Mario Kart DS Battle Mode: Balloon Battle, Shine Runners & Arenas

Q: How many battle arenas are in Mario Kart DS?

Six: Nintendo DS, Twilight House, Palm Shore, Tart Top, Block Fort and Pipe Plaza.

Two battle games on six arenas, played against the computer or with friends over local wireless. Everyone drives their standard kart, which has its own battle stats.

Balloon Battle

Everyone starts with one balloon and four more in reserve.
Blow into the microphone (or hold SELECT) to inflate more; you can show up to three at once.
A hit pops a balloon; ramming someone with a Mushroom steals one.
Lose every balloon and you are out. The fewer balloons you have, the better your items.

Shine Runners

Nine Shine Sprites are scattered around the arena at the start.
A hit from an item makes you drop a Shine for someone else to grab.
When the timer runs out (60 seconds at first), whoever has the fewest Shines is out, then the timer resets to 30 seconds.
Racers with fewer Shines get better items.

The six arenas

Nintendo DS Nitro (new) Download Play

An arena built on a giant original-model Nintendo DS floating in space, with its top and bottom screens forming two connected platforms. The top screen shows the Mario Kart DS title screen, and the only danger is driving off the edge.

Two linked platforms: four Item Boxes in a ring on the top screen and six on the bottom
No obstacles apart from the open edges
Ten Shine Sprite spawn points in Shine Runners, five on each screen
Also used for two gate missions, 1-5 and 7-6

Missions: 1-5, 7-6

Twilight House Nitro (new)

A house and its walled grounds in a forest at dusk, floating over a dark void. The arena is a 3x3 grid of eight rooms around a closed-off centre, ringed by a narrow balcony with nothing to stop you falling.

Most rooms are open-air yards walled with brick, and all but the north-east room have Item Boxes
The north-west room holds a castle-like building with portcullis gateways
The outer balcony has an Item Box at each corner but risks a fall into the void
Eight Shine Sprite spawn points in Shine Runners

Missions: 3-8

Palm Shore Nitro (new)

A round arena of three sandy islands in a shallow sea, similar in look to Cheep Cheep Beach. The tide rises and falls every few seconds, flooding the middle and slowing anyone caught in deep water.

A round central island plus two curved islands to the west and east
Most Item Boxes are in the middle, with more along the inner edges of the side islands
Deep water slows karts drastically, and the dark outer sea counts as falling off
Eight Shine Sprite spawn points in Shine Runners

Missions: 4-2

Tart Top Nitro (new) Download Play

A giant round pie topped with jellies, berries and cream mounds. The Item Boxes float high in the air and can only be reached by riding the Dash Panel that circles the cream mountain in the middle.

Cream mounds bounce karts away like pinball bumpers and splash pink icing over your screen
Clear the icing by waiting, hitting the Dash Panel or using a Mushroom
Shine Sprites spawn around the outer ring and in the central Item Box ring

Missions: 5-6

Block Fort Retro, from Mario Kart 64

The Mario Kart 64 arena returns with its four coloured forts, now given a stone finish. Ramps climb to two levels in each fort, linked by bridges, so fights happen both on the ground and up in the air.

Four forts in red, green, blue and yellow, one in each corner
Ramps lead up two levels, with bridges linking the forts
Thirteen Shine Sprite spawn points, the most of any arena in the game
Has no N64 prefix in its Mario Kart DS name

Missions: 6-4

Pipe Plaza Retro, from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Download Play

A compact square plaza from Double Dash!!, enclosed by a brick wall, with warp pipes linking the ground to a raised wire-mesh deck. It is one of the smaller arenas, so battles turn hectic quickly.

Four large pipes warp karts between the lower plaza and the upper mesh deck
Two ramps also connect the deck and the plaza
The midair Item Boxes and ramp posts from the original were removed
If two karts enter a pipe at once, one can be dropped out of bounds

Missions: 3-5

FAQ

How many battle arenas are in Mario Kart DS?

Six: Nintendo DS, Twilight House, Palm Shore and Tart Top are new, while Block Fort (Mario Kart 64) and Pipe Plaza (Double Dash!!) return.

How do you blow up balloons in Mario Kart DS?

Blow into the DS microphone, or hold SELECT.

Could you battle online?

No. Battle Mode was never available over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, only locally.

Sources & picture credits

Guide text is original retrogameindex writing, checked against the Super Mario Wiki and the Mario Kart Racing Wiki. Kart statistics, staff ghost times and item odds are the values from the game data as transcribed by the Super Mario Wiki. Screenshots, renders and artwork © Nintendo; local copies archived from Super Mario Wiki file pages (listed on the image gallery).