Mario Kart DS Review
As per Q's request, here's my Mario Kart DS review:
Every console needs to have it's killer app; the game that everyone who owns the system NEEDS to own. For Playstation, it was Final Fantasy VII. For Nintendo 64, it was Super Mario 64. For Playstation 2, it was Grand Theft Auto III (no matter what your personal opinion on the morality of the game, the innovation shown in game design is impossible to ignore, and needs to be played by everyone serious about the gaming industry, just like there are certain influential classic films which may or may not be "morally sound"). For the Xbox, it was Halo. For the Gamecube, it was Metroid Prime. For the Xbox 360 it's... uhh, that one game you can download off of Xbox Live Arcade *grin*.
Can you see where I'm going with? You're thinking that you can, but, I assure you, you're wrong.
What I mean to say here is this: The Nintendo DS doesn't have a killer app. The Nintendo DS has killer appS. The innovation in game design, due to the technologies present in the DS, gives us games that have never appeared on any other console ever before. Here's an example of the innovative games released for the Nintendo DS:
Kirby's Canvas Curse (a platformer using ONLY the touchscreen.)
Nintendogs (Virtual puppies. The touch screen adds a wonderful sense of interactivity to the puppies. However, the true innovation in this is the voice recognition software built in, allowing the puppies to hear you)
and
Mario Kart DS
Now, hold on a second. What's really innovative about Mario Kart DS? The touchscreen use is limited to the menus. There's no voice recognition. Its not exactly a new concept in gaming; heck, we've seen 4 other Mario Karts before this, on the SNES, N64, GBA, and GCN. What is so new and exciting about this game?
Internet play.
Mario Kart DS is the first Nintendo DS, and indeed the first Mario Kart game to feature online racing.
Mario Kart DS is all about amazement. First, you're amazed that you're playing one of the greatest games ever made, in the palm of your hand. Second, you're amazed that this same little device contains everything necessary to play said amazing game over the internet. Third, you're amazed that everyone else is like, infinity times better than you.
Listen, I know it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to come up with the idea of online play. But you know what? This game is just plain FUN. There's so much to do. If you get tired of playing the grand prixs, you can do time trials, you can do battle mode against the computer (in two different game variations), and you can do missions. Missions are a series of 6, 10 objective games, culminating with a final boss. For example, you might have to collect 8 coins strewn around the track. Another mission has you going through numbered gates. Another has you doing X amount of powerslides in one lap. These things are great fun and let you do something when you get tired of just plain racing.
Mario Kart DS has shown that internet play on the DS is a very exciting option. Soon, the DS will receive a first person shooter, in the form of Metroid Prime: Hunters. Hunters will feature online death matches, and the easiest, most innovative controls for an FPS since the keyboard and mouse.
But thats for a different article.
posted by Chris @ 7:42 PM
0 comments
