It starts off mildly amusing, and just falls flat after that.
Gameplay (6/10): This game actually starts off as being VERY promising. The concept is simply that you slide the stylus across the screen in the direction you want to move. There are different terrain types that you must account for that affect speed and you can also travel by boat (Lapras) or by air (balloons). The controls remain the same though and after you beat the first cup on the first difficulty, you will begin to realize the flaw of this game. Reptitive, tedious, and boring gameplay.
They could have at least made the tracks a little varied in order to make up for the lack in variety of control, but they just did not do so. It gets dull fast and you will likely not even TRY to attempt the other cups, let alone the higher difficulties.
It could have also helped to have other Pokemon to choose from, with different attributes.
Graphics (6/10): The models of the Pokemon actually don't look all that bad, it is the environment that is the problem. It is simple and gets the job done with letting you know what each object is...that isn't the problem. The problem is lack of variety. You pretty much see the same two tree-types over and over again, along with a few variations of the same types of terrain. Once again, variety is the issue here.
Sound (3/10): The music is passable. It isn't horrible nor is it great. The problem ONCE AGAIN is lack of variety. Pretty much the same tracks repeat over and over again and you really get tired of them eventually. On top of that, even though the sound effects aren't that bad as far as quality, they are very annoying and oftentimes you will find yourself just turning down the sound when you play this game. I don't ever want to hear "Pi-Pikachu!" again.
Value (6/10): Amazing for how bad this game is overall, it has a decent amount to offer in replay value. You can revisit all 5 cups in two higher difficulties, there is time trial, there is a decent multiplayer (multi-pak only) and there is one other neat little feature. If you plug in your GBA Pokemon game into the GBA slot on the DS, then whatever is in your party in the GBA game can be transferred over to Dash in order to create a unique 'track' shaped like your Pokemon...meaning there are essentially 386 unique tracks you can play if you own all of those Pokemon. Needless to say, the tracks are difficult to navigate and the already difficult to use radar is renderred almost useless thanks to how dense these stages are. Oh yes, and you will likely get through ALL the tracks with 1st place and no continues for each difficulty in less than 20 hours. Probably WAY less than 20. It took me about 10.
All in all, the only reason any Pokemon fan would ever want to own this is merely for the sake of adding it to his or her collection. I own a considerable amount of Pokemon merchandise and I just had to add this, I wish I never opened it and just kept it sealed. Anybody who wishes to PLAY this game, would do better not to. There are MANY better racing games out there, so please avoid this game, for your own sake. If you really MUST buy this game AND play it though, just don't get your hopes up for some crazy fun and good game. It is casually and mildly entertaining for a short period of time and NOTHING more. Enjoy (yourself by not playing this game).