Mario Kart: Double Dash

MARIO KART: DOUBLE DASH

Today, let's cover Mario Kart: Double Dash, the Game Cube's installment in the Mario Kart series. It largely returns to Mario Kart 64's form but with one major exception, that being that each car carries two passengers this time around: one to drive, and one to handle the items. Honestly, it was a fun idea, and I'm kinda sad the Mario Kart series never went back to it.

Going with the gimmick of the two-person cars, each character comes with a built-in partner. You can pair up whoever you like, but these pair are typically who the game defaults too. Our main eight, and Koopa Troopa, all return, with Mario and Luigi paired up naturally, Peach gaining Daisy, Yoshi gaining Birdo (even though they really don't have all that much to do with each other in the series proper; I suppose both being egg-y dinosaurs is good enough), Toad gaining Toadette (her debut by the way), Koopa gaining a Paratroopa, Bowser gaining Bowser Jr., Donkey Kong gaining Diddy Kong, and Wario gaining Waluigi (side note: his first real appearance in this blog series). The roster is rounded out by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi from the Yoshi games, and Petey Piranha and King Boo fresh off their debuts in Super Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion respectively.

As for background, obstacle, and supporting characters, Lakitu returns as the ref, Toadsworth drives the victory car in the awards ceremony, and Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Cataquacks, Dinosaurs, Piantas, and Nokis appear in the background and as obstacles.

As for our stages, we return to the old sixteen tracks across four cups, the standard. These include Luigi Circuit, a generic stage; Peach Beach, a beach level; Baby Park, a super-short track with seven laps instead of three; Dry Dry Desert, a desert stage; Mushroom Bridge, a busy highway similar to Toad's Turnpike; Mario Circuit, a track around Peach's Castle; Daisy Cruiser, a cruise ship; Waluigi Stadium, a monster truck rally arena like Wario's version; Sherbet Land, an ice level; Mushroom City, a busy street level set inside a sprawling city; Yoshi Circuit, a generic track shaped like a Yoshi; DK Mountain, a jungle level with a cannon and a volcano; Wario Colosseum, a much bigger arena (showing up our . . . brother? . . . are we?); Dino Dino Jungle, a jungle level filled with dinosaurs; Bowser's Castle, a Bowser's Castle level of course; and this game's rendition of Rainbow Road.

Our Battle mode adds in two more modes from the standard balloon battle, this time adding in Shine Thief, where players have to steal Shine Sprites from each other, and Bob-Omb Blast, which loads players up with lots of bombs. The battle courses include Cookie Land, set on a giant cookie; Block City, taking after Block Fort but not as much fun; Nintendo Gamecube, set on a giant Game Cube; Pipe Plaza, a stage with a bunch of pipes that transport you to other areas of the course; Luigi's Mansion, based on Luigi's Mansion; and Tilt-a-Kart, set on a giant 8-bit Mario.

The game does bring in unique vehicles, but as that probably wouldn't affect Smash gameplay much, I'm not going to worry about it. As for items, which do, we don't have too much returning as far as regular items go per se, but the game also added in the mechanic of unique items that only show up for certain pairs. Mario and Luigi get fireballs from Super Mario Kart, Peach and Daisy get a heart that encircles their kart and steals items from other players, Yoshi and Birdo get giant eggs that roll around the stage, the Babies get a Chain Chomp that drags them forward at high speed, Toad and Toadette get the Golden Mushroom as seen prior, Koopa and Paratroopa get exclusive rights to triple red and green shells, Donkey and Diddy Kong get a giant banana peel (of course), Bowser and Bowser Jr. get a giant Bowser shell that also generally rolls around the stage like the Yoshi egg, and Wario and Waluigi get Bob-Ombs. Petey Piranha and King Boo don't get unique items, but they instead get the ability to use everyone else's special items.

Characters:

Mario Kart: drive, brake, jump, turn, skid, etc., Banana Peel, Green Shell, Red Shell, Feather, Mushroom, Star, Ghost, Coin, Lightning, Egg, Fireball, Poison Mushroom, Triple Mushroom, Super Mushroom, Fake Item, Banana Bunch, Triple Green Shells, Triple Red Shells, Spiny Shell, dual driver

Mario: fireballs

Luigi: fireballs

Peach: heart

Yoshi: giant egg

Bowser: Bowser shell

Donkey Kong Jr.

Toad: golden mushroom

Koopa: triple shells

Donkey Kong: giant banana

Wario: bob-omb

Daisy: heart

Birdo: giant egg

Baby Mario: Chain Chomp

Baby Luigi: Chain Chomp

Toadette: golden mushroom

Paratroopa: triple shells

Diddy Kong: giant banana

Bowser Jr.: Bowser shell

Waluigi: bob-ombs

Petey Piranha

King Boo

Lakitu

Toadsworth

Kamek

Boo

Piranha Plant

Cheep Cheep

Monty Mole

Thwomp

Chain Chomp

Penguin

Mr. Blizzard

Bob-Omb

Hammer Bro

Little Mouser

Mechakoopa

Shy Guy

Pianta

Stages:

Mario Circuit

Donut Plains

Ghost Valley

Bowser's Castle

Choco Island

Koopa Beach

Vanilla Lake

Rainbow Road

Luigi Raceway

Moo Moo Farm

Koopa Troopa Beach

Kalimari Desert

Toad's Turnpike

Frappe Snowland

Choco Mountain

Mario Raceway

Wario Stadium

Sherbet Land

Royal Raceway

Bowser's Castle (64)

DK's Jungle Parkway

Yoshi Valley

Banshee Boardwalk

Rainbow Road (64)

Peach Circuit

Shy Guy Beach

Riverside Park

Mario Circuit (SC)

Boo Lake

Cheese Land

Luigi Circuit

Sky Garden

Cheep Cheep Island

Sunset Wilds

Snow Land

Ribbon Road

Yoshi Desert

Lakeside Park

Broken Pier

Bowser's Castle (SC)

Rainbow Road (SC)

Big Donut

Block Fort

Double Deck

Skyscraper

Luigi Circuit (DD)

Peach Beach

Baby Park

Dry Dry Desert

Mushroom Bridge

Mario Circuit (DD)

Daisy Cruiser

Waluigi Stadium

Sherbet Land (DD)

Mushroom City

Yoshi Circuit

DK Mountain

Wario Colosseum

Dino Dino Jungle

Bowser's Castle (DD)

Rainbow Road (DD)

Cookie Land

Block City

Nintendo Gamecube

Pipe Plaza

Luigi's Mansion

Tilt-a-Kart

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover Mario Kart DS!