The best racer yet.
At first glance, Mario Kart DS might look like Mario Kart 64, but there are alot more options this time around.
MK DS gives you plenty of options right off the bat. In the single player options, you have your standard Grand Prix and Time Trials. There is also VS mode, which is the equivalent of a quick race, where you just play for fun, not to progress through the game. There is also Battle Mode which presents some interesting options.
The Grand Prix mode is the main attraction. It is divided into the 50cc, 100cc and 150cc. At this point, you can choose your character and the kart you want them to race on.
There are 2 Grand Prix to choose from at this point. The Nitro and Retro Grand Prix. There are 4 events in each, but 2 have to be unlocked. The Nitro courses are all new. The Retro courses are quite interesting. In each event, you have a remade course from the SNES, N64, GBA and Game Cube versions of Mario Kart. These all look great, even the GC tracks.
To make the races more interesting, you are given all of the familiar weapons from the previous installments. You have your red and green shells, that blue shell that attacks the opponent in the lead, and alot more.
Upon winning these events, you are rewarded with a short animation of the top 3 characters doing their victory lap. The AI doesn't seem to be all that smart, so it is fairly easy to come in first in mst of the events.
Time Trial is the usual mode. You select your character and try and get the best time on the course of your choice. The game saves a ghost of your best time, which you can share with other people who also have the game.
Battle mode is the most innovative part of the game, and the only part that makes use of the microphone. There are 2 options here. There is Baloon Battle, and Token Collection.
In balloon battle, you have a balloon attached to your kart. You can blow up more by blowing into the mic on the DS. As you play, your goal is to use the weapons found around the arena to knock the balloons off your opponent's karts.
The item collection mode is slightly less interesting. Your goal is to collect as many tokens (which look like suns) as you can. At certain times, the players with the fewest tokens are eliminated. You can use the powerups to try and make your opponents drop some of their tokens so you can pick them up.
There is also a mission mode. You are given a task, and a limited amount of time to complete it. They are things like "Collect all 15 tokens" or "Drive through all of the gates in order." These can be quite challenging, but they are generally all fun.
If might have been nice to see some more use of the touch screen in some modes. All it's used for is displaying the map, and the order of the racers. If you touch it, if displays an alternate map.
The biggest problem with MK DS is its value. Driving around the same courses over and over can become a bit dull, even with the number of characters and karts you're given. The saving grace is the online play, which makes it quite a bit more replayable.
Graphically MKDS is amazing. It looks as good as Mario Kart 64, if not even better. All of the characters animate well, and the tracks are nice and clear. There are even some nice touches, like seeing your character celebrating when somebody else falls into a trap you're set. The only problem is that the detail on the roads can look a bit pixelated when you get close, but that's easy to over look.
A good amount od time seems to have gone into the sound as well. The Retro tracks have their nostalgiac music redone, and all of the new additions suond nice to. The sound effects are memorable, and all of the weapons sound noticeably different. The music speeds up when you are on your last lap, which is a nice touch. It helps add some excitement to the race.
The only things holding MK back from being a truly amazing game are its repetitiveness and is difficulty (or lack there of). This would make a great addition to your collection if you have a DS, or if you're a racing fan.