Three Weeks Left Until MKDS

Four new Mario Kart DS videos have surfaced at the Spanish Mario Kart website, JeuxFrance. They were posted at aussie-nintendo.com, along with ther final boxart for the game. Here is the boxart:



I guess it is a little plain, but as the saying goes, don't judge a game by its boxart... or something like that. Anyway, here are links to the four new videos:

Video 1:
ftp://www.jeux-france.com/Nintendo_DS/Mario_Kart_DS_8.avi
Video 2:
ftp://www.jeux-france.com/Nintendo_DS/Mario_Kart_DS_9.avi
Video 3:
ftp://www.jeux-france.com/Nintendo_DS/Mario_Kart_DS_10.avi
Video 4:
ftp://www.jeux-france.com/Nintendo_DS/Mario_Kart_DS_11.avi

The first video features Mario, riding a bulky looking kart on what looks like Mario or Peach circuit. Notice the quality of the graphics, and the smoothness of gameplay presented in the footage. His turns are nice and smooth, and the graphics certainly look realistic. The shell item looked very easy to use, though it travelled very slowely when shot. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the N64 green shells, where the player to actually catch up to one after he shoots it.

The next video shows a battle game, similar to the "Shine" mode from Mario Kart Double Dash. It seems the objective is to collect as many shine items as possible, then use whatever means neccessary to steal them off each other. The background could make you a little dizzy, but the idea of having a battle on a cake, or cookie, or whatever it is, with a hole enclosed by boost pads in the middle, certainly looks interesting.

The third video is another Shine battle, demonstrating a different arena. This one resembles a giant Nintendo DS console, with the top half slanted to increase driving difficulty. The game ran similarly to the second video, except this time the player controller Luigi comes first. The concept of having 8 players duking it out in various battle modes is awesome, it will be great to verse friends in such a way. I believe this is the first time there is an 8 player battle option in any Mario Kart game.

The last video was the one I found to be most interesting. This one shows DK riding what looks like a motorcyle kart. The way the player keeps crashing into walls is hillarious (DK must hate him). The stage itself seems tricky, players navigate their way up a steep snowy mountain top. There is also a new item shown, the bullet thing (sorry about the terms) fro mearly Mario games. Acting like a cross between a boost and chain chomp from Double Dash, DK was thrusted forward like there was a guided rocket pushing him from behind :D.

Well, only 3 weeks left until the game is released in Australia. I am personally arguing with myself, whether to buy this game on release day, or purchase a GB micro next week (launching on November 3rd). I only have enough cash for one, and will probably buy the other in a month or so. What do you guys think? Should I get a Micro first, or buy MKDS and purchase a Micro at the end of this year?