Mario Kart DS

Mario Kart DS (Japanese: マリオカートDS Mariokāto DS) (マリオカーDS Mario Kāto Dī Esu) often abbreviated to MKDS, is a racing game for the Nintendo DS. It is the fifth installment in the , and the second installment to have been released for a handheld game console, following Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Mario Kart DS was the first Mario Kart game, let alone Mario in general, to use an online play feature. It was released in November 2005 in the United States, Europe, and Australia, in Japan on December 8, 2005, and in South Korea on April 5, 2007.
Mario Kart DS expands and introduces mechanics that would later become the standard in future titles, most notably the Retro Grand Prix, and the advent of retro courses in general, that revamps tracks from all previous titles from the Mario Kart series. Mario Kart DS supports both single pak and multi-pak gameplay via DS Download Play, and is the first Mario title to support Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing players to race against opponents by using online services across the world. As of May 2014, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has been discontinued, making online play no longer possible.
Mario Kart DS has its own mechanics that are not available in other Mario Kart games, such as customizing emblems for the vehicles, and the Missions mode, in which racers are tasked to complete objectives in a short series of events. The game also makes use of the Nintendo DS's features, using the bottom screen to display other HUD elements such as two types of maps, character order, and what items their opponents have.
On April 23, 2015, Mario Kart DS became available for purchase for the Wii U's Virtual Console service via the Nintendo eShop. However, this version is only playable in single-player mode.
==Gameplay==
As in the previous games, the player can participate in a Grand Prix, each containing four tracks in which points are gained for the player's position at the end of the race. The player must come within the top three players at the end of the Grand Prix to win a trophy.
There are thirty-two tracks in Mario Kart DS. There are four sets of 'new' tracks, along with four sets of tracks which have appeared in previous titles in the Mario Kart series. Each set contains four tracks, and can be played entirely in Grand Prix mode. Every retro cup has their courses ordered in the same way as the release order of the four previous Mario Kart games. Furthermore, every retro course's name starts with an abbreviation of the game console that their originating game was released for:
*SNES, which represents Super Mario Kart
*N64, which represents Mario Kart 64
*GBA, which represents Mario Kart: Super Circuit
*GCN, which represents Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Since the next Mario Kart game, Mario Kart Wii, stages originating from Mario Kart DS were included as retro courses and were represented by the abbreviation "DS".
The game supports up to four players in multiplayer modes including Versus and Battle modes, as in Mario Kart Wii. Players can play against each other or in a team in both modes. It isn't possible to unlock trophies or any other awards in multiplayer mode.
The game also features DS Download Play. This mode lets the person with the cartridge in his/her system compete with someone else not having the cartridge in their system. The person not having the cartridge also gets to play as Shy Guy with the color choice picked for that player.
A user can decide to create an emblem, which is displayed on the front of their kart in both single-player and multiplayer modes alike.
===Controls===
====Menu controls====
* - Highlight a tab in the specified direction.
*/ - Select an option.
* - Back
====Racing controls====
The controls are not much different in this game than in other Mario Kart games.
* - Move in the specified direction
* - Accelerate
*: Brake/Reverse
*/: Use an item, if any
*: Hop/Drift
*/: Change the map view (bottom screen)
*: Pause the game
*: Blow balloon (only in balloon battle)
===Racing techniques===
====Power sliding====
When coming to curves, power sliding is a way of making it through a curve quicker. The player must push the R button to drift so the kart may spark. The player must push the R button and the opposing direction the kart is going in. This allows the player to gain blue sparks coming from the kart. Holding a little longer results the blue sparks to turn orange so that the player can gain a speed boost, or when you start drifting, press both left and right directions on the D-Pad. This can also generate blue and orange sparks.
====Rocket start====
In the previous Mario Kart games in the series, the player has to press the A button immediately before the race in order to receive a boost. Though, this game has it different. When the number three or two appears on-screen, the player must hold the A button to go. Though, the first having to need the A button released at the number one to gain the boost. Then, a speed boost is given to the player. If not released or done too early, a cloud of smoke comes out of the back of the player's kart, thus a delay in starting the race, or holding the A button when the 2 fades out and before the 1 fades in and don't release it until the race starts. 
====Slipstreaming====
When the player finds themselves behind someone else, they can use a slipstream. As a kart goes forward, it breaks through the air that's usually stationary, and it relocates to the side of the kart, allowing the kart through. In the end, this action causes a slipstream, a V-shaped section where the air has already moved away. At the point of the V is the kart, and the section behind the kart is just where the air has moved.
====Screen Display====
There are things in the top and bottom screens that are displayed to show what goes on in the game and some additional extras.
*Item Box Icon: This feature shows which item the player has obtained and is located at the top-left part of the top screen. Only one item at a time can be obtained, meaning the current item has to be used in order for another item to be put in the item box icon. When an item is obtained, the item box item spins like a roulette and picks out an item.
*Team Box: This element is in multiplayer mode games and the Single Player Versus and Battle modes. It is not used elsewhere.
*Lap Indicator: This indicator is shown at the top-right part of the top screen. It shows how many laps there are and also indicates the lap number the player is on. It blinks once a new lap is started. The top number shows the lap number the player is on while the bottom shows how many laps the player is on. The bottom nearly always says three. There is also the text "LAP" on the left side of the fraction-esque lap indicator.
*Events Screen: The event screen is where the events of a battle, mission or a race is going on. It is seen in all the Single Player and Multiplayer mode options.
*Position: The position indicates the placing order of the player ranging from first to eighth. It changes once the player gets ahead of kart(s).
*Wi-Fi Box: This box appears in the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode in the game. It ranges from no bars to three bars. The more bars, the closer the internet connection is. This box is located on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
*Character Positions: This feature displays the progress of the opponents (team members if applicable) and shows the items they're using, what place they're in and such. It is displayed at the entire left side of the bottom screen. If tabs switch, it means the opponent moved up a place. The names can be revealed once the minimap is viewed when the bottom screen layout is changed. In battles, it indicates the amounts of balloons or Shine Sprites one has.
*Race Time: The race time indicates the amount of time used by the player in a race by minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. It is located at the top-right part of the bottom screen.
*Map: The map shows an overview of the course and icons which indicate players and items. It moves when it is in motion. A minimap can be viewed when the bottom screen view is changed. The map is entirely located on the bottom screen, covering most of it.
==Characters==
Mario Kart DS has thirteen playable characters appearing in the game itself, one being an exclusive character to DS Download Play, making only twelve playable in general.
===Default===
	 	Light	Light
	Heavy	 	Heavy
===Unlockable===
Medium	Light, New Driver		
====Unlock criteria====
*Unlock Dry Bones: Obtain a Gold Trophy in Nitro Grand Prix on 50cc cups.
*Unlock Princess Daisy: Obtain a Gold Trophy in Retro Grand Prix on 50cc cups.
*Unlock Waluigi: Obtain a Gold Trophy in Retro Grand Prix on 100cc cups.
*Unlock R.O.B.: Obtain a Gold Trophy in Nitro or Retro Grand Prix on 150cc Mirror cups.
===DS Download Play-exclusive===
(random color)Light, New Driver
==Courses==
As aforementioned, there are 32 tracks appearing in the game itself. Sixteen being Retro races from previous games in the Mario Kart series and sixteen others being new to the game itself. In Retro races, it goes from oldest retro course to newest retro course. Meaning to go from Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart 64 to Mario Kart: Super Circuit to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
===Nitro===
| width="01%" width="01%" style="background:red" | || width="01%" width="01%" style="background:orange" | || width="01%" style="background:yellow" | || width="01%" style="background:gold" | 
|-
| Figure-8 Circuit || Desert Hills || DK Pass || Wario Stadium
|-
| Yoshi Falls || Delfino Square || Tick-Tock Clock || Peach Gardens
|-
| Cheep Cheep Beach || Waluigi Pinball || Mario Circuit || Bowser Castle
|-
| Luigi's Mansion || Shroom Ridge || Airship Fortress || Rainbow Road
|}
===Retro===
| rowspan = "2" | Consoles || width="01%" | || width="01%" | || width="01%" | || width="01%" | 
|-
| Shell Cup || Banana Cup || Leaf Cup || Lightning Cup
|-
| SNES || Mario Circuit 1 || Donut Plains 1 || Koopa Beach 2 || Choco Island 2
|-
| N64 || Moo Moo Farm || Frappe Snowland || Choco Mountain || Banshee Boardwalk
|-
| Super Circuit || Peach Circuit || Bowser Castle 2 || GBA Luigi Circuit || Sky Garden
|-
| Double Dash!! || GCN Luigi Circuit || Baby Park || Mushroom Bridge || Yoshi Circuit
|}
===Battle Courses===
*Nintendo DS
*Twilight House
*Palm Shore
*Tart Top
*Retro Battle Stages
**N64 Block Fort (Returned from Mario Kart 64)
**GCN Pipe Plaza (Returned from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
==Items==
Like with many other games in the series, Item Boxes appear on the racetracks. When players drive through an Item Box, the item roulette with determine which item the player will receive and can be used to either gain an advantage over their opponents or aid themselves, depending on the position. Although not all items are usable in Battle Mode.
*Banana (Triple Bananas): A banana that makes karts spin out if run over. Players can sometimes receive three bananas. 
*Bob-omb: Explodes after a brief pause or if a driver goes near it. Anyone caught in the blast radius will be either knocked over or spun around.
*Blooper: Summons a Blooper to spray ink on all drivers ahead of the player, obstructing their view.
*Boo: Summons a Boo that not only makes the player invisible for a short time, but also steals an opponent's item. 
*Bullet Bill: When used, the player is transformed into a Bullet Bill and soars around the track on autopilot, knocking other drivers in their path.
*Mushroom (Triple Mushrooms): Provides the player's kart a speed boost. Sometimes, players may get three Mushrooms, thus allowing them to use three speed boosts.
*Golden Mushroom: Provides the player many speed boosts for a short period of time.
*Fake Item Box: A fake Item Box that knocks racers over if touched.
*Green Shell (Triple Green Shells): Green Koopa Shells that travel in a straight line, knocking karts over if hit. Players may sometimes get three Green Shells.
*Lightning: Causes all opponents to shrink down for a while, making them spin out, drop their items and reduce their speed.
*Red Shell (Triple Red Shells): Red Koopa Shells that pursue the nearest kart in front of the user, knocking it over. Players can sometime receive three Red Shells.
*Spiny Shell: Like in Double Dash!!, The blue-winged Spiny Shell tracks down the leading kart and blows it up. Anyone caught in the blast radius will be either knocked over or spun out.
*Star: Makes the player invincible from all damage for a short time. While invincible, the player can touch other karts to knock them over. 
Items marked in bold made their Mario Kart series debut in the game.
==Obstacles==
As is common for Mario Kart games, the purpose of an obstacle is to serve as a hindrance to the racers. Therefore, if a racer drives into an obstacle, they are slowed down, potentially giving other racers the advantage of driving ahead of them. A majority of the obstacles are species:
*Angry Sun: It appears in Desert Hills, and although it is never interacted with directly, Angry Sun releases Fire Snakes onto the track that, if driven into, cause the racer to spin out.
*Box: If a racer crashes into one, their kart briefly stops, although it also causes the box to break. Sometimes, crashing into one releases a Mushroom.
*Cheep Cheep: An obstacle of Cheep Cheep Beach, these fish bounce around outside of water. If a kart drives into one, the racer spins out.
*Crab: Found in Cheep Cheep Beach alongside Cheep Cheeps, driving into a Crab also causes a kart to spin out, albeit a bit longer than if a racer drives into a Cheep Cheep.
*Monty Mole: These moles appear in Peach Gardens and the Retro Course Moo Moo Farms. A Monty Moles jumps out of a hole in the ground, and if a racer drives into it, their kart briefly spins out.
*Piranha Plant: They appear in several courses, such as Yoshi Circuit, usually appearing on the side of the road. A Piranha Plant is stationary, aside from repeatedly opening and closing its jaws.
*Pokey: A prickly cactus-like enemy whose body is made up of segments and a head on top. They are another obstacle featured in Desert Hills, and if a kart drives into a Pokey, their kart briefly flies upward.
*Rocky Wrench: A relative of Monty Mole, Rocky Wrenches are featured in Airship Fortress. Here, a Rocky Wrench pokes its head out of a lid into the ground every few seconds.
*Venus Fire Trap: Featured in Mario Circuit, they spit out fire on the tracks.
*Walking Tree: An obstacle in the Luigi's Mansion race course, these are leafless trees that walk back and forth on the race course. A racer does not spin out if they bump into it but rather slow down, like with Boxes.
==Missions==
This game is the first and so far, the only game to have a Mission Mode. Missions mainly have the player having to complete a task within the time limit. This includes collecting Coins, driving through gates, destroying Item Boxes, etc. There is also a boss stage at the end of each mission set. In each level, there is eight missions total along with a boss stage. Most bosses return from Super Mario 64 DS. By getting at least a star ranking on all the missions level 1-6 allows Mission 7 levels to be unlocked.
==Staff Ghosts==
Course 	Time 	Character 	Kart
Figure-8 Circuit 	01:36.481	Mario 	Standard MR
Yoshi Falls 	00:57.677	Yoshi 	Egg 1
Cheep Cheep Beach 	01:43.654	Donkey Kong	Standard DK
Luigi's Mansion 	01:59.357	Luigi 	Streamliner
Desert Hills 	01:31.262	R.O.B. 	ROB-LGS
Delfino Square 	01:53.921	Peach 	Royale
Waluigi Pinball 	02:23.228	Waluigi 	Gold Mantis
Shroom Ridge 	02:05.123	Toad 	Mushmellow
DK Pass 	02:14.607	Donkey Kong	Wildlife
Tick-Tock Clock 	01:54.903	Daisy 	Light Dancer
Mario Circuit 	01:56.533	Mario 	Shooting Star
Airship Fortress 	02:07.748	Bowser 	Hurricane
Wario Stadium 	02:14.868	Wario 	Brute
Peach Gardens 	01:52.989	Peach 	Royale
Bowser's Castle 	02:19.661	Bowser 	Hurricane
Rainbow Road 	02:16.246	R.O.B. 	ROB-BLS
SNES Mario Circuit 1 	00:50.688	Mario 	Standard MR
N64 Moo Moo Farm 	01:17.751	Donkey Kong	Wildlife
GBA Peach Circuit 	01:12.011	Peach 	Royale
GCN Luigi Circuit 	01:29.759	Luigi 	Poltergust 4000
SNES Donut Plains 1 	01:08.027	Dry Bones 	Dry Bomber
N64 Frappe Snowland 	02:08.781	Wario 	Brute
GBA Bowser Castle 2 	01:52.258	Bowser 	Standard BW
GCN Baby Park 	00:50.920	Toad 	Mushmellow
SNES Koopa Beach 2 	00:54.847	Yoshi 	Egg 1
N64 Choco Mountain 	02:15.571	Wario 	Dragonfly
GBA Luigi Circuit 	01:46.581	Luigi 	Poltergust 4000
GCN Mushroom Bridge 	01:30.600	Toad 	Mushmellow
SNES Choco Island 2 	01:01.620	Waluigi 	Zipper
N64 Banshee Boardwalk	02:14.403	Dry Bones 	Dry Bomber
GBA Sky Garden 	01:44.400	Daisy 	Power Flower
GCN Yoshi Circuit 	01:48.793	Yoshi 	Standard YS
==Merchandise==
Mario Kart DS had its share of merchandise tie-ins, one of which is Mario Kart Slot Cars.
==Reception==
Mario Kart DS is known to have well received reception and reviews from others. This includes GameRankings giving the game a rating of 91.19/100, GameStats as 9.2/10, 9.5/10 for IGN's rating. Though, most people have criticized the limited online multiplayer mode.
==Sales==
The game sold a total of 23.60 million copies worldwide, making it the 3rd best-selling game for Nintendo DS (just behind Nintendogs (#2) & New Super Mario Bros. (#1)). It's also the 3rd best-selling title in the Mario Kart series, right behind Mario Kart Wii (#2) & Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (#1).
==Trivia==
*This is the first and only Mario Kart game to release in North America before Japan.
*This and Mario Kart Tour are the only Mario Kart games in which Lakitu does not do the countdown at the start of the race.
* Several characters reuse voice clips from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Superstar Baseball, and Super Mario 64 DS.
*In the Nintendo logo, Mario says "Yahoo!", on the original Nintendo DS, and he says, "Here we go!", on the Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DSi XL, any Nintendo 3DS, or the Virtual Console.
*This is the first game to take note of gaps in the course when it comes to the course map. Previous games such as Mario Kart: Double Dash!! disregarded the gaps in making the course map, which back then only showed the correct path.
*This was the first Mario Kart game to use the standard logo font for future installments in the series.
*This was the second game in the series to feature classic courses, first being Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
*The following cups were introduced in this entry: Shell Cup, Banana Cup, & Leaf Cup.
==Gallery==
==External links==
*Official website (defunct)
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Category:Nintendo DS games
Category:Mario Kart series
Category:2005 games
Category:Spin-offs
Category:Mario Kart games
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