games were "hardcore gamers". With Mario Kart DS, Konno wanted "everyone to go online, and the technology and time is right for that to happen". Continuing with the tradition of introducing a new gameplay mechanic in each Mario Kart game, Mario Kart DS is the first in the series to support up to eight players at the same time with game cartridges. New to the series, the game also includes a single-player Battle Mode, which does not require that there be at least two human participants. As the first Mario Kart game for the Nintendo DS, the developers tested several features that took advantage of the device's bottom touchscreen. They considered letting players place items anywhere on the track instead of just behind their kart. However, the developers found it too confusing because the game already had too many distractions, making it difficult to control where to place items while racing. In Mario Kart DS, a kart is able to draft behind another kart to gain a speed boost momentarily, a feature that was also previously used in the 1996 video game Mario Kart 64. Mario Kart DS places a stronger focus on the feature and once again provides a visual cue when a kart is drafting. In an interview, Konno noted that they included tracks from previous Mario Kart games into Mario Kart DS so that players who played the original Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System would feel more familiar with the DS iteration of the series. The game's soundtrack is composed by Mario Kart: Double Dash composer Shinobu Tanaka with voices by Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, Jen Taylor as Princess Peach and Toad, Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi, Deanna Mustard as Daisy, Takashi Nagasako as Donkey Kong, and Scott Burns as Bowser. Reception Mario Kart DS was released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in North America on November 14, 2005, in Australia on November 17, 2005, in Europe in November 2005, and in Japan on December 8, 2005. Nintendo later revealed that Mario Kart DS would also be sold bundled with a new red-colored Nintendo DS starting on November 28, 2005, along with "a checkered-flag wrist strap, and racing-inspired decals to customize new red handheld". The game was released to critical acclaim; it holds an aggregated score of 91% on Metacritic. Praise focused on the game's graphics and gameplay, while