E3 2003: Mario Kart Hands-On

Full impressions from GameCube Mario Kart, along with some new E3 screens and impressive direct feed videos.

Arguably Nintendo's biggest game at their booth and one of the most popular games at E3, Mario Kart Double Dash drew quite a crowd during all three days of the show as long lines formed, sometimes extending outside of the Nintendo booth, full of players anxiously awaiting their turn at the impressive eight player linked setup of the latest installment of the Big N's popular Kart-Racing series.

Even WWE Superstars joined the party as Rey Misterio Jr. and RVD stood high above the excited crowd at Nintendo's booth and engaged in some Mario Kart multi-player action against other show goers. A good time was had by all with the always smug and cocky RVD providing laughs like always and the wrestling fans among the audience doing the trademark RVD shoulder pointing.

In Double Dash, players control not just one but two characters on each Kart. Gone are the days of individually raced Karts as each Kart holds two racers that you can pair up in any combination you choose. The character in the front handles the racing and defensive driving responsibilities while the character in the rear dishes out the punishment onto the other racers. This setup reminds me of those military jeeps equipped with a machine gun in the rear with one person taking care of the driving and the other serving as a tail gunner.

The characters in each kart can switch places anytime during play to make the best use of their special abilities which they can demonstrate to their opponents by collecting some of the special items throughout the course. In the E3 code, there were only six regular items to collect and eight special items that only some of the characters could make use of.

At the start of the game you select both your characters and vehicles, and like in most racing games each Kart handles differently so you'll have to choose the ones better suited for your style and level of Kart-Racing. And since all of the characters and karts come in different sizes, not all of them will be compatible with each other.

The cast of selectable characters includes a list of Nintendo legends and over achievers like Luigi, Baby Mario, Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Birdo, Baby Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Koopa, and Paratroopa, which you can pair up in any combination and burn rubber throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. I personally liked the pairing of Mario and Bowser or Mario and Donkey Kong as there was an oddly humorous sentimentality about pairing off the sworn enemies.

After selecting your team and kart, you then select one of three race classes and courses. The courses in the game consisted of Mushroom City, Donkey Kong Mountain, and Luigi Grand Prix. Initially I wanted Mushroom City, because the name just sounded cooler, but apparently I should have taken part of Donkey Kong Mountain race as it featured a number of cliffs located around some of the turns, and a launcher that blasts you across the track. Mushroom City was quite tame by comparison.

The gameplay was reminiscent of Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo but with next-gen graphics and the team feature of two characters manning one kart.

Some of the classic Mario Kart power-ups made a return, things such as the invincibility stars, slippery banana peels and turbo mushrooms were there to enhance play as well as eight character specific items. Picking up power-ups with the two character set-up can be quite fun. If both characters are empty handed in the power up department then no biggie, just switch to the character that you think has the best power up specials, or if one character is already carrying a power-up item then you can just switch to the other empty-handed character, so you can have two power-ups readily available within your team. The special power-ups are some of the coolest aspects of the game as they allow whichever character that collects it perform some cool special attacks. Also ramming into another racer during the race will result in some power-up snatching antics!

The game supports 1-4 players on one console with the multi-player modes presented in split screen mode, thus making for a kick butt party game! Not only that, but with the broadband adapter, two Gamecube consoles and television sets, you'll be having a kickass LAN party with up to eight players that can participate in some frantic Kart racing fun!

The graphics of Double Dash were of the bright and colorful Mario Kart fare with well modeled characters from the world of Mario. The visuals were clean, cartoony looking and seemed to be making adequate use of the Gamecube's power by keeping a steady framerate going throughout the races. Graphically there wasn't really much at all that made me go "wow", the characters were the best looking part of the game in my opinion as I found the tracks to be quite plain and unimpressive-looking at times. Overall however, I think the graphics worked well for this type of game.

Mario Kart Double Dash at E3 was a fun ride from start till the finish line. It's set for a Q4 2003 release and should be accompanied by a special controller by Nintendo. Stay tuned for all the latest on Double Dash!!

Joseph Jackson
Staff Writer, Kikizo Games