11/21/2005

With 2 days to go before Mario Kart DS hits shelves in Japan, I thought a sneak preview and spoiler-free review would be of some help to those who are on the fence about buying the latest MK title.

Rest assured that if you’re into racing games, you’ll like this one automatically. Of course, for some of us, “racing” really means Mario Kart in its previous incarnations, and if you enjoyed them then the DS version won’t disappoint. The customary set of 4 cups has returned along with Battle Mode, and old favorites like the traditional Rainbow Road. The game additionally includes a 4-cup set of “retro tracks” that features tracks from the SNES/Super Famicom and N64 versions along with ones from the GBA release and Mario Kart Double Dash for GameCube.

There are, of course, many unlockables. The final two cups in each division/cc must be unlocked by winning gold on the previous cup, making 150cc a challenge, but not an unbeatable one, even if your preferred character is abysmally slow (gamers who enjoy playing Princess Peach, beware of this!). So far I’ve unlocked 3 characters and an extra set of karts in addition to the new tracks.

New items such as the Blooper that sprays ink at other players (is there an official name for this item?) and a Boo that thefts items from other players are new, while many old favorites are back, such as the lightning bolt, and a crazy new influx of blue shells. Some “Special” items (like the character-themed ones from Double Dash are now absent), though the ones that are in the game – the gold Mushroom and Bomb-Ombs as an example – are available to all players, provided they’re back far enough on the track.
The game also introduces a set of one-player “Missions” that are great for killing a bit of time.

Of course, the main attraction is the “WFC”, aka Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Other than experiencing technical difficulties on launch day, the system has performed nicely, allowing players to choose from Regional races, Friends-Only, and Worldwide. Unfortunately, the WFC does lack some organization (text messaging would be nice, or really any other way to communicate with other players, and the coincidental way of both friends having to Search for one another at the same time is a bit of a hassle) but for an initial try Nintendo has done an excellent job. We’ll hope that by the time Animal Crossing DS hits shelves, the WFC will be second nature to them.