Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

"Third time's the charm"

Three Mario Kart games into the series and they finally add some realism into it. I've been looking forward to this game for a very long time now, and am rather surprised (in a good way) with what I got as I played the game. The game has many unique tracks, and has a very unique style. I think Nintendo has struck gold with this game, because this just seems perfect. Of coarse a game can't go without flaws, so I've decided to post all flaws in this introduction (so when you hear all of the many good things, the flaws won't make you change your mind. This way, the flaws will be shoved to the back of your head as you hear the good things. Trust me, it's better hearing them separate than together). OK, first of all, the 100 and 150 CC actually make a difference here. When I entered 150 cc in Mario Kart 64, I found no difficulty change. And as a matter of fact, I entered 150 cc before I entered 50 cc, and managed to beat 150 cc easy. Here, thinking things would be the same, I entered 150 cc, only to get thrown down and spit on. While this is probably a good thing, many gamers from the past will try a similar thing, and probably get discouraged. So in a way, it's a great thing. In another way, it's a real pain. Anyway, flaw 2. While I'm happy the pushed some realism into this, realistic doesn't mean turning like you're on ice (and when you actually get on ice in the game, and you will, you'll feel totally out of control). It's OK to adjust to, but it'll take some time. And finally, flaw 3 - the bonus disk. While this doesn't actually relate to the game itself, it was still a disappointment. I remember Nintendo was going to put Mario Kart 64 on the disk, along with some demos. But it seems they changed their minds, removed the Mario Kart 64 game and replaced it with game videos. I had no problem after adjusting to this disk, either. It's got Mario Party 5 (demo), Ninja Turtles (demo), F Zero GX (Demo), Sonic Heroes (Demo) and Star Wars: Rouge Squadron 3 (demo) and I play those all the time. But I never watch the videos, and what was Nintendo thinking with the Kirby: Air ride video!? Some dude singing 'If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em!' in the background is NOT COOL. When I viewed it with my friends, they laughed at me. No, not the video, but me, for foolishly choosing this game. Sure, the stopped after playing some DD (Double Dash) but the preview videos are sad. Nice try, but no good. Anyway, that's out of the way. Let's take a gander at the finer points.

The graphics in this game are great. The environments are lively with smooth animation, and everything has a shine to it. OK, some of the graphics are re-used (the inhabitants from Isle Delfino for one) but those you can look past. Each model (kart) is designed very well and cleverly. For example, you won't find any modern technology on DK's Kart, but only logs and things out of the environment. This is great. And Wario, with his purple car. OK, some could call it a pimp's car (and it really does look like one... but hey, there's more proof Nintendo isn't all 'kiddie') but it still looks very nice. All the karts are designed for their specific characters, and you can tell which character has which kart, easy. It's designed great. Some tracks go out of their way to provide extra good graphics. For example, on DK Mountain, the forest is pretty good. And Nintendo didn't have to pay attention to things that didn't really matter like that, but they did anyway. Nintendo has done a great job in terms of the graphics. Nothing short of excellent. 10/10.

The sound is some re-mixes, some from Super Mario Sunshine, some totally new. It's a mixture, and a mixture that works. OK, no, you won't be getting these things stuck in your head, and you also won't be humming them. But, they aren't bad tunes. I mean, you're not going to burn a CD with this stuff on it. But you ARE going to enjoy it as you play the game. The title screen music isn't my favorite, I can say, but I have no real problem with it. That's the thing - the music is perfect. It's not super good, but perfect. It sounds a little weird, but it's very difficult how to say this... if someone were to ask you if you liked the music, you'd say it's 'OK' but it's really perfect. If you don't understand, buy the game and see for yourself (besides, I was eventually going to tell you to buy the game anyway). Good music, nothing wrong with it. 10/10.

The racing is extremely good. I loved it. It was at a nice speed (not super slow, but not F Zero fast) and it was just... perfect. There are 2 modes - Grand Prix and Time Trial. In Grand Prix, you enter certain races for cups, which give you things like new karts for winning. In Time Trial, you test and get used to the courses, as well as try to go through a coarse as fast as you can (if you go fast enough, you can unlock special 'ghosts' which you compete against, trying to break their record). Grand Prix has 4 different cups (but only 3 at first). Each cup has a difficulty. The difficulties range from Easy to Very hard (Easy, Medium, Hard + Very Hard) and the more difficult the setting (50 cc for easy, 100 cc for Medium and 150 cc for hard) the better the prize you earn. Some pretty cool combinations can be made up here, such as a super hard attempt like '150 cc + Very Hard' or something that would be hard for a beginner like '50 cc Very Hard'. It depend on what you like and how you play, and it's truly customizable. There's a difficulty for literally everyone here, so if you've had trouble with racing games, Mario Kart: DD might fix your problem. Also, in terms of multiplayer, there are many different modes you can choose from. There are 4 different multiplayer levels total (such as the top of the Gamecube, and yes, I'm serious) and modes like 'Balloon Pop' (or whatever it's called) where goals range from throwing bombs at people in attempt to blow them up, or simply holding onto a shine as long as you can without the other players taking it from you. That really excels the fun. Great job on the gameplay. 10/10.

With modes like Time Trial, it's really hard to see this game ending. I've been playing Mario Kart up to this release, and with this release taking so many steps forward, I wouldn't be surprised if this game lasted forever. There is definitely some replay value, and even if the replay value eventually ends, you won't be shelving this for at least 2 years. expect a lot of coming back to this. 9/10.

Closing comments - I am amazed at this game. Not like the amazed where you can't believe they crammed all this stuff in (because there's only 2 modes of gameplay) but the kind where you're amazed with the overall package. And you know what? That kind of amazement is seen rarely. I cannot believe this game. It pushes the edge of reality in so many ways you'd want to believe this game was dropped out of the future, and in the future it scored best game of the year. This is an amazing title. Simply amazing.

Verdict - Because flaws exist, I can only score this 9/10, but how I WISH this could escape with a clean 10. Man, if only... But, regardless, If you don't own this right now, either you don't have the money, or you don't have the system. If you don't have the money, work harder. If you don't have the system, pick it up, along with this game. This is Nintendo at it's best. Amazing.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/14/03