LogFAQs > #955467194

Mario Kart DS (DS)
What do I consider "beating" this game? Getting a gold trophy on every cup on every CC (for a total of 32 gold trophies) and passing all 54 missions (rank doesn't matter on either cups or missions). Did I do that all recently? Nope. This is finally wrapping up a save file that I began on Christmas Day 2008. That was nice. I'd just come home from my first semester of college, my Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I threw the DS Lite with this game out there, kind of expecting her to ask me to come up with something cheaper, but she never did, and yet I was still actually kind of pleasantly surprised when I opened it that morning. I'm pretty sure my Dad ran out and got them on Christmas Eve. So this system/game holds some sentimental value to me.

Onto the game. I feel like this one kind of gets lost among some of the other Mario Karts and is today mostly remembered for its controversial online scene, which by the way I never attempted more than once or twice, if ever. I already knew that there was no playing this casually online and to even stand a chance you had to have mastered an unintended technique and I just wasn't up for that. For what it's worth, I still can't wavedash to this day, so I wasn't even going to try snaking. But there's actually a lot of stuff here that makes it stand out to me. First let's look at the racetracks. There are some really great ones here, among the standouts being Delfino Square, Tick Tock Clock, Waluigi Pinball, Airship Fortress, and as always, Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road. The good ones really overpower the crap like Figure 8 Circuit and Yoshi Falls (who the hell decided the latter was a good retro course for Mario Kart Wii?). A lot of the retro courses I could take or leave, but I give this game credit for starting that much-appreciated trend (not counting the SNES courses in the GBA game).

The roster is pretty standard, with one exception. Long before Link, the first guest character to be playable in Mario Kart was actually R.O.B. That was a nice WTF addition to the roster and I still appreciate his inclusion, even if I still normally play as Toad. The game seems pretty balanced. I never encounter an unfair amount of Blue Shells, for example, and the AI seems pretty fair. Missions were a really great touch that added some substance to "beating" this one compared to other games in the series and I'm disappointed it hasn't come back.

I guess my one complaint is that it's a little intense to be playing on a DS Lite for long periods of time, but I don't blame the game for that. It's just weird to be pounding the D-pad like that on that system for more than a cup or two at a time, which is a little disappointing. I really haven't tried it on 3DS I don't think, so I should try it on there and see if it feels better.

Overall this is a fun little Mario Kart that, while I can't play for long periods of time, is really nice to pick up and play once in a while, even 16 years after its release.

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darkx
Games beaten in 2021 - 25; Most recent - Mario Kart DS