|
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Review for GameCube
Posted on Saturday, December 27, 2003 @ 02:51:58 pm E.S.TThe long awaited addition to Nintendo's best selling kart-racing game has finally arrived to Gamecube owners everywhere; and it is amazing. Ever since the release of Mario Kart 64, Mario-racing fans have been eager to get their hands on a sequel, however they didn't realize how long of a wait they would be encountering. Fortunately, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is well worth that wait, and then some. This unrealistic, yet more than satisfying, kart racer will have you on the edge of your chair with excitement each time you play.
The gameplay is where it's at. Period. At no time will you ever get bored of this style of racing, but in fact you'll grow more addicted to it's creative controls the more hours put into the game. These controls also follow the principle "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" because almost all of the aspects of driving are taken from Mario Kart 64, which, might I add, totally rocked. Of course the most noticeable change of the racing style is the fact that you now drive with two characters, instead of the normal one. At first thought, you may think this is a silly addition, but after experiencing this new fun and zany way of driving, you'll wonder how they ever went without it before.
After you go through the menu to pick the mode and number of players, you'll be prompted to pick two (count 'em, two!) characters and a kart for them to ride upon. Each character has different physical characteristics, meaning they're either light, average, or heavy weight, as well as their own special item move. For example, Mario and Luigi's special item allows the two of them to fire an array of five fireballs that hit targets in front, or even behind their kart, while DK and Diddy Kong's special move drops an uber-sized banana onto the track in hopes of causing foes to slip to an untimely doom. Special items are attained just like any other normal item; by driving through item blocks and getting lucky. And with this new addition of an extra character riding with you, that means double the items compared to the other Mario Kart titles (so when I do math, that equals... somewhere between 1 and 3).
The dream team rides again.
Let it be noted that, while a good majority are there, not every single item from Mario Kart 64 made it into Double Dash. A few fans will miss their lovely Golden Mushroom, Triple Red Shell, and Ghost item (even though you are actually able to steal items from other players by bumping into them) but the addition of the special items more than makes up for it. One thing that bothered me for the longest time was the inability to hold items in the back of your kart for protection. I was very angered by this, because I used to enjoy keeping a fake item block behind my kart in case of red-shells... BUT! Lucky for me, and many other fans, a tiny bubble pops up at the bottom of your screen telling you if you are about to be hit, so you can deploy the banana peel for cover right in the nick of time. This is one of many examples on how the controls and mechanics have evolved for the best from the N64's predecessor.
Controlling your kart, in MK: DD!!, has never been tighter, either. Mario Kart perfects an already-solid system of racing and still makes it feel like you are inside the game. Unfortunately, though, the "jump" feature was eliminated from Double Dash, so instead of jumping and skidding, you just flow right into a slide, which somehow feels right. Easy button assignments allow for the player to quickly get acquainted with all of the controls, so even your four-year-old brother could play. It's truly wonderful the first time you pick up this title and play it, because you'll find so many familiar and natural button configurations that will just melt in you hand (not in your mouth!).
The greatest part of this title is, without a doubt, playing multiplayer. Double Dash just keeps getting better and better the more you play with people. Also, two players can work co-operative on one kart, and this can cause seriously radical chaos, which is a good thing. Battle modes have, for the most part, stayed the same. There are two new modes included; Shine Thief (which is where you try to hold onto a Shine Sprite for 60 seconds without getting hit) and Bob-omb Blast (which is a kart melee where all the weapons are bombs). Like the N64 version, you'll still be able to play 2 player Grand Prix, but Nintendo has included a LAN feature for people with the broadband adapter that supports up to 4 different Gamecubes hooked together! This, of course, is great, but it would have been awesome if the fine people at Nintendo would have taken this game online; but never fear! A small group of coders have created a program, Project Warp Pipe, that tricks your Gamecube into playing online instead of LAN. All you need is a broadband adapter, a high-speed internet connection, and a computer and you'll be set.
Tracks like these bring back the memories.
As for audio, this game has catchy music. It's very... "colorful" and "perky", but that's a good thing in the case of this game. The racing tunes don't get boring, but there's nothing that will make you want to buy a soundtrack. The actual sound effects are well done. Each character has a few different sayings that can get old, but most of the time they are "just there". Kart sounds and other various effects are good for what they are, but, again, nothing is absolutely amazing as far as audio goes. At first thought, you'd be tempted to say "it'd be nice if everything were fully orchestrated like in SSBM" but then you'll come to realize that these songs are perfect to race to, and are perky enough to keep you from growing old of hearing them.
The visuals are stunning, as far as cartoony, colorful kart racers go. You'll never experience any frame-skipping and, at a full 60 frames per second, you won't miss an ounce of action that's happening on-screen. Racing through various tracks, you'll notice the specific detail Nintendo spent on each individual stage. The graphics are smooth and bright, and it's hard to catch anything that's poorly rendered or that didn't have a significant amount of time spent on it. Also, each kart and character are fully rendered, and beautifully, might I add, as compared to the 2-D sprites used in all other Mario Kart games. The HUD of the game is splendid, as well. It'll show you placings, a map, your speed, items, etc., and is colorful and easy on the eyes.
This game can be played for eternity, or at least until the next Mario Kart comes out. Double Dash has as much replay value, if not more, than Mario Kart 64; and that's saying something. And like the older Mario Kart games, you are able to unlock the Special Cup, as well as Mirror Mode, and, for the first time, different karts. The game's significantly more challanging, but by no means extremely hard. With enough practice, you'll be able to beat this game 100%, unlocking everything there is to unlock. The multiplayer modes make for great party-games and tournaments. While the game lacks a few aspects that its older brother had, it certainly makes up for them with the newly added modes of play. If you're a fan of racing games, liked any other Mario Kart, or just plain own a Gamecube, then this title is for you. Review By: Dacvak - 2103 Reads
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Review Scores for GC :
| Gameplay |
| 9.7 |
| Graphics |
| 7.4 |
| Sound |
| 8.5 |
| Replay |
| 9.5 |
| Overall |
| 9.2 |
|
Go Back |
Reviews Index |
Post About It
|
