A detailed explanation on why Mario Kart DS is the best game in the series.
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Year: 2005
Played on: DS
Also on: Virtual Console
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
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This is the ideal kart racing game. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.
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Date posted: November 7, 2017
PREMISE
If you haven’t noticed, there have been no Nintendo game reviewed on this site (well, except for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and that bootleg plug and play). No, there is actually no real reason for it. You see, I made this blog to cover more obscure and weird games, with well known games covered every now and then. I’m not afraid of Nintendo’s copyright police, as I am pretty sure that
[THIS SECTION OF THE REVIEW HAS BEEN REMOVED BY NINTENDO]
So you see, I think I’m going to be just fine reviewing Nintendo games on here- its just that most of their games are just not weird or obscure enough to be reviewed here. I’ll review them every now and then. Now I’m just repeating myself- its time to explain what makes Mario Kart DS so special over every game in the series.
The story of Mario Kart is simple. Mario is down on his luck, so he organizes an illegal racing circuit in order to make money under the Mushroom Kingdom’s nose. That, or he just puts on races just for fun. I don’t know, you decide the story.
So Mario and his friends drive on these dangerous tracks in vehicles that are not even remotely safe. I estimate that Mario and company have died a least 7892045 times over the course of the entire series.
In all seriousness, Mario Kart is a racing series where Mario and his pals drive around courses, hitting them with shells and banana peels, and cursing each for losing (or is that what I do when I play it with other people, at least). Its pretty fun, and dare I say, I don’t think I ever played a game in the series that I thought was bad. Yes, including Super Circuit.
But what makes DS so special?
PROS
Did I mention Waluigi’s Pinball? Waluigi’s Pinball! Who doesn’t love WALUIGI’S PINBALL?
Waluigi’s Pinball. No, but it is a good track! In fact, DS has my favorite track listing in Mario history, maybe after 8 and 64. You got the aforementioned Waluigi Pinball, but you also got a track where you race though a clock, a SMB 3 airship, Luigi’s Mansion, delfino square- a good variety that actually takes notes from Mario’s very colorful history. You also have new versions of old favorites- Mario Circuit, Bowser’s Castle, and Rainbow Road all get new upgraded tracks.
I still say that MKDS has the best selection of tracks in the entire series.
If that’s not enough, DS also introduces retro tracks- the best thing since [BLANK]. A selection of tracks from Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Super Circuit, and Double Dash have been chosen and revamped for the DS. Old school tracks from SMK and SC have been somewhat done in 3D, while DD are understandably not as detailed, seeing as that was a gamecube game. The N64 tracks, I think, were the ones that transitioned the best- no surprise, as the DS is closest to the N64, me thinks.
For a portable title, there is a lot of content here! Not only were there 32 tracks, mentioned above, there was also 6 battle mode stages- which now can be played with bots- and 12 drivers. You, of course, have the man of the hour, Luigi, and his lazy color swap, (a guy named Fario? Nario? I forget!). You also have Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Donkey Kong, etc., but you also have unlockable drivers- like a skeleton, a robot, and Jared Leto!
Come on! The resemblance is uncanny!
You also now have different Karts, a feature added in Double Dash. There are an astounding 36 different karts! The best part? You can eventually unlock a feature that lets you use any of the other characters karts, as they are locked to specific characters, at the beginning anyway.
DS is also the only MK so far to have somewhat of a campaign mode for singleplayer. Mission mode, surprise surprise, lets the player go on missions. There are even boss battles! Boss battles in a kart racing game! What a cool concept I-
Oh. Its been done before? Why’d you have to rain on my parade?
The game also controls well, as well. It plays surprisingly smooth for a 3D DS game (3d games on the DS weren’t that great- a lot problems with controls and cameras and such) Everything works like it’s supposed to, and works well, I might add for the 12353th time in this review.
Also, there is no gimmick- its just a straight kart racing game. No two-players in one kart. No driving in the air or underwater. No Zero-g sections. Just kart racing. Why does Nintendo have to give everything a gimmick?
How to spot a good game tip #4356- A new title screen unlocks after you 100% the game.
Another good thing I just thought of! The game does cost a thousand billion dollars like 64 or DD. You can easily get a CIB copy for less then $20. Seriously, why are portable Nintendo games so cheap, while their console brethren costs an arm and a leg?
CONS
Funny enough, the CONS of this game come from a unexpected place. Up front- I never actually played MKDS online, but I have heard some horror stories.You see, this game was one of the first to have an online mode, and boy, was it f@#ked. You see, online was apparently gimped- You only had 20 of the 32 courses, could only play with 4 people at a time, 100 cc only, and some triple items taken out. There were also terrible load times as well. Add to this the problem of snaking, and oh boy…
Snaking is the act of drifting back and forth at a ludicrous rate, letting mini-turbo whenever you felt like it. It pretty much let win any race- unless another player was snaking as well. Another game ruined by its meta, just like smas- actually, I’ll save that one for a rainy day. Point is, snaking ruined any fun you could of had online, unless, you know, you knew how to do it.
Again, this is just what I heard. I mostly played MKDS by myself because I have no friends, probably because I’m a loser baby, so why don’t kill. DRIVE-BY BODY PIERCE.
Other then that, I really can’t think of anything bad.
FINAL VERDICT
Look. I know people think there is a better MK game out there- most say 64, while others say 8 (Deluxe) or Double Dash. For my money, its MKDS- a host of features, good track variety and a good cast of characters makes this game at least a solid one. One things for certain though- it better then what ever in the hell MK Wii was. (Don’t worry, its still not a bad game, but I’ll explain how I really feel when I eventually review it.)
Agree? Disagree? Good! Leave a comment about how terrible my taste is in the comments below!
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