Mario Kart is back and this time it's online featuring more things than ever before!

I've been waiting for this game to come out since I first got my DS. "Released in January 2005"... Yeah Right!

There is no storyline to Mario Kart, this is just another part of the plentiful Mario franchise, but is in no way comparable to the other crap Nintendo dish out and slap Mario's face on like Mario Golf and Mario Tennis. This game is in a league of its own in the Mario franchise, and I am not at all shocked, although I really do miss the old Mario games where you just pass through the levels *sigh*.

YAHOO FOR 3D!

One of the things I love about the DS is the way it contradicts all the Haters of the DS who are always bitching about its "GBA Style Graphics" and that it's just a "GBA with 2 screens" and the second screen is just a "Gimmick". Well I say, screw them because they obviously haven't seen this game! The 3D may not be perfect, it's very squared, but at least its not the fake 3D Mario Kart 64 used (I know a lot of you are going to moan about this, but the characters in Mario Kart 64 are fake 3D).. OK, the 3D isn't spectacular, but at least it's better than nothing (Anything's better than nothing, but I meant its better than Mario Kart 64). If I'm honest, most of the DS haters fears were realised when they realised developers started releasing games in 3D.. Even then, none of them really do, we're still getting 2D crap like Advanced Wars Dual Strike (Now, don't get me wrong, Advanced Wars Dual Strike is a brilliant game, but it is in no way boasting the power of the DS, I don't think there are any games that do that). WE WANT MORE 3D GAMES!

That second screen comes in use and I'm glad Nintendo put it in rather than one giant touch screen (Not that they were going to, PSP fanboys like to moan about how the PSP has a bigger screen than the DS). Use the second screen to see where your enemies are, where items are, help you to line up your shots against people behind you. The only real use for the touch screen as with most DS games is navigating menus and drawing your emblem for your kart.

One cool "gimmick" feature of the battle mode is the fact you have to inflate your own balloons (and I'm willing to admit it is a gimmick). Blow into the microphone to blow up balloons whilst stationary, you get 5 balloons rather than 3, but if you don't have them inflated, you aren't going to win. Nintendo must have felt sorry for people who pass out after blowing up the first balloon because you can hold select to inflate your balloons. This is probably the easier option, because you don't end up sticking your DS in your face.

Goin' Retro!

When I heard this game was going to use courses from the previous Mario Kart games I thought "great, I can finally play against someone on Koopa Troopa Beach, the best Mario Kart 64 course of them all" only to find it wasn't in the game. I had no reason to believe it would be, but I'd hoped Nintendo would have taken some kind of survey to find out which courses people actually liked before filling this game with crap courses like Frappe Snowland N64 or Bowsers Castle 2 GBA. OK, they're not ALL bad, you've still got Moo Moo farm N64, Choco Mountain N64, and Yoshi Island GCN . The rest aren't anything to rant about, mmm maybe Banshee Boardwalk, OK, lets face it most of the retro tracks from Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash are fantastic choices, but I just don't like any of the GBA or SNES tracks. They should have filled up this game with more 64 and Double Dash tracks, but then this game wouldn't be as nostalgic. Ah well, you can't always win. In my opinion, some of the track selections were poor. I hate most SNES and GBA courses especially Bowsers Castle 2.

Crammed full of that Mario Kart sound we all love to hear, this game really does take you back! All of the retro courses have their original sounds. The characters all have their annoying little voices.. I like annoying people online with the character selection (especially people I know). 30 seconds of bliss! Just Kidding..

A new Feature of Mario Kart DS is the Mission Mode. This isn't much to brag about, but it extends the game play life by about a week. Still, the online play

Do you realise how crap you are at Mario Kart?

Mario Kart DS is the first Mario Kart game which is featured to work online (besides Mario Kart Double Dash if you use Warp Pipe or you've decided to download Mario Kart 64 and you play over Net Play on your emulator.. naughty you!) and it was the very first thing I shot to when I bought this game. Thinking I'm the overall master at Mario Kart, my first race was an upsetting one. I got served by all 3 players in my race.. I never realised I sucked so bad! So I stayed offline for quite a while to hide the shame, at least until I was ready. Even just last week I thought I was at the top of my game having completed everything including Mirror Mode, guess what? I still suck. (If you want proof, challenge me to a game, my friend code is: 446736 - 608146.).

Chances are you'll find I make up excuses like the next person "arghhh damn shell. Damn banana peel. Arghh I hit the wall on the last 2 laps. My DS went funny. I have lag. I got hit 3 times in a row. My phone rang."  SO WHAT? This is Mario Kart, everyone gets the same treatment you and I do. It must feel like some kind of conspiracy that Nintendo's servers are specifically targeting you to get hit by everything and they put items in your path, yeah, because you don't suck.

I think the realisation with Mario Kart DS online is that there is always someone better than you, unless you're the best, then there wouldn't... or would there? hmmm...

It's just a shame they don't have Battle mode or all of the Courses online.

Local Wireless play though.. That's another story. There's only one thing do describe Local Wireless, FANTASTIC! You can play against your friends or family, and hey, at least it's got battle and all the courses. No restriction unlike Online play. You don't even need to own the game either, just run up to your buddy with this game and download the game through Download Play. You're stuck as Shyguy, but he's not that bad really, but I guess playing with 7 Shyguy's will drive you nuts! If you own the game, you can play as any character and kart (providing you unlocked them).

Even the Nintendo staff were doing crap when they took these screenshots!

Anyway, this game rocks. If you own a DS, but don't own this game, you're not hardcore! Show you're hardcore by putting this in your signature!

(Just to let you know, it's hotlink protected. That means we'd prefer it if you hosted it yourself if you're outside this site.)

So, overall... Mario Kart DS is the best DS game, and Nintendo have definitely made this handheld console worthwhile! With Animal Crossing Wild World and Metroid Prime Hunters online, Nintendo are going to have a set 2006 no problem!

I rate this game, 97% (I would rate it 98% if I won online once in a while, and if some of the SNES and GBA courses were actually good maybe 99%, no game deserves 100% unless it has everything that makes a game good included in it. Suggestions anyone?)