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Mario Kart DS

Posted November 28th 2005 by Jared Thomas.

Nintendo has dipped their toes into the online scene a few times, but they've never before plunged in headfirst. Arguably, they still haven't, as the Wi-Fi Connection has proven to be about as bare-bones as a centralized online program can be, but it's impossible to deny that Nintendo has kick-started its renewed commitment to online in a big way. One of Nintendo's all-time greatest multiplayer franchises, the legendary Mario Kart, has been chosen as the breakthrough Wi-Fi title, and Nintendo went all out to make sure to live up to expectations.

Nintendo pooled their strength for this one, piecing together the best of what Mario Kart has shown us so far into a Voltron of karting madness. The game is very literally a conglomeration of everything that the pioneer kart series has to offer, most evident in the Retro cup races. Half the courses in this game are pulled from past Mario Kart titles on Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube. The characters themselves also represent a wide expanse of Mario's universe, but after so many parties, tennis matches, and golf tournaments, that's pretty standard fare.

The new Nitro Grand Prix tracks are definitely a step above what we saw last time the Mario troupe dashed in pairs, though I don't know that I would say they match Mario Kart 64's genius in course design. Most are fairly forgettable, but they do have a charm to them and a solid level design that will make you want to keep playing to improve your powersliding around sharp turns. Much to my dismay, they took a note from Double Dash and decided big loops and huge elevation changes were more important than letting players jump from one part of the course to another (contrast Double Dash's Rainbow Road with Mario Kart 64's, now look sad and say "D'oh."). It makes for a lot less opportunity to find unintended shortcuts and removes the ability to absolutely devastate another gamer by knocking them back to an earlier part of the track, but other than that I'm pretty pleased with the level selection. And while I'd certainly make a change or two to the Retro tracks they chose, they brought quite a few older gems back and the Retro Grand Prix adds quite a bit in variety and atmosphere to the title. They're just as fun to play on as the newer tracks, and they earn major points for nostalgia.

Now the Retro tracks are a blast to play and help enhance the theme of this being the Mario Kart to end all Mario Karts, but where the game really shows its pedigree is in the gameplay itself. It follows the trend of blending old and new and plays like a mix of the past titles, ironing out the kinks and expanding on others' groundwork. The powersliding is something different from every other game in the series thus far, yet it feels entirely comfortable and familiar. The hop is back from its notable absence on Double Dash, yet the sparks and the slide itself should feel pretty natural to a GameCube owner. Depending on what character and kart you choose to race in, drifting can feel as incredibly tight as it was back on the SNES version or as controlled and wide as Mario Kart 64 fans are used to. Which of course brings me to another point: the karts.

Mario Kart: Double Dash broke new ground for the series by offering the opportunity to drive in a wide variety of vehicles. Mario and his pals were no longer subject to just one standard kart and thus the karts themselves made the difference in performance, rather than the drivers. It also added a new depth to the weaknesses and differences of each vehicle, which in the past was only a slight variation in acceleration and weight. The only problem with this system is that most of the karts in Double Dash sucked. They were high off the ground, offered a bumpy ride, and both looked and felt awkward to gamers who had enjoyed more of a dunebuggy approach. So while Mario Kart DS held onto the concept of a wide variety of karts - with a wide range of differences in handling, drift, and even item selection - they also returned to the commitment of having actual karts, and not just random wheeled conveyances. Most of the vehicles in the game feel like karts, instead of carriages or boxcars, and every character has a standard classic-style kart just in case you're an absolute purist.

As far as the item portion of gameplay is concerned, this is one area that didn't quite meet the standard set with racing and courses. The items have less prominence but more sway in the outcome of a race, straying from the near-perfect balance found in the N64 version. I'm chalking this up to an unfortunate side-effect produced from making the karts so different; for a heavier kart a red shell still packs a punch, but in one of the lighter karts getting hit by one is almost incidental. Dry Bones rolls out of a basic banana or shell hit at nearly full speed. So I suppose developers figured the only way to bring down these smaller, zippier karts is with something ultimate like a spikey shell or bob-omb or Star or something. And so basically the game trades out the back-and-forth potshots that made the series famous in exchange for a few major catastrophic blows once or twice a race that can completely decide the outcome. It's reminisceint of Mario Power Tennis's power shots, which I almost always turned off during play because otherwise the game was usually decided by them. And skill definitely still plays a major part in the game, as evidenced by the fact that I lose every time I'm on the phone with Desiré while racing, but there is a definite aura of unbalance in the game.

Graphically, the game gets the job done. Sure, in close shots Mario Kart DS is on par with Mario Party 3 or Super Smash Bros., but it's made to look inviting from a slight distance while keeping a super steady framerate (obviously a huge priority for Nintendo's first largescale online venture). So while close-ups of the characters and static shell sprites are something I'd rather not see, graphics that are pitted somewhere between Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash aren't going to earn any major complaints from me. In actual gameplay everything looks vibrant, the animations keep the fast and frenzy mood, and overall it's a perfect Mario motif without the kiddie afterglow. Score.

The biggest drawback to the game, by far, is the DS itself. The system is amazing in many ways, but ergonomics is not one of its strong points. Somehow Nintendo completely flipped in their steady improvement of one controller to the next. From NES to SNES to N64 to Gamecube, their controllers felt less and less like hunks of plastic and more and more like cradling a baby kitten.

The handheld environment is a different story. The archaic D-pad still rules this scene, and while it's arguably a necessity, it's nevertheless a major pain at times, especially when trying to complete a power slide. The A button is way too tiny and sharp for a game that requires it to be held down at all times, and that's not just a problem for adults; Desiré's four year-old son actually opts to forgo his addiction to the game at times because his fingers hurt after awhile. The biggest problem, however, is the constant use of the right shoulder button. The weight and shape of the DS put a major toll on the hands when index fingers aren't helping to cradle the handheld, and after extended play my hand felt like a cramped claw, which is something that apparently is happening all across the nation. Before Mario Kart DS I'd already held the belief that the DS needed an ergonomic upgrade, but playing such a competitive game without feeling truly comfortable during even a moment of it makes such an upgrade an absolute necessity.

This game gets an N-Philes score of A.

For any drawbacks the game has, Mario Kart DS is still an essential part of any DS owner's game library, even if they don't have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. The tracks, new and old, are a blast to play with the improved handling, and the items and characters have a lot of charm that adds to the fun. Is this the greatest Mario Kart yet? I'm not sure. But that's irrelevant. What is relevant is that Mario Kart DS will forever be known as a defining moment in the DS' success story. An instant classic.