Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo GameCube, 2003)

Mario Kart: Double Dash (Gamecube)

The most fun I've had while playing a racing game!

I loved the original Mario Kart games, and this one has to be the best in the series. There are tons of racing options (16 levels x2 because you can unlock mirror mode), tons of unlockable characters and cars, an unlockable Ultimate Race mode where you must race all 16 tracks one after another.

Where this game really succeeds is in multi-player mode. You can play against up to 4 friends in the classic battle mode, shine thief mode (like hot potato), and Bob-omb Blast. There are 6 Battle Mode tracks to choose from, all with their own unique characteristics.

You can also play on the same team and race through Grand Prix mode (the person on the back of the car controls weapons and the ability to punch opponents), or play against up to four of your friends in Grand Prix mode.

The Single player Grand Prix mode offers quite a challenge due to the fact that you must beat 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc to unlock Mirror Mode and the final cheats. The basic Cups are here and each one (Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup and Special Cup) offer 4 different courses. There is also the All Cup Tour where you play all 16 course in random order (This get's extremely tough in 150cc and Mirror mode). Due to the fact that you have to race through each set of courses at 4 difficulties, the Replay Value of this game is very high.

Pros:

- Tons of Characters
- Tons of Maps
- Tons of Unlockables (Characters, Cars, Tracks, Multiplayer Maps)
- Character specific Power Ups
- Replay value is incredibly high (Even more so if you have friends that enjoy Mario Kart)
- Not Super Hard, but not Super Easy either
- Graphics are great
- Each Map has it's own shortcuts and secrets
- The 2 characters per car set-up and the ability to fully utilize your second player in 2 player team mode
- Power Boost during sharp turns
- The celebrations (Not bad... for a baby)

Cons:

- Rainbow Road (I fell a lot when I first played the game)
- The Blue Tortoise shell
- The music can get a little repetetive
- The trophy presentation screen, when you pan in, the pink thing looks like... well you'll figure it out.

Final Verdict:

Rent or Buy?:

Are you serious, this game is a definite buy. Mario Kart: Double Dash ROCKS. Plain and simple. I bought it 2 1/2 years ago and I still play it at least once a week.

PLEASE VOTE IF YOU FIND THIS REVIEW HELPFUL. Thank you.

I really enjoyed this game. First I had no idea how the two characters to one kart feature would work out. It turned out to be a great feature that opens the game up to more strategy. Each group of characters have a special power that can be used in the game. Each character in the Kart can also hold items, For example Peach can pick up a red shell and be switched with Daisy, who can then pick up an item. This saves the red shell until it is needed. Use this only if the other people that you are playing with are ok with this strategy. Some people may not enjoy being hit by a red shell when they are close to winning the race and end up in second or third due to the red shell that your character was holding.

The game is fun in the single player campaign but really opens up in the Multiplayer. Versus and Battle mode will keep any gamer coming back for more.

Man, this game is boring! It is boring playing in single player, it is boring playing in multiplayer! It's one of the worst games released to GameCube. It's the same game that I know ya'll played on Nintendo 64, the only addiction is that you ride two player at the same time! yeah, just great, you can switch between both players and they can get their special items and stuff....The rest of the game is the same you played in Nintendo 64 with slightly better graphics.
The courses bores me to death, some have the exact same format found in Mario Kart 64, and themes being the same, but with some small differences here and there.
The controls just makes me wanna die! And the graphics are better detailed than the Nintendo 64 game, but that's just logical, It wouldn't be worse, and even being better, it doesn't impress anyone.
To finish up I'm gonna talk about the sound, which I hardly listened because everytime I played this game I have the stereo turned on so I don't need to listen to that crap, and I'll tell you, it is crappy. Oh yeah, This is one short game if you ask me, I got it the day of it was released and I could had finished at the same day.
If you like easy boring games go for this one!! I hear people talking about how much this game is fun while playing multiplayer, but they're just trying to find a good way for this thing to be played.

I liked how everyone got their own special weapons but some show up a lot in the game and others will only show up if you are in last place. Also it is never a fair race because theres only one or 2 karts in the race that put up a challenge and the other ones are filler space. That made me angry because it is a big pain if you are trying to get some of the unlockables. I tried the 16 course cup to win mirror mode and i was getting first in everything and i messed up on two tracks after an hour and a half of playing it and it caused me to get second and i didnt get anything after playing for an HOUR AND A HALF!
It would be nice if they made some more tracks and please make some new weapons this game had less because peaople had special weapons. If you wanted the triple shells you could only get that with paratroopa characters when it used to be a weapon for all the carts. Lots of karts,fair amount of tracks,fun in small doses, new characters if your willing to really go through all the frustration to get them(which is a lot of frustration)

I'm a fan of the series, and I had to buy it after playing it with my brother on his GC. If your a fan of the MarioKart series, you will enjoy this one as much as MarioKart 64, the Power-ups are improved, some are new and also some new characters were added to the game while keeping most of the previous ones and adding back some from the original, some tracks are hard for beginners and like usual the CPU controlled characters seem to have a slight advantage when there not withing viewing range. Overall it's a nice racing game to have fun with but not for those who want a "realistic" type driving game.