I gotta say that aside from Mario Kart DS, the Mario Kart series has been getting screwed by reviewers out there.  Everyone seems to love Mario Kart, and there's lots of attention given to games that we may never even play, like the Mario arcade game made by Namco, showing just how much the series is loved.  So why do people rape the series when it comes time to review it?  Mario Kart 64 got a 6.6 at gamespot.  A 6.6!!  That game was incredible!  How can they do that?  It was just like the Snes version, which rocked, plus it had better graphics and improved features, and deserves at least an 8.5 in my, and I believe many other gamers, opinion. 

Then Mario Kart: Double Dash.  Both IGN and GameSpot basically say its good old mario kart, but isn't all that impressive otherwise, stating that there's nothing creative or new in it.  But Double Dash has lots of neat new stuff that improves on Mario 64:

1-16+ brand new tracks
2-a new records system
3-ghost drivers
4-Lan capabilities
5-much better graphics
6-majorly improved animations
7-two characters per kart, two pickups at a time
8-two players (actual people) can both control the same kart, one drives while the other shoots
9-loads of content is unlocked as new goals are achieved
10-entirely new pickups
11-each kart has specific stats
12-characters kick and punch eachother when they are close to eachother
13-there're more characters than ever before
14-significantly improved AI
15-there's a boost strategy when drifting
16-there're new multiplayer modes

None of these things were in the previous Mario Kart game, so how can reviewers chew Double Dash up for not bringing anything new to the table?  Even though it is still the same type of game at its core, and doesn't change drastically, it is still making plenty of improvements and deserves some credit for goodness sakes.  And on top of all these new improvements, it still has the same Snes Mario Kart magic, and that also deserves some credit.  But then Double Dash gets a 7.9, as opposed to say, a 9.2.  I just don't get it, someone please explain it to me!