Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Review

Nintendo's mustached mascot can be thanked for defining many a video game trend over the years--platformers (both two- and three-dimensional), party games, and, of course, kart racers. The bar was set for kart racers in 1992 when Super Mario Kart hit the SNES--it was a game that blended breakneck arcade-style racing with simple combat and a cute aesthetic to create an almost-endlessly enjoyable multiplayer game. There have been some decent imitators in the following 11 years, including the 1996 sequel to Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and the 2001 Game Boy Advance game, Mario Kart Super Circuit, but no other kart racer has appreciably improved upon that original formula. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the latest installment in the series, refines that formula a bit, but it's careful not to compromise what people expect from a Mario Kart game. What this leaves you with is essentially the same game you were playing in 1992, updated for 2003.

Double Dash!! offers more of the same Mario Kart action you've come to expect.

The racing options in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! should be pretty familiar to those who have played any of the previous Mario Kart games. If you're flying solo, you can choose between three speed classes--50cc, 100cc, or 150cc--and participate in one of the three initially available grand prix cups, or you can go into the time trial mode and try to beat your own best time. As you win gold cups in the different grand prix cup tournaments, you'll unlock hidden characters and karts, as well as additional grand prix cups and courses for the game's battle modes. All told, there are 16 unique tracks in Double Dash, as well as mirrored versions of those tracks. The track designs are generally pretty tight, but they're by and large pretty predictable, too, aping the track archetypes originally laid down by past Mario Kart games. There's a generic trimmed-lawn go-kart track, an ice track, a track set in Bowser's castle, and a Rainbow Road track. There are a few exceptions, such as the Donkey Kong Mountain track, where you're launched by a cannon to the top of a volcanic mountain, then come careening down the rocky mountain face, but mostly there's a creeping familiarity to the track designs in Double Dash.

For all that's familiar, the most obvious change that Double Dash makes to the Mario Kart formula is the inclusion of two riders on every cart. The logic is that while one character drives, the other handles all the firepower, though the characters are able to switch spots at a moment's notice with a quick tap of the Z button. In practice, this basically gives you two different slots to carry power-ups in. It also allows for co-op play where two players control a single kart, one handling the driving and the other manning the guns. It's a good idea, but there just isn't enough for each player to do to make the co-op experience terribly compelling. Different characters have different special attacks, which can be picked up at random from regular item boxes--the Mario brothers are able to throw fireballs, Donkey and Diddy Kong can drop a giant banana, and Wario and Waluigi toss out an explosive bob-omb, for example. Each character also corresponds to a certain weight class--light, medium, or heavy--so the characters you choose will also affect which karts you'll be able to choose from, and each kart has its own rating in terms of weight, speed, and acceleration. All of these different variables add a little bit of strategy to the prerace preparations, and they also accommodate different play styles. If you like to throw your weight around the track, bumping players out of position and grabbing their power-ups with brute force, Bowser and Donkey Kong are a winning combo. If you prefer a more nimble racing style and value acceleration over heft, Baby Mario and the Paratroopa are probably a better fit for you.

The game looks great, but its rather limited scope is a bit disappointing.

The powerslide has been a key mechanic in all Mario Kart games, but Double Dash relies on it even more. The hopping business that preceded a powerslide in past Mario Kart games has been stripped out, so you can now go straight into a powerslide by pulling either of the shoulder triggers while midway through a turn. As you slide, you'll see little sparks shooting off your tires. If you jiggle the analog stick while sliding, the sparks will turn from yellow to red, and then from red to blue. Once you're sparking blue, you can let go of the shoulder trigger for a momentary speed boost. Regardless of which characters or which kart you've picked, powersliding is absolutely fundamental to success in Double Dash, and virtually any corner that you turn can be cornered better by powersliding. It also adds a certain sense of controlled chaos as you come hurling sideways around corners.