Mario Kart DS: Put Your Go-Kart Racing Skills to the Test! 

Mario Kart DS is an adrenaline-packed go-kart racing game where you race with other Mari characters through different courses. Each racing course has its own sets of obstacles and hazards, so you'll have to master your kart-racing skills to prevail as the champion.

Are you ready to put your kart racing skills to the test? Here's everything you need to know about Mario Kart DS below!

Mario Kart DS, also often abbreviated as MKDS, is an exciting kart racing game that Nintendo launched in 2005. Thanks to its unique game features, you can experience many action-packed racing adventures here. If you're interested to know about these experiences, here they are below:

Race through a total of 32 action-packed racing courses 

There's never a dull racing moment here in this game. After all, you can race through 32 action-packed racing courses! These courses have different themes and terrains, ensuring that players are presented with unique racing challenges different courses.

For example, some courses might have terrains made to slow down your kart. Or perhaps, other courses might have cruelly-designed sharp turns and might be filled with tons of twisted paths. And if that doesn't sound quite a challenge already, you'll also have to deal with various obstacles and hazards on your way!

Evade a bunch of obstacles on your path or collect mysterious boxes for boosters 

As previously mentioned, courses in the game will be filled with a bunch of obstacles and hazards. And as expected, bumping into these hazards and obstacles will slow you down or stop your vehicle. Some of these annoying items include banana peels, boxes, and other strange-looking creatures that will do what they can to ruin your chance of winning!

But then again, not all items on your path are pesky obstacles or hazards. For instance, some of these items on your path might be boxes containing valuable boosters to help you become victorious in your matches.

Choose from different Mario Kart racers 

Of course, this game isn't a Mario game if it doesn't include the famous and highly beloved Mario characters. And this fun racing gaming includes a total of thirteen playable characters or kart racers! Eight of them will be immediately available for use, while the remaining five can be unlocked through various means.

These means include achieving in-game criteria and the like. Therefore, if you want to obtain all Mario Kart racers, go ahead and do some grinding and master your racing skills. Soon enough, you'll be able to unlock all the Mario racers in the game.

Progress through the game to collect different go-karts

Aside from obtaining unlockable characters, you can also collect several go-karts as you progress into the game. These go-karts are identified depending on their primary stats, which could be based on their speed, acceleration, weight, handling, drift, and included items! Overall, there are 36 karts in the game, ensuring you have plenty of choices for your different racing adventures.

Race on your own or with your friends 

Are you bored of racing all by yourself? Don't worry because Mario Kart DS includes exciting multiplayer racing modes to double the racing fun! Furthermore, you can test your racing skills with other kart racers instead of racing with computer-managed racers. It's definitely a lot more fun that way!

Mastering your racing skills alone won't be enough to attain victory in this game. Besides, this kart racing game also includes other game mechanics that make it even more challenging to play! For that matter, here's a helpful guide on how to play Mario Kart DS:

Pick your preferred gameplay mode 

This racing game consists of different, highly challenging gameplay modes for you to choose from. Here they are:

-Grand Prix Mode: A mode where you battle with seven computer-controlled go-kart challengers and includes three difficulty levels. 

-Battle Mode: A mode that includes different battles where you need to fulfill specific objectives to win the game. 

-Mission Mode: A mode where you play a particular character and accomplish eight tasks. Successfully finishing these tasks within the specified time limit grants you a rating, which affects your rank at the end. 

-Time Trial Mode: A mode where you must finish a racing track as quickly as possible. 

Use different items to boost yourself or disrupt other racers

Aside from getting better at racing, Mario Kart DS includes one-of-a-kind game mechanics that make the game even more interesting to play. As stated above, you can also use different items to boost yourself or disrupt other racers in your matches.

These items can be picked up through item boxes and will randomly generate items for you. Some of these basic items found in these item boxes include the following:

-Banana: makes karts whirl upon contact 

-Green shell: an item that bounces off walls and knocks over carts upon contact 

-Red shell: an item that navigates the path and attaches itself to the kart racer ahead of you and knocks them down upon contact 

-Bullet bill: changes your cart into a huge Bullet bill that makes you zoom quickly through the track and bump other karts 

-Mushroom: provides you with a boost that helps you move quicker through the course 

-Star: makes you invincible and increases your movement; bumping other players while using the star item makes them lose their items 

Again, these are just some of the items you can obtain from the random item boxes you can pick up from your races. There are also plenty of more collectible items in these boxes that you can use to your advantage, so keep your eyes peeled for them if you want these fantastic bonuses!

Skillfully dodge the obstacles and incoming attacks on your path 

Naturally, other racers who obtain item boxes can also use the boosts they receive to their advantage. And aside from the obstacles produced by the other racers, other obstacles are naturally present in the terrain of your present course.

These natural obstacles include Piranha Plants that shoot fireballs your way or Monty Moles that appear underneath your cart and attempt to make you spin! With that said, make sure to skillfully dodge these obstacles and attacks so you can easily finish the game.

Use the map to identify the course's vicinity and know the racing rankings 

Are you not sure what lies ahead in your path? Don't worry about that. The game also includes a handy map that you can open to see a preview of your course's vicinity. In addition, you can also zoom in to see the map closer to identify your immediate racing surroundings.

The map will preview the obstacles in your way, possible attacks, and scattered item boxes. Furthermore, this helpful map will also show the current racing rankings, allowing you to see everyone's real-time position.

Mario Kart DS is definitely a game you should try out if you're a massive fan of Mario and racing games. Thanks to its inclusion of other game mechanics, it'll surely be a one-of-a-kind kart racing game that keeps you entertained as you play it on your own or with family and friends. And if you have already played this game, feel free to share your experiences so that others know how great this game is!