome, as in every game. Several stages are in honor of certain characters; some relate to levels from previous games, like Bowser’s Castle and Tick Tock Clock, or even Airship Fortress; some are simply necessary, like Rainbow Road. They are long, specialized in so many ways, and primped to the max. It’s also interesting how they implement a few of them in missions and such. Plus… have you guys forgotten the courses outside of grand prix? How about Balloon Battle? Yeah, we all want that Block City and Pipe Plaza course. Of course, nothing wrong with the Nintendo DS course.

10/10

Graphics:

Hmmm… not a very focal point in the game. Every time I play as Yoshi, I see his hands spiked in one direction. Plus, I see his nose that only has about twenty sides, instead of being more spherical. It just gets to me every time I look at him. The walls are 2D, and pretty pixilated. Otherwise, it isn’t that shabby. But really now, who pays attention to graphics?

7/10

Emblem:

Bonus three points for adding such an amazing feature to the game that applies to WiFi: emblems and usernames. They describe who you are: are you a veteran, or are you the new kid on the block?

+3/3

OVERALL:

Using a calculator to add up all the scores, the game receives an outstanding 57 out of 60 credits, or 95%. Frankly, that’s what the game got on GameSpot, a review site acclaimed for pretty accurate reviews. All I can say it, Mario Kart DS deserves all the points it’s received. Keep it up with Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo. Meanwhile, we’ll just kick back and head onto WiFi for a good long match.

THE BAD:
There's like nothing!

SUMMARY:

THE BAD:
The items are pretty bad on this game. One person could continually get bad items, meanwhile some could get the great items the entire time. Usually the person in the lead gets the worst.

Also, the online is competitive, sometimes a little too much. It is usually just for having fun with some friends, but some people take it too seriously, and suck the fun right out of it.

The game also has little touch screen usage, which some like, but I don't really. But this game pulls it off better than other games do.

SUMMARY:
Gameplay:

The gameplay in this game is awesome! There are a variety of different modes to play, such as Grand Prix, to race the computer, Time Trials to try and beat your best times, Missions that serve basically as the main storyline. Also, there are Battle Modes to face friends.

Also, you can use the Nintendo WiFi Connection to connect to anyone all over the world. You can limit who you play against by adding them as a friend, using a code, and search for friends. They have to add you too. Or, you could play against anyone in the world, by clicking Worldwide search.

There are a variety of items you can get while racing in the Grand Prix, each having there own uses. Some make you go faster, while others try to mess up other drivers. It can be fun to get the items, and wait to use them. They take strategy and planning before you use them.

The game itself isn't too long to beat, I am still not completely done with it. Although, that is a good thing. It is tough, but not so tough you don't want to play. It is addicting.

There are 32 tracks, 16 new and 16 retro tracks. It is fun to be able to play the old school tracks, and bring back memories.


Graphics:
The game's graphics are well done, better than most DS games. They can get choppy occasionally, but every games has weak points. The graphics are very similar to the Nintendo 64 version of this game, Mario Kart 64.

The graphics really are some of the best on the DS, which is pretty good since it was one of the earliest titles. It still surprises me that the game is one of the best graphically on the DS with the upgrades in technology.



Characters and Karts:
Even though this is part of the gameplay, I thought it deserved a special mention. There are 13 characters, with 36 karts for each. The characters are the same skill on WiFi, but the karts make a difference, some have higher speeds, whereas some are lower speeds with better item luck. The character comes down to preference.

Three new characters were introduced to the series, Dry Bones, Shy Guy, and R.O.B. Shy Guy isn't directly playable though, only during download play.

Replay Value:
This game has awesome replay value, my friends and I still play it, despite the fact we've had it since launch. It is fun to try and beat your Time Trial times, and play your friends around the world with Nintendo WiFi, or the ones right next to you with wireless or download play!

Summary:
There are few flaws, no big ones though. This game is great, and really fun. I really think that this game would be great for anyone and all. If you have a DS, this is a must have.

THE BAD:
Graphics

SUMMARY:
If you've ever been the proud owner of a Nintendo system, or have at least befriended somebody with one, odds are you've encountered a Mario Kart game at some point. The popular racing series, which first appeared on the Super Nintendo in 1992, lets you race your favorite Nintendo characters against each other in karts that can be armed with such devastating weapons as banana peels, opponent-seeking red shells, and opponent-shrinking lightning bolts. The series has evolved steadily with each iteration, up to and including 2003's Mario Kart: Double Dash, which retained most of its predecessors' features while introducing a new team-based mechanic that saw each cart manned by both a driver and a gunner. Mario Kart DS, then, might seem like something of a step back for the series in that it more closely resembles the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 games than the GameCube version; but, as the first game in the series to boast integrated online play, it also represents a major step forward.
Balloon battles are back, and better than ever.
Like previous Mario Kart games, Mario Kart DS features a number of single-player grand prix competitions that comprise four races each. Mario Kart DS includes a total of eight grand prix competitions for a total of 32 different races, many of which aren't available until you beat those that you can select from the outset. Four of the grand prix (or 16 of the races, in other words) are all-new, while the remaining four are composed entirely of classic circuits taken from the SNES, N64, GameCube, and GBA iterations of Mario Kart. The tracks include everything from simplistic figure-eight circuits and beach courses to street races that task you with avoiding traffic and racing around a giant pinball table. Grand Prix competitions can be contested in 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc classes, and as you progress through them you'll notice an increase not only in speed, but also in the aggression of your opponents.
Before you do any of that, of course, you'll have to decide which of your favorite Nintendo characters you want to race as. There are eight characters with two karts each available the first time you play, but as you progress you'll unlock lots more. When selecting your racer, there are a number of different factors that you'll want to take into consideration--the speed and acceleration of your kart are the most obvious, but you'll also want to bear in mind your weight, handling, and drift attributes, because the differences between the various karts are quite noticeable once you take them out on the circuit. The final attribute that you might want to take note of is "items," which has a significant bearing on the quality of the power-ups that you receive during the course of a race. If you choose a character with a very low items score, for example, you're very often unlikely to get your hands on a blue spiky shell (it never fails to take out the race leader) or the new Bullet Bill power-up (which temporarily transforms you into a Bullet Bill and flies you past opponents on autopilot).
The new Bullet Bill power-up is one of three new items in Mario Kart DS, all of which complement rather than detract from the existing arsenal that many of you, no doubt, know and love. So, in between dropping banana skins for opponents behind you and firing shells at opponents in front of you, you might now find yourself launching an exploding bob-omb, or releasing a blooper (one of those flying squids) that squirts ink onto the screens of every player in front of you. The effectiveness of the blooper varies depending on how the ink lands on the screen of your opponent, and also depends to a large extent on how well your opponents are able to drive while the DS's top screen is covered in black ink. Driving after being "blooped" is made much easier by the presence of a top-down view of the circuit on the lower screen, which is actually good enough that you could play the game using only that if you really wanted to. The map screen not only shows your location on the circuit, but also the locations of power-ups, traps, and opponents. A column down the left side of the screen also lets you check on the race positions and current armaments of your opponents, which often makes it well worth a look toward the latter stages of a race.
Missions and boss battles are a welcome addition to the Mario Kart mix.
In addition to the aforementioned single-player grand prix mode, Mario Kart DS boasts an unusual mission mode that tasks you with performing a variety of objectives against time limits. A number of the game's 54 increasingly difficult missions require you to pass through numbered gates in the correct order or collect coins as you race, for example, while others force you to use the game's boosting mechanic on corners, or drive around circuits backward. The mission mode is arranged in six groups of nine missions each, and each group ends with a boss fight that needs to be beaten before you can progress to the next. The boss fights in Mario Kart DS are quite varied, and task you with things like beating a boss in a race, knocking a boss off a platform using turbo boosts, or hitting a boss's vulnerable points with green shells. The missions not only make for some enjoyable challenges, but also improve your racing techniques by forcing you to focus on different aspects of your game individually.
The forgiving handling of the carts makes Mario Kart DS is an incredibly easy game to pick up, but there are also plenty of advanced techniques that you can use to give yourself an edge. Drifting around corners, for example, lets you negotiate even the tightest of hairpins without decreasing your speed, and if you repeatedly move the D pad left and right while drifting, it's even possible to gain a boost of speed by inducing a miniturbo. Timing your start perfectly will also give you a high-speed advantage off the line, and you can also gain a significant boost by drafting (tucking up behind) opponents who are beating you.

THE BAD:
- No Battle On WiFi
- Friend Code System On WiFi
- Little Use Of Touch Screen

SUMMARY:
Storyline- Well the storyline is what you really expect from a racing game, lots of competitions and characters to choose from.

Graphics- Its the type of graphics that you expect from a Mario game, which is good in my opinion.

Sound- Great and lots of music in the game. The music is very enjoyable while racing other opponents.

Controls- Easy to understand controls, but sadly not enough controls with the touch screen, for it is only used to change the map.

WiFi- One of the top WiFi games out there. Friend codes aren't what I expected though.

My Full Opinion: If you are one of those people who get one or two games for your Nintendo DS, Mario Kart is one of those games. This game has controls that basically anyone can understand. You go through a cycle of 8 competitions, including new designed courses and old classic ones. If you are a true Mario fan, you have to get this game. During the race, if you start at the right time you get a huge speed boost, which is very helpful if you get the hang of it. You got and race with other computer characters. You pick up items that are in "?" boxes. If you pick up the right item, it can bring you from last place all the way to first place. There are many different options of this game you can choose from. You can go into the record book and view the kart and the time that you got on a certain competition. You unlock new cups, characters and karts as you beat competitions. The good part is that the characters and karts you unlock, you will be allowed to use them on WiFi connection, which gets you an advantage. The game has different speeds of races, 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and the unlock-able 150cc mirror. There is also a new Mission mode, where you test your skills and driving capability by completing tasks within a time limit. If you want to keep records and share them with friends, you can now do Time Trials which records your times and movements during the course. It then creates a ghost, which then you can race against, or send to your friend. You can also receive ghosts from your friends. On WiFi is where you race the real players. There are 2 faults about WiFi that I was upset about, but not that upsetting for me to give it a 4 star rating. There is no battle on WiFi, which would have been really fun and exciting. Also, the Friend Code System is not good in this particular game. You cannot talk to your friend, you cannot see what friend you are gathering. The good part about friend codes in this game is that during a race, a little icon will appear above your connection and show you that your friend wants to race. If you are looking for a race besides a competition or with friends, you can just got into a regular race where you get to choose the speed, course and everything else. This game will keep you busy for a long time, and there is always something to do in Mario Kart. If you are a serious "wanna be the best" player or just a person who is looking to have fun, Mario Kart DS is the game for you!

THE BAD:
The only flaw I ever see is Item Luck on Wi-Fi, and occasionally lag.

SUMMARY:
Graphics-

8/10

Nintendo did an amazing job on this. I see no flaw at all within it, but they could have added a tad more detail onto the Karts, as well as making the levels a tad more intriquing. Rainbow Road was an amazing course for the Graphics, it was perfectly done. The stars and everything just made it come alive, you can feel as though your part of the game, the one racing.

Average Game Play-

11/10

You might ask why it's 11/10. The reason is that there is no average game play. This is a game you can always improve at, as well as learning how to Snake and such. Completing all the Missions, as well as 150 CC on Mirror Mode is quite the challenge, and can take plenty of hours. It's almost imposisble without Snaking.

Wi-Fi-

7/10

It was a fairly good job done, but unfortunately not many people play this game anymore, making it take around 5 minutes to find enough players to play. Lag and stuff can make the game experience less enjoyable also, as can Item Luck. Facing people who hack, although it is very rare, decreases the amount of fun, and can cause people to back away from Nintendo Wi-Fi Mario Kart DS Races.

Characters-

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, Daisy, Dry Bones, Waluigi and R.O.B, help make this game more enjoyable. It was a fairly nice job on character design also, as well as including plenty of odd characters that are rare to the Nintendo franchise.

Karts-

35 Karts per character. What more could you ask for? Nintendo seriously worked their buns off on this. The Kart design is also sleek and elegant, adding to the Graphics. Kudos to you, Nintendo.

Snaking-

Takes hours to get good at. It seriously takes a lot of patience and skill to try and pull this off. I, myself, have tried so and have failed miserably, although it did decrease my Figure 8 Circuit Time Trial Score by 8 Seconds. This skills takes plenty of time to learn, and to utilize. Requires a Kart with fairly good handling and acceleration.

Prolonged Rocket Boost-

An extension of snaking in a way. Keeping PRB going for an entire track is extremely rare to see, as most players eventually mess up. The people who can actually pull this off deserve to be commended.

The Courses-

32 Courses make Mario Kart DS amazing. The detail put into them was well done, although it could have been done slightly better. I'm rather surprised at how amazingly well done it was, as it keeps me occupied at times.

Items-

Wow, Nintendo did add quite a few items, although most were pre-existing. It still does make the game rather interesting, although it does make races rely on luck, rather than skill.

This game is a must buy. I recommend going to your nearest Gaming Store and Burn your Tires.