It’s Mario Kart DS’ 17th anniversary, and Waluigi Pinball is still one of the best tracks in the series

I might make you tremble when I tell you mario kart ds it’s one of the first ways I experienced Mario Kart. I later visited the N64 version and would (of course) frequent the Wii version as well. But Mario Kart DS will always have the most special place in my heart among all of them.

Growing up, I traveled a lot between my parents. I still do it, but not as often as I should. Anyway, you better believe that my Nintendo DS and trusty R4 card accompanied me everywhere, and what better to play during a long car ride than a racing game about fast cars and Nintendo superstars?

While I never had as much fun on my own as I did competing against friends from school, I must have spent hours and hours recording time trials over the years. I probably had a much better time then than I do now, despite my obnoxious insistence that I will. One day get the world record mario kart 8 Waluigi Pinball deluxe at 150cc. I will, and I won’t shut up about it. Watch this space. It’s only a matter of weeks. Or months. Or years.

With Pinball Waluigi With that in mind, I think it’s important that on the anniversary of Mario Kart DS, we reflect on one of the best original Mario Kart DS tracks. Waluigi Pinball is among my all-time favorites; only the likes of Moo Moo Meadows and Coconut Mall can even come close to how good the home course of Luigi’s lanky rival is.

For starters, the Waluigi Pinball track takes place in a large, vibrant pinball machine. Does it get more chaotic than that? I can imagine people shouting ‘Rainbow Road!’ right now, but unfortunately, I don’t care to listen. Waluigi Pinball beats Rainbow Road, final of. The twists and turns and the nasty noises and the neon – it’s all so Waluigi, isn’t it?

Anyway, as you make your way down the track and probably neglect the scenery (since you’re probably trying to beat that pesky ghost or CPU), the stadium is decked out in pretty neon lights and metallic spheres. Eventually, you can run (or drive) like crazy between pinballs, bumpers, and other players as you race along the bulletin board and into another tunnel. Suddenly all the colors and shapes in play become a lot less pretty and a lot more annoying.

Honestly, Waluigi Pinball is the closest thing to cyberpunk than a Mario Kart track, and a revamped version of the track was recently added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I really enjoy getting my non-Mario Kart playing friends to try it out as their first clue, luring them in with the promise that “at least this isn’t Rainbow Road” before annihilating them in-game; It’s cool, I know, but I have to show my friends whose boss it is when it comes to Mario Kart. Waluigi Pinball is also a great clue to show that Mario Kart, for those who rarely play it, is a lot more fun than just spinning each other around.

Let’s not forget that this track is Waluigi’s time to shine, and he’s certainly one of the most chaotically aligned characters in the series, bringing trouble wherever he goes. Being what is essentially ‘bad Luigi’, it’s no surprise that the illusory giant has us driving a pinball machine in his own racing sadistic deathtrap.

He would love The Sims.