20 years ago, Double Dash transformed Mario Kart

For more than 30 years, Mario Kart It was going strong, extending the series to 14 games. The basics of Nintendo’s quirky racer have remained largely unchanged in the days since Super Nintendo: You choose a racer, pick up some items to throw at your friends, and then cross the finish line. But one overlooked installment played a pivotal role in shaping the series into the classic we know and love today.

Released on November 7, 2003, Mario Kart Double Dash (Look at GameStop) embodies the GameCube era at its experimental best. After the amazing success it achieved Mario Kart 64the game’s developers struggled to find a new direction for the series.

In a 2003 interview with Computer and video games magazineproducer Shinya Takahashi said that the idea of ​​introducing a two-passenger system sparked a fiery internal debate:

“The options were either to go ahead with both characters riding in one kart mode, or to go ahead and stick with the current old mode of having one character ride in one kart mode. In fact this kind of discussion was very heated and continued until the last minute.

“After many heated discussions, we decided on the first option, the fun look of Tandem Mode. The second thing is that the playability of the game made it a kind of party game, where a group of people can join together and have a good time.

Finally, longtime Mario Kart producer and all-around gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto insisted that the next title needed some new gimmicks to attract a new generation of players, finally settling the co-op mayhem debate.

Doing excercise, Double dashIts rider system is fantastically bizarre. Players choose a duo from a list of 20 characters, twice the number of previous entries. Most of the riders have unique items: Mario and Luigi have fireballs, Yoshi throws eggs, and Donkey Kong holds a huge banana peel. My personal favorite is Baby Mario and Luigi’s Chain Chomp, which pulls you around the track and snacks on other riders along the way. This level of customization has never been seen before, or since, in the world mario kart, Allowing you to mix and match your riders and cards to suit your playing style.

Double dash It turns exciting and chaotic Mario Kart Up to 11. Hardware limitations kept the courses fairly flat and bland in older titles, but the GameCube allowed Nintendo to get creative. The courses use shortcuts and dangerous obstacles in unique ways that have since become popular. (Remember that DK mountain cannon shot that takes you straight to the top of the peak? And how is Yoshi’s arena actually shaped like a green dinosaur?) Double dash The team even managed to make the always exciting Rainbow Road unique, with a long and fascinating journey through a sparkling tunnel.

but Double dashHer legacy is bigger than her courses and racers. It offered basic options like dual-item chests and more robust multiplayer gameplay with multiple combat game modes. It even reworked the drift boost in sharp turns, adding a colored indicator on the ground that increases by swiping the joystick left and right.

While other contestants including bandicoots, squirrels and ghouls have come and gone, Mario Kart It is still as popular as ever. Part of this success is related to what Double dash It was brought to the table, updating the gameplay of the series to attract a new generation of players. It was my first time Mario Kart And a game I love dearly, even if it’s often forgotten by those who didn’t spend their childhood with Nintendo’s purple lunchbox.