Mario Kart's official foray into the area of online gaming has to be one to most anticipated videogame milestones of the year. The series that spearheaded the kart-racing phenomenon has with each sequel proven that it is still the benchmark against which all similar titles are measured. Now, Mario Kart DS continues this trend by building upon past success, and delivering an experience that includes the best of previous series entries, alongside new features - not the least of which is a terrific online component - that further elevate this classic franchise to near perfection. The essence of Mario Kart's simple and exhilarating gameplay remains intact and much the same as it has ever been. It's a racing game that's easy to pick up and near-impossible to put down, and is instantly accessible - and enjoyable - by anyone who fancies themselves as a gamer. Plus, the fact that it manages to bank on nostalgia and bundle together the best bits of past Mario Kart titles is only icing on this very delicious cake.

Few franchises could get away with so little innovation over such an extended period, yet somehow Nintendo makes it work. Mario Kart DS is much the same game that we have been playing since the original. Sure, some things have been tweaked, characters and items have been added and the tracks are now bumpier than they were in 1992, but the experience still boils down to wacky races, epic power slides and lots of fun. The game includes a solid group of Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants to race, as well as a healthy selection of tracks, both new and past favorites. Mario Kart DS is everything you have come to expect and enjoy about Nintendo's racing opus.

Only now you can take the action online. This was something that was sorely missed in Double Dash!!, and has been salivated over ever since. While the Nintendo DS was originally seen by many as a gimmick with little lasting appeal, recent months have shown that the touchable platform is more than just a passing fancy. Nintendo has forgotten more about making handheld gaming viable than most companies will ever know, and the DS has in its first year gone from being a mere curiosity to becoming the portable to beat. The release of the DS also marked the first sign of Nintendo taking online gaming seriously, and while it took them a year before games would take advantage of the platform's online capabilities, it has been worth the wait.

Getting online with Mario Kart DS is much less painful than many anticipated, and anyone with ready access to a hotspot or wireless router (provided that it's supported) will be online with their DS in minutes. If you don't have a supported router on hand, you can fork over the cash for Nintendo's own Wi-Fi USB Connector as a means to get your race on. Searching for online matches can be restricted to your specific region, established friends or rivals, or simply worldwide. In our experience, finding match ups can take from just a few seconds to several minutes, but this could be more a case of the online community not coming into its own yet rather than a problem with the infrastructure itself. Time will tell. Another thing to keep in mind when playing online is that this mode uses up the DS battery much quicker than when playing solo, and nothing is quite as irritating for all parties involved as having a racer drop out in the middle of a contest due to running out of juice.

As good as the single-player racing is - and it is terrific - Mario Kart is, and always has been about racing against other players. Mario Kart DS is no different. There is just something special about the unpredictability that comes with taking on a group of other people, anonymous or otherwise. However, online matches are somewhat limited, supporting only four racers simultaneously and just a handful of the game's tracks. In addition, some matches will end up being between only two or three players, and the game unfortunately does not fill in the missing ranks with AI racers. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily, but it can make for some lonely laps. Then again, as before, once the online community takes off, this may not even be an issue. One thing that does feel lacking, however, is any sort of lobby or chat functionality. It would have been nice to be able to organize races beforehand, rather than leaving match ups up to pure and simple fate, and it just feels awkward not to be able to tell a player you just forced to eat your dust that it was, at then end of it all, a good game.

When you tire of racing online - which won't happen but just for the sake of argument let's pretend - there are also a bevy of offline and wireless modes to enjoy. Grand Prix is arguably the best of these, offering three different speed classes, four separate Cup challenges, and a total of thirty-two different tracks (sixteen new courses, and sixteen pulled from past Mario Kart titles). Battle Mode also returns, allowing you to hunt down up to seven friends or AI opponents in either Balloon Battle (the classic mode in which you use items to pop your opponents' balloons) or Shine Runners (a new mode wherein you all collect as many shines as possible, and those with the fewest shines get booted out over time). Other modes include old staples, such as Time Trials, which allows you to compete against your best times, or even to download another player's ghost wirelessly to test you mettle against their proven skill. The Vs mode is also interesting, in that it allows you to compete alone or as a team in a predetermined number of races. Lastly, there are the single-player missions, which amount to a series of progressively more difficult challenges across six separate levels. While not the meat and potatoes of this game by any means, these are a great way to pass the time alone, and can serve to unlock some of the game's hidden goodies.

Mario Kart DS is reason alone to own the DS platform. All of the fun that has been intrinsic to the series is intact, and the much-anticipated online component simply seals the deal. This is best game in the series by far, and perhaps the best kart-style racing game ever to come along. Every second you spend playing the game is done so with a smile and an aching thumb - hallmarks of a true classic. So what are you waiting for? Design your decal, pick your racer and start your engines. I'll see you at the finish line.

Nov 17, 2005 | 3 comments
Jason Dobson