Mario Kart DS was a very important game in my childhood. It was the go-to game for most play sessions with my friends back in middle school, and it was so easy to pick up and play. This game devoured a lot of my free time when I first got a DS, and of course as a result, there’s plenty of nostalgia value to it. But how does the game hold up now, with the series going in all sorts of directions and gimmicks that make them district different?
Mario Kart DS is a very straightforward Mario Kart game. There’s no pairs like in Double-Dash, so at the time, it was back to basics. One aspect of the game that was kind of new to the series, is the fact that there’s the nitro series of cups, and the retro series of cups. Each track in the retro cup is one from Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Super Circuit, and Double-Dash, in that order. I thought that was pretty neat, considering there were exactly 4 games prior to DS. However, don’t expect any sort of the same remake quality that is found in 8 Deluxe or in World. These are standard ports of these tracks that may or may not be shown in 3D for the first time. That’s still cool in it of itself, but when you also have Baby Park have 5 laps instead of 7, it ends up being a mixed bag of quality and fun. But hey, this is the game that started the trend of retro courses (excluding Super Circuit’s “extra” cups) in Mario Kart games, so credit is given where it’s due!
While I’m talking about the grand prixs, I need to address one complaint I have with this game. The AI in this game is BRUTAL. I played mostly on 150cc, and I swear the AI would perfectly throw items directly in front of me, causing me to spin out. They would randomly get boosts in speed without having any mushrooms. They’re even smart enough to slow down and let you pass them if there’s a blue shell coming. I have no clue what rubber banding the devs gave these CPUs, but my goodness was that a HUGE challenge, coming back to this game. As an aside, as a kid, I did manage to 100% this game, except for unlocking ROB. And to do that, you need to beat special cup in 150cc mirror mode. I couldn’t even UNLOCK special cup in mirror mode, because you need to win first place in the three cups prior. I did manage to unlock him this time, fulfilling my broken childhood, but man was that a challenge in it of itself. Now to clarify, this could be a huge skill issue on my part, and the AI could be perfectly balanced, but in my experience, they wanted me dead in every race. …It was a little funny to be honest.
Now if you want a break from the bullies that were the computer opponents, there are the time trials to help you practice and optimize your capabilities. There’s not much to say about time trials, since it’s your standard mode in Mario Kart games, but I did want to highlight something I didn’t know about DS. The bottom screen lets you switch between your traditional map of the track, as well as a close up view of the map, which gives you specific item placements from opponents, and changes the angle of the track in relation to your driving. In time trials, the bottom screen actually shows the route that you’re taking live. Blue arrows follow behind you when you drive normally, yellow arrows indicate when you are drifting, and red arrows indicate boosts. It’s a really cool way to showcase how different players approach different tracks, and can help you learn specific inputs and timings that you might not have learned before. Of course this would’ve been nice to have when you had the ability to download ghost data, but the DS servers are long gone. At least we have YouTube and other means!
Now this wouldn’t be a Mario Kart DS discussion without bringing up the main mode people remember the most of this game: the mission mode. There are 63 missions, spread across 7 levels. There are 8 normal missions that range from collecting coins, to hitting moving items blocks, to knocking down enemies, to even driving backwards through different obstacles. These levels are all capped off with a boss fight, which are either just straight races, or legit boss fights where you use items to your advantage. The boss fights might be my favorite aspect of the mission mode. They offer a fair enough challenge that puts you against some really inserting picks. Goomboss is one of the boss fights, and it’s so cool to see Paper Mario representation in another Mario spin-off. Bosses aside, the missions themselves are really cool too. They sometimes alter the tracks with blockades, so it limits where you can go, and it’s always fun to see something you’re used to being changed in such a way. I do wish there was a little bit more variety in the missions however. The mission structures they have are all solid, but they do repeat a little too much for my liking. Plus, these missions are HARD to get three stars on. You’re ranked on how well you do, ranging from C, B, A, one star, two stars, and three stars being the highest. It’s very strict on what you need to do to get three stars, and it’s a bit frustrating. Thankfully, since I used my childhood save, I somehow already got three stars on most missions. I replayed all of them anyway, but the ones I missed were thankfully not too hard to three- star.
And finally, it wouldn’t be a Mario Kart game with a solid battle mode! DS features your traditional balloon battle, popping other players balloons and all, but new to DS is the ability to blow into the mic to restore some of your lost balloons. It doesn’t change much of the actual mode, but it’s still pretty neat. Also there’s Shine Runners, a mix of Shine Thief and Coin Runners. You collect a limited amount of shine sprites, and the person with the most at the end of the time limit wins. I’d prefer if there was just both Shine Thief and Coin Runners, but it’s all right. The best part of battle mode in this game is definitely the maps. Pipe Plaza, returning from Double Dash, and the DS stage are absolutely my favorite ones. The rest of them are of course just really solid ones to drive around on, and get the job done mechanically and aesthetically too.
This revisit to Mario Kart DS was one I kind of felt like doing randomly, but I didn’t realize how much I like this game. Nostalgia aside, the game has aged very well. Drifting and snaking feel snappy and smooth, the graphics are choppy but charming, the music is full of ear-worms, and of course it has one of the best uses of download play on the system (even if it’s restricted to Shy Guy). I forgot how fun this game can be, and I’m glad I can say this is one of my favorite Mario Karts. Of course it’s no 8 Deluxe, but without this, we wouldn’t have had 8 Deluxe and its quality. So shout out to Mario Kart DS, and real OG.