| Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ | |
|---|---|
European box art |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Kiyoshi Mizuki Yasuyuki Oyagi Futoshi Shirai Daiji Imai |
| Producer(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto Tadashi Sugiyama Shinya Takahashi Takashi Tezuka |
| Composer(s) | Shinobu Tanaka Kenta Nagata |
| Series | Mario Kart |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a racing game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. The game is the fourth installment in the Mario Kart series, following Mario Kart: Super Circuit from 2001. It was succeeded by the handheld game Mario Kart DS (2005), the console game Mario Kart Wii (2008) and the handheld game Mario Kart 7 (2011) respectively, and the arcade games in the Mario Kart Arcade GP series.
The game introduced a number of new gameplay features, most notably the inclusion of two riders per kart. Double Dash‼ supports LAN play using the Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter, allowing 16 players to compete simultaneously. There are 20 characters to select from in total, with eleven of them being new to the series. A special item for each character has also been implemented.
Double Dash‼ was generally well-received by critics; it attained an aggregated score of 87 out of 100 on Metacritic. Reviewers praised the graphics and the new gameplay features, but criticized the voice acting. It was also commercially successful, selling over 3.8 million copies in the United States, and over 802,000 copies in Japan.
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Double Dash‼'s gameplay is slightly different from other Mario Kart games. Instead of having one player per kart, there are two: one to drive, and one to use items. Players cannot hold items behind the kart, making it more difficult to block incoming shells. It is the first game in the series where players drop their items when hit by a weapon. Players can also steal items from the opponents. The powerslide technique has been improved; players can tilt the control stick while drifting to make sparks appear around their kart. If tilted enough, the sparks turn blue, and the player gets a speed boost known as a "mini-turbo".[1]
The game allows up to four players to compete in battle modes and two players in grand prix mode. As in previous installments, the battle arenas are enclosed, with varying architecture and a constant arsenal. In addition to the traditional balloon-popping battle game, two new games have been implemented: the first involves capturing a Shine Sprite and maintaining possession of it for a time period, and the other involves throwing Bob-ombs at each other. Double Dash‼ also features LAN play using the Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter. Up to eight GameCube consoles can be connected, allowing for 16-player multiplayer games, with two players controlling each kart.[2]
Players can choose from a cast of 20 characters, eleven of which are new to the series. Characters have their own special items, like Mario and Luigi with Fireballs, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong with Giant Bananas, and Wario and Waluigi with Bob-ombs. The character's weight class (light, middle, or heavy) determine the karts in which they can ride and their attributes in speed, acceleration, and weight. There are 16 courses, divided into four cups; a fifth cup, the all-cup tour, has the player race all the tracks. The all cup tour always starts with Luigi Circuit and ends with Rainbow Road, but the remaining fourteen tracks show up in random order. Each track is also playable in "Mirror Mode", available after winning the all-cup tour, in which the tracks are mirrored; this mode is only available for 150cc.[3]
Double Dash‼ was first shown at the E3 in 2001 as a seven second long video clip. The clip featured Mario and Luigi driving their karts on a bump mapped 3D surface with no background. At the time, it was early in development, and the working title of the game was simply Mario Kart.[4] In April 2003, Nintendo released the first pictures and details of the game, as well as revealing the title to be Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.[5] At the E3 in 2003, a playable demo of the game was available. New features, such as having two characters drive one kart, had been implemented.[6] An updated demo with some new additions was shown at the Games Convention in August 2003.[7] In September, Nintendo held a Gamers' Summit for the press, in which a nearly complete and more sped up version of Double Dash!! was displayed. The Gamers' Summit also announced the North American release date to be November 17, 2003.[8]
The development team struggled in coming up with gameplay features that would be enjoyed by the fans of the series. One of the hardest tasks chief director Kiyoshi Mizuki was assigned to do was to attract people who had no prior experience with the series; he decided to make the gameplay as simple as possible. Producer Shigeru Miyamoto presented the staff with a variety of opinions which they in turn would have to accommodate into the game the best way possible. Miyamoto let the team decide which graphics they wanted to use without restrictions.[9]
An online mode for the game was omitted because online infrastructures at the time did not allow rapid-speed gaming to a satisfactory level. Connectivity to the Game Boy Advance was discussed as an opportunity among the developers, but they eventually agreed that Double Dash‼ was not suited to any connectivity ideas and decided to exclude it. It was desirable to narrow down the gap between the ability of veteran and novice players. Therefore, gameplay features like the ability to escape the banana were removed; the staff wanted both veteran and novice players to enjoy themselves.[9]
The game's soundtrack was composed by Shinobu Tanaka and Kenta Nagata.[10] Many of the original voice actors from the Mario series worked on this title, with Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi; Jen Taylor as Princess Peach, Toad, Toadette, and Birdo; Deanna Mustard as Princess Daisy; Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi; Scott Burns as Bowser; and Dolores Rogers as Bowser Jr.[11]
A special edition of the game was also released, which included a bonus disc containing demos and gameplay videos of other games released around the time, including Mario Party 5, Pokémon Colosseum, and Kirby Air Ride, among others. [12] The special edition disc also includes digital content that could be transferred to Game Boy Advance title Fire Emblem via Game Link Cable. [12]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 87%[13] |
| Metacritic | 87 out of 100[14] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9.83 out of 10[15] |
| Game Informer | 9.25 out of 10[16] |
| GameSpot | 7.9 out of 10[17] |
| GameSpy | [18] |
| IGN | 7.9 out of 10[19] |
| Nintendo Power | 5 out of 5[20] |
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! has overall been positively received by reviewers and commercially successful. The game received the "Multiplayer Game" award from ITV's Game Stars in 2004.[21] The game sold 3.8 million units in the United States,[22] and over 802,000 units in Japan.[23] According to the NPD Group, Double Dash!! was the best-selling game of November 2003.[24] It is also the third best-selling GameCube game in Australia.[25] Joystiq reported in February 2009 that the game had sold over seven million copies worldwide.[26]
Nintendo Power gave the game a perfect score, and said the graphics were of "3-D perfection" and the controls and game mechanics "rival those of any GCN racing game".[20] Double Dash!! also received a perfect score from GamePro, who commented that the gameplay remains "fast and furious".[27] The feature of having two riders per kart was praised by Justin Leeper and Andy McNamara of Game Informer; McNamara stated: "Giving the player control of two different characters is pretty cool in single-player, but add a friend on the back of your kart in multiplayer and it opens the game up like never before."[16] GameSpy called Double Dash!! a "great-looking, great-playing game that most gamers will instantly warm to."[18] Eurogamer thought the game was one of the "finest pieces of electronic entertainment ever developed."[28] GameZone's Louis Bedigian felt that none of the racing games he had played for the GameCube were as "spectacular" as Double Dash!!.[29] GMR's Andrew Pfister said, "Mario Kart: Double Dash is the most fun you'll have with a game this year. And probably next year. And maybe even the year after that".[30] The game placed 63rd in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time.[31]
Double Dash‼ has also received criticism from the media. Considering the seven-year gap since Nintendo 64's Mario Kart 64, GameSpot's Ryan Davis stated that he was "a little disappointed with the limited scope of the game." He also said that the repetition of the voice acting was "unrelenting".[17] IGN was also critical towards Double Dash‼ for not progressing beyond its predecessor, calling the game a "mediocre effort".[19] The UK-based publication Edge accused the game of "not being a racing game anymore."[32] Game Revolution criticized the game's single-player mode for lacking substance and the track design for being "bland".[33]
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