Mario Kart DS

[Razola]

Yep...tomorrow.

Reviews are saying it's the best of the franchise. I looked forward to testing it out online.

[Little_Pikachu]

It's not out in the UK until next Friday, I'll probably wait for it to come out here although I really, really want it now! It's my favourite racing game and I've had every game since the Super Mario Kart on the SNES so I'm hugely looking forward to it. The new weapons look sweet, the squid will be particularly annoying I think.

[Razola]

Holy shit, this game has the best battle mode ever! It has 5-6 arenas, including Block Fort from the N64! The only downside is no online support for Battle Mode, but I am still going to have some eight-player LAN during Thanksgiving week.

[Razola]

Okay, I am back with details.

This is it: the #1 Mario Kart game ever. It's a good thing the Revolution has a remote controller, because I think this is the pinnacle of Karting in this current era.

-Track Design is fantastic, borrowing directly from past games. Remember that Sun from Mario 3? Well, there's a track designed in the desert, and on Lap 2 he's chucking fireballs at people. There's an even number of tracks from previous games as well. The selection is decent, but I wish they didn't tamper too much (the SNES tracks aren't five laps, elements are missing from certain Double Dash ones, etc.)

-Characters are finally balanced. Heavy weights are...heavy. Bowser will knock Toad into a coma and you'll finally notice the difference in their top speeds. There's also a stat for your luck at getting items, but sometimes it takes more than that to win.

-Multiplayer heaven. For the offline player, you have eight-player LAN potential. For Vs. racing, the game keeps track of points just like Grand Prix so you can create your own circuits. There's multiple battle arenas (with Block Fort!) and a new twist: you have five balloons, but you start with one. "Reserve" Balloons must be pumped out by blowing into your mic. You can have three out at a time. So why have less? Because by hitting a player while boosting with a Mushroom will steal one a 'loon for ya. If you have three they will just lose a balloon and you gain nothing. While Shine Runner is good fun, I loves my Balloon Battle.

-Online is more limited than the rest, but it's 24/7 Mario Kart. You can look up a friend by their code, or just get randoms to play with. Up to 4 players, and it does a four-track Circuit based on a voting system. Currently it's hard to find random people, as the game is new, but the ability to arrange some games long-distance with friends is a plus.

-Skill comes into play big time. Bring the red sparks around corners and get a big boost. Stick behind a player and slowly accelerate until you get a burst of speed. And the lower screen gives you details on player positions near item, errant turtle shells, and track obstacles. It even tells you what items each player has (almost like they INTENDED for you to watch the screen back in the day). You can do a lot more without items here.

-Single-player madness. Plenty of unlockables in the Grand Prix, along with a souped-up Time Trial mode. New is missions. Do things like collect coins or run through hoops. Even fight bosses. Shit, the game even has bots now. You want eight-player battle mode when alone on a plane? You got it.

This is the full-package people. If you like Mario Kart, get this. Shit, buy a DS and get this. It will no doubt go down in history as one of the highest points in what has been known as a respected franchise.

[Crazy]

I'm getting this for Christmas, good to hear that it isn't a flop.

[Heald]

The DS is seriously interesting me now. This isn't a MK question per se, but here goes:

However exactly does one get online with the DS? I went straight to the source - Nintendo.com to find out, but Nintendo are douchebags and are more interested in plugging their shit instead of telling me what I want to know. Do you need to pay a subscription to get online? Is the online global?

Also, is the online available in the UK? Nintendo has a habit of only giving you American dogs all the sweet treats.

[Razola]

This is how it works:

-You need a wireless router. Or Nintendo's USB WiFi overpriced kajigger.
-You turn on the game, and go to WiFi matches.
-Select a connection and test it out.
-Go online and play.

www.nintendowifi.com has a list of routers that work with their service. Nintendo's USB thingy is easy to install (from what I have read), but it's $34.99. Spending that much money on something with one purpose is nutty...just get a bit more cash and buy a nice wireless router. You can also head to sponsors such as McDonald's and use their Nintendo WiFi hotspots, I guess.

Mario Kart DS has these options: Worldwide, Regional, Friends, Rivals. Worldwide just grabs up to four people from all over. Regional is just from your designated region (North America, Europe, etc.). Friends will grab people from your friends list and race. Rivals specifically looks for people with a win-loss record similar to yours.

It's completely free. The only cost is your router and whatever you pay for your broadband connection. Oh, and the 35 bucks for the game of course. The UK gets it next week, I believe.

[Heald]

Right. I'm not that savvy with WiFi routers so how does it work? Do I just plug it into my phone line or what?

[Craig]

If you have dial up, you are SOL*. If you are have wired broadband, you get a little USB Flash drive looking thing that plugs into your computer. IF you have wireless broadband, you don't have to do anything.

Thats as far as I figure it anyhow.

But yeah, DS is looking better and better. I've played Nintendogs many a time (at work ;o ..haha) and its great fun. Its good to hear Mario Kart DS is good.

I have a question, for multiplayer ccan you set your name? online play... will people see you as Rorus Raz or just as a random Mario, that has no way of speaking to you?


*assumingly. 98.75% sure wi-fi does not work over phoneline dial up stuff.

[Razola]

Your name and emblem (custom picture you make) appear over your head when people see you on the track.

[Little_Pikachu]

3 of us were playing in the pub today and I won, at least I would've if my battery hadn't run out during the game, and now I just got myself connected to the online game and won there, yay :) This is great fun, we should all play together somehow.

[homeofmew]

I have a Wi Fi and Mario DS

*
friend code: 146088 684791

[Drago]

Unfortunately I've got no access to Wi-fi because I'm cheap and ineffective, so I'll be playing the game alone until sometime in 2017. See you all then!
Incidentally, has anyone tried playing Super Circuit after playing MKDS? I hadn't realised how far the game has come until playing the GBA game right after DS, it's damn near impossible at times.

Damn fine game all the same. Funny to think, within a month I'll have gotten twice the amount of DS games I had all throughout the year. ...In other words, I'll have a total of five games. :heh:

[Mewfour]

My code: 103139 508619

If you want a good whuppin, now you know how to get it.

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

If you want an easy win, my friend code is 043010 149070 :redface:

[Crazy]

I got it yesterday, and wow! This game is really great, but I'm having some trouble with online. I enter the WEP key, but it refuses to connect. I have everything the book says I need, but it still won't work. Oh well, at least the single player is awsome, how is it online?

[Metallix]

I've tried connecting in 4 McDonalds, 1 Borders, 2 pubs and one Snooker hall, didn't work once. ;_;

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

I've tried connecting in 4 McDonalds, 1 Borders, 2 pubs and one Snooker hall, didn't work once. ;_;


I tried connecting in a local McDonald's restaurant. The game did recognize a connection but the test run always failed. :(

[homeofmew]

update on mario kart ds: I beat L_P :D

[Little_Pikachu]

Update: I have fixed my connection problem and demand a rematch at your earliest inconvenience.
Update: I beat Tina and know the easy way to do so in future. Just don't let her pick any N64 tracks ;)

[en0miz]

Mario Kart is the reason why I'm getting the red DS bundle for Christmas. :D I can't wait to play the shit out this game.

[The Blue Avenger]

This game rocks. Not for the WiFi, although that certainly is a great feature.

It rocks because you can now have bots in Battle Mode. I spent all of yesterday (and Friday, and Thursday...) just beating up computers and popping their balloons.

[Dark Scizor]

This sounds quite interesting (Online MK) I might get it after Christmas depending on how much money I get and spend.

[Greyfox]

I have Mario Kart DS, and I must say, I am pleased. I would be online with it all the time if I had a wireless router. I plan to purchase one sooner or later as I do not wish to spend the $35 it costs just to buy the USB connector from Nintendo.

[i][font=Palatino Linotype]-Grey

[Jeff]

Man, I wish Sunday would get here sooner...

I have a wireless router, but when I checked, it didn't get a very high rating from Nintendo...
I'm still looking forward to playing it though, just because of everything I've heard about it.

[Metallix]

Tried connecting again, at the snooker hall.

And it worked this time. :D

416673
355265

Username is Xilla, will be on whenever I can. (Icon is the TARDIS from Doctor Who, just so you know it's me. :p)

[Chris Watarimono]

Hey everyone! I heard big hype about this game (especially since 8-10 people in the game room alone are just playing this for hours), so I decided to go get the Nintendo DS + Mario Kart DS Bundle with this for Christmas. From my impressions, it is really, really good.

For starters, its one of the first Nintendo francises that is finally online for once, IMHO a bit overdue, but still promising especially since its handheld and its free. Sadly, some of the cooler tracks can't be played on it though, and finding players is a bit of a hassle since it take forever to detect players online. Or maybe it could be my router...

As for the game itself, it does many things that should've been done in the series as well as add new ones too. There are bots for VS and Battle Modes, multiple carts, missions, realistic AI, emblems, and neat stage designs.

However, there are some issues with the game itself that might need to be brought up. The karts, although much more fine-tuned than ever, still seem to be unbalanced, especially with the issue of snaking, where karts with poor handling/high drafting struggle and crash into walls, while other karts with high handling/low drafting weave and bounce all over the place. That is not to say though I am against snaking at all however, its just a point I want to bring up for kart balance. Also, some of the tracks of the Retro Cup are quite lacking. (I'd prefer stuff like Yoshi's Mountain and DK Moutain from N64 and GCN tracks respecitvely IMHO).

All in all, there's no doubt this was a present well-deserved. This is definitely a great game for anyone's DS library, whether it'd be online or off, and a fine addition to the MK series. Ha ha!

Oh, if anyone's curious, here's my friend code. I consider myself intermediate IMHO, but I guess I'll let the races decide for you:

279234
722334

Username: MegaManX

-Chris R.

EDIT: I'm in the mood for some discussion. What is your most signficant moments in MKDS, whether it'd be your best or worst?

My favorite moment was in Balloon Battle mode with the game's bots in Twilight House. As I struck Luigi with a shell, knocking out one of his balloons, he fell off the stage at the same time, effectively removing the other balloon and knocking him out of the game in the early running. That was so sublime, so tasteful. :biggrin:

[phaedrus]

I swear, stores only seem to carry this game only in the DS bundle pack. It's starting to incredibly piss me off.

I tested the game a bit, and I think I will try to get this before Zelda comes out next fiscal year.

I'm curious though if you can use the stylus to steer or not.

[Little_Pikachu]

I'm curious though if you can use the stylus to steer or not.


No, you can't :P The touch screen is only useful for designing your logo and picking your characters and stuff. In game it's used to toggle between maps (a full track view and a closer view which also shows all the weapons on the road).

Most people are right handed, seeing as your buttons to accellerate, break and throw stuff are all on the right, steering with the stylus would be a bit dodgy anyway for most of us :)

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Fortunately :wink: I'm right handed, though I don't know if I would be here if I wasn't, heh. Perhaps I should get this game. And now I must start going to McDonald's because they are with Nintendo (fanboyism?)!

And I repeat my question under phaedrus's closed THE Mario Kart DS topic:

Is there an ice/snow/winter track? I have never played any Mario Kart games, but being from Finland, I truly love winter levels in videogames.

[phaedrus]

Fortunately :wink: I'm right handed, though I don't know if I would be here if I wasn't, heh. Perhaps I should get this game. And now I must start going to McDonald's because they are with Nintendo (fanboyism?)!

And I repeat my question under phaedrus's closed THE Mario Kart DS topic:

Is there an ice/snow/winter track? I have never played any Mario Kart games, but being from Finland, I truly love winter levels in videogames.








They brought back Frappe Snowland from the n64 version and made a new one called DK Pass.

friend code for some serious wtfpwning: 476806644607

i suggest that we ban snaking when playing because it can ruin the fun factor.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I bought my own Mario Kart DS pak this week's Wednesday. I was amazed by the high quality graphics and the price: 149 €. Now I see that Pokémon is not the only reason why Nintendo rules the handheld market. And I also see, having played Crash Team Racing with my friends before, what that game owes the Mario Kart series. A great game.

Plus, I made my emblem Finland's flag!!