this game is STILL 35 FREAKIN DOLLARS!?.....wow. mk ds MAY have been sorta good back then, but now it iswaytoo outdated
gameplay: none of the tracks are really that good and the new items are just stupid replacements of the special items from double dash! the gooper blooper is cool but the bullet bill is like cheating! well, the courses ARE pretty cool but not good enough to be worth trying out. there are retro courses which are courses from previous mario karts which is the only good thing about this game (except for one other thing i will mention later) since i don't have super mario kart. there is a mission mode with missions to do, while some are pretty cool at first, most of them are udder crap and could have been made better. the missions are either very frustrating or control horribly. you might like them but they are sloppy overall. i hate how you can't pick your character since most of them suck. one thing that is very shocking is that mario is one of the worst drivers in the game, and really the only average ones are toad and yoshi, UNTIL you unlock waluigi and dry bones! dry bones controls the best and waluigi... he's just really good. this is very odd for nintendo to make waluigi the best racer in the entire game, but who cares! WALUIGI, NUMBER ONE! (sorry lol). easily the biggest flaw in the game is the sukin rating system! getting 1st in every race is enough right? WRONG! you have to avoid every dang item as possible if you are able to get a perfect ranking, which is next to impossible! why can't winning the race be enough!? see, this is why double dash is my favorite! getting 1st was challenging, but it was well balanced. now you feel like you don't accomplish anything if you get 1st! that's udder crap!
graphics: the graphics are HORRIBLE! and the only one who looks good is (shockingly enough) WALUIGI! no kidding. they seriously wanted waluigi to pwn in this game! any way everyone (besides waluigi) is way too blocky and mario, he is UGLY! i wish they made the graphics like super mario 64 DS. this game would have been a whole lot better if it did.
sound: the music in this game is just lame and the only good theme is...WALUIGI PINBALL!...........................
pause: ok, let's get this straight, the best driver in the game is waluigi, the best character graphics is waluigi, and the best theme in the game is from waluigi...... i really don't know what to say... you decide what you think...
sound cont.: anyway, most of the the music is very unmemorable and annoying.
controls: the controls aren't that good and can be frustrating at times
battle mode: this is the only thing in the game that stays completely true to the other mario karts. if battle mode was your favorite thing in mario kart, than this will not disapoint.
value: the game gets very boring and is probably the worst in the series.
online: ds online sucks overall so i can't really say anything here. it's pretty pointless if you have mario kart wii.
conclusion:
BAD:
horrible graphics -20
no amazing courses or items -5
gets boring -10
sloppy mission mode -5
poor sound quality -10
rankings ruin everything -10
GOOD:
retro courses +5
great battle mode +5
waluigi pwns +5
this game gets a 55/100. it really doesn't improve the series at all, but it is pretty decent. but $35 is a complete rip-off for a 4-5 year old game!