The best racing game on the DS

Mario Kart for the DS is an exact replica of the original game launched on the 16 bit SNES back in the early 1990s. It is an iconic game involving a kart race between Mario, Luigi and a host of other characters appearing in their adventures.

This is such a simple concept with the name of the game being to win as many races as possible. That’s it. There are no people to save, no puzzles to complete, no baddies to destroy it is a pure fun filled, action packed racing game.

****Game modes****

The modes are as follows:

1) Grand prix

This is where the racing begins. Choosing either the 50cc, 100cc or 150cc class, your character and the cup you wish to compete in it is time to get ready and race all your opponents across 4 different races to see who will be crowned king of the circuit.

2) Time trails

Time trails mode allows the player to select their character, select the class, select the cup and select the circuit before having the track on its own for three timed laps. It serves as a practice in preparation for the grand prix.

3) 4) VS

The VS mode is like the time trial although you don’t get the advantage of having the circuit to yourself. It is a full grid and you have to race around with the sole objective of winning the single race.

5) Battle

In this mode there is the balloon battle and the shine runners.

In the balloon battle you have to burst your opponents balloons with items. If all your inflated balloons burst then you lose. Once all your balloons deflate then you lose, although it is possible to keep inflating your balloons by blowing down the microphone.

In shine runners the objective is to collect as many shines as you can, which be increased by stealing from your opponents. These with the least shines get booted out over time. Last man standing wins.

6) Missions

There are 6 levels and 8 missions in each. All missions must be completed in order to move to the next level.

The missions include things such as driving through numbered gates in order, driving in reverse and destroying a specific number of item boxes, amongst many others.

****Graphics****

The graphics are identical to those found on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) back in the early 90s. There are bright bold colours, and whilst you can tell the difference between the characters they are a little blocky.

This is not such a bad thing since Mario Kart was a game all about the fun factor and playability. It was never at the cutting edge of graphics and this has always been the case with Nintendo.

In my opinion, Nintendo have done the right thing in leaving the graphics as they are since if they had tried to improve them or changed them in any way this would not be Mario Kart.

****Playability****

This game is not used with the touch screen and stylus at all. All movements are made via the directional pad and buttons, just like the original game.

The button configuration is really simple making it ideal for younger gamers. The A button is the accelerator, the B button operates the brakes or puts it in reverse, the R button is to jump, the L button uses the items picked up from the item boxes and the directional pad is used to determine the direction. That’s it! It couldn’t be more simple.

Whilst racing you need to hit the item boxes. There are several of these around each circuit and these will give the racers an item that will assist them in progressing through the field. The items available are exactly the same as in the original game and include banana skins (dropped to make opponents skid), green shells (these are thrown at your opponents forcing them to crash), red shells (used like the green shells but you only get 1 as opposed to 3), the invincibility star and the mushroom (to give you a quick burst of speed) amongst others.

During game play the top screen is used as the main view and the lower screen is used to show the lay out of the circuit and the position of your opponents, hence it is easy to see who you will be approaching to overtake, or who you will need to defend against.

****Characters****

With the ability to choose between Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Donkey Kong, Wario or Bowser this game offers just enough characters to make it interesting.

Once you have chosen you character there is the option of being the standard character or a different variation of the character the specification of which is different for each character.

For each character it is possible to see how it fairs with regards to speed, acceleration, weight, handling, drift and items, and each will have its own strengths and weaknesses. There are trade offs to consider, for example a character may have lightening quick acceleration it may have a low top speed. It is this trade off that is used to make character selection.

****Difficulty****

Mario Kart is a really easy game to play. This is expected since it dates back to the early 1990s, a time when computer games were all about playability and fun, and this needs to be remembered when playing the game.

It is a game that can be enjoyed by all ages and my 5 year old nephew loves it. I can manage to keep him quiet for a few hours and aid in his development by helping him improve his hand eye co-ordination.

****Sound****

The sound is awful consisting of cheesy music all the way through it. There are limited sound effects that are restricted to the individual cries of the different characters as they are racing for the title.

****Multi player****

This game has multi player functionality allowing you to race against your mates.

In my experience I would avoid doing this after a few drinks since alcohol seems to make people very competitive and arguments and calls of foul play break out frequently. This game could seriously affect a friendship, well for a few hours anyway.

****Availability and prices****

I got my copy of £24.97 from Amazon, although being such a popular game it will be available in most game shops. Have a hunt around first since the price is likely to vary, as with all DS games.

****Conclusion****

This is a great game and should be in all DS owner’s game collection. Whilst the graphics may not be brilliant or the sound good Mario Kart is not about audio or visuals.

This game is about taking computer gaming back to what it used to be and that is having a laugh, having fun and mindless enjoyment. There is no game plan, there is no strategy and there are no puzzles to solve.

It is for these reasons I am glad Nintendo have not attempted to update and change this game in any way, as to do so would have wrecked it.

Would I recommend this game? Definitely. It is a game that can be enjoyed by all ages from a five year old right through to an old age pensioner and all would get the same thing out of it.
 

(Originally posted on Dooyoo under the name of Yackers1)