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Mario has had a lot of career changes in his time ranging from plumber to doctor to professional golfer, but out of all the extra projects he's been in it's go-karting that remains the most popular. You'd think after all the money he's made he'd be able to settle down with Peach by now…

Mario Kart Double Dash!! (the exclamation marks are supposed to be there) is arguably the biggest departure from the standard Mario Kart formula. Besides the odd tweak there isn't a huge amount to separate Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart Super Circuit that has led to some people criticising the series for lacking innovation. MKDD represents the biggest shake-up of the series yet with the conventional go-karts with single riders being replaced with teams of two riders sharing a customised racing machine. Mario might still be driving his trusty kart but Donkey Kong rides around in half a barrel on wheels, Bowser drives a big mechanical monster of a kart, and Peach drives something that looks stolen from Penelope Pitstop.

Some new strategies come into play thanks to being forced to drive with two interchangeable drivers. In the previous games your choice of driver would affect certain attributes - Mario and Luigi were average across the board, smaller drivers would be have quick acceleration but be fairly easy to knock out, and the bruisers like Bowser and Wario had high top speeds and could send others flying. This remains the same in MKDD, except switching between your drivers lets you use their attributes. Having two riders also means you can hold two power-ups and your passenger has their hands free to try and steal items from enemies. It works well and can reward intelligent character selection with the edge in a race.

Graphically Mario Kart looks good. The characters and well-animated and detailed, but simple enough to keep the framerate smooth with a lot of action on screen. It probably won't win any awards for graphics but the little background details that Nintendo are famous for and fans love are all present and correct.

Much of your arsenal of weapons and power-ups are carried over from Mario Kart 64 but with a few additions - one that I noticed was a huge shell (and I do mean huge) that charges forwards and flattens anyone foolish enough to get in the way. I couldn't tell if Super Mario Kart's feather makes a return but judging by the fact that the karts don't even hop anymore it looks doubtful. Track-wise I noticed some classics make a return including my personal favourite, Wario Stadium. MK64 introduced hills and other 3D elements to the series but they've really gone all-out here. The tracks are filled with banks, jumps, hills, and traps to catch out unwary drivers. Another track had Piranha Plants trying to grab racers, and one featured a huge jump to the top of a mountain so that you could race down again.

The big surprise when MKDD was announced was that Nintendo were implementing LAN support to let people play with more than four players and presumably online through GameSpy Tunnel-style software by connecting GameCubes via broadband adaptors. This was playable at ECTS in the form of a LAN tournament that was going on with each of the four players sat in their own replica kart. It plays well and is simple to get into a game - all you have to do is start a LAN game and a countdown will start to allow other people to join. It work in the same way as a system link game in the arcade might. The LAN games are great fun and very competitive if you're in the same room, but it should be even better if someone comes up with tunnel software to get it online for eight players. Split-screen is also available - I had a couple of two player races and the framerate was just as smooth as always.

If I have one complaint it's that the game doesn't really 'feel' like a Mario Kart title. It's less about the racing and more like a Mario version of Wacky Races. That's not to say it's not a great game because it's a lot of fun and should keep people playing even longer than the previous versions, but Nintendo have made a lot of changes to the formula. At least we can't accuse them of rehashing this time. Don't let this picky complaint turn you off though, because this looks to be one of the best titles of the winter as long as Nintendo can get it out on time.

Mario Kart Double Dash!! is due for release on the GameCube before the end of the year.

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PGC has reported that at the Gamers' Summit, Nintendo has showcased some of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'s new features.

-The game will support up to 16 players, as rumours earlier indicated. One player drives the cart and the other uses and collects items, attacks other players, and controls sliding. The two players can press the Z button at the same time to switch.
-A new battle mode was shown, called "Shine Thief." A player has a Shine in a "capture the flag" like battle. The person who holds on to the Shine for a full minute is the winner.

quote IGN Cube

September 17, 2003 - Today in downtown San Francisco, CA, Nintendo held a Gamers' Summit for the press. It is day one of two and the publisher focused on touting its first-party lineup; tomorrow third-parties will get more space to show their products. The two big-name titles to show up in updated form were the NST-developed 1080: Avalanche and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, which is developed internally at Nintendo's Japanese headquarters.

Last July, Nintendo held a similar event where it showcased its summer titles, including F-Zero GX and Mario Golf. Mario Kart showed up, but it was still the E3 2003 version. As reported, that version was definitely too slow and incomplete for anyone to really tell how the much-anticipated mascot racer would turn out. So here we are just two months later and Nintendo has carted -- pardon the pun -- in a whole new, updated version for the press to play.

And play we did.

Features
One of the most popular games franchises ever -- new and improved for GameCube

Huge cast of mascot characters including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Wario, and many more

Two-player per kart dynamic: switch to hold more items than before

Character-specific power-ups; Yoshi rolls his egg, Wario can toss bombs, and the whole cast has new tricks

Several modes of gameplay: Grand Prix, Time Trials, and Battle

Multiplayer mayhem -- one to four-player Battles and regular races; plus, two-player cooperative support for Grand Prix!

LAN play lets you use an Ethernet cable to link two to eight GameCubes on separate TVs

Supports Logitech steering wheel controller

Progressive scan supported

Pro Logic II enabled

Planned November 17, 2003 release

Rated E for "Everyone"
Double Dash!! is easily one of the most anticipated titles in the history of GameCube. It's brand new and packed with more features than its predecessors. Everything from the three new Grand Prix cups to the three Battle mode types is completely fresh. We've previously discussed the general game mechanics, so we'll spare repeating that, but with a more complete version on display at this recent Gamers' Summit there is definitely a lot more to the picture.

Let's get the obvious point out of the way: the speed. Few people deny, including Nintendo executives, that the E3 2003 build -- the first playable version shown -- of MK: DD was too slow. Whether played at 50cc or 150cc, the pace of the game was alarmingly sluggish. The wider tracks only heightened this sensation. The beloved power slide was also missing. Nintendo promised these problems were on its radar and that they would be resolved before the game's release this November.

Good news is they weren't kidding. This seemingly near-final build of Mario Kart for GameCube is indisputably faster than the previous build. No longer are you distracted by the pace. Instead, your focus can be directed where it should be: strategizing item pick-ups, managing sharp turns with the power slide, and gunning for first place every time. To us, it felt comfortably quick. In other words, sure we wouldn't mind seeing its pace bumped up just a little faster, but it's also at a point where it feels right. Like a Chomp-Chain has been lift from atop our crushed expectations, there is now plenty of room to breath; Double Dash!! can be fully enjoyed for the same addictive gameplay its forefathers standardized.

With that settled, let's move on and discuss the different modes that were on display. We'll start with Grand Prix. Nintendo pretty much gave us access to the entire gameplay experience here. The catch: nothing could be unlocked. They didn't want any secrets getting out, but a company representative noted, "There are many, many secrets in this game." They left it at that, but, hey, that whets our appetite. We're hoping they've left enough behind closed doors to keep the single-player experience worthwhile. As for Grand Prix itself, we had access to the 12 tracks. They include the following:

Mushroom Cup Flower Cup Star Cup
Mushroom Cup Mushroom Bridge Sherbert Lane

Luigi Circuit Mario Circuit Mushroom City
Baby Park Daisy Cruise Yoshi Circuit
Dry Dry Desert Waluigi Stadium DK Mountain

We checked pretty much all of them out. The track designs pleased in almost every regard. Every track had something unique about it that demonstrated a different part of the gameplay. Waluigi Stadium, one of our favorites, was an MX-style course with slowly-rotating flame propellers and Piranha Plants jutting out horizontally to block your way. Another, Yoshi Circuit, was filled with twists and turns -- a perfect level for pros to show off their skills. Then there was Daisy Cruise, which had players rounding the edges of a giant cruise liner. Unique, indeed.

Shortcuts, too, made themselves apparent. Both in the form of rocketing over grassy, sandy, or muddy areas to cut a corner as well as true sidetracks that took you through a different area altogether. So, if you're wondering if we're satisfied with the track designs and Grand Prix features, the answer is definitely yes.

Then there is the all-new co-op mode. Nintendo, thankfully, has granted the wishes of Mario Kart fans abroad. You can play Grand Prix in multiplayer form. Even better, you can do it co-operatively, riding the same cart. This works for up to 16 players according to Nintendo. Basically you can hook up eight different TVs via the LAN with two players per TV. That's some seriously awesome one-screen action right there, we must say. To all dorms, corporate offices, and Brady Bunches -- you're going to want to stock up on your equipment to accommodate this. The way it works is fairly simple. Two players to a kart: one steers and the other tosses items. For the power slide, you both have to work together. While the player in the driver's seat activates the slide with L or R, it's up to the player in the back seat to rock the stick back and forth, thus earning the boost. If you want to switch seats you have to verbally agree to hit the Z-button at the same time. In multiplayer mode, you can imagine that the more people you get to play co-op, the louder the experience becomes. It's a mode we're really looking forward to exploiting -- especially over a LAN.

Of course, the staple multiplayer mode in Mario Kart has always been Battle. The developers recognized this, adding in three main sub-modes: Balloon Battle, Shine Thief, and Bob-omb Blast. As for the first of those three, fans will easily recognize Balloon Battle as the mode where you take the arenas and attempt to strip the other players of their balloons. The basic mechanics of this mode has remained the same. Shine Thief, inspired by the company's flagship Super Mario Sunshine title, has players fighting for the rights to a Shine Sprite (the golden suns players collected in the platformer). Meanwhile, a counter ticks down to zero and the player last in possession of it wins. You can crash into the current "Shine Thief" to grab it for yourself, or you can knock it from them with items.

Lastly, Bob-omb Blast is about as insane as it gets. Players pick up Bob-ombs -- lots of them and that's all. Each character can carry five, which amounts to 10 per kart. You can hold on to them as long as you like or chuck them at opponents, whereupon they explode outward and upward in a huge 3D half-sphere. The goal is to fill up the star tanks in the corner of your screen (in our four-player matches it was up to four). If you successfully bombed another racer you would get a star filled with their color. If you got bombed, you would lose one of your stars. It's totally frantic, an understatement we assure you, but there is some leeway in that your own bombs will not hurt you. Bob-omb tossing mechanics allow you to toss it far, close, and set it behind you to tick momentarily before it explodes. This range of bombing abilities adds more strategy to the gameplay than tossing explosives around might imply. It's a really sweet new mode that we're sure fans are going to get hooked into immediately. The only downside is there are no clear statistics tracking for this mode, so there's never a clear second, third, or fourth place.

Outlook
This is Mario Kart as it should be. Now that Nintendo has properly addressed the speed issues and given us a glimpse into the extra modes, we can say confidently that this will probably be one of the best GameCube titles of this holiday season. Visually, the title is already incredibly stable -- 60 frames per second in single-player and 30 in multiplayer. So we have no real concerns. In fact, it seems to borrow some tricks from Super Mario Sunshine, demonstrating strong draw distances and a depth of field blur effect.

As we look forward to its November 17, 2003 release, our only expectations now are that the final title will show polish in the same way that Super Smash Bros. Melee did with many unlockables and secrets.

For now, it seems Nintendo's kart franchise has more than a fighting chance to remain the best available while setting a few new standards to boot. Look for more coverage on the hotly anticipated racer in the coming months and be sure to check out the latest screenshots in our media section.