Mario Kart DS

Mario Kart DS is a stunning game in the six title Mario Kart sub-series, featuring WiFi Multiplayer and a mission system.

Mario Kart DS is the first Mario Kart game to appear on the Nintendo DS, and the first to support eight-person play, WiFi/Internet play, and a nifty map that even showed incoming projectiles, which took use of the DS' bottom screen.

Playable Characters
A total of twelve Nintendo mascots take part in the fifth installment of the fourteen-year series. The eight that made it happen in Mario Kart 64 can be chosen at the beginning, but the player must win trophies in Grand Prix mode to unlock four bonus characters:


 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Princess Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Toad
 * Wario
 * Donkey Kong
 * Bowser


 * Princess Daisy
 * Dry Bones
 * Waluigi
 * R.O.B


 * Shy Guy, only in Nintendo Download Play.

Courses
As per the N64 and Double Dash!! versions of the series, sixteen new courses were added into the game (in the usual Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups). But, sixteen old courses, four from each of the SNES, N64, GBA and GCN versions reappeared in four new cups, totaling thirty-two courses in eight cups. In addition, six battle courses appeared, two being reused from previous games.

 (*)  - Twenty of the courses are included in the Nintendo Wi-Fi feature

Mushroom Cup

 * Figure-8 Circuit  (*) 
 * Yoshi Falls  (*) 
 * Cheep Cheep Beach  (*) 
 * Luigi's Mansion  (*) 

Flower Cup

 * Desert Hills  (*) 
 * Delfino Square  (*) 
 * Waluigi Pinball
 * Shroom Ridge

Star Cup

 * DK Pass  (*) 
 * Tick-Tock Clock
 * Mario Circuit  (*) 
 * Airship Fortress

Special Cup

 * Wario Stadium  (*) 
 * Peach Gardens
 * Bowser's Castle
 * Rainbow Road  (*) 

Shell Cup

 * Mario Circuit 1 (SNES)  (*) 
 * Moo Moo Farm (N64)  (*) 
 * Peach Circuit (GBA)  (*) 
 * Luigi Circuit (GCN)  (*) 

Banana Cup

 * Donut Plains 1 (SNES)
 * Frappe Snowland (N64)  (*) 
 * Bowser's Castle 2 (GBA)
 * Baby Park (GCN)  (*) 

Leaf Cup

 * Koopa Beach 2 (SNES)
 * Choco Mountain (N64)  (*) 
 * Luigi Circuit (GBA)
 * Mushroom Bridge (GCN)

Lightning Cup

 * Choco Island 2 (SNES)  (*) 
 * Banshee Boardwalk (N64)
 * Sky Garden (GBA)  (*) 
 * Yoshi Circuit (GCN)  (*) 

Battle Courses

 * Nintendo DS
 * Twilight House
 * Palm Shore
 * Tart Top
 * Block Fort (N64)
 * Pipe Plaza (GCN)

Karts
Also unique about Mario Kart DS is its 36 different karts (excluding Shy Guy), 12 being standard karts similar to Mario Kart 64. Originally, only 3 karts are available to each character, each related to him or her in some way (1 standard kart). As the player wins Grand Prix tournaments, it's up to 7 karts, adding four karts from other characters. Once winning every tournament possible in 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and Mirror, each character can be paired in any of the 36 karts, making 432 combinations (excluding Shy Guy). Each Kart has six ratings:


 * Speed: How high the top speed of the kart can go.
 * Acceleration: How quickly the top speed is acheived.
 * Weight: A heavier kart can knock over a lighter kart to the side.
 * Handling: How tight the kart normally turns.
 * Drift: How tight the kart turns while drifting.
 * Items: When a ? Block is hit, how good the item will be (a high items rating signifies a higher chance of getting a Banana Bunch in first place, Triple Mushrooms in 3rd/4th, etc).

Ratings Chart
The ratings are from 0 to 10 in one-tenth intervals. The Items rating will be either 3.3, 6.7, or 10. For the three karts related to a character, each one will have those different three ratings, the standard kart always being 6.7. In addition, not only does the kart affect weight, but the character (Bowser will make one of Peach's karts much heavier), so weight is omitted.

Highs are shown in green and lows are shown in red (except for Items). To conserve space, it has been split into two rows. Look to the right of the Kart name for stats.

Note: Margin of error +/- .2 points