One of the best multiplayer racing games. Ever.
Mario Kart DD was the last major Nintendo brand to make it onto the Gamecube, leaving many Nintendo fans upset, and some even to leave the PS2. But, trust me and the other million MKDD buyers, it was well worth the wait.
Mario Kart is well-known for it's multiplayer, but MKDD manages to delever a good single-player experience as well. How? Well, let me ask you, is there anything more fun then blowing up your friends with a bom-omb? Or, throwing around red shells until one of you takes a hit? Or, having a frantic race-out to the death-just to see who wins Yoshi Circut?
Anyway, I'll leave that up to you. The multiplayer part of Mario Kart consists of Battle Mode-which consists of Bom-omb Blast, Shine Theif and Ballon Battle (a classic for all older MK fans.) There is also a co-op grand prix, in which each of you share a kart (more on the new two-people per cart in a moment) a normal grand prix and a versus. Up to eight players can play on up to eight cubes, through LAN.
One of the major new features is the ability to have two characters on a kart, insted of one (like in normal MK games.) This means that there is one "driver" and one "gunner." You do not have to stick to classical combonations-Mario and Bowser can be on a kart, as can Baby Luigi and Parakooper. The advantage of this is that you can have up to two different special moves, and hold up to two items at once.
MKDD single player is also a blast, but not as good as mulitplayer. It is great for rainy weekends, when all of your friends are on vacation :(. There are four different engine classes, and five cups. (spoilers ahead.) The five cups are Mushroom Cup (a basic one), Flower Cup (my fave), Star Cup (slightly difficlult), Special cup (includes the hardest trakes, must be ulocked) and All Cup (must be unlocked, all trackes in one) . All cups have four tracks, but the All Cup mixes all these together.
As for the engine classes, there are four. These are simmilar to difficluty levels. The higher engine level you go, the faster your kart (and your rival's karts) go and the better the AI. It starts at 50cc (easy), 100cc (sort of easy), 150cc (hard) and Mirror Mode (Just like 150cc, except you are driving a mirrored track, must be unlocked.)
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Well, enough on the gameplay, now for the graphics :). The graphics are sort of cartoonish, but they look good. They are not cell-shaded. The real highlight is the locations, and how detailed they are. This game can show off how detalied the GC's graphics can be. Just look at the screenshots, and you will get what I mean. The graphics are above average-but not fantastic.
The sound is also detailed, with each character saying a different thing at the end of each race, weather they came first, second, or last. There are also all the other sounds you can expect from a racing game, such as engine noises, etc.
The games value is also good. It is player's choice, and that makes it half price of normal GC games. You could also pick it up second-hand somewhere, cheap too.
In conclusion, Mario Kart Double Dash is one of the best games on the Gamecube, and one of the best racers I have ever played (mind you, I am know great player of racers.) It is technically flawless, and it is a great way to waste a weekend with mates.
Link the window (typo in name, I atually like ninty)
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