Waynephinney

I am going to have a difficult time not saying everything there is to say about this game, thus robbing Vyolynce of his part of the review. Because of that, I will try to be as brief as possible and hit all the major points.

Mario Kart DS is the best Mario Kart game I have played to date. Hopping has returned, some classic tracks have returned, and the new tracks are also great. The blue shell has returned, as well as some other new items.

The most popular part about MKDS is the online playability. If you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can play MKDS with up to three other people online. If you don't, you need to buy a little USB receiver for your PC so you can play online.

As much as I loved this game, though, it's still not a perfect game. As much as I love Nintendo, I will be the first to say that MKDS still isn't what I want in a MK game … at least not entirely. My biggest complaint about this game is related to the same thing Nintendo has done to us since the N64 version of MK. You can't play a game with more than four human players at a time! This is a great aggravation to me. I still long for the opportunity to have eight-man kart races instead of a measly four. Sure, it could be done with a GameCube and an extra TV, but most people don't have two GameCubes, and most wouldn't buy them just so you could play Mario Kart: Double Dash on them.

I suppose that's really my biggest complaint. Everything else is very well rounded-the new levels are awesome, and I love ‘Cheep Cheep Beach.' Yes, I know … nobody cares. I can't help it. I love that track.

There's still plenty more to be said about this game, and I promised I wouldn't be a review hog, so let's see what Vyolynce can contribute to this piece...

Vyolynce
The slight imperfections still lingering in this fifth installment of the MK series fail to make this any less the best version to date. 32 tracks (16 new and 16 ‘retro,' with four tracks taken from each previous MK title), 12 racers, 36 karts (initially two per character, then three; further unlocks remove restrictions, eventually allowing any character to use any kart), two varieties of eight-way Battle Mode (with bots, if needed), some skill-testing ‘missions,' and-oh yeah-wireless multiplayer online play. What the hell is not to like here?

Controls are as tight as always, although the relatively small DS and the odd choice to have the A button be the gas (as it has been since MK64) rather than the B button (as it was on the SNES pad, which is the basis for the DS button layout) may cause some painful adjustment at first. The graphics are every bit as good as MK64, and there's even a ‘surround' option on the sound settings that really make good use out of the DS's stereo speakers (or your headphones). A neat option is the ability to create your own decal/logo that serves as your avatar when playing online, although you should be aware that there are some misanthropic mongoloids out there that won't be able to resist the urge to draw something obscene and/or vulgar in such an otherwise clean game.

Speaking of online play, MKDS is also the launch title for Nintendo's long-awaited arrival to gaming via the Internet. Like any first attempt, there are some neat ideas, as well as some adjustments that need to be made and even some outright mistakes along the way. Nintendo opted to implement ‘Friend Codes'-unique 12-digit numbers that identify the specific combination of your DS and a given game pak-instead of some universal tag like Xbox Live. These are used for ‘vs. Friends' matching, in that you will only be matched up with people who have registered your friend code. This is a good feature that ensures you play who you want to play and nobody else. Your other options for Wi-Fi play are ‘regional' and ‘worldwide,' which more or less randomly pairs you up with other people from your country or planet, respectively; there's also ‘vs. Rivals,' which theoretically is supposed to pair you up against players of a similar skill level, but seems to be just as random as the other two modes from my experience, and you may find yourself getting wailed on by some very skilled karters who you really shouldn't have been playing against in the first place. Due to lag issues, some of the more impressive new tracks are unavailable for online play, but there are still over 20 for you to choose for your four-track mini-GP (players ‘vote' for a track, with either the majority winning or the game picking one of the voted tracks at random).

The major problem is with the match-making. You have no idea who the other participants are going to be until the game gets tired of looking for players. Even if you only play with friends, you can't choose which friends without some serious coordination via other methods. There's no lobby, no in-game chat ... no communication between players at all. While I understand why they opted to not include this typically vital feature from a ‘keeping it clean' standpoint, it's ‘typically vital' for a reason. It would also help to avoid the all-too-common one-on-one races that result from not being able to find the full compliment of players and frequently end in ‘why'd we even bother?' ties. And then there's the fact that Nintendo decided to not punish people for disconnecting, leading to some poor sports dropping after losing a track or two just to preserve some meaningless record; of course, this is a damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't situation, and Nintendo wisely opted to err on the side of leniency. It's not their fault some people are babies about losing fairly. Finally, there seems to be some slight lag issues that may result in some weirdness-like opponents seeming to hop around the track or being awarded first place when you see yourself crossing the line ahead of them, but that really can't be helped.

By the way, Wayne's slightly mistaken in his assessment of the multiplayer aspect of MKDS. While it is true that you cannot have more than four players participating in a Wi-Fi match, up to eight can go at it via local play-and you can do so in Battle Mode instead of just a mini-GP. The trick is getting eight people, each with a DS and this game, in the same place at the same time. This is something I have yet to accomplish with three people, let alone eight. There's a single-card option as well, but we all know that's just a glorified demo; a welcome demo that every multiplayer DS title should feature, but a demo nonetheless.

As expected, the lion's share of the problems with MKDS are related to the burgeoning Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. The offline content is as solid as ever and worth the purchase price alone. When the Wi-Fi works (and works well), it's just hot sauce on an already delicious sundae of fun.

Dec 22, 2005 | 4 comments
Wayne Phinney