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| Mario Kart: Double Dash!! GC review | |
| developer | Nintendo |
| publisher | Nintendo |
| author | Chris O'Regan |
| date | Nov. 18, 2003 |
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Chromehounds
NA Review by Marcin
Oblivion-The First 3 Hours
PC Quicktake by walTer
Comic Quick Takes January 25, 2006
Feature by Mike
Sequels, sequels, sequels. Some say they're the bane of the gaming industry while others regard them as more of what they want - only better. Nintendo have not been one to shy away from sequels but instead prefers to refer to them as ‘updates’ to show off their latest console. There are many examples of these including the Waverace and Zelda but the one title people wanted to see on the Nintendo’s diminutive Gamecube is Mario Kart, the game that, for many, was reason enough to own a SNES. Well it’s arrived and I’m pleased to say, the magic is still there..and then some!
Put ya pedal to the metal!
For the uninitiated (all 3 of you) Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (MKDD) is a driving game that relies heavily on power ups and the players' ability to drift around corners without a significant reduction in speed. The vehicles in the game are driven by a variety of characters from Nintendo’s portfolio of games. The vehicles they drive vary from go-karts to full blown road cruisers with a lot of other weird and wonderful machines in between. Think of the ‘Wacky Races’ with a heavy dose of Nintendo and you’re pretty much there.
The tracks are relatively small in comparison to most racing games as the environment they are placed in is more key than the track itself. Creatures will swipe at you from the side of the track, sending you spinning out of control whilst some tracks have short cuts that have you drop through a ships exhaust pipes or even shot through a cannon towards an erupting volcano. Needless to say MKDD should not be regarded as a rival Gran Turismo.
The racing game to end them all
The previous three versions of this game have all been ported to one of Nintendo’s consoles from times gone by since the arrival of the SNES. The first one was, and still is, regarded as one of the most entertaining racing games ever made. Its attraction lied in its immediacy and superb use of the drifting control method that allowed the player to swing the kart around corners at top speed. By mastering this it was possible to shave off vital seconds from your lap time. The next instalment, Mario Kart 64 seemed to lack the magic of the original and didn’t capture the imagination of gamers. So it’s now up to MKDD to regain the magic lost in the N64 port and, has already been said, it does just that by adding some key changes to the Mario Kart formula.
Co-drivers? What is this? Colin McRae takes on Mario Kart?
One of the main innovations that has been introduced of the co-driver. This adds a new dimension to the game as the second driver can hold power ups as well as the driver and can even steal power ups from other players. They also aid in the drifting of the kart as they lean in the direction of the drift. This means that many drivers now have access to two power ups that can turn the normally intermittent use of these items into a constant stream of obstructions.
LOOK OUT! It’s a giant....metal...blob thing...WITH TEETH!
Another innovation is the inclusion of character specific special abilities. In the pervious games the main difference between characters were their abilities to corner and drive at speed. In MKDD they also have special abilities they can only be invoked by them. Examples of these abilities include the Chain Chomp that can only be used by the Baby Mario and Luigi. This beast drags the cart in high speed while chomping at any other players that can in its way. Another is the giant banana left by Donkey Kong and fire balls shot by Mario himself.
Its the same, but different.
Other than the differences listed above the essence of Mario Kart remains. There are still the grand prix cups to win, the ‘cc’ subsections of difficulty from 50cc up to 150cc. There is also the multiplayer split screen action which goes up to four players as was seen in the previous version. The tracks also favour the use of drifting so much so that the use of the brake is a rare event to the point where it is even discouraged. Now this is no bad thing - as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don’t fix it. But there is one more major development that I haven’t yet mentioned, co-op play.
The ultimate back seat driver!
Along with the traditional split screen vs game modes there is also the ‘co-op’ mode. This has one player driving the kart whilst the other controls the co-pilot character. The co-pilot helps out with the drifting by leaning the character in the appropriate direction and throws the power-up items picked up during the race. This has quite a unique dimension to the game as it sets up players vs the CPU controlled drivers as they race around the track. This can also be done in head to head games with 4 people playing, 2 driving and co-drivers. This can make some some hilarious gaming moments with players taunting each other both on and off screen as the co-drivers can wave gestures at other drivers during the race.