Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

"Another system, another great Mario Kart."

Introduction
This is almost a game that needs no introduction. With worthy and popular instalments on the SNES, N64 and the GBA, this is a game played and loved by gamers around the world. The principle is simple: ride fast, shoot hard. And by shooting I mean throwing Red Shields, Bananas and a lightning bolt at your opponents! Throw in some short-cuts, the most famous Mario characters and some recognizable race tracks, and you've got a game series that almost never fails to amuse. Now let's take a closer look at the long-awaited version for the Gamecube, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Gameplay
They've changed some things in the gameplay since the latest version of Mario Kart. The basics are the same: you can choose between Time Trials, Grand Prix, Vs. and Battle. In the GP mode you race with 8 karts over 4 courses and win as much points as possible. But as you might've noticed in the title of the game, seen on the cover or heard somewhere, you no longer ride alone in your kart, but with two (hence the Double Dash). There's one character who will ride the kart and one character who stands in the back, who will also be the one who uses the weapons. You can also change the character's location by pressing the “Z” button. If the character at the back has a weapon in his hands, simply press “Z” and you'll have a character in the back who can now pick up a new weapon! That way it is possible to have two weapons at the same time. This may sound difficult, but it is pretty easy to learn. The character in the back can also steal weapons from other karts! There's one thing I didn't like, though. In the previous instalments there was this little jump you could use to go into a drift in a corner. Well, they took it out (the drift is still there, only the hop is gone). If you're an enthusiastic player of previous Mario Karts, you're going to need some time to adjust to this.

Mario Kart wouldn't be Mario Kart without a lot of different weapons. Luckily, this game has most of the classic weapons, and then some more. They took out the extremely powerful 3-red-shields weapon, but every other one is still there (such as the lightning, the banana and the starman). But this time, every pair of characters (for example: Mario and Luigi) has their own Special Weapon. And Special they are. How about a giant banana? Or some red fireballs? The Special Weapons add some depth to the game, as it makes the picking of your characters more difficult. Do you go for two offensive weapons, or a combination of an offensive and a defensive Special Weapon? If that wasn't hard enough, you'll also have to think about the weight of your character (as usual), and you'll have the possibility to pick your kart. Karts have different weights, so there are a lot of combinations possible here. Just be sure to remember that not every characters fits in every kart! The combination you pick actually influences the gameplay, as heavier karts have a higher top-speed, lower acceleration and tend to push other karts away more as opposed to lightweight karts.

As usually, the tracks are simply great. Expect a lot of variation here, as you'll find yourself driving in deserts, castles, beaches and cities. Of course there are more courses, but you should see them for yourself. Some (not all) of the courses have shortcuts, which are not very easy to locate sometimes (some of them I found while I accidentally drove of the road and fell in the water).

This Mario Kart is a bit more difficult than I expected. In the later cups, on the higher CC's (the more CC, the faster the karts go) the game gets pretty difficult. It takes quite a few tries to beat the final cups, as opposed to MK64, where you could beat the last cups with your eyes closed. This brings me to a heavily discussed argument: the computer cheats. Well, it not really cheats, but it's just the annoyance you feel when you've been shot down 3 times in a row, in the final lap. It seems the computer stops thinking logical and decides to hunt you down. They even go as far as to aim for you, when you're behind them, and they've got someone right in front of them. So instead of trying to take someone over, they try to hit you. Also, when you have a boost at the start (or drive away after a simultaneous crash) at the same time as a computer controlled kart, somehow they manage to drive away faster too often. It can get really annoying. Other than that (and the little hop they took out), the gameplay is great.
8/10

Graphics
The graphics look exactly like you would expect. Clear, happy and colourful. There's no lag in the framerate, even when the action gets very intense. If you don't like bright colours, you might want to stay clear of this game, as the surroundings are pretty “happy” and a lot of use of bright colours. It also features the recognizable Mario-esque objects (it's pretty fun spotting those) and surroundings. You'll recognize the surroundings and objects on the tracks from games as Super Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion, but there are a lot more than just those. If you liked how those games looked, you'll have no problem here, as they managed to have the same style of graphics in this game. I happen to be a big fan of these kind of graphics, so I couldn't be happier. And be honest, who could fire Red Shells on a realistic racetrack? Another great improvement is the interactivity in the tracks. With this I mean some of the tracks have moving elements on them, as falling boulders, walking dinosaurs and ice-skating Shy-Guys. This is a good addition to the game, as it adds some unpredictability to it.
9/10

Sound
The music in this game does it's job. There are a lot of fun themes to be heard here, and (and this is pretty impressive) none of them get annoying after a while. Most courses have their own theme, but some courses re-use other courses' themes (which is no problem). Pretty often I even caught myself humming along with the sound. It's nothing special, there are no big compositions here, but it's still pretty good. You also have the little music effects, as each character's personal victory/defeat shout, the engines (which sound surprisingly cool) and so on. Everything sounds good enough to give this section an 8.
8/10

Multiplayer
An important part of the Mario Kart series always has been it's excellent multiplayer. This time it's no different. You can play with up to 4 players on one console, or up to 16 players if you have a hub and 8 Gamecubes. You can also connect two Gamecubes with a cross-over cable. If you're playing with multiple players, you have a few options. If you play with 2 players, you can still play the Grand Prix mode. You both can have your own kart and drivers, and you can play on a splitscreen. But it is also possible to each control one character in a kart! One player can focus on driving, and the other can focus on using items (you can always change places during the race). This is a fun addition, but the player in the back of the kart won't have to do as much as he would like, as you can only throw items and try to hit the competition. But if you change places often enough, it can be pretty fun. If you can find some more friends and play with 3 or 4 players, you can't play the Grand Prix anymore. You can play Versus and Battle, which is possibly even more fun (these modes are also playable with two players). The Versus is simply just race against each other on a chosen track and see who's the best. The Battle is were the fun begins. Pick an arena, pick your karts and kill each other! There are three modes here. You can use regular items to pop the balloons of your opponent (each one has three), you can try to hit each other with bombs (until on has 3 hits) and Shine Thief (this is a King of the Hill game; hold as long as possible on to the Shine). If you have some friends and a few controllers, you will be playing this game for many months to come! The only bad thing about this section, is that the 4-player splitscreen can get pretty small, but that's only a minor complaint.
10/10

Play Time/Replayability
There are a lot of cups in a few difficulties. And, if you complete some of them, new ones will unlock. It is also possible to unlock new characters and new karts. You can even unlock some new tracks. It will take you quite some time to unlock everything (especially since the last cups are pretty hard). So if you're playing alone, you'll enjoy yourself for a few weeks. Once you've unlocked everything, you still will enjoy playing it, but after a while you will get a bit bored of it. You'll see you'll be playing it less than in the beginning, but that's probably only because you played it non-stop for two weeks! And if you have some friends in the neighbourhood, this will probably be one of the most played games you own. The multiplayer simply is that fun!

Final Recommendation
I think I made it quite clear that if you're going to play the multiplayer a lot, this game is a must-buy. You won't regret it. If you are going to play it alone however, it will be a bit less fun. You'll probably still enjoy it, but the fact remains that this is a real multiplayer game. It still has the Grand Prix and the Time Attack, which are both excellent modes, but you will miss the other modes. That would be too bad, because it is my favourite party-game right after Super Smash Brothers: Melee. Anyway, let me just say in closing that I enjoyed this game a lot, single and multi player, and that I can't wait for the next instalment! This game gets an 8 from me, but you can add 1 point (making it a 9) if you're going to play the multiplayer a lot!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/05