Mario Kart is a household classic. Everybody knows the name, nearly everybody has played at least one of the series’ entries and for a lot of people, a Mario Kart title might be in their gaming top 10s. It’s a series that brings plenty of fond memories to multiple generations of gamers and has broken down boundaries between casual and competitive players, making the perfect party game.

Since the series first entry in 1992, gaming has become more and more common for the average household, and with that comes the evolution of game mechanics. How can we take a simple and enjoyable kart racing game and create the perfect formula that nearly anybody can pick up and play?

Mario Kart is less of a test of speed and more of a game of persistence. How determined are you to keep moving forward? Mario Kart is less of a game of skill, and more a game of luck. It’s important to remember that Nintendo doesn’t make games for the competitive player, but makes their games for a general audience to have as much instant fun and gratification as possible. Quirks, gimmicks and simple-to-use mechanics are their thing. If you aren’t instantly satisfied with what your button presses do, they’ll take note and change it for the next entry. Adjusting and tweaking the recipe to cook the perfect experience.

Drifting was, in my opinion, the most finicky mechanic in the Mario Kart series. It just never felt right. Just sliding into a drift feels so sudden in Double Dash. Hopping into a slide in Mario Kart 64 always felt like fighting with the control scheme because of the odd weight of the game’s physics. Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit both lean more towards a hop and slide, but are entirely on a flat 2D plane that doesn’t give you a feel for the friction of your vehicle. Of course you get used to it the more you play, and your muscle memory will adjust accordingly, but that’s just not good enough. These constant tweaks across entries felt different and new every time. You couldn’t just carry the same playstyle across to the next game.

But then lightning struck.

Mario Kart DS was the second handheld release in the series, launching on the Nintendo DS in November of 2005. It was the second fully 3D entry in the series, pushing for more tracks and game modes than previous entries in the series, as well as online connectivity to race against anyone in the world, Nintendo DS Download Play so you could do multiplayer races with any of your friends whether they owned their own copy of the game or not, and as a series first; a full campaign mode with challenges, puzzles and boss fights.

The biggest Mario Kart game to date, and the most approachable to the casual player, since it was on an easily affordable console that you could carry with you anywhere. But how did it feel to play? To put it simply, this was the beginning of the current Mario Kart formula.

Every Mario Kart game from this point on copied the movement and drifting mechanics from this game because it was just simply… Perfect. A simple bounce into your drift, the tight but easy adjustments to your turn, the tilt-boosting for an extra burst of satisfying speed. You could feel the weight of your kart and your character, and it just feels good. 32 tracks that all looked great on the system, but also felt great to play. 12 characters to choose from, with all of the classic characters you’d expect (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser) plus a couple of quirky new additions to spice things up (Dry Bones and R.O.B.)

The Grand Prix mode is split up between the Nitro Grand Prix, featuring 16 all-new tracks, and the Retro Grand Prix, featuring 16 tracks from the previous Mario Kart games remade to match up next to the Nitro tracks. The new tracks include some of the best tracks in the series, such as Waluigi Pinball and Delfino Square, as well as the iconic Figure-8 Circuit that eventually became the main course all over Mario Kart 8’s branding. The retro tracks meanwhile bringing back some of the most fun older stages including Moo Moo Meadows, Sky Garden and Yoshi Circuit. Despite the graphics capabilities of the DS being less powerful than the Gamecube, the adapted tracks from Double Dash still look and feel great on the handheld.

Completing the Grand Prix in various speed classes not only awards you with a gold cups and medals, but for every set of four cups you unlock more karts and characters to play, making for a satisfying progression that just makes you come back for more. 

The battle mode is back from Double Dash, this time taking advantage of the online and download play features on the Nintendo DS. Featuring 6 courses, including 2 that return from previous games. The battle mode is divided between 2 game types: Balloon Battle and Shine Runners. Pop the balloons of each of your opponents, or collect the most Shine Sprites and come out on top. These modes are fast-paced and chaotic; tons of fun with friends over download play, and easy to sink hours into with players across the world online.

Exclusive to Mario Kart DS, the Mission Mode has never made a comeback in future releases. This mode was full of puzzles and challenges across every course in the game. Collecting coins in limited time, racing through gates and checkpoints, and even fighting big boss battles against the likes of Big Bullies and King Boo. This mode is a fun challenge, though simple enough to power through in a single sitting. The difficulty spikes if you try and collect 3 stars on each of the challenges, some definitely harder than others. This mode rules and is well worth the time of anyone who wants a challenge to sink a few hours into.

Mario Kart DS also provides a Time Attack mode, where you can set your own records and even challenge ghosts with difficult time scores. With only 3 mushrooms at the start of the race, you can prove just how well you know your way around the game’s tight control scheme and drifting mechanics. 

Truly Mario Kart DS has it all. Despite only being the 5th game in the series, this is a game I’ll keep coming back to time and time again, and a game that Nintendo has consistently followed the formula of ever since its release. Mario Kart 7 and 8 both carried forward the mechanics and feel of DS and only expanded on it by adding new mechanics on top, never changing what made DS’ playstyle so addictive in the first place. 

If you’re looking for the perfect party racing experience that’s simple and easy to pick up with your friends, this might just be the Mario Kart game for you. Of course, going back to play older games on older hardware isn’t always the easiest thing, especially when online functionality for Nintendo’s older titles is currently non-existent. (Though, there are fan-made online servers you can try out if you’re willing to set it up.) The experience of sitting in a room with a few DS systems and a copy of this game is some of the most fun multiplayer gaming I’ll ever have, and I’ve made plenty of fond memories with over the years.

Score: 8.5/10