Mario Kart DS

From Mario - NeoWiki

Mario Kart DS
Box Art
Genre	Racing - General
Developer	Nintendo
Perspective(s)	Third Person
Publisher	Nintendo
Release Date	Nov 14, 05 [North America]
Product Page	[Nintendo]

Background

Mario Kart comes back, and this time on the portable Nintendo DS with 3D graphics. In the game you can choose to be one of the well-known Mario characters with one of their own karts. You'll get to use any of the weapons from the past Mario Kart games, plus a few new items created just for Mario Kart DS. This game will also use the two screen feature of the Nintendo DS; one screen shows the main game, and the other shows the map of the level or a small top-down view of character(you can see items and other racers on this screen). Mario Kart DS will be an arcade style racing game.

General Information

Simple information concerning developers and publishers, themes, etc.

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Perspective(s): Third Person

Release Info

The release dates for each region:

North America: November 14, 2005
Europe: November 25, 2005
Japan: December 8, 2005
Australia: November 17, 2005

Features

• Time to race...on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection! The acclaimed Mario Kart series has hit the internet, letting you race and battle your friends all over the world with up to 4 karts at once. Not only that, but you even race 8 pals wirelessly with only a single Game Card!

• Over 30 courses, both new and classic! Players will tour courses from Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, not to mention brand-new tracks and arenas!

• Total shell-tossing mayhem! With all the crazy items and frantic speed players have come to expect, this game is a Mario Kart fan's dream!

Drivers

• Mario Info: Mario is an all-rounder with no distinct abilities. Perfect for players new to the game. Initial Karts: B Dasher, Standard MR, Shooting Star (Unlock)

• Luigi Info: Luigi boasts better speed but has lower drift power than his brother. Ideal for beginners wanted to start exploiting strengths. Initial Karts: Poltergust 4000, Standard LG, Streamliner (Unlock)

• Peach Info: Peach tends to have better acceleration and drift, making her better suited to technical tracks with lots of turns. Initial Karts: Royale, Standard PC, Light Tripper (Unlock)

• Yoshi Info: Yoshi boasts the best acceleration and handling of all the pre-unlocked drivers. Initial Karts: Egg 1, Standard YS, Cucumber (Unlock) Name: Toad Info: Acceleration is slightly lower than Yoshi but has more balanced drift and handling. Initial Karts: Mushmellow, Standard TD, 4-Wheel Cradle (Unlock)

• Donkey Kong Info: High top speed and high drift makes DK a good choice to experienced gamers Initial Karts: Rambi Rider, Standard DK, Wildlife (Unlock)

• Wario Info: A high-speed racer with better handling than other heavy drivers, but has poorer drift Initial Karts: Brute, Standard WR, Dragonfly (Unlock)

• Bowser Info: The fastest and heaviest driver in the game, but also the most difficult to control Initial Karts: Tyrant, Standard BW, Hurricane (Unlock)

• Daisy Info: Unlocked by getting a Gold Trophy on every cup in Retro Grand Prix on 50cc. Mostly average, but boasting better drift than normal. Initial Karts: Power Flower, Standard DS, Light Dancer (Unlock)

• Dry Bones Info: Unlocked by getting a Gold Trophy on every cup in Nitro Grand Prix on 50cc. Boasts the best acceleration but terrible top speed. Initial Karts: Banisher, Standard DB, Dry Bomber (Unlock)

• Waluigi Info: Unlocked by getting a Gold Trophy on every cup in Retro Grand Prix on 100cc. Generally a slightly above-average driver. Initial Karts: Gold Mantis, Standard WL, Zipper (Unlock)

• R.O.B. Info: Unlocked by getting a Gold Trophy on every cup in Nitro Grand Prix on Mirror. The fastest driver with low drift. It's Robotic Operating Buddy, if you're interested. Initial Karts: ROB-BLS, Standard RB, ROB-LGS (Unlock)

• Shy Guy Info: This driver is only available to players who play other players and don't have a copy of the game. They cannot use any other driver. Thank you to Insanity Prevails on this information.

Techniques

• Boost Start: Gives you a fast start from the word go. Just hit A just after “2” is called. The power of the boost depends on your timing. Press too soon though and you’ll spin out.

• Slide: Handy for getting round corners with minimal speed loss. Press and hold R to jump into a slide.

• Powerslide: An advancement of the standard slide that is rewarded with a mini-boost at the end. Once in your slide alternate between left and right. Release R once you see red sparks to get your boost. Also known as a miniturbo.

• Drafting: A technique that involves driving directly behind another racer, reducing resistance and increasing speed. A change from previous games, drafting for several seconds will result in a great boost and an air shield, which knocks other racers out of the way. This lasts for a few seconds.

• Countering Drafting: Dropping a static weapon (eg Banana) or firing a missile weapon backwards (eg Shell) is a good way to counter another racer’s attempts to draft behind you. To avoid falling victim to this tactic yourself make sure to check the bottom screen to see what * weapons the other racer has.

• Item Shield: A number of items can be trailed behind you by holding down the weapon button. This can help to protect you, but be aware that red shells may zoom up alongside first and blue shells cannot be blocked. Items that can be trailed: Green Shell, Red Shell, Banana, Fake Item, Bob-Omb.

• Throw your weight around: If you’re using a heavy-weight kart and have another racer fighting for your position then why not make use of that weight. Slam into them at critical moments to cause havoc. Bash them into vehicles or even straight off the track!

• Snaking An odd technique that came into controversy a month or so after the game's release. This involves powersliding along a straight multiple times, alternating sides, to create a snakelike pattern. How does this work? Well, it’s best done with a kart with low drift. You start by going straight along a straightaway and then doing a powerslide to one side, as fast as you can. Once you release your powerslide, immediately do another one to the opposite side and repeat as many times as possible. Snaking is much faster than just going in a straight line. Amid controversy between claims of it being a cheat and a glitch, a Nintendo employee posted on NSider forums that snaking was an intended part of the game. Popular tracks to snake on include Figure Eight Circuit and GCN Luigi Circuit.

• Prolonged Rocket Boost:A glitch used to drive over offroad sections of track(grass, sand, dirt, and even water on Cheep Cheep Beach). Obtained by getting the perfect start boost and doing powerslides as fast and concise as you can manage. Popular tracks to use PRB on include SNES Mario Circuit 1, GCN Luigi Circuit, and GBA Sky Garden.

• Inflating Balloons (Balloon Battle): Inflate balloons or fight. Tough call. I suggest having minimum two inflated at all times (unless you don’t have two left). If you lose all inflated balloons then you lose even if you still have reserve balloons. You can either press select or blow into the DS's microphone to inflate a balloon.

• Stealing Balloons (Balloon Battle): A technique introduced in Double Dash if you have less than three inflated balloons then you can steal an opponents balloon. To do this simply use a mushroom to boost into another racer. Presto, an extra balloon!

Items

Banana: A common item when leading the pack. A one use item that causes a driver to spin out. Default lays them behind the kart, but they can be launched forward by holding up when used. Bananas can also be trailed behind the kart by holding L or X for a fairly effective item shield.

Triple Bananas: An upgrade of the standard banana, often picked up nearer the front of the pack. These are trailed automatically, and let you drop three bananas instead of one. They can also be thrown forward by holding up.

Fake Item Box: An obstacle cunningly disguised as an item box. The computer tends to hit these obstacles regardless of where they are, but for human players you’ll need to be more cunning. Plant it by real item boxes for best effect. Fake item boxes show up as red on the map screen. Default drops them, but they can be lobbed ahead.

Green Shell: A simple missile weapon that travels in straight lines, knocking karts over if they strike. Default fires them forward, but holding down will fire them behind you. Green shells can be trailed behind you. Green shells disappear if they hit several barriers.

Triple Green Shells: First use deploys the shells like a rotating shield. Because of this they cannot be trailed but can still be fired backwards. Actually pretty ineffective as a shield.

Red Shells: You never get these in first place. Red shells have a homing function. They’ll head for the racer ahead of you. They can be fired backwards, but they have no homing function, and they can be trailed.

Triple Red Shells: Received near the back of the pack, this is basically three red shells that rotate round your kart. Aside from that fact they have the same traits as single red shells. Try not to fire them all in quick succession, otherwise only one will have any effect.

Blue Shell: A shell that flies above the track, chases down the leader and slams down causing a huge explosion. The resulting explosion not only causes the biggest hindrance of any weapon, but can also take out other racers too close for comfort. This shell cannot be fired backward and cannot be trailed. The blue shells explosion, however, can be dodged.

Bob-Omb: A simple bomb that explodes when a kart gets too close. Like the blue shell the explosion can also take out other karts nearby. Default lobs it forward, but it can be dropped behind you, which is best. Otherwise you might blow yourself up. Bob-Ombs can be trailed behind you. You can also use Bob-Ombs to dodge a blue shell.

Blooper: A squid that affects all karts ahead of you, squirting them with ink. For CPU karts this means some very drunken driving. For human players this means 2-3 ink patches obscuring the screen. It’s a good idea to try and use the map screen during this time. Using a boost or hitting a boost pad clears the screen.

Boo: Boo has two effects. Not only does it make your driver a ghost temporarily (rendering it immune to all attacks) but it also steals an item from another kart for you.

Star: A rare item obtained near the back of the pack. A star increases your karts speed, renders you immune to everything bar falling off track and allows you to knock other drivers out of the way. The effect lasts varying times, depending on your kart of choice's Item stat.

Lightning: Strikes all karters ahead of you and shrinks them, reducing their karts’ stats for a short while. The amount of time spent small depends on race position. First place takes longer to recover than sixth place.

Bullet Bill: One of the rarest and most fun of the weapons. This turns your kart into a giant missile. While like this you’ll automatically fly along the track (on auto-pilot), knocking other drivers out of the way in tremendous style. Like the star, the time you'll spend as Bullet Bill depends on your kart's Item stat.

Mushroom: A mushroom that gives a brief burst of speed. Mushrooms are vital for some shortcuts. Hit another karter while boosting to knock them to the side. In Balloon Battle you can use boosts to steal balloons.

Two Mushrooms: Only appears when you use one boost from the Triple Mushrooms, or in Time Trial if you use a kart with an item rating of 6.6. Gives you two boosts.

Triple Mushrooms: Three boosts instead of one. Don’t use them in quick succession, or you’ll waste them. These boosts have the same traits as standalone boosts.

Gold Mushroom: A special mushroom that offers unlimited boosts for a set amount of time. The invisible timer doesn’t start until you begin boosting. Unlike the Triple Mushrooms its OK to just hammer the boost here.

Unlockables

Drivers Daisy: Obtain a Gold Trophy in all the Retro Cups on 50cc.
Dry Bones: Obtain a Gold Trophy in all the Nitro Cups on 50cc
Waluigi: Obtain a Gold Trophy in all the Retro Cups on 100cc R.O.B.: Obtain a Gold Trophy in all the Nitro Cups on Mirror

Karts Third Character-Specific Kart: Obtain a Gold Trophy in all the Nitro Cups on 100cc
Seven Karts (3 Character-Specific plus 4 from other drivers): Obtain a Gold Trophy in all the Nitro Cups on 150cc
All Karts for all drivers: Get a Gold Trophy on every cup on every speed setting

Cups Star Cup: Obtain a Gold Trophy on both Mushroom and Flower Cups
Special Cup: Obtain a Gold Trophy on Star Cup
Leaf Cup: Obtain a Gold Trophy on both Shell and Banana Cups
Lightning Cup: Obtain a Gold Trophy on Leaf Cup

Staff Ghosts Finish the following tracks no more than 5 seconds slower than the stated times to unlock the staff ghost for that track.
Figure-8 Circuit: 1:36:481 (Mario – Standard MR)
Yoshi Falls: 0:57:677 (Yoshi – Egg1)
Cheep Cheep Beach: 1:43:654 (Donkey Kong – Standard DK)
Luigi’s Mansion: 1:59:357 (Luigi – Streamliner)
Desert Hills: 1:31:262 (R.O.B. – ROB-LGS)
Delfino Square: 1:54:601 (Peach – Royale)
Waluigi Pinball: 2:23:288 (Waluigi – Gold Mantis)
Shroom Ridge: 2:05:123 (Toad – Mushmellow)
DK Pass: 2:14:607 (DK – Wildlife)
Tick-Tock Clock: 1:54:903 (Daisy – Light Dancer)
Mario Circuit: 1:56:533 (Mario – Shooting Star)
Airship Fortress: 2:07:748 (Bowser – Hurricane)
Wario Stadium: 2:14:868 (Wario – Brute)
Peach Gardens: 1:52:989 (Peach – Royale)
Bowser Castle: 2:19:661 (Bowser – Hurricane)
Rainbow Road: 2:16:246 (R.O.B. – ROB-BLS)
Mario Circuit 1 (SNES): 0:50:688 (Mario – Standard MR)
Moo Moo Farm (N64): 1:17:751 (Donkey Kong – Wildlife)
Peach Circuit (GBA): 1:12:011 (Peach – Royale)
Luigi Circuit (GCN): 1:29:759 (Luigi – Poltergust 4000)
Donut Plains 1 (SNES): 1:08:027 (Dry Bones – Dry Bomber)
Frappe Snowland (N64): 2:08:781 (Wario – Brute)
Bowser Castle 2 (GBA): 1:52:258 (Bowser – Standard BW)
Baby Park (GCN): 0:50:920 (Toad – Mushmellow)
Koopa Beach 2 (SNES): 0:54:847 (Yoshi – Egg 1)
Choco Mountain (N64): 2:15:571 (Wario – Dragonfly)
Luigi Circuit (GBA): 1:46:581 (Luigi – Poltergust 4000)
Mushroom Bridge (GCN): 1:30:600 (Toad – Mushmellow)
Choco Island 2 (SNES): 1:01:620 (Waluigi – Zipper)
Banshee Boardwalk (N64): 2:14:403 (Dry Bones – Dry Bomber)
Sky Garden (GBA): 1:44:400 (Daisy – Power Flower)
Yoshi Circuit (GCN): 1:48:793 (Yoshi – Standard YS)

Other Unlockables

Mirror Mode: Obtain a Gold Trophy on all the Retro Cups on 150cc
Mission Set 7: Obtain at least a 1-star ranking on every mission in mission sets 1-6 New Title Screen and
Ending Scene: Unlock all drivers and karts

Wifi Guide

Going Wi-Fi at Home
1) First you need a broadband connection at home. Dial-up won’t do, it must be broadband.
2) Next you’ll need a wireless router. Not all wireless routers are compatible though. For a list of compatible routers check the Compatible Routers List webpage. If you do not have a wireless router you can purchase the official Nintendo USB router, which can be bought from Nintendo’s Official Website. To use the official router you will need a PC and Windows XP.
3) On the main menu of Mario Kart DS tap Nintendo WFC. On the next screen tap Nintendo WFC Settings. Next screen tap Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Setting. Choose a slot to use. The best option is to Search for an Access Option. Then all you need to do is tap the connection and click OK.

Going Wi-Fi at a Hotspot
1) First you need to find a Hotspot near you. The Find Hotspots page in the Nintendo Wi-Fi website should help there.
2) At a hotspot you only need to tap Nintendo WFC, and then Nintendo WFC Match. For further information check the Nintendo Wi-Fi Website Thanks to Insanity Prevails for this information.

Game Modes

Grand Prix Info: This is where you compete for trophies in a four-race race series, and is also where the majority of the game secrets are unlocked. Player’s are awarded points based on where they finish in a race, and the total points earned after four races determines what trophies are awarded.

Time Trial Info: A solo game mode. Players race solo on their chosen track for three laps trying to set best time records, with a number of boosts mushrooms based on their chosen kart’s item stat. Best time runs are saved and portrayed as ghosts. Each track also has an additional staff ghost to unlock and race against.

Versus Info: Human and computer karts can compete in standard races. Rules can be set up, including teams, race wins and the like. Versus lets you race each track whenever you like.

Balloon Battle Info: The standard classic battle mode. Each kart has one readily inflated balloon, and four in reserve. Reserve balloons can be inflated (either by blowing into the mic or hitting select) to a maximum of three at any one time. The goal is to pop all of your opponent’s inflated balloons with weapons. Last kart standing wins.

Shine Runners Info: An alternative battle mode. Shine Sprites appear around the chosen map. Players rush to snatch these Shines before the others. However, you lose a Shine (if you have any) when hit or if you fall off track. A maximum of 9 Shines appear, and the lowest ranking players are booted out every so often until a winner is decided.

Mission Info: A series of single player races with specific objectives. Track, character and kart are all preset with each mission. Objectives range from collecting coins to driving backwards.
Wi-Fi Connection Versus Info: This allows you to compete with other Mario Kart DS owners from around the world. Not all of the tracks are available, but otherwise this is like a standard versus. Thanks to Insanity Prevails for providing this information.

Missions

Missions Set 1

Mission 1-1
Objective: Drive through all 5 numbered gates in order Track: Figure-8 Circuit Driver: Mario Kart: Standard MR Time: 35 seconds Technique: Boost off the line, then simply aim for the mushroom boosts.

Mission 1-2
Objective: Collect all 15 coins Track: Peach Circuit (GBA) Driver: Peach Kart: Standard PC Time: 30 seconds Technique: Boost off, then focus on control. Powersliding round corners is ill-advised, as it’s easy to miss coins doing that

Mission 1-3
Objective: Destroy all 10 item boxes Track: Yoshi Falls Driver: Yoshi Kart: Standard YS Time: 45 seconds Technique: Try to stay along the outside section, as only one box is on the inside slope. Each item box gives a boost mushroom. Use each one before you reach the next box

Mission 1-4
Objective: Get a Star and use it to hit 5 Cheep Cheeps Track: Cheep Cheep Beach Driver: Wario Kart: Standard WR Time: 40 seconds Technique: All item boxes contain stars. Drive slowly, or else the Cheep Cheep might bounce and avoid you

Mission 1-5
Objective: Drive through all 6 numbered gates in order Track: Nintendo DS Driver: Toad Kart: Standard TD Time: 30 seconds Technique: Drive through the one ahead, then powerslide left, through number 2. Drive down the slope, zipping through three and sliding through 4. Powerslide after 5 to zip into 6.

Mission 1-6
Objective: Drive out of the mansion…backward Track: Luigi’s Mansion Driver: Luigi Kart: Standard LG Time: 45 seconds Technique: A really easy one. Remember that you have to hold B, not A. Also, steering is reversed. Press left to turn right, and vice-versa

Mission 1-7
Objective: Collect all 20 coins Track: Moo Moo Farm (N64) Driver: Donkey Kong Kart: Standard DK Time: 35 seconds Technique: Use the triple boosts you get from the lone item box on flat areas. Focus on control, but pull off a couple of powerslides where there are no coins

Mission 1-8
Objective: Perform 4 powerslide turbo boosts in 1 lap Track: Mario Circuit 1 (SNES) Driver: Mario Kart: Standard MR Time: 45 seconds Technique: If you don’t know how to powerslide then learn quickly, as this mission requires you to pull 4 off. Actually quite easy. There are several easy corners to slide round, and it’s even possible to pull several powerslides off on the straights

Mission 1 Boss
Objective: Use Mushrooms to crash into the Big Bully and knock him off the stage Track: Special Water Platform Driver: Yoshi Kart: Standard YS Time: 3 minutes Technique: You get boost mushrooms from the item boxes. The idea is to boost into the Big Bully to knock him off stage. If you get knocked off yourself you lose a balloon – lose all 3 and you fail. Just slide around until the Bully moves away from the box. Thanks to Insanity Prevails for this information.

Major portions of this page were written by: Twisted