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Mario Kart: Double Dash

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Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! U.S. Box cover
Developer(s)Nintendo
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Designer(s)Nintendo
Platform(s)GameCube
ReleaseNovember 7, 2003
Genre(s)Racing game
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fourth game in the Mario Kart series.

Gameplay

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! differs from previous Mario Kart games in several ways:

  • Two characters now ride on a kart; the one in the front driving and the one in the back using items. While a single player can control a cart of two characters, a multiplayer variation in which two players each control separate characters on a single kart exists.
  • Instead of the 9-6-3-1-0-0-0-0 points system for the Grand Prix mode of previous Mario Kart games, Double Dash!! features a new 10-8-6-4-3-2-1-0 system. This has been kept for Mario Kart DS. Also, players move on to the next race regardless of their finishing positions, as opposed to Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
  • The number of laps changed from 3 to a "recommended" amount of laps, depending on the size of the course, and the player could choose how many laps they would do in Vs. mode.

Characters

Each character falls into one of three weight classes: lightweight, middleweight, or heavyweight, which determines what karts they can ride in. A character cannot ride in a kart that is of a lower weight class than itself, and can only ride in a kart of a higher weight class than itself if the other character is of the same weight class as the kart. Each character also possesses a special item which can be acquired only by that character. There are twenty characters, which can be combined in any way, giving 190 possible character combinations.

Non-playable characters

In addition, numerous other Nintendo characters play minor roles in the game. Lakitu reprises his role as the racetrack keeper, meaning that he signals the start of each race, alerts players when they complete a lap, tells people when they are going the wrong way, and returns drivers to the racetrack when they fall into dangerous areas. Other characters who make cameo appearances include Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Goombas and Wigglers. Toadsworth drives the winners of a cup during the victory celebration. Piantas and Nokis from Super Mario Sunshine also cheer players on in courses such as Peach Beach and Daisy Cruiser, and are the crowd at victory ceremonies. Classic Mario characters can be seen in the crowds around Waluigi Stadium including Donkey Kong Junior.

Karts

The game includes several karts to choose from, each of a different weight class and different statistics in speed, acceleration, and weight. Lightweight karts have good acceleration and handling and are adept to traverse rough terrain, but have low top speeds and are light. Heavyweight carts have high top speeds and are heavy, but have poor acceleration, steering, and perform poorly in offroad areas. There are 21 karts avaiable in all, but only eight are available from the start.

Tracks

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! features sixteen tracks divided into four cups. All tracks have three laps except for Baby Park which has seven and Wario Colosseum which has two. An unlockable fifth cup, the All-Cup Tour, consists of all sixteen tracks in a random order with the exception of Luigi circuit, being first, and Rainbow Road, being last.

Mushroom Cup Flower Cup Star Cup Special Cup
Luigi Circuit Mushroom Bridge Sherbet Land Wario Colosseum
Peach Beach Mario Circuit Mushroom City Dino Dino Jungle
Baby Park Daisy Cruiser Yoshi Circuit Bowser's Castle
Dry Dry Desert Waluigi Stadium DK Mountain Rainbow Road

Unlockables

Winning a gold trophy in each level will unlock the following items:

Mushroom Cup Flower Cup Star Cup Special Cup All Cup Tour
50cc Green Fire - Luigi's Kart Bloom Coach - Daisy's Kart Para Wing - Parakoopa's Kart Bullet Blaster-Bowser Jr.'s Kart
100cc Rattle Buggy - Baby Luigi's Kart Waluigi Racer - Waluigi's Kart Special Cup Tour Toad & Toadette Characters & Kart
150cc Luigi's Mansion - Battle Stage Turbo Birdo-Birdo's Kart Barrel Train - Diddy's Kart All Cup Tour
Mirror Toadette Kart Tilt-A-Kart - Battle Stage Petey Piranha & King Boo Characters & Kart Boo Pipes - King Boo's Kart

Difficulty levels

  • 50cc (easiest)
  • 100cc (medium difficulty)
  • 150cc (hard)
  • Mirror (hardest; all tracks are mirror versions of their original counterparts. All vehicles go as fast as in 150cc mode).

Battle Mode

There are three battle mode options: Balloon Battle, Shine Thief, and Bob-omb Blast. The six arenas are:

  • Cookie Land
  • Block City
  • Nintendo GameCube
  • Pipe Plaza- Appeared again in Mario Kart DS.
  • Luigi's Mansion (unlockable)
  • Tilt-a-Kart (unlockable)

Items

The available items are split into four types, with few exceptions.

  • Projectile: Can be fired ahead of or behind the player (except the blue shell).
  • Stationary Weapon: Can be fired ahead of or behind the player, but stays stationary once it hits the ground.
  • Performance Booster: Helps the current player. All boosters can also be used as weapons when used correctly.
  • Other: May be a special item. (See booklet for more information).

Standard items

  • Green Shell - Simple projectile. Breaks after ten collisions with walls (VS mode) or three wall hits (Battle Mode). Also breaks when it hits another Koopa Shell, Banana, or racer. (Similar to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64.)
  • Red Shell - Homing projectile. Can be fired either ahead or behind the racers, though will lose its homing capacities when launched behind. Otherwise homes in tightly on the nearest player at the time of use. Breaks on a single collision (racer or otherwise) and cannot get over all ramps and jumps. It can be willingly avoided if a turbo boost is timed right. (Similar to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64.)
  • Spiny Shell - Homing projectile. Blue with spikes and wings, but sized similarly to Green and Red Shells. Homes in quickly on the current leader and causes a large explosion which can also take out nearby racers. Not as rare as previous games, and can be obtained from any position from fourth down in GP mode. Extremely difficult to avoid. The shell locks onto the player, not rank. E.g., If Mario is in first place, and a Spiny Shell is released, even if Mario drops to third place, he will still be the center of attack.(Similar to Mario Kart 64.)
  • Mushroom - Performance booster. Boosts the player to max speed for a short time, regardless of terrain. Necessary to clear some (optional) jumps, although it provides little to no boost when activated in the air. Hitting another player during the boost allows players to steal any items (or a balloon in Battle Mode's Balloon Battle) the other kart may be carrying (if both characters have something, then the player will steal the back and have the front one drop). (Similar to Mario Kart 64)
  • Triple Mushrooms - Performance booster. A set of three Mushrooms, used the same way. Rarely acquired above fifth place, but common under fifth. If players get hit with something while carrying these, then they drop all except one. (Similar to Mario Kart 64.)
  • Banana - Stationary weapon. A banana peel. Collision causes the racer to skid and lose control of the vehicle for a second. Unlike in Mario Kart 64, the player cannot regain control under any circumstances; forward momentum, however, is not affected nearly as much.
  • Starman - Performance booster. A gold star. Collision with any racer will cause them to flip out; collision with any weapon and some course obstacles will immediately destroy it. Invincible racers also receive a constant speed boost and resistance to rough terrain throughout the Starman's duration. Racers using the Starman will lose their power if they fall off the track. Only given to racers in lower positions. (Similar to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64.)
  • Thunderbolt - Global weapon. On use, all other racers will shrink approximately fourfold after a brief loss of control, and slow down greatly. This will not affect racers if they have a Starman, or in the prosses of spinning out or flipping when the Thunderbolt is used. If a racer falls from the track while small, he or she will always be returned at normal size. Given only to racers in the last few positions (usually eighth) and only very rarely. Unlike in previous Mario Kart games, shrunken racers cannot be run over by normal-sized racers. (Similar to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64.)
  • Fake Item Box - Stationary weapon. Similar in appearance to Item Boxes, but can be identified by the upside-down question mark and red color when approached. Causes the player to flip over when hit, seriously reducing momentum. Unlike other Mario Kart games, Koopa Shells pass through them and therefore cannot be used to block them. (Similar to Mario Kart 64.)

Special items

  • Fireballs (Mario/Luigi) - Projectile. A set of five red (Mario) or green (Luigi) fireballs capable of ricocheting off walls. Collision causes the racers to spin out. Fizzle out after a short time.
  • Heart (Princess Peach/Princess Daisy) - Performance booster. A set of two pink hearts surround the racers (similar to the triple shell items in Mario Kart 64); collision with most weapons on the course will give that weapon to the racers if they don't hold any already, and a heart is lost. Spiny Shells and Chain Chomps penetrate the barrier, while Thunderbolts and falling off the course destroy it.
  • Yoshi's Egg / Birdo's Egg (Yoshi / Birdo) - Homing projectile. A green (Yoshi) or pink (Birdo) egg. Collision causes the player to crash, and spills three random items onto the track. These can include Green Shells, Mushrooms, Bananas, Starmen or Bob-ombs. This weapon has better homing abilities than a Red Shell, and will follow the course ahead even if there is no racer ahead. Unlike a Red Shell, it breaks after a certain amount of time if it does not get to its target.
  • Chain Chomp (Baby Mario / Baby Luigi) - Performance booster/projectile. A giant Chain Chomp, attached to the current vehicle. The Chain Chomp pulls the vehicle along the main path at an increased speed, with no input from the player. Collision with it causes a flip out. The Chain Chomp eventually stops pulling the racer, continuing down the track, returning control to the player without warning. The Chain Chomp will also abandon the player if the player is struck by an item. If a starman is used while using a Chain Chomp or vice versa the Chain Chomp will break.
  • Triple Shells (Koopa Troopa / Paratroopa) - Projectile. A set of three Green or Red Shells. Works the same as single Green and Red Shells. The color of the Koopa who gets the item has no effect on the color of the shells, for example, the green Koopa (The regular Koopa) can get both Green and Red Triple Shells. Like Triple Mushrooms, getting hit while holding this item will cause all but one to spill onto the track.
  • Giant Banana (Donkey Kong / Diddy Kong) - Stationary weapon. A giant banana peel. Works the same as a normal Banana, large size notwithstanding. It is the only item (with the exception of Fireballs) that can deflect a Bowser Shell, and only karts, Bowser Shells, or Yoshi and Birdo Eggs can destroy it. After it is destroyed, it will split into three regular bananas around its original position.
  • Bowser's Shell (Bowser / Bowser Jr.) - Projectile. A giant shell, spiked and colored like Bowser's own shell. Works like a Green Shell, however the bowser shell is much larger, causes a total loss of momentum when hit, and isn't destroyed by impacts (Rather, it stays on the track for a set length of time). Collision with movable obstacles (the cars in Mushroom Bridge, for example) and racers do not change its trajectory. The only exceptions are the Giant Bananas and Wiggler Bus in Mushroom City and Bridge, which will cause the Bowser Shell to bounce off, and travel back in the direction from which it approached. Fireballs do something special to Bowser Shells. Not only can Fireballs deflect them, they can also send them flying at a fast speed, even if they were moving slow before the Fireballs hit them. When players are hit by Bowser's Shell, they lose any items they may have had. Since a head-on hit from Bowser's Shell will cause the player to be pushed back, this head-on hit is often known as "being rolled".
  • Bob-omb (Wario / Waluigi) - Stationary Item. A standard Bob-omb: a black spherical bomb with brown feet and white eyes. If thrown forward, it explodes as soon as it hits the track, but if dropped behind the kart, it explodes either three seconds after being dropped or when hit by something, whichever happens first. All racers caught within the blast are launched upwards, including the thrower, and racers who drive into the Bob-omb's blast radius can spin out even if they aren't hit by the explosion itself.
  • Golden Mushroom (Toad/Toadette) - Performance booster. A racer with the Golden Mushroom can obtain a boost equivalent to that of a normal Mushroom as many times as he or she wishes to, for a period of about ten seconds from their first boost.
  • Petey Piranha and King Boo can get any of the specials more often than the normal racer, and with less regard for position.

(Note: Although special items can only be obtained by the characters to whom they are assigned, 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. Thirdly, in Co-Op Mode, the driver can pass a special item to the backseater. Also King Boo and Petey Piranha can pick up any weapon at random, and have no special weapon of their own.)

Actors and their characters

Bonus Disc

The Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc is a special bonus given to those who pre-ordered Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The bonus disc was distributed by including it in the case for the game, which featured a red label printed on the cover stating that a bonus disc was included, as well as a second slot that inside the case that contained the extra disc. Copies of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! purchased after the first shipment were sold without the disc, and featured a case with the second disc slot and red label removed.

Reaction

Trivia

  • This is the first appearance of Toadette.
  • There have been rumors that there is a glitch within the game. Supposedly, when the 150cc or Mirror games are played, Petey Piranha cheats all the way through the game. (For example, he doesn't collect an item box but still gets an item, he can fire unlimited red shells at opponents, he always gets the Spiny Shell when he's in 4th place or under and certain items don't affect him.)
  • The sound made at the goal of a race is the same sound made after passing the level's goalpost in Super Mario World.
  • Dry Dry Desert is also the name of an area in Paper Mario.
  • The track Dino Dino Jungle could be an homage to the N64 kart game Diddy Kong Racing, since it's very similar to the circuits in the first world of DKR, wich was named Dino Domain
  • There are several (supposedly unintentional) places in the game where you can cut corners. Near the final stretch in DK's level, you are able to jump off the gap if you can manage to powerslide tightly around the fence "barricading" the way. In Waluigi's Stadium, you can ramp over the warp pipes with the fake plants in them, and In Rainbow Road, on the twisty path before the cannon launch, you can hop the ledges by running straight off the track and onto the next curve (if done correctly, the player should seem to come up through the track).

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