Mario Kart DS [DS]

Back in the day, Super Mario Kart was easily one of the best multiplayer games around. With a motley cast of characters, and plenty of weapons and creative environments to explore, the game was easy to pick up, yet required a surprising amount of skill to master it. As the series evolved, the developers have introduced new features, but the core mechanics always stayed intact. The latest version, Mario Kart DS, continues the tradition of addictive gameplay, while adding a delectable topping of portable online gaming.

This time around, players will battle it out across 32 tracks, half of which are wholly original. The remaining 16 are culled from the prior titles and form a "best of" retro course that hits the high points of the entire series. Chances are, if you had a favorite course, it's in here.

The karts have more in common with classic Mario Kart than the more recent Double Dash!! on the GameCube: Every character races solo, the driver/gunner combination has been dropped. This simplifies the gameplay, but allows you to focus on the intricacies of driving and trying to setup the perfect shell shot without having to worry about which of your two characters is holding the proper weapon.

Visually, Mario Kart DS looks good, though it isn't as polished as Double Dash!!. All of the action occurs on the upper screen, while a real time map displays on the lower screen. The map is useful, displaying the other racers as well as track hazards. You can use it to anticipate attacks and line up ambushes. It's also a good navigation aid when your main screen becomes obstructed.

Items are in bountiful supply in Mario Kart DS, with the full listing of green shells, homing red shells, stars, bananas, mushrooms, and more making an appearance. One of the newest items is the Blooper. Blooper is the white squid from the original Super Mario Bros. game. When fired off, he flies ahead and squirts ink over the other players, blinding them. It sounds nasty, but the effect can easily be countered, unlike the flying blue shell of doom.

While the items can certainly change the course of a race, the appearance of the more powerful goodies is carefully balanced. This planned distribution of power-ups acts as a natural form of handicapping and helps ensure that every race is a close one.

As always, control in the game is spot-on. Moving from the GameCube's analog stick to the DS's digital pad, you'd expect a loss of precision, but not here. Every kart is nimble and responsive, performing exactly as it should. Mario Kart DS uses the power-slide turbo mechanic found in the Super Circuit GBA game, which allows skilled players to exit every turn with a boost simply by flicking left and right on the d-pad until your wheels start to spark. It sounds simple, but trying to maintain a controlled slide can be quite difficult on the tighter courses.

In addition to the standard Grand Prix racing mode, Mario Kart DS also sees the return of the ever popular battle mode and the introduction of the new mission mode. Battle mode supports the classic balloon battle where players eliminate each other by popping balloons and also adds the new shine runners game. Shine runners tasks you with collecting more shines than the other players and holding them while the clock runs down.

Mission mode is completely new to the series, and takes the karts out of the race course. Instead of trying to be the first to the finish line, you must complete a series of challenges as quickly as possible. These can range from "get through the gates" to "knock the enemy off the cliff." It's not traditional racing, but it's plenty of fun and it'll even help you learn a few of the game's advanced moves.

Multiplayer has always been a huge part of the Mario Kart games and Mario Kart DS is no slouch in that regard. On the local level, the game supports single-card play, so anyone with a DS in the room can get in on the action. And the only restriction on the cardless players is their choice of racer, so all the tracks are available.

Multiplayer Mario Kart is, in a nutshell, an absolute blast. If you want to see a room full of grown men and women revert into hyperactive, obscenity-laden teenagers, just put the game in their hands and let them go at it. The competitive spirit is hard to ignore.

Internet play is more limited, with only four players and 12 courses shut out due to lag concerns. That said, connecting to an online game -- the first supported Internet game on the DS -- is very easy. You'll have to setup the connection the first time you play, but once that's done, getting into a game is simply a matter of letting the matchmaking server do its thing.

WiFi does need work, though. While the game includes a friends list, it's pretty bare. There's no real lobby, so you can't chat with those you are racing against and there's no way to add a player to your friends list right after a game. You also can't setup a one-on-one game by challenging another player to a duel. Hopefully these are things we'll see supported in future games as the service matures.

At least the service is free! And with Nintendo's recent partnership announcement, gamers without a wireless router at home can head over to their local participating McDonalds and freely hop online there.

From the creative track design to the expertly balanced difficulty levels, nearly everything about Mario Kart DS screams quality. Whether you're plowing through the single-player game trying to unlock the hidden goodies, or battling it out in multiplayer, there is little to complain about. Nintendo has managed to take the best elements of every game in the series, roll them up into a little ball and spit out Mario Kart DS. It really is that compelling.