Fat Ninja

The Mustached and the Furious

I remember many a days spent in my parents’ basement with my hands practically fused to my Super Nintendo controller, my tongue stuck out the left corner of my mouth, and my eyes dried open, screaming for the relief of just a single blink. The object of my most rapt of attention, you ask? Super Mario Kart. My brother and I would literally spend hours hermited away in the ill-lit confines of this subterranean space, bitterly duelling it out one red turtle shell at a time; and each time the rally cry of the vanquished was, “One more game!”

Those days seem a lifetime ago, and while I’d love to ride off on a tangent illustrating the sad fact that I can somehow draw correlations between points (pivotal and inconsequential alike) in my life and a particular videogame, I mustn’t lose track. I am, after all, writing a review of Mario Kart DS, and not intimating my storied history with near-obsessive recreational gaming of the video variety. However, the reason I chose the preamble that I did was for the simple fact that in playing Mario Kart DS I’ve been able to recapture those particular moments of my misspent youth.

But I assure you, this isn’t simply nostalgia speaking. Well, that’s not entirely true, but Mario Kart DS is a fantastic game in its own right. Combining elements from each entry in the Mario Kart series, the DS version is a kind of “Mario Kart’s Greatest Hits” compilation album, bringing together the characters we all love, as well as some of the best courses from Mario Karts of yore. In addition to all the classical elements, Mario Kart DS also brings some new tricks to the table, offering up new power-ups and some new courses of its own. The single player aspects offer your standard fare, allowing you to compete against AI opponents of varying degrees of intelligence in several different game modes, among them Grand Prix and Battle modes. However, like the Mario Karts before it, the DS version truly shines on account of its multiplayer component.

Mario Kart has long been a social game. Oh, sure, winning a Grand Prix against AI is fun, but not nearly as fun as trouncing a close friend in, say, battle mode. In fact, a large part of Nintendo’s philosophy with every console has been about making gaming a social experience. With the DS, Nintendo has applied this philosophy to their handheld business. Whether blazing through the Rainbow Road course, or going head-to-head in a Balloon Battle, the DS allows you and up to seven friends to compete via local 802.11b wifi, or through the Nintendo WiFi Connect service. And while both the platform and game cartridge may be smaller, the DS version sacrifices nothing in the way of gameplay. In fact, it plays so well, you almost forget you’re on a handheld device.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Mario Kart DS was big on my list of “pros” for picking up a Nintendo DS. No matter what technological advancements come along, solid gameplay will always stand the test of time. The Mario Kart franchise hasn’t undergone any revolutionary changes in its time. A few things get added in to make it feel new, but at its core, it’s really the same game. Fortunately, its core elements are handled so brilliantly that it just never gets old. The same applies to Mario Kart DS. Its simplicity and adherence to a successful formula make it easy for both newcomers and veterans to pick up and play. Still, the best part about it is that you can pick it up and play it anywhere you like.

OVERALL RATING: Must Have

Share This