Double The Fun!!!

Yes, I know, you all thought I was dead. Well anyway, I've finally gotten around to writing a review for the latest installment of one of my favorite series ever, the Mario Kart series.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash you, surprisingly enough, get to use two characters. Imagine that. Now this may not sound like it would effect game play much and if it sounds like that to you, you must not play games very often. Probably the most significant fact about this is that each character has his or her own special weapon that only members of that team can use. So you have to use a little strategy to try and find the best combo of characters. Although sometimes it's just fun to race with your favorite characters.

Another thing that having two characters in this game changes is the weight factor. Now I know what you’re saying, but Dr. X, characters had different weights in the other games also, what makes this game different? Well in this game it will decide what cars you can use. See, it works out like this, if you have only light characters, you can use only light cars. But say you add a medium character, then you can only use medium cars, because Peach's fat butt obviously could not fit in a baby carriage. The rest is determined by the car's stats (Steering, Weight, etc.)

Alright, so let's get on with the rest of the review.

GRAPHICS-4/5
The graphics in this game are superb over the graphics of some of the other Gamecube games, but it just doesn't match up to some of the other games like Metroid Prime and Zelda. But I won't waste my time complaining about this. Especially when there is so much more of this game to pick on.

GAMEPLAY-5/5
This is where this game really struts its stuff. This game triumphs where other racing games fail and that is the fact that you get to throw stuff at people. Racing games are fun for a little while but with Mario Kart they let you add to that fun by tormenting babies by throwing giant Bowser shells at them (you would know what I was talking about if you were to play the game). This game can be played for hours on single player and even longer with a friend.

Another thing that really distinguishes this game from other racing games (including the other Mario Karts) is the Cooperative Grand Prix mode. You can play through everything you normally would by yourself, with a friend. One person will drive while the other throws stuff and your equally annoying enemies. Although in my opinion, you should probably let the racing veterans drive and leave the throwing to the novices.

Alright, now I shall telleth thee about the many (2) modes that can be playedeth with thou and thine friends...eth.

SINGLE PLAYER MODE-4/5
As like in all Mario Kart games the Single Player mode consists of you driving around in circles of various shapes and sizes while causing as much bodily harm on you opponents as possible, just to prevent them from winning. Man, is this generation violent or what. Anyway, a few new things that have been added to the Single Player mode to make it more enjoyable and make you play it longer (and occasionally hate the game with every fiber of your being) are the facts that you can unlock new courses, vehicles, and even characters while races. Holy Crap! Characters in a Mario Kart game that aren't available at the very beginning AND cars that don't all look exactly the same! It's like the exact opposite of Mario Kart 64, and Super Mario Kart, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and any other Mario Kart game there is if I've missed one.

The other nice addition is the fact that you can hold 2 weapons at once by letting one character get an item and then having them switch spots and let the other character get one. Fun. But I'll discuss that later in the Weapons section.

The only strange thing about this game is the Difficulty level. It seems like the first two settings (50cc and 100cc) are pretty easy. And then you reach the second two, and are blown away by the intense difficulty of the game. But it's all in good fun when you finally earn some new levels, which is what I wanted to talk about. The game can get pretty boring racing on the same courses over and over again, especially the 16 race All Cups Tour, but I shouldn't be talking about that. Uhhh, moving on.

MULTI PLAYER-4/5
And here is where the game gets its biggest disappointment, there is no online mode. Yes there is a LAN mode, but that requires you to have multiple TV's, multiple Gamecubes, and multiple copies of the same game. What person has that kind of money! There is an unofficial online way to play, but if you want to know about that, just email me. You can find my address at the member page. Now, by no means is the Multi player mode bad though. It is really fun actually, because there are so many different modes. There is the Co-op Grand Prix, the Vs. Grand Prix, Vs. Racing, Battle Mode, Balloon Battle, the list goes on and on and on. If you want to find them all buy the game. Oh, by the way, that's just for 2 players. Just imagine how many there are for 3 and 4 players. Whatever, I should probably wrap this up now.

WEAPONS
Okay, I just had to add this in here because there are so many cool weapons in this game (and some not so cool ones). Also, each character set (excluding the final secret one) has their own special weapon that only they can use. On top of that, you can have 2 weapons at a time! Just imagine, throwing a flying blue shell at the person in first while mowing down the rest with a giant chain chomp. I love violence. Some of the specials can be confusing though. For example, why is Baby Mario's special weapon the Chain Chomp while Donkey Kong has a wimpy little King Banana. But all of the weapons you knew and loved from Mario Kart 64 are back along with some very fun new ones (and DK's stupid banana).

Anyway, in conclusion, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is one of the greatest arcade racing games out there for everyone that both likes and hates Mario characters. This is a game everyone should at least rent if not buy it. Even if you're not a fan of racing games. Of course, if you want to hate them even more, I can always recommend F-ZERO GX (look for a review coming soon)

I give Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the Nintendo Gamecube a perfect 5 out of 5! Now go buy it!