Nintendo DS Review: Mario Kart DS - Page 4

The single player side of Mario Kart DS is great entertainment too. It is not all about multiplayer.

• Grand Prix is broken into two sets of four cups comprising 32 tracks total. Half of these tracks are new to the DS, the other half are a "best of" selection from the SNES, N64, GBA, and GameCube versions of Mario Kart. Some of the classic tracks have been tweaked for the DS. The shortcuts found in the GameCube tracks have been removed. This follows the "back to basics" feel of Mario Kart DS. I personally do not have a problem with that at all. The new tracks created for the DS really feel new, and are of a higher quality. They just feel meatier, with nicely varied level design.
• Time Trial is a great way to learn the new tracks and brush up on the classic ones. Your best time is saved as ghost data on every successive completion of a track. You can share this ghost data with friends via local wireless play. Developer ghost data can be unlocked allowing you to test your skills against the development team. Ghosts take full advantage of the overhead map on the bottom screen. Different colored hash marks show the rout of the ghost character, as well as powerslides and jumps. This is yet another great use of the dual screens of the DS.
• Vs mode pits you against the CPU. Oddly, player avatars are used in this mode. It is neat to see the avatar for Donkey Kong and the like. Nevertheless it seems misplaced, as this is a single player mode.
• The two Battle mode games are a lot of fun, especially multiplayer. In Balloon Battle you have to burst your opponents balloons with weapons. To inflate your balloons you simply blow into the DS’s mic. Shine Runners tasks you with collecting and stealing Shines from opponents. Players with the least amount of Shines get booted as the game goes on. The big let down here is that you cannot play Battle mode games online via Wi-Fi. It is unfortunate, but does not mar your online experience in the least.
• Lastly there is a single player Mission mode. There are six stages all comprised of eight levels plus a boss battle. There is even a seventh stage to unlock. The levels require you to perform tasks before time runs out. These include things such as "collect 10 coins," "drive through 8 numbered gates in order," and "perform 4 power-slide turbo boosts in 1 lap." Most are fun yet some are downright annoyingly difficult. These may take days to complete. The best part of this mode is that you learn how to play the game by progressing through the missions. They are also a fun diversion from racing. With 54 stages (plus locked stages), this adds a lot to the single player experience. I enjoy Mission mode because it is a fun change of pace.

As mentioned previously, playing online - local and Wi-Fi - is painless. For local play, choose Multiplayer from the main menu. Then either create or enter a Group. Local opponents join and play begins. One note about single cartridge multiplayer: those without the game are limited to Shyguy for their player character, and a select list of tracks. Still, eight player Download Play with a single cartridge is a terrific feature.

Article Author: Ken Edwards

Ken Edwards is the Gaming Editor at Blogcritics, and calls Breaking Windows home. Ken works part time for Student Publications at BGSU as the Webmaster and System Administrator. He is also a freelance web developer.

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