Revved up for Karting
32 tracks, eight player multiplayer and more revealed by producer
With the relegation of Metroid Prime Hunters and Animal Crossing DS into 2006, it’s up to Mario Kart DS to create excitement for DS owners who want a chunk of old fashioned Nintendo goodness this year.
Latest inside information on the title comes courtesy of Hideki Konno, who’s the game’s producer. According to him, the game is return to the fun of the original Mario Kart games.
“Whenever we are make a new Mario Kart we trying to make it something special,” he said. “I really don’t want anyone to say ‘Oh, there have been too many Mario Karts over the years, I don’t need any more’.
So out go the double character combat combos of the GameCube’s Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and it’s back to one-player-per-kart-chaos.
There are two main focusses for the game. One is the single-player mode which includes grand prix racing and time trials and adds verses and battle modes where the other racers are controlled by the DS. Konno reveals there will be 32 tracks; 16 of which are reworkings of old favourites for the DS and 16 of which are brand new.
“Because DS is a capable machine, we’re actually creating some kind of topography so that there are ups and downs in the courses,” he said. For example, one level is a huge pinball table with bumpers, flippers and pinballs rolling through it.
The other focus of the game is multiplayer, which will support up to eight racers via DS’ local wi-fi connectivity, although there’s still no news about a proper Internet multiplayer mode so players across Europe can race each other.
More information and details of the interview with Hideki Konno can be found at Nintendo Europe’s official website (www.nintendo-europe.com - free but registration required).
Mario Kart DS is released on 25 November.
