Two modes to choose from: "Balloon Battle" and "Shine Runners." Balloon

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The ultimate Mario Kart race is on??and online via your Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in Mario Kart DS. Drawing on more than 30 courses and battle arenas from every game in the Mario Kart series - not to mention tons of new ones?? Mario Kart DS allows you to play as Mario?? Luigi?? Princess Peach?? Wario?? Yoshi?? Donkey Kong?? Toad?? Bowser and Shy Guy as you put the pedal to the go-kart metal?? grab coins to max out your speed and blast rivals with the ever-popular arsenal of red?? green and spiked Koopa shells in a race to finally put to rest the question of who is the true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racing circuit.

Race the Mushroom circuit

Mario looking tough in his kart in 'Mario Kart DS'
Mario is a veteran of the circuit.
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Character selection screen in 'Mario Kart DS'
Choose your favorite character.
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Princess Peach on here kart in 'Mario Kart DS'
Peach is a master drifter.
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Selecting your kart in 'Mario Kart DS'
Select the Kart you want.
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Bowser with his kart in in 'Mario Kart DS'
Bowser is the bruiser of the track.
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Racing stats in 'Mario Kart DS'
Watch your position in the pack.
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Progressing Through the Game
Place first in Grand Prix circuits or clear skill-based missions to open up increasingly difficult and thrilling circuits. Of course players can have multiplayer races on any open courses or battle in arenas.

Game Modes: At Least Five Ways to Play
Whether you prefer to race by yourself or to mix it up with friends Mario Kart DS is a game with something for everyone. Features five different game modes these include a 'VS' and 'Battle' mode that are available in multiplayer for up to eight players via local wireless connection while all modes are available singleplayer. See a complete list and description of the play modes below:

Grand Prix Mode: In Grand Prix Mode the driver who earns the most points at the end of a four-course cup is the victor. Mario Kart DS features eight different cups with each cup featuring four different tracks.
Time Trial Mode: Your objective in Time Trial Mode is to get the fastest time that you can on a single track. . You can save your best runs as ghost data and share them with a friend.
VS Mode: A competitive mode that can be either singleplayer. or multiplayer. In the singleplayer. version you'll race against computer-controlled karts while in multiplayer you'll race against human opponents who play using their own Nintendo DS systems.
Battle Modes: Mario Kart DS contains two battle modes.

Balloon Battle Mode: Your goal is to pop your opponent's balloons by attacking/stealing them by colliding into an opponent via a mushroom boost before your own balloons are popped.
Shine Runners: In this mode the driver who collects the most Shine Sprites is the winner.

Mission Mode: In this mode you are given sets of specific missions that you must clear in order to move on to the next set of missions. What could wait at the end?

Special Powers Weapons Moves & Features
Turbo power-drifting and item tossing is the order of the day whether players are racing around an obstacle-filled track or battling in an arena. Use familiar items taken from every game in the series like Green Shells homing Red Shells Bananas Bombs Lightning and the destructive Spiny Shell not to mention new ones like the Blooper. The touch screen features a map that shows items being fired at players who can even tap it with their fingers mid-race to zoom in or out.

Wireless Communication: Even More Ways to Play:
Mario Kart DS features three different forms of wireless game play: two kinds of local wireless game play and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online game play. Mario Kart DS offers two different options for LAN Wireless game play: DS Download Play in which only one player has Mario Kart DS and all players have Nintendo DS systems and Multi-Card Play in which all players have Mario Kart DS and Nintendo DS systems.

DS Download Play
As with all DS Download multiplayer games the DS Download Play in Mario Kart DS requires that only one player has a copy of the game. Unlike past DS games however DS Download Play in Mario Kart DS allows multiple players who have the game card to play with multiple players who do not have the game card. DS Download Play offers the following features:

2-8 player simultaneous wireless game play.
A choice of multiplayer racing?? Balloon Battle?? or Shine Runner modes.
Players who own Mario Kart DS can choose their own characters and use personalized icons?? while players who do not own Mario Kart DS must play as Shy Guy and cannot use personalized player icons.
Track selection is limited to eight tracks for racing and three arenas for Balloon Battle and Shine Runner modes.
DS Download Play is limited to the 100 cc engine class

Multi-Card Play