I know it's a bit of a stretch for the whole "obscure games" thing, but I've been playing a lot of Mario Kart recently.
It wasn't necessarily by choice. You see, my son has recently become absolutely obsessed with this 2003 entry into the much loved franchise, so much so that he asks to play almost every day. He's played games with me before, but this was really the first one he played by himself. He's not going to set any records (he finishes a course in an average of about ten minutes, they're supposed to take, like, two.) he does do a pretty good job for his age. Honestly, I kind of messed up, I had at least three years I could have used the "unplugged controller" trick left, but now there's no way he'll ever go for that again. Still I'm happy he enjoys it and it's nice to have some common ground.
Of course, he doesn't understand that there are other versions of Mario Kart out there. This one, for the GameCube, kind of takes a back seat to some of its more famous brethren. Maybe it's just that I don't know too many other people who owned GameCubes, but I feel like this one is constantly overshadowed by the Wii, N64 or even SNES Mario Karts. Double dash did some interesting stuff, notably including two racers per kart and allowing both co-op and versus mode races. However, it seems to be among the series' most divisive. Let's be honest, Nintendo doesn't often make "bad" games. It just occasionally makes games that aren't quite as good...like this one.
Double Dash isn't bad, but it's still probably my least favorite Mario Kart title. My copy of Mario Kart 64 mysteriously disappeared years ago, but I really did wish I still had it, it's superior to this in almost every way. DD looks better and has more "stuff" than its predecessor, but quantity doesn't necessarily beget quality.
The biggest drop off here is the course design. The tracks here are all just so bland. Few, if any, of them have shortcuts and the ones there are almost universally require you to have a mushroom to make use of them. None of the stage hazards are all that hazardous and the ones there are really aren't any fun. There are so many courses that are just straightaways with a few turns thrown in, almost like something you would see in a simulation racing game. Gone are the clever design and interesting hazards of MK64 and the original. They are replaced with lazy rehashes of the same course with little personality and fun. Even the courses that take place in fun locales often just feel bland and lifeless.
The major problem is the A.I. The way the computer behaves in Mario Kart has always been a tad frustrating. It works like this: if you enter a grand prix, the computer will pick racers, one to three depending on the difficulty, that it decides will win. Everyone else will just bum around as a pack and get in your way. You need to ensure you beat these racers every time, or you will have no chance at winning the GP otherwise. This means you can't mess up at all. Finish lower than third or fourth and you may as well just shut off the game. I understand why they did this, with only eight karts having all the AI teams balanced would make it too easy for you to finish 3rd consistently and win, but it's still frustrating.
But we're not done with the A.I. problems, not by a longshot. MKDD might be the worst offender of forcing you to play on "you can't win" mode I have ever seen. There are many, many times where no matter what I do, the computer just says "no" and finds some cheap way of making it impossible to win. Sports games do this sometimes, I've seen the cpu hit a 75-yard field goal in Madden, or hit a splitter away and in the dirt for a pull field home run in MLB: The Show. But with MKDD it feels like its constant. One of it's favorite tactics is to let you lead for 2 and 3/4 laps, only to see yourself get stun locked with a blue shell, red shell, red shell, conveniently placed green shell combination. You finish 5th, it feels bad and it's extremely frustrating and cheap.
That said, there is still a lot to like about double dash. The co-op is pretty cool and it's way more interesting to sit in the gunner's seat than I thought it would be. You can't just hit fire every time you pick up a weapon, you need to help the driver power slide or hit enemy karts to steal their items. You also need to be able to switch and drive at any time. I think it's kind of cool that it almost requires you to talk with the person you are playing with. You can't switch positions without hitting the proper button at the same time and if the gunner shifts left while the driver shifts right, it can mess up your turn. This seems like it should be annoying but it actually works. Battle mode also returns and offers way more options than the previous game, which is a plus.
The controls are extremely tight, as is to be expected from a Nintendo game. A accelerates and B brakes, X and Y fire shells and Z switches your character. You can also use the shoulder buttons to power slide, making turns easier and providing you with a speed boost if done correctly. It's pinpoint accurate and does what you tell it to do, when you tell it to do it. Graphics and sound are solid as well, I don't think the soundtrack is particularly memorable, but the quality is there. The game looks good, it's a bit bland and I feel like the courses don't have much to look at, but again, it's good quality work.
I also like the variety of characters and vehicles. It gives everyone a little something, whether you like high top speed characters or characters with better turning, there's a racer that will fit your style. You can even mix and match, switching to one of the smaller drivers if you need to navigate a tight turn before bringing in the big guys for straightaways. I also like the addition of selectable vehicles to further add to the customization. The entire roster from MK64, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Wario and Donkey Kong, return, though toad is an unlockable character here. They are joined by Koopa Troopa and Baby Mario, as well as their partner characters. Mario and Luigi are now a team, but Toadette, Daisy, Birdo, Bowser Jr, Waluigi, Diddy Kong, Para Koopa and Baby Luigi all match up with the aforementioned characters. Again, you can mix and match these teams to best suit your play style, which is cool.
At the end of the day, I could never completely get over the frustrating A.I. and bland course design. Double Dash just feels like it's missing something, that spark that so many other Nintendo games have. I personally think the lifeless courses are the biggest issue here, but the unnecessary cheapness certainly doesn't help. Still, the game has a lot going for it, especially when playing with friends, and it's a well made, quality product. I would absolutely not go out of my way to play it and I think most of its sequels and predecessors are better, but this is Mario Kart and even its worst efforts are better than some franchises at their best. I'd stick to other versions, older or newer, but you won't ever feel like you wasted your time with this one.
7/10
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