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> Results: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
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Takes the Gold CupThe Mario Kart series is one that's beloved by millions with the Nintendo 64 iteration often lauded as one of the greatest games ever to grace a home gaming console. What's surprising is that unlike most game companies, Nintendo has never milked this franchise, providing a single version of the game for each major platform they've released. The Super Nintendo Mario Kart started it all with its Mode 7 scaling and rotation. Mario Kart 64 took the game into the third dimension with circuits and battle arenas that featured plenty of elevation changes. Then the series recently went back to its roots with a Game Boy Advance version that took the best of the SNES and added more. Finally, with the Gamecube Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Nintendo has added to the game, taken some things away and come up with the best version yet. It's been seven years since the release of Mario Kart 64 and that length of time shows up immediately in Double Dash!! as technology has not been kind to the previous game when you put it side by side with the new. Double Dash!! has a solid framerate more than double that of its predecessor. This immediately results in a faster paced game than before. You fight your way through sixteen well-designed circuits in single player mode earning the Gold Cup in 50cc (easy), 100cc (normal) and 150cc (hard) races. With victory comes the always expected unlockables and there's a middling amount of extras in the game, including additional characters, circuits and mirror mode. This series invented the kart racing genre on consoles and one of the things it has always had in abundance is character. Animation abounds for the riders and along the circuits. There are numerous roadside sights and obstacles that present a racing world constantly in motion. The characters always have something to say too. They might be hollering as they're drug along behind the kart or cheering when a well placed green shell finds its mark. This generation Nintendo has been able to take all of their trademark characters and animate them consistently from game to game giving each one a certain look and feel that makes them at one time comfortable while at the same time unique, and this game maintains that trend. Double Dash!! earns its name from the two character set up on each kart. You can mix and match characters and their vehicle as you see fit with each character having their own special attacks. You can also now hold two powerups at any given time making for some strategic decisions as you approach the next set of item boxes, some of which can give you to items instead of one. But with only one character able to use an item, you may have to do some swapping while driving to get the powerup you need. It's a simple system that creates some great in-game strategy. The circuit racing is as good as itﾒs ever been. The AI is definitely cheating on the 150cc level but when you get there you won't want it any other way. 50cc is downright simple by comparison and with increased speed should come increased challenge. However, while the AI is getting some advantages on the hardest setting, you can also pull away from it at times indicating that the rubber band AI of previous games isn't nearly as vicious now. It's a nice compromise that makes single player enjoyable while unlocking all the extras. Multiplayer is where the game struts its stuff as usual and with two new battle modes, this game seems like it will hold up for a long time. Shine Thief has you grabbing a Shine of Super Mario Sunshine fame and holding onto it until a timer reaches zero as your opponents try to wrest control. For Bob-Omb Battles, each item pickup is worth one Bob-Omb and you try to blast your opponents enough times for victory. Each new mode requires different strategies and Bob-Omb battle is especially exciting because of the sheer number of explosions in a game with multiple players. Battle is strictly a multiplayer affair though with no games against the AI available. This is also one of the first games to support LAN play with multiple Gamecubes and multiple televisions. Setup is painless as long as you've got a router available and some Ethernet cable. It works great in practice too. You can't choose your drivers or karts in this mode, but the randomness actually adds to the fun. Bob-Omb Battle is conspicuous by its absence from LAN play, however. You can change a lot of game settings though and the gameplay, especially in circuit racing is perfect over the wire. As a baby step toward online play, it's pretty promising and nothing beats having a large group shouting at each other as the red shells fly. There is certainly the potential for Nintendo to have added even more unlockables and more "stuff" to this game. However, what you get is of such high quality when compared with most other offerings in this genre that it's really hard to complain. There's nothing out of place and no mistakes made in presentation along with no load times. It's like playing a cartridge game in that respect and the instant response to starting a new game and just getting right to the action is welcome. Double Dash!! takes everything that was good about this series and brings it to the Gamecube perfectly with some cool new additions and the same powerhouse gameplay that provides hours of fun.  Kid Factor:Like many Nintendo titles, this is a perfect GamerDad game. It's got nothing objectionable for kids and gameplay that's deep enough for mom and dad too. Nintendo keeps saying they want to make games that appeal to everyone and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is the epitome of that philosophy of game design. You really can't ask for better than this when it comes to putting kids and adults together for some crazy racing fun. Reviewer Recommended Ages: 3+ Genre: Kart Racing ESRB Rating: E-Everyone Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Score: 4 1/2 of 5 
Like many Nintendo titles, this is a perfect GamerDad game. It's got nothing objectionable for kids and gameplay that's deep enough for mom and dad too. Nintendo keeps saying they want to make games that appeal to everyone and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is the epitome of that philosophy of game design. You really can't ask for better than this when it comes to putting kids and adults together for some crazy racing fun.
Kid Factor by Dave Long
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