Jaco’s Random Writings

So I have developed an addiction to Mario Kart DS. Yeah, the game’s been around for a while, but I play it quite often. I’ve been the game. The entire game. Everything. There really isn’t much for me to do. So I got bored and started messing around with it a little. I remembered that one of the missions you did in “Mission Mode” was to race Donkey Kong on his track, but you raced from Finish to Start. I decided to see which other tracks you could do that with. Really, it was like racing on new tracks. This isn’t like Mirror Mode where you just have to turn right where you’d normally turn left. No, this is a whole new beast.

Just to make sure there is no confusion with terminology, by “racing backward” or “racing the tracks in reverse”, I don’t mean holding down “B” and driving the track in reverse. By “reverse”, I mean swinging the cart around and driving in the other direction. Not all the tracks can be raced backwards. Here are the tracks in Mario Kart DS that you can race in reverse:
Nitro Series

• Figure-8 Circuit
• Yoshi Falls
• Luigi’s Mansion*
• Desert Hills
• Delfino Square*
• Shroom Ridge
• DK Pass*
• Mario Circuit
• Wario Stadium*
• Peach Gardens*

Retro Series

• Mario Circuit 1
• Moo Moo Farm
• Peach Circuit
• Donut Plains 1
• Baby Park
• Koopa Beach 2
• Choco Mountain*
• Luigi Circuit
• Mushroom Bridge
• Choco Island 2*
• Yoshi Circuit*

*Tracks that are actually more fun when raced backwards.

The only downside is that you have to deal with Lakitu holding the “U-turn” sign the entire time. Gets a little annoying after a while, especially on tracks with other vehicles as you sometimes can’t see them because Lakitu is buzzing in your face like a drunken bee.

So that’s my wish for the next version of Mario Kart: Reverse Mode. Design the tracks so that you could technically race them in the other direction. Then implement a mode where you do that. If Nintendo doesn’t do that, then I will do it if ever I design and develop an arcade-style racing game.