Mario Kart DS: Awesome Info
Source: Nintendo Europe

The outcoming DS title will be the first Wi-Fi supported game for the system. There will be 32 tracks available, 16 are classic courses picked from previous Mario Kart titles. Nintendo has told us that the best and most popular MK tracks are included in the game. Collected together as the Retro Grand Prix, the 16 classic circuits are split into four Cups - Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning - each containing four tracks taken from each of the previous Mario Kart games.

Some confirmed tracks include Mario Circuit 1, one of the first tracks on Super Mario Kart on the SNES. I wouldn't consider this circuit to be one of the best, though it is certainly a classic and a "must have" for a Retro Grand Prix. Another track is Bowser Castle 2, also from Super Mario Kart. Long time Mario Kart fans (like me) will remember this track as having annoying jumps and squirting larva. Next there is Moo Moo Farm from Mario Kart 64. This is definitely one of my favourite tracks for the 64 title, after Rainbow Road and Wario Stadium. The mole are annoying, but I love the bumps and turns included in this track.

Finally, we are told that the Mario Kart Double Dash level, Mushroom Bridge, will also be available. This is great news, Mushroom Bridge is one of the most fast pace levels on MKDD. And with 8 players going at the same time (4 if online), and heavy traffic approaching from the opposite direction, this track is going to be pretty hectic. There isn't a Rainbow Road level announced for the game, but there better be or else... <_<

Aside from great new/old tracks, the game will also support great sound effects. Thanks to the DS’s superb surround sound you can hear the other characters racing around you, "from Peach’s giggling as she overtakes, to Donkey Kong’s disgruntled grunting as you drop a banana in his path" according to Nintendo.

A minute long video of some in game footage of Mario Kart DS was released a couple of days ago. It shows a "Peach Beach" lookalike track played by Luigi. The driver is obviously unexperienced with the game (you'll see plenty of crashes and encounters with the wall), but the video is a great example to present the awesome 3D graphics the game portrays. In my opinion, they almost match the MKDD standard, which is a Gamecube title. Please check the video out, ask me for a link if you can't find it.

By the way, the game will be released on the 17th of November for us Australians. Suprisingly, and for the first time ever, we are getting a game released BEFORE the Japan market (8th of December). For the U.S residents, the game will launch on the 14th of November. And for the gamers from Europe, the 25th of the same month.