Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a very superb game; It's one of those games that's always enjoyable to pick up and play.
I've found my niche' in this game: Waluigi and Diddy Kong in the Waluigi Racer; I've mastered these two characters and race with 'em nearly every time that I play. In the regular, Grand Prix Mode, there are three engine classes as usual: The 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. The 100cc is just usually the right choice. 50cc might be too slow and easy, yet will provide good fun for the newcomers to this game. As of late, I've began racing in the 100cc class more often. One thing is, 150cc can be a little too difficult at times. For example, if you're in first place, the other racers seem to always have that blue spiny shell that always attacks the current 1st place racer; it's kind of annoying. Also, even a very experienced Mario Kart: Double Dash!! player like me can get frustrated at the (sometimes) brutality of the computer's Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in the 150cc class. Indeed, the 100cc class is usually the most fit; it's the most enjoyable if you just want to race and have a good chance of placing 1st and yet having a slight challenge. There are three main trophy cups: Mushroom, Flower, and Star. You unlock a fourth main cup. Each cup contains four (4) racing levels. There is a "Mirror Mode" with re-arranged tracks of the originals, plus the All Cup tour which can be raced normally or in Mirror Mode. Other modes are the Time Trials, Versus and Battle. The multi-player is great fun for anyone. The only this is, I wish that there were more Battle Mode arenas to play on, otherwise the selection of Battle Mode arenas in multi-player is very good. In Battle Mode, there are three modes: Balloon Battle, Shine Thief (get the Shine and drive away until the time elapses) and Bob-Omb Blast. All three Battle games are much fun, and of course, can only be played in multi-player. Battle Mode stages include the Cookie Land, Block City and a Nintendo GameCube to battle on! Yep! This game features LAN play, which I have never used.
As I have I yet to mention, this version of Mario Kart has that obvious new draw, the 2x1 factor: Two characters per Kart. You can mix and match any way that you want, though, the obvious best fits are like Mario and Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, and Peach and Daisy, etc... It's a very good "gimmick" I suppose. It's a very neat, unique mechanic to the gameplay that doesn't get old. With the press of the Z button, you can switch the driver to the back, and the back-up to the driver spot. Each has their own taunt and saying when being switched, such as "It's a MAAARIO time!!!" for Mario and "Hi I'm Daisy!" for Daisy. It's funny. Hit the single "?" and double "?" blocks to get items. Standard items include: Banana, Green Shell, Red Shell, Spiny Shell, Fake Item (which topples an oponent or yourself for a few seconds) and the Mushroom (brief speed boosters) etc... The items are great and are an essential to briefly stop and distract your opponents; they can be even more fun to use in Multi-player, when it's all about the competition! Fun times! The gameplay in this game is top-notch, the controls are super smooth and are of top quality; it's easy to pick up the controller and start playing. Unlike in previous Mario Kart installments, there is not a Kart jumping action mapped to the controller; it's not a hindrance really, just a minor missing mechanic to the controls. It would have been a nice extra for the gameplay, of course, if implemented properly. You can't hop your Kart and so that is that. It's not a big deal. This game is very fun and can be addictive! The graphics are superb; everything is polished, vibrant and memorable. There aren't any framerate issues, which is very nice. A vast majority of the race tracks are consistently fun to race on, with very few mediocre tracks; however, the game is so much fun that it would have been nice if there were even more tracks, but that's just a minor quibble to me, as for what's featured in this game is Great! My favorite Trophy cup is the Star Cup. My favorite track is Sherbet Land! Along with the other three courses in the Star Cup! I rarely get tired of any course in this game. The music and sound are wonderful, tuned just right for the perfect Mario style; it's all charming and memorable. I love the music, and the sounds are very good. When you're racing and a bigger Kart with larger characters slams into your Kart, the character in the back will flip and drag on the ground for several seconds as you contine to race! It's funny! For Waluigi, he shrieks "Awaaaaaaa!!!! WA! WA! WA! WWWAAAA! WAAAAAA!" ... The sounds that these characters make are cute and cool. All in all, the music and sound are Excellent!
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a very fun, engaging game that's fun for the entire family. It's classic Nintendo, and it's definitely a classic to me! It's among my favorite games for the Nintendo GameCube. I wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone who would just remotely like unique, arcade style Kart racing games, and/or have played a Mario Kart title in the past. This is a pretty popular game that many people today still enjoy, as do I. It's a GREAT game! It's.......... Double the Dash!! ........Double the Fun!!!