Mario Kart DS (Talk about your races with friends on DP)?

[Jasoco]

I got it today and I am loving it so far for the most part.

One thing I really love is all the references to Super Mario Bros 3. The desert level with the sun in the sky that attacks you and the red piping and jumping firesnakes. The Airships attacking the castle.

Also more references to Mario 64 with the Tick Tock Clock. Peaches castle but this time in the gardens.

And Waluigi Pinball kicks ass!

What I really would have loved to see is levels referencing Mario Bros 1 and 2. Especially a Bowsers Castle full of white bricks, spinning firebars, lava pits. Basically what's there but with a SMB1 theme. Or the neat -3 levels with the cliffs and mushrooms.

And the classic levels are awesome. But I never played the GBA version so the GBA ported levels are new to me. I gotta get that game.

So what all is unlockable in this game? I've already gotten Daisy and Dry Bones as well as played all through he 50cc cups. Any new sets of levels? What all characters? I saw a R.O.B. while online in my first game. That was cool.

Also, question, why is it when I'm online I am so freaking slow? The other people always seem to jump ahead of me. I don't mean the special speedy start you can do, but normal starting people still beat me. No matter what character I use.

[NE146]

Also, question, why is it when I'm online I am so freaking slow? The other people always seem to jump ahead of me.

You need to learn the mini turbo boost and use it a LOT....or die ;)

[videogameking26]

Got it...great game :-P

[Nesmaster]

Just had a round with Cmtz... stop running into my bananas LOL

Hopefully we can get a 4 way going tonight, since it's friday :)



Also, question, why is it when I'm online I am so freaking slow? The other people always seem to jump ahead of me.

You need to learn the mini turbo boost and use it a LOT....or die ;)

Yeah that, and stalk someone for a few seconds and you'll get a drift boost :P. If you can effectively pull off the powerslide boost, you will be fair game :D

[Jasoco]

I'm a master at poweslides and I used to be able to master the quick boost at start by hitting gas just as the race starts, but now I can't! Did they change it? Everyone else does it but me!

Also, Dry Bones may be slow but in a race he kicks ass on accelleration.

I now have three different karts per character. Dry Bones' tank is awesome looking.

But 150cc is wow super fast. I finally got a silver cup. No more gold for me. I was doing awesome through the first three courses then totally sucked when I got to the GCN Luigi's course on the Retro Mushroom Cup. I still want a SMB looking level! NES graphics like that Tennis court! Here's hoping for it in the Revolution Mario Kart. (It'll come. It's inevitable.)

And about time they put in single player computerized opponents in battle mode.

I love the bullet. Shoots you ahead running through everything in its path.

And you gotta love those blue shells. Once they're fired they have their target locked. So if you are 2nd place and someone launches one. You can still take out the first place kart and the blue shell will still go after him leaving you to launch yourself forward even more. Wheeeeeeee...

Mario Kart kicks ass as always.

[philosophyst]

I'm a master at poweslides and I used to be able to master the quick boost at start by hitting gas just as the race starts, but now I can't! Did they change it? Everyone else does it but me!

Hit the gas right when the "2" in "3-2-1" is about to disappear. ;)

[classicb]

And you gotta love those blue shells. Once they're fired they have their target locked. So if you are 2nd place and someone launches one. You can still take out the first place kart and the blue shell will still go after him leaving you to launch yourself forward even more. Wheeeeeeee...

I was playing somebody from DP online in a head to head match and we were on our final half a lap and I had a blue shell and I tried to slow down to get him in front of me so I could blow him up but it didn't work and we both ended up stoped in the middle of the track so I blew us both up and it was a no item race to the finish (which I lost).

see you all online tonight its been fun.

also I wish there was a stat for ties because I've had at least a dozen of those.

[Daniel Thomas]

One feature I really wish Nintendo included was the ability to upload replays of online races. There have been some terrific races between us...at least on the ones where I'm not slamming into every wall and green pipe. Good glayvin, I can be a clutz sometimes.

I'm impressed at how challenging the one-player modes are. 50cc is easy, but 100cc is much tougher. I've won gold on Mushroom, Flower, and Star, and I'm so damned close to getting the Gold in Special, but I keep getting knocked around on Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road (which, incindentally, is the best RR ever). I don't think I'll be getting ROB anytime soon.

[NE146]

There have been some terrific races between us...

Except for the time you disconnected on our race :(

;)

[Six Switch]

so my record was 1-5.i am playing a game and in the the third game of the round,i won the first two.my game freezes and it says the connection is lost so i go to check my record and it is 1-4.

how that happened,i have no idea.

people are good online,i am not.play with me if you want an easy win.

[Needle]

Has anyone started to notice the character balance is a bit skewed? I was talking to my good friend about it earlier, and over the past 48 hours I've also seen some slight issues on the worldwide network.

It seems most people with killer records on the network are using either Yoshi or Luigi right now. I don't know what it is about those two characters, but the winner of the races in the games I've played is almost always a Yoshi or Luigi driver.

I almost never see anyone take heavy-type karts. That pretty much rules out Bowser, Wario, and Donkey Kong.

I've been sticking with Daisy recently, as she has a very high drift rating, however I'm getting frustrated with her apparent lack of speed. Also, despite her high item rank, I always seem to get mushrooms when I could really use something a bit more destructive. Sigh!

In any event, I'm going to crash the DP chat room and see if I can't find some folks to play with.

[Avatard]

I've completed the game. I can now choose from 36 karts per character. And I opened Daisy, ROB, Waluigi, Dry Bones, and uhh, maybe thats it.

I mostly use luigi, but now that I've opened up every kart per character it really doesn't matter who I pick as long as I pick a good kart to match.

Besides, so what if everyone picks the same kart, just like every MK game out there some characters were suited better for road racing and some for battle mode. In the past I'd use bowser to race and toad to battle. However bowser is no where near as good in this game as most in the past, his top speed just isn't as good, plus you can't bump people as far off course in wifi mode. But I guess thats ok, because I remeber there was no way to win 150cc in the SNES version unless you got a heavy high speed guy. But now you can beat 150cc with most any kart.

[philosophyst]

I don't think I have much (if anything) unlocked yet. What exactly needs to be completed in order to unlock different Karts and/or characters?

I've been spending too much time racing online instead of trying out the single player mode.

Let me know if you know. ;)

[classicb]

What exactly needs to be completed in order to unlock different Karts and/or characters?

Let me know if you know. ;)

I was going to type it out but this is easier

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/code/920788.html

[philosophyst]

I was going to type it out but this is easier

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/code/920788.html

Wow, very informitive, thanks a lot for posting the link!!

[davidbrit2]

I've found that Yoshi with his Cucumber kart is an extremely effective combination. That kart has a really high item stat, and if you're playing against opponents, let's face it, the game is basically an item fight that goes to the person who gets the best weapons and has the best acceleration. His drift turning radius is really bad in the Cucumber, though, so don't expect to get much use out of the boost turn. But you won't need it much, seeing as the acceleration and handling stats are extremely good.

[Daniel Thomas]

There have been some terrific races between us...

Except for the time you disconnected on our race :(

;)

Actually, the batteries finally cut out. The red light was flashing for the better part of an hour, and I was really stretching it. It wasn't my fault, the coffeeshop (Plan B) was playing The Misfits.

[Jasoco]

Hit the gas right when the "2" in "3-2-1" is about to disappear. ;)Weird. It used to be press right when the green light hits. Oh well. I got it to work. Thanks! :)

[Nesmaster]

Hit the gas right when the "2" in "3-2-1" is about to disappear. ;)Weird. It used to be press right when the green light hits. Oh well. I got it to work. Thanks! :)

Yup, I didn't get it either until I read the thread. I kept trying it the old fashioned way, right before go. I thought I was the only one who didn't know how to do it :P

[Jasoco]

Thanks for the suggestion about Yoshi's Cucumbr Kart. It worked wonders on 150cc. :D

You know, it's funny. When the first Mario Kart came out on the SNES years ago, I remember one thing that stands out. It was the first time I ever saw one of Mario's enemies portrayed as the good guy. Lakitu. The flag waver. The light holder. Before that game, Mario was the good guy and his enemies were always his enemies. MK changed everything. It was then I knew that there was more to the Mario universe than we thought. Bad guys as we knew them were stereotypes! A Goomba was always the enemy. A Koopa was always the enemy. Stereotypes! Mario Kart changed all that and showed that a Goomba can choose whether it wants to be bad. A Koopa can choose whether it wants to be good. It showed that the Mario universe was bigger than we really thought.

Think about that. :)

[Chronodriftersx]

Thanks for the suggestion about Yoshi's Cucumbr Kart. It worked wonders on 150cc. :D

You know, it's funny. When the first Mario Kart came out on the SNES years ago, I remember one thing that stands out. It was the first time I ever saw one of Mario's enemies portrayed as the good guy. Lakitu. The flag waver. The light holder. Before that game, Mario was the good guy and his enemies were always his enemies. MK changed everything. It was then I knew that there was more to the Mario universe than we thought. Bad guys as we knew them were stereotypes! A Goomba was always the enemy. A Koopa was always the enemy. Stereotypes! Mario Kart changed all that and showed that a Goomba can choose whether it wants to be bad. A Koopa can choose whether it wants to be good. It showed that the Mario universe was bigger than we really thought.

Think about that. :)

Interesting post I thought along similar lines. Also Mario Party has a similar feel in that way.

[Jasoco]

Thanks for the suggestion about Yoshi's Cucumbr Kart. It worked wonders on 150cc. :D

You know, it's funny. When the first Mario Kart came out on the SNES years ago, I remember one thing that stands out. It was the first time I ever saw one of Mario's enemies portrayed as the good guy. Lakitu. The flag waver. The light holder. Before that game, Mario was the good guy and his enemies were always his enemies. MK changed everything. It was then I knew that there was more to the Mario universe than we thought. Bad guys as we knew them were stereotypes! A Goomba was always the enemy. A Koopa was always the enemy. Stereotypes! Mario Kart changed all that and showed that a Goomba can choose whether it wants to be bad. A Koopa can choose whether it wants to be good. It showed that the Mario universe was bigger than we really thought.

Think about that. :)

Interesting post I thought along similar lines. Also Mario Party has a similar feel in that way.

Actually, any game after MK does this way. Before MK, all enemies were enemies. There were no good enemies. Then MK came along. Showed that former enemies could still get together and have a good time. Racing. Later came party games. In Mario 64 we had a good Koopa Troopa. Good Bob-ombs. Mario RPG had good enemies as well. As did the Paper Marios. It's amazing. I'm glad Nintendo decided to break down the stereotype wall.

[classicb]

JJNova you are the man. I've never been hit by so many green shells nor have I ever drove in reverse to try to win a race. Even though I only won 1 out of 8 races they were some of the best races I've had so far.

[JJNova]

JJNova you are the man. I've never been hit by so many green shells nor have I ever drove in reverse to try to win a race. Even though I only won 1 out of 8 races they were some of the best races I've had so far.

Oh yeah, I definitely enjoyed our matches. I liked how I slowed down with that blue shell, and instead of passing me, you pulled up next to me and parked right there in the mud. I was laughing so hard. Damn that screen that shows what the other guy is holding.

Oh yeah, and I like to pride myself on my green shell capabilities. Too bad it really doesn't win me too many victories against DarkStraw.

[pacmanhat]

Grrr...I just played my first online match, and after winning the first two races, the other players dropped out. It may have been a lag out or two, but it reeks of sore-losership. That kinda ruined my online experience, at least for the time being.

Besides that, though, this game is PHENOMENAL. I can't wait to unlock some more stuff and see what else this game has to offer.

Also, can anyone give me some advice on beating Mission 1-8? For the life of me, I can't seem to get the 'slide boost' to work at all. :(

[classicb]

Grrr...I just played my first online match, and after winning the first two races, the other players dropped out. It may have been a lag out or two, but it reeks of sore-losership. That kinda ruined my online experience, at least for the time being.

that happens more times than not. Its better to just play against people here on DP since most everyone stays untill the end. I've only had maybe one or two people drop out here on DP and I would guess even those were to connection failures.

[Avatard]

Who gets what item last really doesn't decide a match. I've had people get spike shells when I'm in the lead about to cross the finish line and still won. It can help but it doesn't make all the difference. If you're a good enough racer you can make due, maybe you're far enough ahead, or maybe you know how to avoid it. Whatever the case the game isn't all about items.

[slip81]

Is it possible to have WiFi battle matches, or is straigt racing the only option for online?

[davidbrit2]

Is it possible to have WiFi battle matches, or is straigt racing the only option for online?

Just straight 4 race GP mode style play.

[ubersaurus]

So, while having a comfortable lead in bowser's castle on 150cc today, I am hit by a first place shell. In midair. Knocking me into the lava, just long enough to get passed.

Rainbow Road, I figured, I can catch up easy here. Well, near the beginning, Koopa knocks me off the track. I respawn, JUST in time to get hit with a bullet bill, and knock right back off. I spent the next two laps catching up with an endless stream of gold mushrooms and bullet bills, but near the end, having gotten back into 4th on the tail of the 3 leaders, lightning strikes when I pick up a weapon, and thusly I have no way of catching up.

I'm speechless.

[goatdan]

Also, can anyone give me some advice on beating Mission 1-8? For the life of me, I can't seem to get the 'slide boost' to work at all. :(

Slide boost ->

Hit the hop button (right shoulder) while starting a turn. While you are sliding press left -> right (or right -> left) with the second direction being the direction you're turning in. Do this once, and you'll see blue sparks. Do it twice and you'll see red sparks and you'll do a slide boost and speed up.

Honestly, I've found that rarely in real races does doing a slide-boost work for catching you up. The other boosts are much more useful. That having been said, that's the way to do it ;)

[Daniel Thomas]

The trick is often knowing when to use powerslide boosts, and when not to. Some of the snakier racetracks practically require it, but many of them don't. The key is to treat the powerslides as one of many skills you can use, and much of it depends on which characters you use (and which karts, once you have all 36 unlocked).

[Nesmaster]

Thanks for the game NE146 :). Some of those were @_@ close! :P

[NE146]

Thanks for the game NE146 :). Some of those were @_@ close! :P

No problem... was fun! :D I got creamed as usual LOL

Damn you guys have got a lot of GAMES under your belt already.. what was your record like 60 games total already? X_x :)

[Nesmaster]

Thanks for the game NE146 :). Some of those were @_@ close! :P

No problem... was fun! :D I got creamed as usual LOL

Damn you guys have got a lot of GAMES under your belt already.. what was your record like 60 games total already? X_x :)

so far i'm at 50 wins 28 losses :P

[joshnickerson]

Just picked it up, but I have no Wi-Fi access yet. I guess I'll end up ordering the dongle from Nintendo.

Other than that, I'm digging the single player mode. I especially love the Retro Cup. There's just something enjoyable about playing the Luigi's Speedway track from Double Dash on my little DS.

[Jasoco]

This game really really really really needs a lobby and messaging features. It's a pain to always end up in random battles. You can't say "Hey, Bob. Meet me for a game." It's more like "Hey, Bob. If we're lucky, we'll get paired up."

5 wins and 12 losses.

[Six Switch]

i have yet to play with anyone from dp,i hope to change that soon.

[Avatard]

I've never had a problem grouping with people I wanted to. If I did have problems thats what the locks on the friends roster is for. If you lock a name its all but 100% sure you'll connect with them. But I do wish there was a lobby, we have chat software but we have no reason to use it.

[DarkStraw]

although i dont think the items determine the outcome by themselves i think they might be a bit overpowered, i mean it dosent matter how far ahead you get because the person in back will get good items, it makes your effort to get ahead kind of pointless. What i do sometimes is stay behind intentionaly around the middle of the race and doge the bananna peels and fake boxes, and bid my time untill i get a really good item like a star, then i hold it till race is almost over (ran past the last of the item boxes) and use it.

[Jasoco]

Locking isn't good enough. I have real friends that I know in person. We like to play together too. How do I know when I connect whether I'm going to get one of them or one of you guys? I want a way to CHOOSE who I play against! At least from groups of friends!

Smooth move, Nintendo.