Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

"A great racing game, but it won't be great forever."

Introduction
If you are looking into buying this then you probably have or played the earlier Mario Kart games. As you may know this is a racing game with a great use of items and and weapons which will help you take home the cup. It has nice colorful graphics. a great soundtrack to go with the tracks perfectly. The controls in this game are also very easy to get used to with the standard buttons for racing games. Some good modes which will keep you busy for a while. A lot of playable characters. A great multi player mode which makes this game ten times funner. The Grand Prix mode which is great for single and multi player. The battle mode which is great for a party or just when you have a bunch of friends over. And slightly repetitive game play, and difficulty. All of these which are shared throughout the rest of the Mario Kart series.

There are a lot of changes in this new addition to the series though. For example there are more than twice as much playable characters. All of the characters have there own unique items which only they can use. A lot of unlockible karts which are divided into light weight, heavy weight, and medium weight. There are more battle modes and WAY more unlockibles. The biggest change though is in this one there are two characters in one kart. One is the item user and one is the driver. This adds way more to the game play which makes it unique from the others.

Graphics
Like all Mario games, this has very colorful landscapes. The characters are detailed and colorful as well. If you have played any Mario games made in the last 5 or so years then you know what I'm talking about. Basically they look exactly like Super Mario Sunshine and Mario Party Five. Also the Karts are clear and detailed as well. Also, each track looks unique and colorful as well. For Example, in the Bowser Castle level, the lava and other stuff look very realistic for a cartoon style game. Though the graphics aren't the best for the Game Cube, they certainly aren't bad.

Sound
Well the pleasant sound fits this pleasant game. The background music is also good. Another plus is that in each level the music seems to fit perfectly. You will be humming these songs or just thinking of them after a while of play. In other words, the songs are very catchy. The sound of the turbo and the the bouncing shells sound the same as always. The traditional star tune when you are invincible is still there as because, if it wasn't there, it wouldn't be a Mario game. Well, all in all, this game's sound is good and if you play Mario games a lot then it will be nothing new.

Control
If you play racing games than the controls will be very easy to get used to. A is to go, B is brake, and Y is to use items. That is pretty much it. So as you can see, this is very similar to other racing games. Even for those who don't play racing games and you're looking for another great Mario adventure, it will still be easy to get used to it. So, therefore the controls have a very good feel.

Game play
Well this games game play is great but it's not perfect. The big change in this game compared to the other Mario Karts is that there are two characters in one kart. Because of this there has to be more characters right. Well in Mario Kart 64 there were 8 different playable characters while in this one there is around 20. Another unique thing is that each character has their own special item. For example, Yoshi throws an egg, which is like the red shells, the egg homes in on the next kart up and makes them spin out. The difference though is that the egg will break into items like mushrooms, which will help you, can pick up when you get to where the egg broke. Another thing is that each character has there own kart. This may sound like all of the other Mario Kart games but anybody can use any kart in that weight class. There are three different classes; heavy, light, and medium weight as stated earlier. Each kart has there own stats which makes each one unique. I like this new system of choosing karts very good and that was very smart of Nintendo to make that change. These new features make the game-play much more interesting with the unique character and karts.

In this game there are a couple of modes to keep you busy. The main one you will be playing is Grand Prix mode. In this mode you will race four races in the cup. The racer with the most points at the end wins. There are 3 difficulties in Grand Prix. There is 50 cc, 100 cc, 150 cc. These are basically the difficulties that you can play with the lowest number being the easiest. At higher levels this can be very frustrating when trying to unlock the good stuff. Beating a lot of these cups will net you in new karts and other stuff, which is why you will be playing this mode a lot. Another mode is the Time Trial mode. Here you test your skills by trying to beat the course record. This mode isn't very fun if you ask me. So, basically this game has the Grand Prix mode which makes it interesting to make a very solid single player game, and a challenge type mode to test your skills.

Now the multi-player section of the game. While playing multi-player you can play everyone in there own vehicle, or two people in one vehicle. I prefer playing as everyone in their own kart, to me it is more fun. You can only play Grand Prix with two players, which I didn't like. There is also the Battle mode. There are three different types of this mode. The first is the Balloon battle. In this mode you have to get items and attack that player three times to knock off all of their balloons. The second mode is the Bob-omb Blast. Here you have to collect the bombs and throw them at the other player, whoever gets three points first wins. The last mode is Sprite thief. In this mode you try to capture the Shine Sprite and keep it from the other players for a set number of seconds. The other mode you can play on multi-player is the versus mode. In this mode it is just you and who you're playing with at the level you pick. As you can see multi player is the main part of the game

The game play in this game is not perfect though. It won't entertain you forever. The levels are repetitive and will get boring fast after you have nothing to work for. The last match of the cup is not as tense as it is when you're trying to unlock the All Cup Tour. So, this isn't the kind of game that is fun that it will keep you playing for a year or two.

Well this new game in the series is good. There are a lot of characters to play as with there own abilities. A great Grand Prix mode that will keep you going. Some very challenging game play. Fun multi-player modes to play with friends. And semi repetitive game play. That is a quick summary of this game play.

Collectibles
This games has a lot of collectibles to keep you busy for quite a while. Each cup that you beat will unlock new karts, players, or new levels. Also, you can beat that same cup again on a different difficulty to unlock even more stuff. So therefore, there are tons of collectibles in this game.

Difficulty
Trying to unlock the final things in the Grand Prix can be very frustrating. But after you unlock everything you probably won't be playing the extremely hard Grand Prix modes. The time trial mode is also very difficult. Therefore, this can be a fairly difficult game.

Replay Value
With all of the modes and unlock-ibles in this game, you will be playing it for a long time. Also, if you have friends that like Mario Kart, the battle mode will also keep you playing for a while longer too. It can only keep you entertained for so long though. Your friends will also get bored too, with the battle mode and other stuff. After you beat everything you can tell that unlocking everything was the only thing keeping you going. So with all the unlockibles you will be entertained for a month or so, but after you beat it, there will be little to keep you going.

Final Recommendation
This is another good addition to a the Mario Kart series. If you have a Game Cube and are looking for a nice arcade style racing game then this is a buy. Even if you don't like racing games than you should still at least rent this game because it won't last forever. If you have a lot of friends over a lot then this would be great to play, and another reason to buy it. Therefore, it is great, but not perfect.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/05