mario kart ds review

hiya!

kat here, i thought i'd talk about my favorite ds game ever because yay mario

gameplay

d-pad steering has always sucked, but after playing for a while and getting more used to it i can say that the button response time is actually pretty quick. i think the only thing i would change would be the smoothness of the steering, it's a little jerky, and that can suck. i'm also not able to drift because my right trigger is busted, so that's a cowabummer.

characters and karts

the characters in the game are pretty bland, being the main 8 from the games, but as long as luigi is there, i'm content. the karts are pretty bland too, just a special kart for each character and the standard. as someone who mostly uses luigi's poltergust 4000, i'm not super upset, just underwhelmed. each character plays basically the exact same, but you know, what can you do?

grand prix races

the grand prixs are basically exactly what you'd expect. there's the nitro grand prix and retro grand prix, both of which are pretty normal. i haven't unlocked all of the retro cups yet, but i'm not super eager to because they are all tracks i've played. my favorite tracks are shroom ridge, peach gardens, and dk pass. my least favorite is waluigi pinball. that track is the bane of my exisitence. trying to avoid the ball with ink on the screen and yoshi behind you with a red turtle shell is one of the worst things you can experience. for some reason yoshi and wario are my top rivals in this game. literally every race i play yoshi feels the need to absolutely screw me over.

time trials

personally, i'm pretty indifferent about time trials since i'm a casual player, but i feel like there really isn't anything eye-catching about them. like, "oh lookie here i can see how fast i can clear yoshi falls!" is all you get out of it. obviously i can see the appeal for sppedrunners and whatnot, but i don't use it. it is fun seeing 5 year old me's stats though.

vs races

vs races are like time trials. i don't really play them that often, but i still enjoy them. i like having a tean and how chaotic the race can get (especially baby park) and just having that extra push to win is great. i actually really enjoy vs races, and i wish that more of the game modes had this sort of replayibility.

battles

the battles are basically the exact same in every iteration of the game that cam after, but i think that the ds version is somehow better. there's just something so appealing about chasing peach around with a red turtle shell on top of a giant nintendo ds or tart. shine runners and balloon battles are pretty much the same, but i have absolutley no idea how to win shine runners.

missions

i'm really sad that missions didn't return in later games, becuase they are such fun little time fillers. if you need something to do for ten minutes or so, a mission is a great way to get the mario kart experience without actually playing a full grand prix. some of the later missions absolutely suck, but most are super fun.

Published by katy killjoy

mario kart ds review

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