Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
System: Gamecube   Publisher: Nintendo   Developer: Nintendo   Genre: Racing   Release Date: 11/17/03

Quick Synopsis	Overall Score
Enjoyment:  Mario Kart Double Dash is an engaging race car game. Sound:  Witty remarks that will make you laugh. Replay:  Pick it up anytime; there is no limit to how long you can play this game.

Mario Kart Double Dash is an engaging race car game that originated from the SNES game called Super Mario Kart; other versions of this game have also been released prior to Double Dash. This is simply the next step in the evolutionary process from it’s predecessors. There are not many significant changes made to Double Dash, the style and the feel are both indicative of the series. However two new battle modes have been added, the Shine Thief and Bob-omb Blast. In order to win the Shine Thief the player must have possession of the shine when the timer goes off. The timer begins anytime a new player takes control of the shine, in order to get the shine the players must attack each other then pick up the shine once it has been dropped. Bob-omb Blast is a battle mode that involves only the use of bombs; each player can only be hit three times before they are eliminated. Every time a player is hit by a bomb they receive a point, but those points can also be removed by hitting your opponent with a bomb. If two players are equally good then it might have to end in a stale-mate. The Balloon Battle has been around since the original SNES version, but it never gets old to play. Each opponent has three balloons on their cart, the object of the game is to pop the other player’s balloons before they pop yours. Whoever is left with the most balloons wins. All three of these battle modes are very entertaining and they all come with your choice of stages.

Mario Kart Double Dash comes equipped with the characters out of the Mario Brothers video games. Each character has a certain weight that predetermines the choice of the carts that they will use. The heavier the character the bulkier and slower the cart will be and vice versa. When choosing a cart it will let you know how fast and how sturdy the cart will be on the road. Each cart will hold two characters; a driver and a passenger. The passenger will attack the other players with the different items that are picked up from the question marks. Some of the optimal items to get are the spiny shell, red shell, mushroom, star, and thunderbolt. When you choose your two characters they also have the ability to give you special items that nobody else can get when you grab a question mark. Mario gets fire balls, Baby Luigi gets the chain chomp, and Bowser gets the bowser shell, etc. When deciding your characters and your carts at the beginning of the game this is something to take into consideration.