Mario Kart DS Time Trial 13/32 Wario Stadium

Wario Stadium is more like a show full of daredevil feats. It’s an immense arena surrounded by an overcrowded grandstand, with dirt tracks, muddy paths and fire obstacles. This is Wario’s own version of Supercross, with huge ramps that remind me of Excite Bike, speed boost panels that help you to cross the mud, bumpy roads and tight curves. Though the course is shorter than its Mario Kart 64 counterpart, the DS version offers much more variety and astonishingly good visuals. There are banners where it’s written WLGP, which stands for Waluigi GP (the “L” is upside down) and banners with Wario GP, but the illuminated signs are the ones that really stand out. The music here is the same from Waluigi Pinball course, but I didn’t realise it at first. Perhaps that’s due to the absense of all the electronic sounds (bleeps) from the pinball machine. If you drive over a dash panel located on a ramp, your kart will perform an extra high jump, and we all know the crowds are nuts about stunts. So whenever you do that, they’ll start cheering. This is particularly great when you jump through a circle of flames, just like the good old Pole Position cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid. Unlike most Mario Kart courses, the race here is held at night-time, and you can even glance at the starry sky. Besides, at night it’s easier to see the flash of the pictures taken by the responsive crowd. As to the track itself, Wario Stadium is somewhat tricky. Certain turns do require some attention …