Mario Kart DS is a 2005 kart racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD Group No. 1 and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in November 2005 in North America, Europe, and Australia, and on December 8, 2005, in Japan. The game was re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in North America and PAL regions in April 2015 and in Japan in May 2016. The game is the fifth main entry in the Mario Kart series of video games, and the first to be playable via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service; the service has since been terminated, along with other games playable via the service. Like the other games in the series, Mario Kart DS features characters from the Mario series, and pits them against each other as they race in karts on tracks based on locations in the Mario series. The game received critical acclaim, receiving an aggregated score of 91% from Metacritic. Praise focused on the game's graphics and gameplay, while criticism targeted its repetitive single-player mode, although its inclusion of Battle and Versus mode for single player were well received. Mario Kart DS received several awards, including Editors' Choice Awards from GameSpot and IGN, G-Phorias Best Handheld Game award, and IGN's Best Racing/Driving Game. Mario Kart DS was the best-selling game in its first month of release, and also held that position the following month. Overall, Mario Kart DS is the third best-selling game for the Nintendo DS as of March 2016, and the third best-selling Mario Kart game, behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Wii, with 23.6 million units sold worldwide. Gameplay Mario Kart DS is a racing game in which the player races in a kart against other racers as one of 12 characters from the Mario series. The player has access to Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Bowser by default, while Daisy, Dry Bones, Waluigi and R.O.B can be unlocked through gameplay. Only two karts are initially available for each character. An additional kart can be unlocked once some progress is made, and when all 150cc cups are completed with B rank or higher, each character will have access to all 36 karts. While racing or battling, the Nintendo DS's top screen offers a third-person perspective of the player's kart, while the bottom touchscreen shows the race's current standings,