Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

THE BAD:

SUMMARY:
The Mario Kart series is probably one of the most successful spinoffs in video gaming history, and with only a small collection of games as well. Super Circuit showed us how good Nintendo were at taking the core concept and improving it. With Double Dash they’ve opted to give players a fresh experience with some new mechanics, but the result isn’t what anyone may be expecting.

Visuals

If you’ve played any other Gamecube Mario game then chances are you’ve already experienced the style used in Double Dash, although that is by no means a bad thing.

DD provides a rather bold and colourful experience. Everything is certainly bright and vivid, from the drivers and environments to the karts and weapons. The appearance of everything tends to be a little exaggerated as well, all to fit in with the whole fantasy theme better.

Despite the style there is a lot of detail in everything as well. Donkey Kong (and his simian pal Diddy) provide the best example of this, as their bodies actually appear to have hair running all over them, as opposed to the textureless blocks of the last generation.

The tracks are also well detailed. Brickwork, grassy plains and sandy paths all look great. Even better is that the backdrops to these races aren’t just lifeless afterthoughts. You have a lot in them too, and things are even happening over there.

A lot of work has gone into animating it all as well, and all the effort shows. You can see the driver twisting and leaning to move the kart around, but what is more impressive is the back seat karter. Using weapons actually means using weapons, as the back seat karter holds them up and tosses them out to use them. Tapping for a switch also gives a fluid movement as the drivers switch places. Who knew Bowser was so agile?

The game is also quite happy to put on a pretty display when it comes to its special effects. You have some convincing fireballs, lightning strikes, and the burners of a boost. My one complaint here is how dull explosions tend to be. They are essentially coloured domes that expand outwards, but such a visual isn’t particularly interesting.

Audio

A series not really known for awe-inspiring music selections, and it seems this is one tradition DD is happy to go along with.

The music in the game is most certainly fitting, not only with the individual tracks but with the Mario series in general. The tracks tend to be rather upbeat, further exemplifying the direction of the series.

The problem stems from the music just being so forgettable. It’s not a bad selection by any means, but it’s also not of the variety to stick in your head and you’re hardly going to be humming along as you race. They are perhaps a little too basic to be outstanding.

Sound effects in the game are rather good though. Every character is quite vocal, and while you can’t call it full voice acting it certainly gives some life to the whole cast. You also get things like explosions and spinning effects, that fit their situations and work well.

Gameplay

While bearing some familiar aspects to previous entries in the series, Double Dash introduces some of its own elements for a new racing experience.

The most obvious new element is the two driver system. Each kart now holds two characters (hence the subtitle for the game). At any one time we have one character driving and one character ready to use weapons. Switching of these characters occurs either when the rear character uses a weapon or the Z button is pressed.

This team dynamic alters the usual kart gameplay in respect to some things. Only the back driver can pick up and use weapons, but the front driver can still hold onto one, thus allowing for players to hold onto two weapons at once. This can allow for some strategic gameplay as players hold onto one weapon while firing off with others.

Each character also has a special weapon that they can pick up. Special weapons are unique to two drivers each, so Mario and Luigi both have fireballs while Peach and Daisy both have hearts. This helps deepen the gameplay mechanic, as pairings can help broaden the weapon selection.

The performance is also affected by this. Double Dash offers a wide variety of karts for use, but each potential duo of drivers is limited to which karts that can pick from. Any team with a heavy class character is restricted to the heavy class karts, regardless of who the partner may be (could you imagine Bowser trying to balance on the smaller vehicles?). A middle weight class driver is restricted to middle weight karts if the partner is either a light or middle weight driver. A pair of light drivers can only access light weight karts.

This is the first time we’ve had an actual selection of karts, straying away from the normal default karts we’ve had in the past. On track performance is more controlled by your vehicle, so character choice feels more indirect in this regard. Any team that has Bowser will be fast and heavy regardless of who he is teamed up with.

Despite all this, the concept feels a little too tacked on. Most of this could easily be managed with a single driver system, and the overall mechanics don’t feel much different from previous games. The ability to hold onto two items is great, but again this is something that could have been done without this and it alone doesn’t make the whole thing “work”.

I can safely report that the controls of the game are very good. Tilt the stick or press a button and the corresponding onscreen action occurs immediately. The level of sensitivity is just right, so you’re always in control of your kart. However, that might also be an issue. Control is too good, to the point that is practically negates the consequence of picking a high speed kart.

However, the game developers did have the odd notion of removing the ability to hop. This was an awesome way of taking shortcuts and bouncing over hazards and as such. Hopping into a powerslide also felt right, so its removal feels odd and a little restricting when you’re used to the previous system.

Track design is generally a huge improvement over the previous Mario Kart 64. As well as looking more interesting the twists and track features are generally more interesting, with many offering a general more interactive feel and some tracks giving some varying routes. What could be better than racing up over a bridge arching rail?

Unfortunately, there is one glaring problem here, which is just how wide the tracks are. They are practically twice the width of the tracks on the GBA version, and with the tight controls it means that the tracks themselves rarely pose any challenge at all.

I’m a bit disappointed with the actual number of tracks as well. Sixteen is all we get, which is the same as Mario Kart 64. While the track design may be better it is hard to swallow the same number when there has been a rather big gap between them in years. Even Super Circuit, while having more simplified circuits, provided a massive 40 tracks to plough through.

Weapons play an important role in Mario Kart, and Double Dash hopes to build upon that trait. Driving through an item box on the track gives a weapon to the backseat driver, except special dual boxes that give items to both drivers. The common weapons usable by all are the same common weapons we’ve had for some time, minus a few favourites that are either not here at all or changed to special weapons. Red shells still home in on targets, bananas still cause spinning and a mushroom still offers that awesome boost.

As previously mentioned, DD gives drivers their own special weapons, and it is these that tend to take precedence. The effects of these weapons tend to be a lot more dramatic, such as the huge green spiky shell that can be a nightmare to dodge in tracks with barriers. These are often the types of weapons to really push you ahead. Of particularly note is the Chain Chomp of the baby drivers, which pulls the kart along the track on autopilot knocking karts out of the way. Overpowered maybe, but it does look pretty cool.

All weapons adhere to the system of allocation according to position. Drivers near the front of the pack will get low end weapons like green shells or bananas. Drivers bringing up the rear will get more damaging stuff like stars and lightning bolts. This helps bring in some sense of balance so that the frontrunners don’t get to run away from everyone else.

Unfortunately, the weapon system in this game is disastrous, by virtue of it being complete overkill. The biggest problem is that there are just too many weapon pickups scattered about, especially with the dual item boxes. Then we find out that some weapons are just so broken as to negatively affect play. The blue spiny shell is a perfect example, It really drags first place down and has a habit of missing mostly everyone else. The player that fired it doesn’t benefit and the player hit gets screwed.

What all this means is that racing becomes more about luck than skill, as tracks simply become battlefields. Yes, Mario Kart is about weapon-based racing, but when the weapons part removes most of the racing part from it then it becomes a problem.

Most of the game modes in here have received only minimal changes. Grand Prix mode is still an experience for one or two players, where a cup is chosen and the relevant tracks are raced through in order. Finishing positions determine points received, and total points at the end of a cup determines who receives trophies.

There are three speed settings here, consisting of 50cc, 100cc and 150cc. A shame that they feel so pointless. The game’s handling is so good and the tracks so forgiving that players can easily jump straight into 150cc and be absolutely fine even if they are new to the series. Playing the lower settings becomes a chore, and since they have to be played to unlock stuff then it becomes bothersome.

The only real notable change to this mode is the inability to restart a track during a grand prix. In past games players had to finish in the top four to proceed to the next race. In Double Dash this requirement is removed, so you’ll move on regardless of where you finish. It’s a nice addition, as I’ve always felt that it was a little forced to have to retry tracks like that.

The only other change is an unlockable fifth cup that isn’t a brand new set of tracks but a compilation of the game’s sixteen race tracks into a single cup. A shame that it is so boring to do though. Why would we want to go through all sixteen tracks in one go when you’ve had to go through them all repeatedly to unlock this in the first place?

Time Trial mode is included as well, where players can race to set best race and lap times. Ghost data can also be saved that represents the best times, which then replays when that track is played again (in the form of a semi-transparent duo). Staff ghosts are here in force too, with a healthy collection of ghosts recorded by dev staff and locked away.

Yet, Nintendo have managed to make this mode worse. How? Because players now only get two mushroom boosts instead of three in past games, making race runs a little more awkward. Not all that bad though, but definitely inferior.

Versus mode is the classic multiplayer racing matchup. Four players can take part in a race on any track. However, the problems encountered in single player gaming don’t really vanish here. Handling and tracks are still too forgiving. Weapons are still overkill. In fact, the weapon system is even worse here as there are less drivers to allocate weapons too. In a two player game second place can be getting really powerful weapons when right behind first place.

Versus racing can also be done over a LAN connection, allowing for eight kart racing between up to sixteen players, but more players doesn’t lessen the problems of the racing mechanics. A shame that this system is not only behind the times (why opt for LAN when rivals are pulling out the online play?) but can be a rather costly setup. Multiple TVs, multiple consoles, multiple discs, multiple broadband adapters…

Finally, battle mode. Past games in the series have always had their battle modes as the highlight of the package. The fortunate thing here is that Double Dash’s battle mode is simply awesome.

Battle mode is split into three different modes: Balloon Battle, Shine Thief, and Bob-omb Blast.

Balloon Battle is the standard battle mode and is largely unchanged from previous games. Each player starts with three balloons, and the goal is to hit other karters to make them lose those balloons. An interesting trait about this mode is that you can steal balloons by boosting through an opponent. This trait also marks the first time boosts are usable in battles. It’s a clever trait too.

Shine Thief throws a single oversized shine onto the battlefield. The aim is to get ahold of this solo shine and hold onto it. The player who holds onto it for the longest within the time limit wins. Bob-omb Blast simply piles each driver up with bombs (the same bombs Wario and Waluigi use as special items). Think of this as an explosive sudden death mode, where battles can be won or lost in seconds.

There is a good amount of variety to push this mode up over the battle modes of previous games. In addition, the overkill weapon system that plagues the racing modes actually works to this mode’s favour, as there is no racing to interfere with and some of the broken weapons are removed entirely.

Battle mode does have a flaw though, which is the track design. Unfortunately the track design here is a bit bland and uninteresting. MK64 offered multi-tiered tracks with numerous paths and hazards. By comparison these tracks are quite boring. Only Pipe Plaza stands out amongst the selection as a worthwhile arena.

Overall

Double Dash is a disappointment. The racing is hurt by its track design and overkill weapon system, which really only leaves the battle mode as the game’s standout part. This could have been a great addition to the series had more care been taken to balance the weapon concept, but as it is Mario Kart Double Dash is too flawed to live up to the series’ standards.

THE BAD:

SUMMARY:
Play as your favorite Mario Characters and crash and bash other racers while you ride around the wackiest courts ever! Characters from Koopa Troopa to Waluigi makes it all a hard decision. Some many courts like Rainbow Road and Mushroom city have crazy twists so you can really keep the game going! There are also character specific items like Waluigi's Bomb-omb and Yoshi's Egg so it is hard to choose which character to use, but beware of Petey Prainha and King Boo are deadly since they can use every special item. So what are you doing! Get off your computer and get this game!