Which feature lets Mario Party DS support local multiplayer with one game card?

Mario Party DS supports local multiplayer with one game card through Download Play. The Nintendo DS transmits the necessary multiplayer data wirelessly to other nearby systems, allowing several players to join without each owning a copy.

This feature suited Mario Party DS particularly well because the game was built around short minigames and group play. Up to four human players can compete, and a 2007 trailer highlighted wireless play with only one game cartridge. The system hosting the game sends a temporary version or session data to participating DS units.

Download Play is easy to confuse with later Nintendo networking features. It does not mean online multiplayer, and it is unrelated to PictoChat, the DS messaging application. SpotPass and StreetPass belong to later Nintendo handheld connectivity systems; neither describes the one-cartridge multiplayer function in Mario Party DS.

Mario Party DS was released in 2007 and was the only Mario Party title made for the original Nintendo DS. Its local wireless design helped make the handheld game a portable counterpart to the series’ console multiplayer.