Mario Kart: Double Dash!! facts for kids

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is an exciting racing game made by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. This game is the fourth one in the popular Mario Kart series.

A cool new feature in this game is that you can control two characters at once. One character drives the kart, and the other uses items! If you have a special cable for the Nintendo GameCube, up to 16 people can play together. Many characters from earlier games returned, and 11 new ones joined the fun. Each character also got their own special item.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was very popular. It scored 87 out of 100 on Metacritic, which is a website that collects game reviews. People really liked the graphics and the new characters and game modes. However, some players didn't like the voices of the characters. The game sold over 3.8 million copies in the United States and more than 802,000 in Japan.

How to Play: Mario Kart Double Dash!! Gameplay

Double Dash!! offers a unique way to play compared to other Mario Kart games. You get to control two characters in one kart. One character drives, and the other handles all the items. This means you need to work together with your teammate!

Unlike previous games, you cannot hold an item behind your kart to block incoming shells. Instead, you'll need to quickly dodge attacks. This was also the first Mario Kart game where characters lose their items if they get hit. Players can even steal items from their opponents. If your character makes blue sparks, you get a small speed boost called a mini-turbo.

Up to four players can race against each other on one console. Just like other Mario Kart games, the race tracks are full of twists, turns, and obstacles. Double Dash!! also has some fun mini-games. If you have a special cable, up to 16 people can play together, which is a huge party!

There are 20 characters you can choose to play as. Eleven of these characters were brand new to the Mario Kart series. Each character has their own special items or abilities. A character's speed and how fast they accelerate depend on their weight. The game features 16 different race tracks. There's also a "150cc Mirror Cup" mode. In this mode, the tracks are flipped horizontally, making them look like you're playing in a mirror!

Making the Game: Mario Kart Double Dash!! Development

Double Dash!! was first shown to the public in 2001. People saw a short video of Mario and Luigi driving their karts. At that time, it was still being developed and was simply known as "Mario Kart." In April 2003, Nintendo shared pictures of the game. They also announced its official name: "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!"

Later in 2003, some lucky people got to play a demo version of the game. This demo didn't have all the characters or tracks yet. New ideas, like having two characters in one kart, were already part of the demo. A newer demo with more features was shown at the Games Convention in August 2003. By September, Nintendo showed a nearly finished version of Double Dash!!. It was much faster and smoother. Nintendo also announced that the game would be released in North America on November 17, 2003.

The people who made the game, called developers, worked hard to come up with new ideas. They wanted to make sure fans would love the game. Kiyoshi Mizuki, the main director, wanted to make the game easy for new players to learn. He decided to keep the controls as simple as possible. Shigeru Miyamoto, a famous game producer, gave the team advice on what to include. He also let them decide how they wanted the game to look.

The developers wanted to let people play online, but the internet technology wasn't good enough yet. They also thought about connecting the game to a Game Boy Advance. However, they decided that idea didn't quite fit with Double Dash!!. They wanted both skilled players and new players to have fun. So, they removed some tricky things, like slipping when you hit a banana peel.

The music for the game was created by Shinobu Tanaka and Kenta Nagata. Many of the main Mario voice actors returned for this game. These included Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi. Jen Taylor voiced Princess Peach, Toad, Toadette, and Birdo. Deanna Mustard was the voice of Princess Daisy. Kazumi Totaka voiced Yoshi. Scott Burns was the voice of Bowser. And Dolores Rogers voiced Bowser Jr..

Race Tracks in Mario Kart Double Dash!!

Here are the different race tracks you can play on in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

• An asterisk (*) means the track appeared again in Mario Kart DS.
• A plus sign (+) means the track appeared again in Mario Kart Wii.

Mushroom Cup

• Luigi Circuit (*)
• Peach Beach (+)
• Baby Park (*)
• Dry Dry Desert

Flower Cup

• Mushroom Bridge (*)
• Mario Circuit
• Daisy Cruiser
• Waluigi Stadium (+)

Star Cup

• Sherbet Land
• Mushroom City
• Yoshi Circuit (*)
• DK Mountain (+)

Special Cup

• Wario Colosseum
• Dino Dino Jungle
• Bowser Castle
• Rainbow Road

Images for kids

• 

  Racing at Luigi Circuit, the first Mushroom Cup course. Two players can ride on a kart instead of one in Double Dash!!

• 

  Shigeru Miyamoto provided a number of opinions to the development team.

See also

In Spanish: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! para niños