The Mario Kart DS thread

[Vexorg]

Mario Kart DS should be hitting the stores about now, and I'm going to make the assumption that the DS owners around here will be picking it up, given the "best Mario Kart game ever" and "Best game yet for the DS" reviews. I'm going to try to track down a copy on my lunchbreak today. Maybe some of the people here can get some multiplayer going...

[sjewkestheloon]

oh yes.... i will be getting this but i'm affraid i'm in the uk so i'll be waiting a little longer. off to find some reviews now.

[animefanjr]

Ya, I get off work in an hour. My EB called and its in! YEY

[Brian]

Yea, Game Crazy got it in and I intend to get it after work.

[professor ganson]

Damn, I'm getting behind in my DS game playing. I haven't yet gotten Metroid Pinball and now this! And still so much Kirby to be played.

On the other side of the coin, I've pretty much tired of Nanostray. I'm not going to sell it, but I also doubt I'm going to play it again in the foreseeable future.

[Strychnine]

I'm still on the fence on this one. Not only should I be spending money on other things (like rent)....it IS just the same Mario Kart we've been seeing for years. I was all fucking excited this weekend...and I just called EBGames to see if they had some in stock. It's 40 minutes until I get off...still can't decide. I wish it had shipped with some sort of track editor and better Connectivity Functions (chat etc).

I still might pick it up.

[iatneH]

I'll be holding off on this one. I haven't even pre-ordered Homura yet so I'd rather put my money towards that...

But even if I'm not able to get a copy of MK DS before it goes out of print, I won't regret it much at all.

[sethsez]

Best in the series. The balance isn't skewed toward weapons like MK64, the tracks are better than Double Dash, the mechanics are the best overall, the speed is finally back, the new items fit in perfectly, the missions are a blast and online play is fantastic (lag-free, easy to find games, etc. It is quite bare, but that seems to be what Nintendo is going for).

Yeah, at its heart it's still the same old Mario Kart, but it still manged to get me back into the series after Super Circuit bored me and Double Dash completely let me down.

[Vexorg]

OK, I think I have it up and running on my home Wi-fi... If anyone wants to try it out, my friend code is 352246 804138.

[animefanjr]

Online is fun. I am 3-0 so far, its a great game.

My friend ID is 429556-197916 / Name - animefanjr

[Dylan1CC]

As far as balancing the new with the classic, this is the best installment in the series IMHO and takes away all the bad taste of Double Dash. I cannot wait to play some lan matches with my friends later this week. And online is beautifully done (and free, very nice of ya, Nintendo Please keep it that way ), sometimes felt like I would never see online Mario Kart, it was definitely worth the wait.

I played the game online all day at work (with zero lag or problems except for a few brief outages on the server) and after cutting my teeth, my yesteryear skills from playing MK 64 with my siblings came rushing back and I then proceeded to mercilessly wail on many people with Wario.

I still have some work to do though, 13 wins, 26 losses. Bah.

But I won 2 very close matches in a row before my shift was done. whoo Oh yeah, and tormenting noobs online is fun. I was playing a 1 on 1 match against someone who was playing as Peach, I was Wario. I kept getting shells and then would slow down and let the noob get a bit ahead of me, then *wham* hit 'er with another shell or just catch up and then push her to the side. lol I'll bet that gal/guy was uber annoyed. hehe

Anyways, I will post my friend's code on Friday, next time I am at work. No point now since i have no BB at home.

[BrianC]

I have the Mario Kart DS bundle on my Christmas list. A sweet looking red GBA, Mario Kart DS, two stylus pens, a thumb strap, a wrist strap, and decals. http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/259765.asp

[Neo Rasa]

The thumb/wrist strap and the two styluses (styli?) come with any DS.

Awesome anyway though given that you get Mario Kart with it, that alone makes it a good deal.

[jp]

Nevermind, Mario Kart DS rocks.

[animefanjr]

Nevermind, Mario Kart DS rocks.

Ya it does, I am loving this, I finished all the circuts on 50cc so far. There are some really cool tracks, it is cool to play some old favs as well.

I am enjoying online play so far, its lots of fun playing other peeps.

Well back to work, I hope to see you guys online, maybe we can start a shmups clan or something

I wish I had more time to play, I got a few games I am working on and I can't get online at work, no wireless here.

[jp]

Well, I officially unlocked everything in the game last night. So... thoughts:


Good:
16 characters; and even though he is now undead, my beloved Koopa Troopa is back.
Wifi + online + wireless = yay. My friends and I are now DS whores (well, we were BEFORE Mario Kart, for all we do is sit around with DSes).
Great new tracks. Beautiful, lots of fun.
Love the retro tracks. Especially the SNES ones.
The gameplay balance is a perfect match between the N64 and SNES game, with just a hint of the GC release via kart selection.
Boss fights in mission mode are interesting.
You can play as R.O.B. And even though most people I hang with don't know what R.O.B., its nice that I have that bit of knowledge and one of them tucked away somewhere.

Bad:
Mission Mode is boring... and as far as I can tell, aside from "Mission 7", it unlocks nothing new.
Shy Guy is supposedly playable in Single Kart only. WHY!?
Every character can use every kart. Thats just... thats like porting Saturn games to me. Why does Mario get to use Dry Bones' kart? That doesn't make sense and its annoying. I really wish I never beat Retro on 150cc, I miss everyone only having 3-7 karts.
Battle Mode, why does Dry Bones only have 1 balloon? Thats just stupid.


Overall though, its definitely the best Mario Kart ever. I definitely forsee the DS becoming the greatest portable console ever (shit, it already is. Its got the GBA library).

[judesalmon]

Some are calling it the best Mario Kart yet. What's the consensus here?

[animefanjr]

Some are calling it the best Mario Kart yet. What's the consensus here?

I am thinking so, I am loving this game. I been playing Castlevaina on PS2 and Battlefront 2 on PC, I just beat Fire Emblem on CUBE. So I haven't had a lot of time to play Kart as of yet, and online is just so much fun. I did love MK:DD the 2 players on 1 kart was fun, me and Postman played this for a while and the last GBA one was good but I got tired of it too fast. I am liking this one a lot. I think it probally will be the best in my eyes, and the online is a good start for Nintendo.

[sethsez]

Some are calling it the best Mario Kart yet. What's the consensus here?

By far, yes. Ignoring online play, it's still the best-balanced game in the series (only the original comes close), and the new tracks are the best yet. Not massive and dull like the N64 ones and not tiny and stupid like the GC ones, they're tight and refined. Battle mode has one dumb addition (jp, you have to blow into the mic to inflate the other ballons) but is otherwise the same as always, but I personally play Mario Kart for the racing and that's where this really takes off.

However... once you throw online play into the mix, it leaves all the other entries far behind. Having human opposition any time, anywhere really makes the game shine like nothing else could.

[professor ganson]

Easily the best in the series imho. I should defend this claim, but I'm tired and it just seems so obvious after only an hour of play.

[jp]

Totally agree with sethsez. And I found out about the blowing into the mic thing shortly after posting. ^_^


Anyways, my friend code is:
253462
609438

[Icarus]

Some are calling it the best Mario Kart yet. What's the consensus here?

By far, yes.

That good huh? Does online play support international, or is this a localised thing? And how good is it - is there much lag or is it lightning responsive? I'm currently on the fence with the PSP and DS (waiting for a really killer app for both before I swing for them, that and the price to go down) and if Mario Kart DS is as good as/better than the SNES version with support for international netplay then I'm pretty much sold.

[sethsez]

That good huh?

Yep.

Does online play support international, or is this a localised thing?

Both. You have the option of regional or worldwide play, in addition to playing against only friends or rivals.

And how good is it - is there much lag or is it lightning responsive?

No online experience is totally lag-free (because not everyone's connection is going to be perfect), but this is about as close as you can get, and most of the time it feels like there's no lag at all. However, it only supports 20 of the 32 tracks... that said, 20 tracks is still at least as many as previous Mario Karts have had total (Super Circuit excluded), so it's not as bad as it sounds. Also, there's no chat of any sort, which sounds annoying until you consider the type of people who'd be playing Mario Kart in the first place. Then it's a blessing in disguise.

I'm currently on the fence with the PSP and DS (waiting for a really killer app for both before I swing for them, that and the price to go down) and if Mario Kart DS is as good as/better than the SNES version with support for international netplay then I'm pretty much sold.

That's pretty much how I'd describe it, yeah. And the DS has had a bunch of really good games come out lately after a serious dry spell... honestly I haven't been this enthused about a system since the Dreamcast. How it holds up will remain to be seen, obviously, but the DS has come into its own in a major way over the past few months.

[jp]

I would say the DS already has a handful of killer apps:
Mario Kart DS
Sonic Rush (best Sonic game since Sonic CD... unless S&K came out later)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

I just wish they'd hurry up with that 2D Super Mario Bros. game.

[professor ganson]

I would say the DS already has a handful of killer apps:
Mario Kart DS
Sonic Rush (best Sonic game since Sonic CD... unless S&K came out later)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Add to that list:
Meteos
Kirby: Canvas Curse

Not to mention my favorite version of Centipede (though it's too easy) in Retro Atari.

[jp]

Damn, how the hell did I forget Meteos?


Kirby I might would argue. It gets kinda old due to the water levels... but its still a damn cool game.

[BrianC]

I would say the DS already has a handful of killer apps:
Mario Kart DS
Sonic Rush (best Sonic game since Sonic CD... unless S&K came out later)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

I just wish they'd hurry up with that 2D Super Mario Bros. game.

Sonic Rush is that good? I want to get that one. Telling from videos I have seen, the obstacles are back in full force. I listened to some clips of the music at the official Sonic Rush websites and I was plesantly surprised. It's JGR style and extremely cool. Out of curiousity, did any other former Smilebit staff work on the game?

I wasn't disappointed with Sonic Advance 3 and I still feel it has good level design. Yes, it's easy to bump into enemies, but for the most part, the speed sections and parts with enemies are split. The game brought back more areas where you can't just run and I actually like the level design, even though I'm supposedly not supposed to. I liked the bosses in the game and I also like how you don't have to get everything in one go to get the bonus stages (even though I still think that much searching is out of place in a sonic game). BTW, the levels in SA3 are designed around the multiple characters, which is one reason why the level design isn't exactly the same as it was in the older games. I just found running around and having to hit switches to get to certain areas very fun and I liked experimenting with different characters. However, from the videos and impressions I have seen, I wouldn't be surprised if Sonic Rush is the better game.

oh yeah, I agree that Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow totally rocks. I don't have DS yet, but I have been playing it on my sister's DS and I have beaten the game with the good ending and started the totally awesome (so far) Julius mode. Dawn of Sorrow is an excellent sequel to the already awesome Aria of Sorrow. Playing Dawn of Sorrow made me feel sad about how Curse of Darkness plays do far. I like it alright so far, but the enemy AI and level design are inferior the the 2D games so far. The wolves in Curse of Darkness made me sad. They may be early enemies, but in the 2D games, you can't just stay near them or hit them more than once without being attacked like you can in Curse of Darkness.

I have also been playing Super Mario 64 DS and Trace Memory. Super Mario 64 DS, I like quite a bit. I like how it isn't a straight port. The gameplay of the original is intact, but the strategy for some of the levels has drastically changed in some places due to the addition of more characters. I love how I had to take a different approach to some levels in the ghost house with Luigi. Some of the new areas just plain rock. It's nice fighting some new bosses that weren't in the original. The control isn't quite as good as the N64 version and running around enemies to get to their backside does take some getting used to, but, for the most part, the control is still very good. The graphics are better than the original in some aspects and worse in others. Some graphics use better textures, but some textures are in a lower resloution, even some of the new ones. Some of the metallic enemies aren't metallic any more.

As for Trace Memory, I only played a bit and it seems interesting so far. However, there doesn't seem to be anything new or special about the story, though it does seem interesting so far. The puzzles haven't been too difficult so far either. I'm a bit on the fence on this one.

As said before, Mario Kart DS is one of the first games I plan to get for the system. I also plan to get Goemon DS, Ouendan, Meteos, and Kirby Canvus Curse. If you would like, I can post impressions when I get them. Goemon, I'm especially interested in getting since I love games with wacky Japanese humor and I have been importing some of the Goemon games (I have Goemon 1/2 GBA, Goemon 4 SNES, Goemon's Great Adventure N64, and Goemon Famicom Mini so far. I'm thinking of getting the PSX Goemon with the space clown and the Parodius like stage, the SNES versions of 1 and 2, the SNES Goemon 3, the GBC Goemon with the word Dynamites in it, the GB b/w Goemon, and the first N64 Goemon).

[Vexorg]

I'll have to add Ouendan and Electroplankton to the list as well. I never thought I'd care for a game in the rhythm genre, but Ouendan might be one of the funniest games I've seen in ages, and that's without even being able to read a word of the text. Electroplankton is admittedly a bit of an acquired taste, but is very approachable, and is fun to just mess around with on occasion. It really shows off the DS's sound capabilities as well, especially when you hook it up to good speakers. It will be getting a limited US release in early January (you'll have to most likely buy it direct from Nintendo) but if you're going to get it, I'd just get the import version anyway, since it includes a set of blue earbuds in the box.

[jp]

Sonic Rush is excellent. As far as enemies getting in the way of speed, you now have a speed burst attack. Basically, you can zip through the levels but you have to know what you're doing to do so. The boss fights are insane (2.5D boss fights), and quite difficult. Also, you can play as two characters: Sonic and Blaze the Cat. Both are fun, and both play differently but not in the annoying way the Sonic Adventure games were done.


I just hate the bottomless pits. In the later levels, one wrong move means death. Its so annoying.


Still a great game though. The duel screen functionality is very well done and very cool.

[sethsez]

If you like adventure games (not Zelda style, classic adventure style), add Phoenix Wright to the list of killer apps.