Mario Kart: Double Dash!! - Mario Kart Times Two

Following the string of traditional Nintendo sequels, Mario Kart for the Gamecube has finally released. The Mario Kart series started on the Super Nintendo with Super Mario Kart, then it was revamped and released on the Nintendo 64, and then in 2001 Mario Kart: Super Circuit came out on the Gameboy Advance. Now that the Gamecube’s been out a good two years and something day, it’s about time another Mario Kart came out with a touch of next-generation love. Nintendo brought a lot of new features to the table, and comes very close to being even better than Mario Kart 64. Add another must have title to the Gamecube’s library; Double Dash is definitely a keeper. One thing that baffles me is what the point of the two explanation points was after Double Dash. The world, may never know.

Gameplay

Nintendo didn’t change much of the foundation set by Mario Kart 64, but the gameplay has changed dramatically this time for the better. There are still the two basic modes for single player; Grand Prix (50cc, 100cc, 150cc) and Time Trial, plus the battle mode for multiplayer, and there’s also a new co-op mode where one person drives and the other takes care of the power-up items. The single player is fun for a little while, but Double Dash is definitely all about the multiplayer. The single player is good for unlocking new vehicles and multiplayer maps, but from there, the multiplayer is where it’s at.

Double Dash is 1-4 players, with the multiplayer Grand Prix and Co-op being prime for 1-2 players, and battle being best for 3 or 4 players. Battle is where everybody’s got 3 balloons, and you’re out to hit the other players with items to knock all 3 balloons off (one falls off every time they’re hit, so 3 hits to knock somebody completely out of the match). Double Dash even has two new modes apart from the regular 3 balloon shoot out like the Bob-omb battle mode where all items turn into bombs and you're trying to blow each other up to get some stars, and then a version of capture the flag. Double Dash would have been a great game to support the broadband adapter to go online, but Nintendo of course wouldn’t do it, and instead the game has LAN support with up to 8 Gamecubes. Move over Halo, Double Dash has been invited to the party.

So what’s new about Double Dash? Instead of driving a little go-kart that looks the same for every racer, you now race in box car looking karts, and there are two players on each kart this time. There are a few new characters to pick like Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Birdo, but basically the same characters from Mario Kart 64 return like Mario, Yoshi, Bowser, Peach, and Wario. The point of having two characters on one Kart is that certain characters do well with other characters. There are 3 types of weight classes; small, medium, and large. For example, Baby Mario is in the small class, Mario and Luigi are in the medium class, and the big boys include Wario, Donkey Kong, and Bowser.

You can mix and match big and small characters, but it’s usually the bigger character that will decide what karts you can use. The karts come in classes also, coordinating with the size of the characters. Once you get to racing, one character stays on back, while the other one drives. The Kart’s performance will depend on what two characters you’re using, and which one is on back or driving. Each kart has their own individual stats, like the small ones accelerate fast but the top speed is slow, and the big ones accelerate slow and have the best top speed. The best example I can use is if you use Bowser and Mario. When Mario is in the driver’s seat, Bowser’s weight on the back will cause the Kart to turn loose and slide in the back. If Mario’s on the back, because he’s so light, and Bowser’s weight is so heavy, then taking turns is much tighter. You can switch characters on the fly by pressing the Z button, which is what Nintendo wanted people to be able to do.

The question mark boxes are back, and many of the old items like red shells, green shells, mushrooms, and the lightning bolts return, as well as some new items like each character’s special attack (Luigi’s green ball of fire, man that’s funny). There are also new double boxes where both characters will pick up an item. One of the most useful features that Nintendo took away from Double Dash was being able to hold single shells, bananas, and the trick item boxes behind the kart so that if someone shoots a shell or they ram you from behind, you won’t get hit, and if they ram you from behind, it’ll hurt them. Also, if you hit a banana, you can’t correct yourself anymore like in Mario Kart 64.

Graphics

No matter what Mario game it is, or any Nintendo game for that matter, you can always count on the graphics being up beat, and definitely full of color. Most of the tracks look like recycled versions of the ones from Mario Kart 64, but nevertheless look real good. Double Dash may not have the extreme detail as Final Fantasy X-2 or other similar games, but the attention to detail isn’t what Nintendo wanted. The game is colorful, and the tracks are as detailed as they could probably get at the moment. There aren’t as many rough edges in the backgrounds as there was in MK64, and the characters have been polished up a bit. The frame rate stays constant no matter what, and switching characters is very smooth.

By far the best visuals in Double Dash are the Karts themselves. Like already stated, the Karts have changed, and they now look different from each other and have lots of detail to them. Some of the Karts include a baby stroller, giant log with wheels, pink convertible, turtle shell, and a six wheeler with flames on it and spikes on the wheels (bet you can’t guess whose Kart THAT is). There is a specific kart for all the characters, some of them just having a different color of the same model. You can tell that Nintendo got really creative in creating these new karts.

Sound

Most of the music and sound effects were recycled from MK64, but there are a few new sound clips as well as character voices that have been added. The Kart sounds, the different effects, and catchy tunes all mold together so that nothing really gets boring to fast. The new voice clips are very comical, such as Waluigi’s “I’ma number 1” and Baby Mario’s “Babbbby Maaaaaaaaaaario!” Some of the voices can get kind of annoying, but they’re funny.

Overall

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! improved in many ways over Mario Kart 64, and it’s the perfect game for any Gamecube owner for the holidays. The single-player gets boring after a while, but the multiplayer more than makes up for the single player slack. MK64 was one of the top multiplayer games for the N64, and Double Dash has the potential to do the same.

happy gaming