here is some info i got from planetnintendo.com:

The confirmed characters are: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Koopa Troopa, Paratroopa, Daisy, Birdo, Walugi, and Wario. Some characters are obviously missing (such as Toad) but it's highly possible that they are hidden characters within the game. If so, this is the first Mario Kart to offer hidden drivers and it's even possible that Sonic the Hedgehog could be in the game!

some items they are not positively sure of:

Banana
If you run into a banana you will lose control and spin out. Bananas can be put behind your kart or thrown ahead.

Green Shell
Travels in a straight line forward or back. When it collides with a player they will spin out.

Red Shell
Can be fired forward and will automatically go after the kart closest to you and knock them out.

Blue Spiny Shell
When fired it will fly to the leaders of the race and crash into them.

Lightning Bolt
Using this will cause all other players (unless they have Star power) to shrink and lose top speed. They can then also be ran over which will make them feel pretty bad.

Starman
Gives you a higher top-speed, better control, and makes you invincible to attacks.

Mushroom(s)
Give you a temporary boost of speed, like a nitro.

Character-Specific Items
Mario & Luigi - Fireballs
Mario has red/orange fireballs, and Luigi has green. They bounce around the track and will wreck anyone they come in contact with.

Donkey Kong & Diddy Kong - Giant Banana
A much bigger version of the Banana.

Bowser & Bowser Jr. - Green Spiky Shell
A much bigger version of the Green Shell.

Baby Mario & Baby Luigi - Mini Chain Chomp
Pulls the kart forward at a fast pace while destroying any other karts in its path.

Princess Peach & Princess Daisy - Shield or Golden Mushroom
I have received conflicting reports about this item.


Wario & Waluigi - Bom-omb
These weapons might be laid on the track and will attack other karts, but I'm not sure.




Koopa Troopa & Paratroopa - Multiple Shells (rumor)
Rumored to have the ability to throw multiple green and red shells. Need more info and proof.
race tracks:
DK Mountain
Donkey Kong Mountain, looks to be one of the longest tracks so far. Starting somewhere around the middle of the full line, you make your way North of the image, and take a U-turn while collecting a power-up. Straight after, you enter a Huge DK barrel, which sends you flying through the air (along the dotted line). You enter the track again, at the very bottom of the map, at the top of a Volcano. The path through it is like a cork screw, and it comes to an end at a huge jump. This jump flies you towards some power-ups. This is all that is shown of the movies.
Unseen Features
The video shows a small section before the DK Mountain race, which shows some features such as the barrel jump. Another, is huge boulders rolling down the mountain. These could affect you in two ways: If they just rolled, hitting them could stop your Kart dead, but if they roll and fall (or bounce) they could squash you like Thwomps, or the Boulders on Choco Mountain (Mk64).


Luigi Circuit
The red arrow shows the start for this very simple track, possibly the first track in the game to get you used to the driving etc. The large blue dots are item locations (there may be more, but these are seen on the movies). The other major feature is the huge Chain chomp (see top left pic). People who played the game at e3, explained that Chain chomp can't get you if you take the normal track, but a shortcut takes you across a path that chain chomp can reach. There is no info on what would happen if Chain chomp got ya!


Mushroom City

Cool features:
- Huge Bob-omb Cars
- Wiggler Busses
- Normal Cars, Busses and Lorries
- Toads Eating outside Cafes
NO MAP AVAILABLE!
Peach Beach
Once thought to be Delfino Plaza, but cleared up in the CNN movie, Peach Beach looks like a sunny beach complete with funny shaped palms and a huge ships. There is a section that takes you through some shallow water, and the enemies from Super Mario Sunshine (the ones with the huge beaks from Gelato Beach) pop up. There is a sign saying Peach Beach in the CNN movie to prove the name.

Other Info
This track was first shown in the first batch of screenshots to hit the net and the early CNN movie, but was forgotten about after that. Peach Beach did not appear at e3, but the addition of this track into the final game is quite high, due to connections with SMS.

NO MAP AVAILABLE!
Waluigi Stadium
Waluigi Stadium is much like Wario Stadium from Mario Kart 64. It looks long and full of jumps. From what's shown, there is a small section of humps and bumps, followed by a U-Bend, leading up to a massive jump through a ring of fire and a huge "Waluigi Stadium" sign in the background. That is about all that is shown.

Other Info
Another popular track for videos. Most movies I have seen has a small section on Waluigi Stadium. This track is not forgotten, as it is included in some of the latest shots released by Nintendo. This track was also non playable at e3.

there is some info from planetnintendo.com

This message was edited by Luigi88 on Sep 28 2003.

This message was edited by Luigi88 on Sep 28 2003.

Good news! It was just confirmed that Mario Kart: Double Dash!! will have a bonus disc but that release date is unknown. Maybe it will come with the MK: DD disc. The Japan release date is 11/11 as well.

one of the conferences of E3 or something they confirmed this:

quote How should I know???

It is confirmed that there are atleast 16 characters

so this would be that there had to be more
right???
i am getting so anxious

the fake item box might be back in the game look at what daisy is holding, and whats in her item box you can see an item box up in daisy's hand and in her item box but if its a different color from the rest of them, then how hard is going to be to avoid it??? unless there are to fake item boxes, one that looks like the single item box, and the double item box or what if that is what it looks like when it starts spinning, it just looks like a box, unless it is a random item thingy that you arent aloud to see until you release it, so many possibilities

http://www.mariokart.com/prelaunch/index.html

MKDD finally has an official homepage
new movies and screens with new maps and items in action

like the pic above
it only has 3 videos and somewhere around 10 to 13 pics, a news letter and sumtin else
its a start

in one of the videos on the new DD nintendo site, i saw something that had the same map as Block Fort but looked a LOT better

i thought it looked dumber
there was no height in any that i saw
it looked like there was only one level, on both of them
the one that looks like block fort has the squares (one with a cut through it) and they only stick up a little bit below Peach's head
and the donut one was the same
i hope they have a battle course with atleast 3 levels to it

I just wanted to tell everyone that the official Mario Kart: Double Dash site is up. Its nothing to special but I think that they will add more when it gets closer to the release date.

Heres the link

This is what may well be appearing on the mario kart double dash bonus disk:

Five Mario Party 5 minigames
Playable demo of F-Zero GX
Fire Emblem content (including weapons, abilities and new music)
Ninja Turtles playable demo
Rebel Strike playable demo (Hoth)
Sonic Heroes playable demo

you mean for DD?
no there aren't unless there are secret characters
i'l give background on the few people dont know
Daisy-for people who played no other non-adventure mario game, daisy is the princess of sarasa land and was the damsel in distress for Super Mario Land and out of some error for the movie Super Mario bros., the princess of mushroom kingdom(this is where the Luigi+Daisy thing came from)
Waluigi-waluigi debuted in Mario Tennis when Wario had need for a Tennis partner, since then he has been in all non-adventure mario games
Bowser Jr.-the son of bowser, NOT BABY BOWSER, this tike was the koopa behind the mask of shadow mario in Super Mario Sunshine, it is the same one since he dones his mario smock(which transormes him) in DD
Diddy Kong-second banana to DK, diddy debuted in Donkey Kong Country as a young chimp that is now DK's best buddy
Birdo-birdo was known as an enemy in Super Mario bros. 2 but actually had roles in games like Wario's Woods and sports games and has seemingly become a good egg
The Troopas-traditional minions of bowser, i think that this familiar koopa may be the coin givin',bank runin' koopa from the Mario Party series, his winged buddy is most likely the one that ran the shop in MP2 before Toad gave up his star giving days

other than that-most characters are old or should be known

quote luigimania

This is what may well be appearing on the mario kart double dash bonus disk:

Five Mario Party 5 minigames
Playable demo of F-Zero GX
Fire Emblem content (including weapons, abilities and new music)
Ninja Turtles playable demo
Rebel Strike playable demo (Hoth)
Sonic Heroes playable demo

Also some preview movies of Pokemon Colosseum, 1080 Avalanche, Kirby Air Ride, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Harry Potter Quidich World Cup, NBA Live 2004, and Spongebob Squarepants The Search for Bikini Bottom.

Only in United States and Canada I think. I'm not sure about Europe.

That would be a good demo to buy if it had all those games. know how much it costs?

Cost. $50 in United States Dollars. Preorders you must deposit $10 of it.