By Dmitri Salcedo on November 27th, 2005

An old joke amongst game developer teams picking which game to make next is, "Let’s just make a Kart racer." By and large, other companies’ pale imitations of Nintendo’s long-running Mario Kart series often have been jokes, seeming more like cynical throw-away titles showcasing creative bankruptcy instead of that beloved balance of combat and racing action. Even within the Mario Kart series itself, that precarious balance has been tweaked for each succeeding title with fans sporting their own opinions about which entry did it the best. Did the SNES version’s cramped combat-centric tracks make for the most memorable game play, or were the wide open circuits of the N64 version better because they facilitated racing? Perhaps the debate over the most balanced Mario Kart title can now be put to rest, with the release of the stellar Mario Kart DS for the Nintendo DS. While a new entry in the series on its own, it also functions as a sort of "greatest hits" collection with its selection of elements from previous titles. Most notably, it is also the series’ first online title.

At first glance, it seems like nothing dramatic has changed in this entry. Most of the same characters are back with the same range of small guys who can turn on a dime up to plodding behemoths that specialize in slowly building up to high speeds.

For one thing, the combat and racing elements now play off each other almost perfectly. Combat can be applied to get you in front of your opponents, but you have to apply your racing skills to stay in front of them or get within striking distance. Severe slowdown occurs when straying from the racetrack even a little bit, thus reinforcing that you can’t get sloppy in the racing department and hope to make it all up with combat. Until the very end of the race, the frontrunner can’t be complacent either, as those bringing up the rear still have a possibility of coming back. Aside from usual combat items, there are items that allow trailing players to stage a rapid comeback if they are lucky enough to get them, such as the homing shell that can drop out of the sky to pick off the leader, and the Bullet Bill, which propels the player into a hyper-speed fast-forward back into the middle of the race. Every player must remain engaged in the race up to the very end, and that means no boredom.

Another reason that will keep players coming back for more is the track variance. The tracks in the game are a mix of sixteen selections from previous games in the series along with sixteen all-new tracks. The older tracks are a mixed bag, as a few from very early titles don’t hold up well and feel very cramped, while a couple others are rather bland and boring. The new tracks, on the other hand, are almost uniformly excellent, sporting creative themes like racing on the gears of a clock tower, through the careening corners of a pinball machine, or on the decks of a Bullet Bill-riddled ship. Taken as a whole, the weaker entries even out and the tracks make for a satisfying eclectic blend, each requiring a different strategy for success.

Of course, the major part of figuring out each level is finding when to take the corners, and in this game, you won’t have much success without mastering the advanced techniques like drifting to retain your speed through sharp turns. Determining when exactly to start and stop a drift takes a lot of practice. You can also get a speed boost during a drift by rapidly tapping left and right on the control pad until orange sparks shoot out of your vehicle. While this move is a bit hard to time and execute at first, it’s often your key to winning races for the characters that have lower top speeds. Another undocumented special technique is that of drafting. If you follow another player’s vehicle for a long enough period of time, your character will start glowing and receive a prolonged speed boost, allowing you to easily overtake the person you were shadowing.

While applying all of these advanced techniques, it quickly becomes obvious that the layout of the controls does not feel quite right. Gamers worldwide are about to feel the scourge of Mario Kart DS Thumb, a condition caused by holding down the A button for long periods of time. Some of the advanced moves require holding down three buttons with one hand at a time, something that doesn’t feel too unusual on a regular console control but is downright painful on the handheld’s cramped button arrangement.

Perhaps one of the biggest things Mario Kart DS owners will appreciate is how well the game is engineered for portable play. This means that no matter what situation you are in, whether playing for hours

To help you find just the right dosage of game play for different situations, Mario Kart DS has several alternate modes. There is a Time Trial mode where you can race against ghost racers that represent your best recorded times, or even against your friends’ best efforts. Mission mode is an interesting feature that is comprised of sets of small tasks to complete, like collecting 15 coins spread out on a track before time runs out. This mode is great for playing during short waits, as many tasks can be completed in under a minute, and it’s a fun change of pace otherwise as something that isn’t strictly racing-oriented.

The default mode of play is still Grand Prix, which starts with three different difficulty classes to choose from. The 50cc class is quite easy, and series veterans will breeze through it rapidly. In the 100cc class, the computer opponents will put up a spirited challenge, and in the 150cc class the computer just gets downright nasty with its bruising use of weapons. Beating the four race circuits in each difficulty level unlocks such things as new circuits, characters and cars. In all, as one progresses from class to class the game never feels terribly difficult, but perhaps this just reflects how well the difficulty ramps up. As you progress through each class and get the feel for the game and its tracks, it will take most experienced gamers only a handful of retries per circuit to win an "A" rank or above and progress on.

The most anticipated features for this release are certainly the multiplayer aspects, as has historically been the case for each entry in the series. Mario Kart DS marks the first time wireless

For local multiplayer games you can set up a regular race or the more combat-oriented Balloon Race and Shine Battle. The Balloon Race features the gimmick of blowing into the DS microphone to inflate balloons that hang off the back of your cart. If someone runs into you at turbo speed or hits you with an item, a balloon pops. Run out of balloons when the timer runs out and you’re eliminated. It is hard not to feel or look like an idiot as you play this mode, trying to drive while not getting spit on your bottom screen. A more dignified option is the similar Shine Battle. Instead of balloons you need to pick up tokens that are scattered around the level, and when you get hit you drop the tokens where other players can snatch them. After a time limit runs out, the players with the least amount of tokens are eliminated.

The two combat modes utilize their own battle arena levels, and their designs are not as impressive as the new tracks in the regular mode. They range from the strange DS and cake shaped levels to the Block Fort level which seems too large for the number of players in it. While the battle modes are a fun diversion, one can tire of it after a few games in a row as there are only a few levels to choose from and there is not much variance in the game play. Eliminated players sometimes suffer through downtime waiting to get back into the game and have nothing much to do aside from dropping item boxes.

If you have nobody nearby to play against, you can always go online. Mario Kart DS serves as the flagship title launching the long-anticipated Nintendo WiFi Connection service. Theoretically available from any wireless net connection, you can race over the internet against opponents from all over the world. There may be some technical issues when trying to access WFC from your home router, as there are several models that Nintendo has flagged as problematic. Also, the game occasionally crashes during connect attempts. Even after you are able to connect to the service, finding games to play in is another issue. Sometimes the search for opponents takes only a few seconds, but sometimes you get a wait on the scale of minutes that grates on the nerves. Once you do actually get into the game, everything seems to run very smoothly as there’s no lag and dropped opponents aren’t disruptive to finishing the game as long as there are still two people left. It seems like most of the issues are in getting the game started as opposed to actually playing it.

Nintendo’s online system is more restrictive than others out there since their audience skews younger. You can’t add a friend to your list without typing in a long numeric code, and there are no chat functions. For a game like this though, there is something to be said for simply getting people into games where they can play as soon as possible as opposed to facilitating the crude taunting seen in so many other online games. In many ways this approach may end up getting more people to try multiplayer, as many of the negative aspects are removed. The online play experience as a whole may seem stripped down and unpolished compared to other modern online titles, but it still is very cool to be able to play Mario Kart on an international level while curled up in the comfort of your couch. Just be sure to charge your DS frequently, as online play seems to severely accelerate battery drain.

Whether playing against people you don’t know, playing against your friends, or playing against the computer, the joy of Mario Kart’s jolly chaos still holds sway in its DS version. Nothing beats the raw thrill of homing in on the finish line while perfectly lobbing a banana peel exactly where the leader turns to avoid a nearby bomb explosion. Moments like these are now not only just portable and in 3D but also online capable, which is pretty much every Mario Kart fan’s dream come true. Even if you had lost interest in the series a few games back or never played any of them, you owe it to yourself to try the most full-featured Mario Kart game ever made.