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By Osei Tyson on June 11th, 2003
Game InformationDeveloper: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Q4 2003
Genre: Racing
Also On: None
Website:MarioKartDoubleDash.com Cart Racing games are a common to see these days. Nintendo game birth to the genre more than ten years ago with their SNES classic, Super Mario Kart. Up to that point, racing games were just for racing. What the two-player action of Super Mario Kart did for games was make racing into a competitive, but overall fun extremely fun experience. The game departed from the "faster is better" mentality and introduced pickups and weapons into the mix. Flash forward 10 years, clone after clone popped up all over the place, with none of them ever managing to recreate the excitement that Mario Kart invoked. The only exception being when Mario Kart 64 hit stores in 1997. With four-player action, Mario Kart 64 breathed magic back into the world of Cart racers. Still hugely popular to this day. But of course, players want more, and the release of the GameCube had everyone waiting for a new Mario Kart title. To experience the un-paralleled enjoyment of the first two. Finally, we get our wish, as Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is on its way. And it’s about damn time. In this installation of the kart series, Nintendo looking to be innovative not wanting a Mario Kart 64 rehash. Changed the format a little, not one but two characters will be able to ride on your kart. One will do the driving while the other is responsible for using weaponry. And now besides the classic & new pickup weapons, each character will have his or her own exclusive attacks. One player controls both characters and is able to switch between them with the touch of a button. Possibly the most exciting feature of this game has to be the new system link feature, where a gamer can hook up two gamecubes to two TV’s and have 8 player Mario Kart action! The possibilities of 8 player Mario Kart race through my mind like Christina Aguilera nude in my dreams. And with a BB adaptor and a high speed net connection you’ll be able to play ONLINE! Yes I said it you’ll finally be able to beat other players across the country without looking at their ugly faces! All thanks to the nice crew at GameSpy. And speaking of faces. The game features 16 characters so far, and Nintendo did promise more. We might possibly get some hidden ones as well as the game draws closer to completion. Or maybe that’s just my wishes of Link & Zelda Kart talking. So far we have Mario, Luigi, Peach, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Koopa, Koopa Jr., Koopa Troopa, Paratroopa, Daisy, Birdo, Walugi, & Wario. I’m sure to play with Peach 100% of the time (I adore her). But I haven’t picked a partner yet. Daisy maybe? Key Features Each kart holds two racers that can switch places at any time. Choose from a huge cast of favorites, like: Luigi, Peach, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Wario and many more, and pair them up in any combination. The character in front handles the driving duties, while the character in the rear doles out damage with six different items plus eight special items that only specific characters can use.Reach new levels of frenzy with four-player mayhem, as each player controls two characters as they speed through Mushroom Kingdom courses.Place first in racing circuits to open up progressively more difficult circuits. Of course, you can have multiplayer races on any open courses or battle in arenas.Link the game with eight other players using a broadband adapter and race each other side-by-side using multiple game systems and multiple televisions!Play online through GameSpy’s free service.
Outlook…
Mario games have filled gamer’s life with un-matched bliss since day one. But I never was that big on Mario platformers. All are great but I always liked Mario driving more than jumping. So Double Dash!! is almost making me wet my pants. With all the new features Double Dash will keep the great classic gameplay we all love. All while giving a totally new experience. New weapons & characters? LAN play? Online play? Solid release date? Check, Check, Check, & ummm we’ll get back to that one. So get your engines ready for Q4 2003 and the future of Kart racing. ~ditto~
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