Best Mario Kart to date.
Graphics in Mario Kart DS are good and colorful and they are that same Nintendo style you know and love. Sound effects are also familiar from previous Mario Kart games and they work well. Music makes a happy atmosphere in the experience.
Gameplay is where Mario Kart DS starts to shine and there are many different game modes to keep you busy for a long time. There are 32 different tracks to choose from and 16 of them are old tracks from previous games in the series (SNES, N64, GBA, GCN). About half of the tracks and four characters out of 12 have to be unlocked so you’ll spend a lot of time just playing through the Grand Prix mode. But that is just one game mode in Mario Kart DS alongside mission mode, time trial and battle mode. Controls are accurate and they’re easy to learn so the learning curve here is pretty much non existence.
Nintendo has finally added online play and playing with other people is the highlight of this game. But even if you don’t play online there is still lots of single player stuff for you to find and play with.
Playing Mario Kart DS is just fun and win or lose it leaves you with a happy feeling. If you’re interested in racing games you should check out Mario Kart DS.