Mario Kart DS is celebrating its 20-year anniversary today, November 14, 2025. Below, we examine how the fan community has kept the game alive, and online, long after official servers were retired.
When Mario Kart DS launched in 2005, it felt like a glimpse into the future. For the first time, Nintendo’s chaotic, shell-filled racer could be played online, pitting players from around the world against each other in real-time competition. It was a leap few handheld games had dared to make at the time.
Two decades later, the official Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection servers that powered those matchups are long gone, but the race never really stopped. Through fan-built tools, open-source servers, and emulation projects, Mario Kart DS remains alive and well–still spinning its wheels in the hands of a dedicated community that refuses to let it drift into the past.
