Back in 1992, Nintendo released a game for
the SNES that would define a new genre. Super Mario Kart
exploded onto the video-game scene and went on to become one
of the most revered titles ever. Some time later, Nintendo
attempted to re-create that success with a sequel for the N64
-- cunningly named Mario Kart 64 -- and while critics didn't
warm to the second game as much as the first, it still
remained a great game. Spin forward half a decade or so and
we're all now staring the latest incarnation of Mario Kart in
the face. New to GameCube, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a
wonderful game that is more than worthy of its great legacy.
Although there are a few caveats to note along the way.
There are sixteen characters to choose from
initially, with each one fitting snugly into his or her own
weight group: light, medium, or heavy. Conversely, each kart
is allotted a weight rating. There's some method to the
character/kart madness as certain combinations are not
possible. For example, Bowser (heavy) can't fit into the
Koopa Dasher kart (light), and so on. Each kart has slightly
different characteristics; the light karts accelerate faster
but have lower top speeds than the medium and heavy karts. GP
mode consists initially of three difficulty classes: 50cc,
100cc, and the nasty 150cc. In each GP, you'll need to race
on 12 tracks split up into three cups: Mushroom, Flower and
the Evil Star cup. There are more tracks to unlock -- go for
the gold medals -- but most players will have a tough time
initially beating all three cups on all three levels of
difficulty. Actually, the true real challenge comes in the
150cc class which gets more than a little nasty.
Mario Kart: Double Dash is a great game. It
delivers fun and challenging gameplay in both single-player
and multiplayer modes, although the real test of time will
show that multiplayer -- and, in particular, the co-op mode
-- racing is the way forward. Once you've beaten the
single-player game inside out, there's little incentive to go
back and replay those harder tracks. MK:DD!! is a great-
looking, great-playing game that most gamers will instantly
warm to. We've all seen this kind of gameplay before, but the
new additions make it worth checking out for sure. It's not
the most original game this year, but it's one of the best
you'll play on GameCube, and that's a fact.
