Mario Kart DS
My Mario Kart DS Friend Code: 128 919 977 221.
I’m loving the DS. For the price of the Mario Kart DS pack, I managed to get the system, Mario Kart, Another Code: Two Memories and Nintendogs (Chihuahua & Friends, since it includes the Boxer). I’ve also since picked up James Pond: Robocod, Super Mario 64 DS, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and a copy of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Quick thoughts so far:
- Very, very impressed with Another Code’s use of the touchscreen. Beautiful, haunting game.
- The use of the thumb-pad on the touchscreen is an interesting control method in Mario 64, though ultimately too fiddly. The d-pad by contrast isn’t quite sensitive enough for 3D play, at least in that game.
- Castlevania has got to be the very best in the series, on any platform. The controls are utterly pixel-perfect; it’s even sharper than Metroid Fusion. Wow.
- I’m pretty sure that Mario Kart DS is even more instantly playable than Super Mario Kart, and it’s a mile better than Double Dash!! was.
- I’m a grown man who catches himself cooing at a pixelated puppy. Yet I can’t conclude that there’s anything wrong with me. Now all they need to bring out is Nintendo Babies for Lauren. Or, actually, maybe not. Scratch that idea. She and her sister Lisa already spent most of the Christmas holidays coming up with baby names.
- James Pond isn’t bad after all these years. Hope they bring out Operation Starfish too though.
- It’s impressive that The Minish Cap doesn’t look at all out of place on the DS. Old-school Link to the Past-style action.
- And lastly, I’m just as impressed with the DS’ config and wifi setup screens as with any of the games. The system settings icon system is utterly gorgeous. Naturally, I want to do a Cocoa project to recreate something like that, in my copious free time. (Copious is a synonym of nonexistent, right?)
Any suggestions for future purchases would of course be welcome. Right now I’m considering Meteos and maybe Kirby: Power Paintbrush (or Canvas Curse, depending on where you are). Might also pick up a copy of the two most recent Metroid games for the GBA.
Oh, and Happy New Year 2006 to everyone out there. I’ll hopefully catch up with you all online before too much longer, and I’ll try to post about the holiday period soon too. In summary, though, we both had a good break and got plenty of cool presents and stuff. Here’s to keeping it decidedly sheercore in the ‘06.
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