Finally, and (warning: cheap shot at the PSP incoming!) since the DS is all about games, unlike certain other “media centers which also play games” I could mention :), what about some games?
Well, I only have one yet, Mario Kart DS, which came in the bundle I bought. And I haven’t played a lot of it yet (it was late yesterday, and now I’m at work).
Still, some first impressions:
- Graphics, sounds and music are fantastic. Doesn’t look like a handheld game at all. Trust me, screenshots don’t do it justice.
- It’s incredibly fast, with a perfect frame rate. I don’t think anyone can fail to be impressed with at least the technical part of the game, even if they don’t care for the genre.
- Not a lot of racers to choose from - just the “usual suspects”: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Toad, Yoshi, and some hidden, unlockable ones. Less than Double Dash on the GameCube, certainly.
- Back to 1 racer per kart.
- The bottom screen is used for the map, and some optional stats. It works very well, since the map is large enough to see everything, including other racers, obstacles, etc.. One of the items in the game is one that “sprays squid paint” on you, and the top screen becomes covered with dark paint, forcing you to “drive with the map” for a while!
- Lots of tracks, though a lot of them have to be unlocked first - except for multi-player.
- Half the tracks are in the “Retro” section, which means they come from past Mario Karts - the original SNES one, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA), and Mario Kart: Double Dash (GameCube). They come intact, including the original music for each of them.
- 8 players can play (using local wi-fi) with just one copy of the game (but with 8 DSes, of course), though the players without the cart have to play as “Shy Guy”, a character who wears a mask. I haven’t tried it, since I don’t know anyone with a DS… yet.
Now, what about playing online? Well, after some technical troubles, I was able to… and it’s hard to believe how easy it is. You select “Nintendo WFC”, then choose whether you want to play with people worldwide, or just for your region, or of similar skill levels, or you can use “friend codes” to connect with your friends. After less than a minute, it finds you opponents. Then you vote for tracks, and race in them.
That’s it. And it’s perfectly smooth, no delays, no pauses, no “other karts jumping as the game finally updates their positions”. If it wasn’t for the other people playing differently (one of them was easy to beat, but two of them were extremely good, and basically competed against themselves because no one else could challenge them), you wouldn’t be able to tell you were not playing offline.
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