The Best Worst Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

The Legend Of The Most Controversial Video Title edit: I was incorrect about MKDD being the last game to show you CPU times. MK Wii showed CPU times in GP mode BUT ONLY in GP mode; So while unfortunate it doesn't tell you times when playing with your friends, it is still technically the last MK to show finish times.

TBH I had no idea Double Dash was controversial and hated by many. I had only ever heard people praise the game.

1 thing I missed about these games is how the karts are based on the characters. Dk ridding a barrel or a jeep is so much more charming than just picking the ultimate kart combination.

An underrated mechanic that no one mentions ever but I appreciate is that the characters stack the items in their hands and if you get hit before using them you lose all of them besides 1, adds another layer to the focus on items in this game.

Also in defense of Kirby Air Ride, it makes sense that being hit doesn't immediately do much there, since that game is balanced around the carts each having different HP stats, which when depleted, put you out of commission for an extremely long time. Items have more uses per item roulette in that game, so it's balanced around landing repeated hits.

Double Dash is one of the most important entries in the entire Mario series, solely because it set up which Mario secondary characters were the main ones that would return for entries to come. Bowser Jr, Diddy, Waluigi, Daisy, Birdo, Toadette, King Boo, even the babies to an extent.

Mario Kart Double Dash is praised and beloved by fans and content creators. I hardly see any dislike for this game. I often see people say its the best, unique, and chaotic. Only critics were not a fan of Double Dash at the time.

One of the best things about Double Dash is how interconnected the tracks were. For example, RainbowRoad in this game can be seen OVER Mushroom City. Speaking of which, in that track, you can see Shroom Ridge in the distance.

I find the whole Wii players bashing on Double Dash debacle to be funny because only a few years ago the exact opposite was happening up until people who grew up with Wii became nostalgic to the game and now you don't hear a lot of folks praising Double Dash as a result cause that nostalgia praise had passed

The only time I've ever played Double Dash was at a sleepover with my elementary friends and I remember enjoying it a lot. I always appreciate it when a game tries to stand out from the crowd!

I wish you went more in depth about the co-op riding with another player in a single kart. Growing up I'd play this all the time with my friends and my best friend and I got really good on sharing a kart said the person not driving could punch other players. Since I was better at handling the steering controls and we had good communication of when to use items, and punching actually pushed the kart out more, we became an unstoppable duo. I loved double-dash, probably my second favorite Mario kart behind deluxe.

I wouldn’t say MK8D “ruined” the double items mechanic, it’s just a different take on it imo

Thank you for mentioning the controls/physics that so many people gloss over or just say it's bad because they're bad. THAT is why no future mariokart can replace Double Dash in my mind

WHO TF thought Giant Banana sucks??? That shit covers a massive amount of road, especially tight & linear paths ala Baby Park, Wario Colosseum, Rainbow Road, etc.????

to be completly honest, i don't think it would make sense if the koopalings shared the same slot since they're completely different characters. i think the worst case is with characters like tanooki mario, that don't really make a lot of sense in being separated from mario, same thing with cat peach

LAN mode made for some of the best gaming sessions I had in high school. Hearing the guys in the other rooms of my friends house yell angrily after getting beamed by a giant shell was priceless

One thing that I think bears mentioning is the voice acting that adds to the chaos of the game. Most characters, when hit by something seemingly trivial like a shell, they actually yell and panic (future games they mostly just grunt; Mario Kart 8 Deluxe really dropped the ball in terms of impact IMO; just hit someone with a shell in Double Dash versus Mario Kart 8 or Mario Kart Wii). Getting blown up causes the rear character to be dragged (and makes you prone to getting shoved by others, it invalidates your weight). This is on top of the momentum you mention in the video. Also this game has pretty quotable and hilarious voice acting like "Hi I'm Daisy", "Take-a that!", "Oh yeah, who's number one now? Luigi", "No, no, no, no, no." The Koopas, when paired together and get hit, sometimes play the same clip, but have different pitch so you hear this chaotic noise. Double Dash wouldn't be the same if the characters weren't hollering. I also like throwing the items forward in this game more than other games, like the banana. Bananas in later games don't have these physics, they just look static. Not in this one, you see them opening up while being thrown. I love the little animations like that. Also the juggling or holding the triple items, makes the game look even more precarious. I kind of like how Double Dash doesn't even let you drag items (this wasn't even mentioned and IMO it's a big unique thing of this game) so you actually have to position yourself to block a red shell. You also notice the sense of speed between the games. The other Mario Karts feel sluggish compared to Double Dash. I think Double Dash also shines on its relatively narrow roads while future Mario Kart games have this trend of widening the roads so much and reducing the amount of responsiveness you have on your kart; this is also compounded with the rear character providing visual feedback of how you steer and showing the sense of chaos the game thrives on. Just compare taking the bridge boost panel shortcut in Dino Dino Jungle in Double Dash versus later games; it's a lot more precarious in Double Dash due to the narrower road and more sensitive turning. And racing games thrive on that sense of danger that other Mario Karts just don't quite replicate. I personally find the Egg the worst item. It has a pretty short range unlike a red shell (it breaks a lot sooner than you think so if you're decently trailing, it's not very useful), it releases items that can benefit your enemies (I've taken stars and Mushrooms from eggs that hit me; Bob-ombs that fly out are very easily avoided). Sure you can throw it in first to snag that rare star or a mushroom or so (most of the time it's just shells, bananasm or Mushrooms in an awkward spot) I guess but it's not that great of a benefit. Also its tracking kind of sucks (on par with red shell). Most of the time you'd rather get a red shell.

As a wii fan who grew up on that game I've been dying to try double dash. Seriously looks awesome. Edit: for context, I used "unironicly" in a context where "seriously" would've fit better because of habit. So I fixed that.

Wii and Double Dash are perhaps the best Mario Kart games in terms of pure raw mechanics. A game with Wii's stunt/acrobatic mechanics and DD's dual racer mechanics would be the PERFECT Mario Kart in my eyes :) Love the super granular breakdown, man!!!

I've never played DD, but I really appreciate its distinct visual identity, it looks way more appealing than most other MKs. Also, track selection here is a banger!