This two-driver system had one big benefit to me that I completely overlooked at the time: co-op play. Nevertheless, it gave players more options as they careened along the track. Mixing-and-matching different special items was greatly encouraged, though I don’t know exactly how much it impacts the balance of play. Before Chain Chomp became a standard item, it was a special item that only Baby Mario and Baby Luigi could use.

Yoshi and Birdo could get a homing egg that would not only hit another drive, but also drop three random items onto the track. Picking up items also gave you a chance at getting a character-specific special item. With one slot per driver, you got two right away without having to hold down the item button.

Up until this point, players would “fake” their way into two items by holding the first item out behind them while storing a new on in their item slot. Having two drivers opened up a few new gameplay possibilities. They ride together in a special car built for a driver in the front, and a buddy in the back who can punch nearby karts or launch weapons. Unlike the other console games in the series, Double Dash is the only one that asks players to pick two different characters to play as. Mario Kart: Double Dash is the one game in the series that is immediately identifiable at a glance. Do I still feel the same way about it now? When I hooked up the GameCube again in 2019 to stream it, I had totally forgotten why I hated it in the first place. My distaste for the game was so strong that I dropped the game out of my rotation almost immediately. I remember really disliking it upon release. Mario Kart: Super Circuit on the Gameboy Advance was another weak entry in the series, as the hardware simply didn’t have the horsepower to translate the high-speed thrills to the small screen.Īnd then there’s Mario Kart: Double Dash. I bounced off of Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS really quickly for feeling stale.

Though it’s never had any real competition to its throne, I haven’t always been high on every entry in the series. GameCube Week continues on In Third Person! Did I wrongfully dismiss Mario Kart: Double Dash when it first came out in the early 2000s?įrom its origins on the Super Nintendo, to the magnum opus that is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch, I’ve been with Nintendo’s kart racer since its inception.

Gamecube super mario kart