Nintendo has taken the basic Mario Kart formula and infused it with new game play elements and innovative ideas. The most noticeable change in MKDD is the inclusion of a second character riding along on each kart. Any combination of characters can ride together, but depending on his or her size, only specific karts will be available to drive. If you want to drive Donkey Kong's kart you'll have to choose at least one character that is a heavyweight. Each kart handles differently due to differing maximum speed, acceleration, and weight. Usually the heavier karts will have a higher top speed, but won't accelerate very well. Choosing which characters to drive with will also have a direct impact on what special items will be available to pick up along the tracks. In past Mario Kart games when a player drove through the floating question mark boxes it was completely random which item a player got, but all items were available to all players. This time around the basic item set is available to all characters, but in addition, each character has a specific special item that could be randomly chosen when driving through the power-up blocks on the racecourse. Each pair of similar characters have similar or the same power-ups. For example, let's pretend a player decided to choose Mario and Baby Luigi to race. After picking the drivers and a kart that will fit both riders, the race will begin. By driving through a power-up block, the character hanging on the rear of the kart will get a power-up, which is randomly chosen just like in past games. The weapons available to all characters include: green shell, red shell, blue homing shell (now with wings to seek out 1st place driver), star, banana, mushroom, fake power-up block, lightning bolt, and triple mushrooms. Thrown into the mix is the special power-up for the character hanging off the back of the kart. In the above example, Baby Luigi is on the back of the kart and his special is the Chain Chomp, which when activated will take control of the kart (automatic steering), and will run rampant on the track for about 10 seconds, wiping out every other kart in its path. If the player hits the Z button the characters switch spots and with Mario on the back of the kart he could get his special, which is the fireballs, a great weapon for taking out multiple karts in a straightaway.

This whole dual-rider concept really works wonders for the game and adds a deeper level of strategy to an already hectic game. Let's say the player drives through a power-up block and Baby Luigi gets a red shell. In past Mario Kart games it was vital to use the weapon as quickly as possible so that by the time the next power-up blocks came into view a new weapon could be obtained. With 2 characters on the kart, the player has the option to hold an item for later use by pressing the Z button and switching player positions. That way Baby Luigi would be driving and Mario could pick up the next weapon. Now the player would have 2 items in inventory. Let's say for this example Mario got a banana. In Mario Kart 64 certain items could be dragged behind the kart to block incoming weapons. Nintendo decided to take that feature out of MKDD. At first this was the one change with the game I disliked. I used to always utilize defensive weapons in the past Mario Kart games, whether it be rotating shells or dragging bananas behind my kart. To make the game more balanced, the developers decided to give the player a brief warning by flashing an icon of what weapon is about to hit your kart. So, let's say we're driving along and all of a sudden a red shell icon pops up on the bottom of the screen. If Mario could throw the banana on the ground at just the right moment, the red shell would be deflected. In a roundabout way Nintendo kept the defensive moves in MKDD, but it's more difficult to successfully block incoming projectiles. Throughout the courses there are certain times when there are double item blocks, so both of the characters on the kart will receive items at once. The items given will often depend on what place the player is currently in. For example, if a player is in first place he or she is more apt to get bananas and green shells than red or blue shells as weapons. This is similar to past Mario Kart games and it helps balance the game out, giving last place drivers better weapons so they can catch up easier. Finding the right combination of characters and karts is key to winning races in MKDD. An added twist to the game is that while the rear character holds the item it can be seen by competing drivers. If a driver boosts into another kart or uses a star and drives into the enemy's kart, he or she can effectively steal that item.

Multiplayer has always been where Mario Kart games have truly shined, and this one is no different. The default mode allows for up to 4 players on one GameCube to play versus each other, whereby each player drives a kart with 2 characters (4 karts and 8 characters appear on the screen). New to the game is co-op mode. In co-op mode up to 4 players can play on one GameCube, with 2 people on each kart. The player riding in shotgun drives the kart and the player in the rear manages the weapons. At any time the players can switch positions by both pressing the Z button at the same time. Like in previous Mario Kart games, hitting the L or R shoulder buttons will allow the kart to perform a power slide. In any other mode except co-op mode, tilting your stick from left to right and back again will instigate a small boost when you come out of the slide. This is similar to the N64 version, except much easier to pull off. When playing co-op, the driver hits the L or R to slide, but it's the passenger that must press the stick back and forth from left to right to initiate the boost. At anytime during the race the passenger can also press L or R on the controller. This will cause the kart to quickly lurch left or right. When used at the right moment this can literally save the kart from going off a cliff or make it easier to hit a power-up block. It's also used to steal a rival kart's weapons. Simply drive alongside another kart and have the passenger hit the L or R (depending on what side of the kart the rival is located) and the enemy's item is now yours. This is a great alternative to the ghost power-up, which has been left out of this game. Item management is also essential to beating the competition. If the driver has an item and it's a good time to use it, the rear player needs to inform (yell!) at the driver to throw the item back so it can be used. As you can imagine, good communications skills can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Those readers out there that have played previous Mario Kart games will find that the game modes are pretty much the same in MKDD. The single player experience rests with the Grand Prix Mode and the Time Trials. In Grand Prix there are 50 CC, 100 CC, and 150 CC modes to play. The higher the CC, the faster the karts and more viscous the A.I. is in the competing karts. A total of 3 cups, each harboring 4 tracks are initially playable. Of course, in Mario Kart tradition there are some secret courses to unlock. When competing in the Grand Prix mode there are a total of 8 karts racing. This mode can be played with 2 players versus split-screen whereby there are 6 computer-controlled karts. It can also be played in co-op mode so 2 people could race full screen on 1 kart against 7 of the computer karts or 4 players could race split screen, with there still being 6 computer karts. This is a nice addition and tends to be quite fun for those seeking more of a challenge than straight up versus racing. I still wish 4 player versus Grand Prix would be available in the game (4 human karts, 4 computer karts), but apparently it's still not possible to program.

In Versus Mode up to 8 players can race head-to-head, but it requires at least 2 GameCubes, 2 broadband adapters, 2 copies of the game, 2 televisions, and an Ethernet cable for LAN play. Up to 16 players can play versus if the co-op mode is selected. 8 total karts would appear in the race, with 2 players per kart. This would require a massive 8 GameCubes, 8 broadband adapters, 8 copies of the game, 8 televisions, and multiple Ethernet cables with hubs for LAN play. Having tried the LAN game, it's painfully obvious that Nintendo didn't really put much effort into it. The biggest problem is that the game randomly chooses your character and kart. Then, instead of ranking racers, once a race is over the game simply boots back out to the menu screen. There could have been some really cool LAN games, but as it is it's more of a novelty than a feature.

Battle Mode, much like LAN play, leaves much to be desired. The arenas are extremely small, especially if more than 4 players are going at it. Due to the lack of hiding spots and general lack of defensive weapons, battle matches tend to be over quickly instead of dragging on for several minutes. The classic balloon battle is back. Each player has 3 balloons attached to his or her kart. Every time a weapon strikes the kart, a balloon disappears and when they are all gone it's game over for that player. Last man standing wins. When playing co-op, stealing balloons from other players becomes a game in itself and is quite fun and vindictive (remember the rear player can use L and R to steal items, or in this case balloons). New to the game are the Shine Thief and Bob-Omb Modes. Shine Thief plays like tag. There's one player with the shine and the object is to take the Shine away. The player who has the Shine for the longest duration wins. In Bob-Omb mode all the power-ups are bombs. Successfully hitting another player with a bomb will add a star to the meter. Fill all 4 empty star slots and you're the winner. If you're hit with another player's bomb, a star slot empties and goes to that player. This mode is quite fun and chaotic, but for me I enjoy the normal racing over the battles. Those gamers out there that thrived on battle may still like the battle modes offered in MKDD, but chances are the arenas will be too small and the matches will end to quickly.

The racecourse tracks in MKDD are simply magnificently designed. They are by far and above better than even the best tracks in Mario Kart 64, of which I personally love to play to this day. Nearly every course in the game has at least one shortcut that can be found, and if it doesn't have a shortcut it has some other quirk that can be exploited by those experienced drivers out there. What makes the tracks so special is the insane amount of detail Nintendo has placed into the terrain and the wide-ranging course designs. DK Mountain is a track that starts the racers off near the middle of the mountain where a barrel shoots the players to the top of the mountain. The rest of the race is a downhill battle to the finish line with twists and turns that, if missed, plummet the player into an abyss where Lakitu will have to fish the kart out. Each track is designed around the Mario universe. There are Shy Guys, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Piranha Plants, Chomp Chomps, and a host of other familiar characters that serve as environmental hazards throughout the courses. The backdrops are taken right from the Mario games. The clouds, trees, and sun have eyes and smiley faces ala Super Mario Bros. One course shows off Princess Peach's castle, another has Luigi's Mansion in the background, and in Yoshi's Circuit the raceway itself is the outline of Yoshi. Fans will appreciate the extra dedication shown by the staff to make this latest game the penultimate Mario Kart experience.

I've already touched on the graphics, but let me state that it's fantastic that we finally get to play a Mario Kart game with a stable frame rate. This game is smooth, even in 4-player split-screen. The animation in the game is so much better than the N64 version that the difference is staggering. Everything seems to be in motion. The trees move in the wind, the clouds soar across the sky, the flowers dance alongside the road, and the various environmental hazards, like the quicksand of doom, look great. Even better is the animation on the characters in the karts. As the kart turns, the back player will lean into the turn. Hitting the weapon-firing button when not holding a weapon will cause the rear player to taunt the other players. Wario likes to spank himself on the butt and laugh, which is always amusing. If another weapon hits the kart, the kart flies into the air and when it lands the back player is usually dragged a distance, barely hanging on until he or she can get back on the kart. It's painfully funny to see the first few times, and just plain painful to witness later in the game since it usually means you've lost a few places. Even the weapons animate now that the character on the back physically holds them. Take the triple mushrooms, for example. Some characters choose to hold all three stacked one atop the other. They sway back and forth, almost looking to topple, but somehow stay balanced, unless a competitor's weapon makes contact, at which point they might scatter across the road for someone else to use. Other characters will juggle the mushrooms around instead of stacking them. There's no reason for this other than to add personality to the various drivers. These small attentions to detail in the animation make the game look great and all without a hitch in the frame rate department.

The audio in the game is equally impressive. The tunes are infectious and fit each track's locale. There are some musical pieces that aren't as impressive as others, but for the most part the happy jingles do the job. The final racetrack has one of the best songs in the entire game, and it even harkens back to the N64 version. Oh, and let the title screen sit for a bit and you'll hear the title screen music from the Super NES version of Mario Kart. Just like Nintendo's attention to detail in the graphics, the audio samples change depending on location. Each character has a set number of phrases (the most obnoxious being, "Hi! I'm Daisy!") and if they utter any words in a cave or a tunnel there's an echo. Likewise, if they are shrunk down via a lightning bolt the voices are sped up and higher pitched. From Bowser Jr.'s evil laugh (and his losing cry) to Baby Luigi's awesome voice work, the audio samples are a cut above the rest. I love it when Baby Luigi doesn't come in first he utters, "Baby Wee-gee Number... Not One!" Overly cute, yes, but it puts a smile on my face. Some of the phrases can be difficult to hear over the background music and other sound effects, but generally it's not too big of an issue. MKDD is Dolby Pro Logic II compatible and the game makes good use of the rear speakers. Approaching vehicles and characters can be heard, making for a more immersive environment.

Mario Kart: Double Dash is not only the best multiplayer game on the GameCube, it's one of the best games available on any system. The 1-player modes are enough to keep most gamers satisfied, but the real magic of the game is in the multiplayer matches. The variety of the courses, combined with the various multiplayer options, from versus to co-op to battle, make this game one that's hard to put down. During the course of playing this game over the past few weeks there was always the feeling of, "Just one more race!" and I don't think there was ever a time where I stopped playing at a decent hour. There are karts, characters, and tracks to unlock. While I've heard some complain that the secrets aren't as vast as Smash Bros. Melee, there's definitely enough here to unlock to keep any true Mario Kart fan happy. After all, think about all the un-lockable content in Mario Kart 64 (read: none, unless you count mirror mode). Nintendo has done a superb job in bringing out a fantastically fun sequel. The only 2 sore spots are the ho-hum LAN Modes and the somewhat boring Battle Modes, both of which are minor blemishes on an incredibly addicting and enjoyable game. I highly recommend Mario Kart: Double Dash to gamers of all ages.