Mario Kart DS was the fifth installment of the Mario Kart series to hit the market. The title was a great success, becoming one of the best-selling games for Nintendo's handheld. At that time, the online experiences were not so developed for that console. In addition to including several new features compared to previous installments of the series, such as new characters and individual karts for each character, Mario Kart DS was also among the first Nintendo DS games to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.