Is this game a first place winner, or last place loser?
Obviously, the biggest change in Double Dash is that the player controls two racers in each kart now, one to drive and the other to man the rear and throw weapons that are picked up by hitting powerup boxes littered on the track. At any point during the race, the two can swap places. At first glance, this new system doesn't seem to change the formula in any way, but the gameplay becomes much subtly deeper because of it. Weapon management is much more strategic this time around, as you can no longer simply drag a trail of bananas behind the kart or hold turtle shells for a defensive shield. When an approaching shell is about to impact, you're warned with a small box that pops up. The only defense is in dropping the current weapon at the opportune time so that the shell runs right into the item, leaving the kart safe. Also, each character can only carry one item at a time, and only the rider in the back can pick up an item, so you'll want to maximize your weapon pickups by constantly switching between the two characters.
There are many more characters to select from this time around, as opposed to the eight present in prior games. This is a welcome change, and the familiar cast assembled from other multiplayer Mario games such as Mario Golf and Mario Tennis return. Also, in Double Dash, you get to select the kart that the two racers ride in. As dictated by tradition, classes are broken up into the slow acceleration but high top speed karts, vice versa, and medium karts. The larger character of the pair determines which kart class you'll be able to select from, which only makes sense since huge characters like Donkey Kong and fat Wario won't be able to squeeze into Baby Mario's carriage. Each character also has a characteristic special weapon that can be randomly given when hitting an item box, such as Bowser's huge spiky shell or Baby Mario's Chain-Chomp that tears down the track, running over everything. These never fail to deliver that "wow" factor as well as contribute further to the distinctiveness of each character.
Single player mode consists of the established three difficulty levels with four cups (one has to be unlocked). Get a gold trophy for each cup on each difficulty and you'll unlock a special surprise each time, ranging from new karts to new modes and multiplayer maps. A plentiful variety of tracks are packed into the cups, with some great level design set in very familiar environments. My favorite level would definitely have to be Baby Park, a deceptively simple track that consists purely of a perfect oval. However, the mayhem is intense, with karts screeching around turns and turtle shells flying everywhere.
Single player mode is great fun while it lasts, but Mario Kart has always focused on the multiplayer. To be fair, Double Dash does have the best single player of any game in the series, with plenty to unlock and a great enough challenge. I'm more than happy with the AI, which plays fair for once. Honestly, you'll be throwing fits because the opponents are merciless, but at least they don't randomly catch up and get powerups out of nowhere as in the previous games. Unlocking everything will take a great deal of patience and makes the single player mode more worthwhile. However, after getting all the goodies, there's not much incentive to continue playing.
Multiplayer is where the game shines though, as anybody who has engaged in a heated kart race can attest to. The coolest feature comes courtesy of the new dual character setup, since now two people can team up on the same kart, one to drive and the other to fire items. This leads to some fun races, especially if one person doesn't tell his partner that he's using a speed mushroom and all of a sudden the kart shoots forward. Before long, both people are yelling at each other and fighting for who has the right to drive. Ah, the good times.
I found that racing other people in the cups is substantially more fun than the battle modes. As with practically any multiplayer game, each additional person increases the fun exponentially, but while the battle games are decent, they lack the urgency and tension that a race for first place does. This is mainly from the rather dull battle arenas, which are small, cramped, and relatively flat. Two new battle modes have been added to the traditional balloon match, a Shine match where racers fight to see who can hold onto the Shine the longest, and a bomb-omb match where all the weapons are bombs to hit the other racers. While these are pleasant diversions, the most fun in the game still comes from multiplayer races.
Visually, Double Dash looks great, with splendid, bright colors and lots of detail on the tracks, with piranha plants snapping at passing racers and chained Chomps lurking on the sidelines. Animations of the characters are awesome, particularly the ones of the back seat driver, who turns to look at passing racers and juggles items while waiting for chances to use them. While most of the tunes are quite forgettable, the music suits the game perfectly, and hearing them puts you into the mood for some great Mario Kart action.
It goes without saying that Double Dash should be bought purely for the multiplayer. If you don't have friends over a lot or don't have anybody else to play with, your interest in this game will plummet. Online play would have skyrocketed the value of this title, but... we'll just have to wait until the Revolution hopefully. It does justice to the Mario Kart name and is certainly one of the most fun multiplayer experiences on the GameCube.