Mario Kart DS Video Game Review

The Mario Kart series has always maintained a certain standard, and Mario Kart DS is no exception. Like its predecessors, MKDS delivers beautiful worlds for the ubiquitous, drain plumbing, "marketers' dream team" to race through, and with its wi-fi capabilities, it is connecting players worldwide, which is very cool. As always, the basic elements that made the series a hit are still here-excellent play-control, great graphics, and tons of power-ups and melee weapons-and they all converge to make MKDS an immersive experience.�

In some respects, team Nintendo outdid themselves by offering even more creative level designs and a cast of 12 players, a feature only outnumbered by the Gamecube's Double Dash. The graphical capabilities of the DS are well utilized, with fully 3-D worlds complete with twisting pipes, pinball flippers, and roads winding around cliff edges. On first glance, MKDS can be compared visually to Mario Kart 64 era graphics, but although the improvements are subtle, MKDS is considerably better looking than it's N64 relative.

But the big story of MKDS is its wi-fi support, which allows players to connect around the world to race. I was connected in no time, and the multiplayer races work great. Being the first DS game to offer wi-fi connection, MKDS impressed me with the ease of use and functionality of its wireless support.

What I wasn't wowed by was the overall speed and the number of levels in the game. Like all Mario Kart games, MKDS offers three speeds to race with, but even the top tier 150cc leaves something to be desired. I never felt like I needed to slow down in a race, even when going around the tightest hairpin turns. And while MKDS features 32 tracks, half of them are rehashes from the old SNES, N64, GBA, and Gamecube versions.�

Still, MKDS brings back the frantic obstacle dodging, opponent dissing racing experience that won over fans way back when. There are plenty of improvements, too, and as always the polished feel of a Nintendo-brand product. The best addition by far is the wi-fi feature, which opens the door for near endless playing, but even without a connection, MKDS is worth the cash.