Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fourth game of the Mario Kart series overall. It combines features from earlier Mario Kart games, such as Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit. This game is the first and only game in the series that features the ability for two players to ride on a kart: one to drive and one to use items.

New features
As every new Mario Kart game, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! shows several new features, granting a new style of playing for the users. Apart from that there are two characters per kart, the number of playable characters was increased to join the race. As implied in various Mario series games, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! contains many elements to unlock as well. By beating the cups available in every engine level, the player unveils other hidden levels, Karts, and other playable characters in the game. Furthermore, there is a more dynamic selection of karts: Every kart has specific stats that distinguishes from the others, as well as capturing their respective character's style; for instance, Mario's kart, the Red Fire.

Items are the main element presented in every Mario Kart game, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is no exception. These are obtainable via Item Boxes, where characters can receive any standard Item or a Special Item. The latter is an item that a specific pair of characters can receive, while all others cannot. Additionally, Power-ups dropped on the course will instantly effect the kart that would pick on it as a Banana, a Koopa Shell or a Mushroom or Star. The effects of certain items have changed considerably as well.

Another notable change featured in the game is the point system given to the racers after a competition in Grand Prix mode. From Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, this new system is used for the newer Mario Kart installments that were developed after this one. Also, players cannot retry a failed race in Grand Prix mode, as opposed to Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Users have to continue racing until finishing a cup to see the overall results. The following chart shows the difference of the point spreads from previous games to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Characters
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! includes a wide number of playable characters, all of which appeared in previous Mario games, with the exception of Toadette. Characters are divided into three classes depending on their weight: Light, Medium , and Heavy. There is a total of twenty characters, which can be combined in any way, giving 190 possible character combinations.

The drivers

 * * indicates that the character is a New Driver for the Mario Kart installments overall.
 * ** indicates the character's First Appearance ever to the Mario series overall (and thus, their first appearance as one of the Mario Kart drivers as well).

Supporting characters
In addition to the twenty playable drivers, numerous other Mario series characters play supporting roles in the game as well. Lakitu reprises his role as the referee of the game, meaning that he signals the start of each and every race and battle with his signature starting lights, alerts players when they complete a lap around the track, tells the drivers when they're going in the wrong direction, waves the checkered flag to finish the race, and returns drivers to the track if they land themselves in a dangerous predicament (i.e. falling off the track). Other characters who make cameos include Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Cataquacks, and Dinosaurs. Toadsworth drives the winners of a cup around Peach Beach in the Parade Kart. Piantas and Nokis from Super Mario Sunshine cheer the racers on in some race courses and join them at the award ceremonies.

Controls
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! has various controls for racing and menus. Each button on the controller represents a different ability while the player is racing or battling.

Menu controls

 * - Move
 * - Accept option/Save Game (At the Options Screen)
 * - Go back
 * - Open Start Menu (at title screen)

Single player

 * - Accelerate/Rocket Start (Start of race)
 * - Brake/Reverse
 * - Steer
 * / - Drift/Powerslide (Hold)/Mini-Turbo (Release)
 * / - Use item/Stop Item Roulette/Sound horn
 * / + - Throw item forward or backward
 * - Switch characters
 * - Pause/Resume

Co-op play

 * - Double Dash!! (Start of race)
 * /// - Use item
 * / - Slide-Attack

Game modes
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! contains sixteen new racing courses added, along with six new battle courses. Each racecourse contains its own difficulty and gimmicks. Up to four players can play in all the modes, excluding Time Trial mode, where only one is required. In addition, the users can play independently or in cooperative mode, an unique style of gameplay only featured in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Grand Prix
In Grand Prix Mode, the player needs to win the cups against computer-controlled opponents. The difficulty level against CPU racers changes in each of the four engine classes, which are the following:
 * 50cc - Easy. The minimum top speed is low for all karts and CPU racers have a very limited selection of items. Any kart will take the 1st and 2nd place positions.
 * 100cc - Normal. The minimum top speed is fairly average, while CPU drivers have a wider selection of items: they may use Red Shells to shoot it to the player in front of them. Lightweight karts are never in the top positions.
 * 150cc - Hard. The minimum top speed in the karts is high, and CPU drivers have a wider selection of Items, most notably, the Spiny Shell's addition. In this level, CPU drivers can take down players using the items against them. Additionally, all characters race in mixed teams. CPU-controlled heavyweight karts usually take the top positions, with middleweight cars very rarely taking the top positions.
 * Mirror - Very Hard. Similar to 150cc engine class, however all racecourses are mirrored. CPU-controlled heavyweight karts usually take the top positions, with middleweight cars very rarely taking the top positions.

There are mainly four cups in Grand Prix mode, each one with four stages to race. These cups bear their difficulty levels as well as the racecourses within. The most basic is Mushroom Cup with simple courses and few gimmicks. The Star Cup, on the other hand, contains long and gimmicky racecourses. All the courses have three laps, except Baby Park, which has seven because of its short length, and Wario Colosseum, which has two due to its great length (unlike in Mario Kart 64, where Wario Stadium had three laps).

A fifth cup, the All-Cup Tour is the conglomeration of all the cups in the game. The 16 courses are played through one after another in random order, with the exceptions of Luigi Circuit always appearing first and the Rainbow Road always appearing last. This cup does not appear in other racing modes.

In GP Mode, two players can join a race, as themselves or in Co-op play. However, it is not possible if more than two players wish to play in Grand Prix mode. In this case, players can compete for a cup in co-op play.

Time Trial
In Time Trial, a single player races courses over a set number of laps to record the fastest completion time. Before racing, by adding the player's name entry will register their records available. When a race gets started, the characters will have two mushrooms in hand for speed boost. The best time elapsed in a lap and a race on a specific track will be saved after completing the race. Once completed the race on that racecourse, the user is able to compete against either their ghost from the current ghost data or the staff ghost within the stage. Otherwise, if a race is failed, the ghost data will not be saved. The ghost data recording can be disabled in the Options screen menu. Each ghost save is worth five blocks on the GameCube Memory Card.

Battle
A traditional mode that has presented throughout all Mario Kart games. Two to four players can compete against themselves using a variety of items (including all the special items) on the new battle arenas found in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. Unlike Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the players no longer transform into Mini Bomb Karts and/or Bob-ombs after being taken out, and instead just vanish.

Battle courses

 * Cookie Land
 * Block City
 * Nintendo GameCube
 * Pipe Plaza
 * Luigi's Mansion (Unlockable)
 * Tilt-a-Kart (Unlockable)

In Battle mode it is possible to play in three sub-modes:
 * Balloon Battle: The classic battle style consists on popping opponents' balloons to score, using the items from the Item Boxes. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!! the players can even "steal" balloons from their rivals, using a Mushroom to dash into them or hitting with a star. This new feature's kept nowadays in current Mario Kart series games. In Co-op play, the rear player can also take away opponents' balloons while doing a slide-attack.
 * Shine Thief: In Shine Thief, players must get a Shine Sprite dropped on the course and keep in hand until time runs out; on the other hand, players who couldn't take the treasure can use the items against whom got the Shine to lose it. Using a Mushroom, a Star or a slide-attack (Co-op Play), the Shine can be stolen. The Battle mode Shine Runners from Mario Kart DS was based on this sub-mode.
 * Bob-omb Blast: Characters use Bob-ombs to hit their opponents and score stars to win. The bombs can be obtained by running over an Item Box. Every character can hold up to five of these explosives, and throw whether forwards or drop them backwards. Any kart that make contact with the opponent's bomb or get blown by the explosion, will lose stars. For two players, competitors need three stars to finish the battle, while for three or four players, they need four.

Versus
Versus (for two to four players) allows to racers to select their characters and karts, and compete among them on the tracks. It's also possible to play in versus mode through LAN connection where more of four players can join a competition. Additionally, there are some versus options found in the Option menu to change over the mode's gameplay:
 * Number of Laps: The number of laps set over all tracks, ranging from one to nine. If one lap is chosen, the beginning of the race will start as a Final Lap via Final Lap Fanfare Music.
 * Items: The variety of items given to the racers can be changed to:
 * Recommended: Default way in obtaining certain item by racer's place.
 * Basic: Powerful items as lightning or stars are hardly obtainable.
 * Frantic: Items such as bananas or green shells are absent.
 * None: No item to use at all.

Co-op play
Supporting the main feature in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! upon two-racers-one-kart, Cooperative Play (also said Co-op Play) lets two players control their respective character in a kart, one being the driver and the other as the item thrower. While playing in Co-op mode, the players' characters can perform special moves that a single player cannot make. The rear character can perform a slide-attack to steal an item from their rivals while messing up the rival's vehicle's controls. Both players can even double the power of the Rocket Start by pressing the button at the same time. This special boost is the Double Dash!!.

Notice the table seen below excludes Time Trial because Time Trial is only for single player.

Karts
There are twenty-one karts available in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, notable for having different designs and appearances, depending in the character selected to drive a vehicle. Every kart has three ratings, rated by the number of stars. The maximum amount is five.


 * Acceleration: How quickly a kart can achieve its top speed.
 * Speed: The level of top speed when kart goes forward.
 * Weight: The weight of the kart.

Just as the characters are classified according to their weights, karts are split into three groups in size with some general characteristics:


 * Light: Lightweight karts show a nice acceleration but poor top speed and low weight. They can be easily bumped away by heavier karts. They do not lose a lot of speed when they go off course.
 * Medium: Medium-weight vehicles show average top speed and acceleration. Some karts within this group have slightly varied stats, though.
 * Heavy: Heavyweight karts have the highest level of weight among the karts, capable of knocking away light and medium-weight vehicles. Many of these show high top speed, although their acceleration and off-road are fairly poor.

Each combination of characters will also determine the class of kart that will be used for the race. The table to the top right means the resulting vehicle according to the size of the characters. An exception to this rule is the Parade Kart, where all the characters, regardless of weight, can drive on it. It is unlocked by completing All-Cup Tour in Mirror Mode.

Kart stats
These are the kart stats that are displayed in-game. * is unlockable

Weight scale
For some karts, although it may appear they have the same weight in-game, they may actually be slightly heavier or lighter than the other. The list below displays all the karts from heaviest to lightest. If any karts are tied in their weight position, they cannot knock each other significantly.

Note: In Battle Mode only, the Goo Goo Buggy's weight is tied with the Bullet Blaster.

Acceleration scale
Despite what the stats display in-game, they can be deceptive. Below is the actual acceleration scale, based on how quickly karts accelerate from 0 mph. to 40 mph.. The scale is from best accelerator, to worst accelerator.

Items
Traditional items from Super Mario Kart through Mario Kart: Super Circuit, appear in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! with a bunch of new power-ups to change a race drastically, such as stealing the opponent's place or item by using a Mushroom or reducing the racers to small size with the rare Thunderbolt. The rear character obtains a determinate item by running into an Item Box. However, Double Item Boxes give items to both the rear character and driver. The variety of items depends on the kart's place. Leader racers tend to receive basic items such as Bananas or Green Shells, while those going under fourth place can receive rare items like a Star or a Spiny Shell.

Items are classified in two forms:
 * Standard: Drivers can obtain these types of items when they go through an Item Box or Double Item Box.
 * Special: Some drivers obtain a special item that other drivers cannot obtain by an Item Box. When a character holds a special item, the second character cannot obtain another special item via Item Box.

Standard Items

 * Green Shell – When shot, Green Shells go in a straight line, bouncing off the track walls and knocking into anything it touches, such as an item or another kart. It can be shot forwards or backwards.
 * Red Shell – Red Shells home in on the nearest kart. It can be thrown backwards as well. However, when shot backwards, it acts like a Green Shell. Red Shells cannot bounce, however, and they break if they hit a wall.
 * Spiny Shell – When shot, the Spiny Shell heads to the kart that is in first place. Once it hits the kart, it creates a blue explosion. The characters in the kart lose any items if it is hit and are sent flying directly upwards. Other karts can get hit if they are in the blast radius. This item does not appear in Battle Mode.
 * Mushroom – A Mushroom gives the kart a brief boost of speed. If used properly, it can be used to take shortcuts and to steal (or drop) items from another kart.
 * Triple Mushrooms – A bunch of three Mushrooms that give the drivers three boosts of speed. If characters who hold the Mushrooms get hit by an item, some of the Mushrooms fall get dropped and they end up with only one Mushroom left.
 * Banana – When placed, a Banana peel stays on the track until a kart touches it, causing it to spin out. Bananas can be used as shields to break homing items such as Red Shells; however, they can not be dragged behind the kart like in past games, making this technique harder to execute than before. It can be thrown either forward or backward.
 * Star – When applied, the kart that used it becomes invincible against any item. It also boosts the speed and handling of the kart. The kart is also capable of knocking out any rival kart and stealing their items just by driving into them.
 * Thunderbolt – When used, the Thunderbolt shrinks, slows, and removes the items of all rival karts. If shrunken drivers get hit by an item while holding their power-ups, they lose it.
 * Fake Item Box – At first sight, it looks like a normal Item Box, but upon closer inspection it is red with an inverted ? symbol. When used, it stays on the track until a kart hits it and spins out. The only way to get rid of these blocks is to run into it, so it can not be used to block homing items. Otherwise, this item eventually vanishes.

Special Items

 * Fireballs (Mario / Luigi) - A set of five red (Mario) or green (Luigi) Fireballs capable of ricocheting off walls. When they hit another kart, the kart will spin out and slow down. They can be thrown either forwards or backwards.
 * Heart (Princess Peach / Princess Daisy) - A pair of hearts that will surround the kart, absorbing the impact of any item that collides with the kart except for Chain Chomps, Spiny Shells, Stars and Thunderbolts. If used correctly, racers can absorb the item dropped on the road and use it against the other players; this includes most other Special Items. The Hearts have no time limit for use, though since there are only two Hearts only two items can be absorbed. If both characters are holding items when the Heart absorbs an item, the item will disappear.
 * Yoshi Egg / Birdo Egg (Yoshi / Birdo) - A green (Yoshi) or pink (Birdo) egg. They work similarly to a Red Shell, chasing after a kart and knocking it out when collision occurs. After colliding, these eggs randomly let out three items that could be a Banana, Green Shell, Mushroom, Star, or Bob-omb. However, if an Egg takes too long to find a kart, the Egg will break apart but still let out three items.
 * Chain Chomp (Baby Mario / Baby Luigi) - A huge Chain Chomp is summoned and boosts the kart's speed frantically for a certain period of time, while the Chain Chomp knocks out other karts and drops their items onto the ground. After use, the Chain Chomp leaves the kart and goes following the path until it disappears. It has the same use as a Bullet Bill does in other Mario Kart games.
 * Triple Shells (Koopa / Paratroopa) - An arsenal of three shells, either Green or Red, that can be used to knock other karts. If the character gets hit by another item while holding the Triple Shells, the character will lose all but one shell.
 * Giant Banana (Donkey Kong / Diddy Kong) - Giant Bananas can be littered either forward or backward, staying on the road until a kart collides with it. Drivers will lose control, while the Giant Banana splits into three normal Bananas scattered into a triangle in that area.
 * Bowser's Shell (Bowser / Bowser Jr.) - A humongous shell shaped like Bowser's shell that acts like a Green Shell, going in a straight line, and bouncing around the track, destroying items and knocking over other karts, dropping their items onto the ground. It can be thrown forwards or backwards. Curiously, Bowser's Shell tends to bounce from other special items.
 * Bob-omb (Wario / Waluigi) - When used, a Bob-omb stays on the road until a kart passes near it in order to explode and blow up any kart around. If no kart is around the Bob-omb explodes after a few seconds. It can be thrown forward or littered backward.
 * Golden Mushroom (Toad / Toadette) - Gold Mushrooms provide the drivers multiple boosts of speed in a row in a period of time.

Petey Piranha and King Boo have the ability to obtain any special item, excluding Luigi's Green Fireballs, and the Birdo Egg.

Note: Although special items can only be obtained by the characters they are assigned to, if a player is holding a special item, another player can steal it by colliding with the player holding the item while under the influence of a Mushroom, Star, or Slide-Attack. Also, any character can get any special item in Battle Mode. Finally, in Co-Op Mode, the driver can pass a special item to the person in the back.

Drifting and mini turbo
Drifting prevents racers from losing speed in turns or from going off the course. By keeping pressed the controller's button (or  button), and tilting the stick to sides, racers make the kart turn around. While drifting, racers can gain a momentary speed boost by tilting the control stick to the sides, opposite to a corner's direction. The kart then produce sparks on its wheels. Doing this two times more, racers make the sparks become orange, then blue, and then releasing a mini turbo right after the racer lets go of the (or ) button.

This tactic can be used to perform the snaking (continuous power sliding) and elude homing hazards such as Red Shells.

Rocket Start
A Rocket Start is a speed boost given to a kart when a race starts out. To perform, racers just has to press the button to accelerate right when Lakitu's lights turn green. Players also can perform a Rocket Start if racers repeatedly tap while Lakitu counts down to the start of the race.

Double Dash!!
The Double Dash is similar to the Rocket Start. Although it is more powerful, it can only be performed in Co-op Play. Both team members can press the button at the same time right when Lakitu's light turns green. Upon done perfectly, the kart bolts farther, leaving out a blue trail as a result.

Item steal
Item stealing is snatching a power-up directly from the rival's hands in a kart. There are three ways to steal an item as long as the player's rear character holds no items. Items can be stolen when the rear racer uses a mushroom or a star to hit an opposing kart and snatch the item that one of the rivals have. In Co-op Mode, the player's rear character can use the Slide-Attack to knock other rivals and take their items away. However, if the rear character knocks a rival kart with two players holding an item, the character can get the rival rear character's item, while the rival driver drops the other item onto the track.

LAN Mode
Using the Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter (sold separately) attached to the game system, in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! it is possible to play via Local Area Network (LAN), using up to eight Nintendo GameCube systems connected to a hub device, or also using two consoles connected together through a cross-cable, where more than four players can join a race locally. This means that up to eight users can play independently with their friends using two or more GameCube systems with the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! game discs on.

After connecting the systems to the hub, the players should turn the systems' power button to begin. The LAN Mode option appears on screen to confirm the selection. Once LAN Mode is selected and confirmed on all participating game systems and the connections have been established, the Select Mode displays. Players may proceed by pressing controller's button, the LAN Mode title screen displays to enter to play.

In the LAN Mode title screen there are three options:


 * Start Game: Begin Versus LAN play.
 * Select Mode: Adjust LAN setup options. This allows to the users to choose the modes of play:
 * Game Mode: Select one of these game modes available: Versus, Balloon Battle, Shine Thief, or Bob-omb Blast. Only in Versus mode the number of laps on the tracks and the engine classes can be changed.
 * Order of Courses: Choose the way in which courses or stages will be selected: Random, All courses, one course or All-cups (only for Versus)
 * Co-op: Enable or Disable Cooperative Mode
 * Screen Division: This option won't be available if there is more than four Nintendo GameCube systems in use.
 * Quit LAN Mode: Stop playing LAN Mode

LAN connection
In this way, two to eight Nintendo GameCube systems are connected to an over-the-counter 10BASE-T hub. The LAN cables used to connect every game system to the hub must be compatible, otherwise, the connection won't be carried out. Every Nintendo GameCube system has to have attached their Nintendo Broadband Adapter, and the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! game disc in hand, one per system. At last, the number of GameCube controllers used depends on the number of players present.

Cross-cable connection
Unlike LAN connection, where it uses a hub to connect GameCube systems to it, the Cross-cable connection requires of only two GameCube game systems connected between themselves, through a 10BASE-T hub-compatible cross-cable. The rest of the required equipment is similar: A Mario Kart: Double Dash!! game disc per system, the Nintendo Broadband Adapter attached to the game system, and the number of GameCube controllers regarding how many players participate.

Differences in multiplayer races
There are several differences that players can notice in split-screen mode.


 * Item Boxes have a brighter checkerboard texture.
 * In Peach Beach, the Daisy Cruiser in the background is absent. However, the Sunshine cruise ship in the dock area isn't absent.
 * Before the finish line at Peach Beach, the Pianta statue fountain is replaced by a Power Star.
 * In the area of Dry Dry Desert with two large sandy hills and three small sandy hills, the Item Boxes are removed from the small hills.
 * In Dry Dry Desert, some of the Pokeys are missing.
 * The Wiggler Bus at Mushroom Bridge is only five body segments long, as opposed to being ten body segments long in Single Player mode.
 * There are less Goombas and Piranha Plants at Mario Circuit.
 * In Daisy Cruiser, the moving Item Boxes don't move.
 * At the shortcut area in Daisy Cruiser, the colored pipes are removed.
 * Additionally, in that same area, the large fan isn't in the tube, despite the fact that players can still get fired out.
 * In Waluigi Stadium and Wario Colosseum, the rings of fireballs on the ramps are absent.
 * The metal Piranha Plants in Waluigi Stadium don't move their jaws.
 * In Waluigi Stadium, the Jumbotron is absent.
 * At the tunnel exit in Sherbet Land, there are only two moving Item Boxes, as opposed to being three in Single Player mode.
 * The Sunshine, the Daisy Cruiser, and the Yoshi Helicopter don't appear in Yoshi Circuit.
 * Boulders are less common at DK Mountain.
 * At Wario Colosseum, in the area with five item boxes in a row, one of them is removed.
 * In the area between the dinosaur's feet at Dino Dino Jungle, there are only two Item boxes, as opposed to being four in Single Player mode.
 * There are less dinosaurs at Dino Dino Jungle.
 * In the alternate route area in Dino Dino Jungle, there is only one Double Item Box instead of two.
 * Four of the six Thwomps in Bowser's Castle are absent.
 * At Bowser's Castle, the Podoboos are removed.
 * In the circular room at Bowser's Castle, three of the six rotating fireballs are removed.
 * At the second sharp turn area of Rainbow Road, one of the Item Boxes is removed.
 * The buildings are absent in Rainbow Road.

References to other games

 * Yoshi's Cookie: In the battle stage Cookie Land, cookies are seen from this game in the background. The level itself is also based off this game.
 * Mario Kart 64: The name "Sherbet Land" is taken from this game.
 * Luigi's Mansion: The other battle level Luigi's Mansion is taken from this game.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Peach Beach is heavily influenced by Gelato Beach. Shine Sprites appear on many billboards in the courses, as well as Shine Thief. Piantas appear in Peach Beach as well as the Award Ceremony.

References in later games

 * Later Mario Kart games: The Bob-omb item that was introduced as a Special Item in this game became a regular item in future Mario Kart games. The Chain Chomp item was re-worked into the Bullet Bill item.
 * Mario Kart DS: The character profile sprites of characters that re-appeared in this game were reused, albeit mirrored. Also, Luigi Circuit, Baby Park, Mushroom Bridge, Yoshi Circuit, and the battle course Pipe Plaza reappear in this game.
 * Mario Kart Wii: The standing character models in the character select screen of characters that re-appear in this game are shown again here. Also, Peach Beach, Mario Circuit, Waluigi Stadium, DK Mountain, and the battle course Cookie Land reappear in this game.
 * Mario Kart 7: Daisy Cruiser and Dino Dino Jungle reappear in this game. However, none of the battle courses reappear in the game.

Trivia

 * In the European and American boxart, Luigi's "L" on his cap is noticeably backwards. This is probably just a minor mistake by the artist.
 * This game is the only one in the Mario Kart series to have unlockable battle courses.
 * Unlike future Mario Kart games, when doing a turbo on a curve, the orange flame comes before the blue one.