Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Does it hold up?

Quick question for you guys: Does Mario Kart: Double Dash hold up today?

Lately my friends and I have been playing a lot of Mario Kart 64 and we've been having a great time with it. As a way to add a little variety to the mix, I proposed getting a Gamecube and Mario Kart: DD off of eBay. None of us have played the GC version and I thought it could be a good way of leveling the playing field. So duders, what do you say? Worth a pickup? Also if there are any other good multiplayer GC games to consider I'd love some recommendations. Thanks!

One last thing - I found this gem while looking for reviews. Personally, I like 2013 Ryan more than 2003 Ryan.

I'd say it holds up pretty well.

Yes, but SD. The four player spit screen was awesome.

Also Smash Bros Melee and Mario party are great multiplayer games too

If you've been enjoying Mario Kart 64, I see no reason you wouldn't enjoy Double Dash!!. Not that I've played it recently, but I'm sure it still holds up. As for other multiplayer GameCube games, SSBM is a no brainer, Super Mario Strikers is also a lot of fun. And Soul Calibur 2 is fun to play with friends as well, I still play it here and again to this day when I have a buddy over.

I was determined to hate DD 10 years ago because I thought 64 was basically a perfect game so I'm not a good person to ask.

Not the answer you wanted, but F-Zero GX was my multiplayer racing game of choice on the Gamecube. It has split screen for up to four players, get that instead!

Thanks guys! How could I have blanked on SSBM? That was a ton of fun. I'll look into F-Zero and Strikers as well!

Double Dash was the Mario Kart of choice for us in college. Fuck that 64 bullshit.

@Giantstalker said:

Not the answer you wanted, but F-Zero GX was my multiplayer racing game of choice on the Gamecube. It has split screen for up to four players, get that instead!

Double Dash is good, but I agree that F-Zero GX is probably the best racing game on the GC.

Double Dash!! has a much different "feel" than any other Mario Kart. I would say it feels sort of "loose" and it took me a bit of time to get use to but it has some fun tracks that you may recognize if you've played Mario Kart on the Wii. Maybe it's not worth it to get a Gamecube just for this game but GC has some gems so maybe sleep on it.

@HistoryInRust said:

Double Dash was the Mario Kart of choice for us in college. Fuck that 64 bullshit.

Well I started college several years before you and I respectfully disagree.

I dont think it holds up well, for one thing you'll find the courses are pretty bland compared to MK64 since they have much fewer corners.

I love Double Dash. I consider it the best of Nintendo's party games thanks to its accessibility to inexperienced players. Whenever I play Smash Bros or Mario Kart Wii outside of my core friend group, the skill difference between experienced players and casual people is huge enough for some of the entertainment to leak out, despite all of Nintendo's efforts to even the field. With Double Dash, the co-op mechanics allow the weight to be carried by the better players as drivers with the others as back-up.

Even if you're playing with all experienced, skillful players, the side-dash attack the shooter has allows for some intense competition. Two teams of two skilled racers each is the best Mario Kart I've ever played, period. Learning to communicate and function as a team is essential and there's no party game experience quite like it. My best friend and I grew to be a symbiotic racing entity, implicitly knowing and trusting the other when to line up for a shell shot or making a life-saving side-dash.

I just recently played it with a bunch of friends. Hardly looks great, but still a ton of fun.

@SagaciousJones said:

I love Double Dash. I consider it the best of Nintendo's party games thanks to its accessibility to inexperienced players. Whenever I play Smash Bros or Mario Kart Wii outside of my core friend group, the skill difference between experienced players and casual people is huge enough for some of the entertainment to leak out, despite all of Nintendo's efforts to even the field. With Double Dash, the co-op mechanics allow the weight to be carried by the better players as drivers with the others as back-up.

Even if you're playing with all experienced, skillful players, the side-dash attack the shooter has allows for some intense competition. Two teams of two skilled racers each is the best Mario Kart I've ever played, period. Learning to communicate and function as a team is essential and there's no party game experience quite like it. My best friend and I grew to be a symbiotic racing entity, implicitly knowing and trusting the other when to line up for a shell shot or making a life-saving side-dash.

That sounds like as good of an endorsement as you're likely to hear to me.

Blue shell overabundance ruined that game for me. Other than that, it was as good a Mario Kart as there has been and the concept was novel.

Double Dash is still pretty awesome; played it about 4 months ago in my friend's dorm with a bunch of people and everyone had fun.

@liquiddragon: I figured between Mario Kart, SSBM, F-Zero and another Mario game like Strikers or Tennis we'd have enough to make it worth it. I can't see myself playing any of the single player classics like Eternal Darkness at this point. That said, I never did finish Wind Waker...

@Drace: Strikers is fun but rather shallow. I think the Wii one might be better. Probably better off getting Tennis.

I thought Double Dash was great back in the day, haven't played it in a few years but it's definitely worth adding to the GameCube collection.

It holds up about as we'll as Ryan Davis, which is to say, flawlessly.

Double Dash is great! Yes, it holds up.

Another GC game I had a tonne of fun with Multiplayer was Star Fox Assault. I haven't played it in a while so I don't know how well it holds up, but you can probably get it cheap on eBay. I'd say it's worth checking out.

Some other Gamecube party games:

007: Agent Under Fire has aged terribly, but it's worth $5 for Q-Claw Spider-Man Multiplayerand fun with laser trip-mines.

X-Men Legends is a Diablo-esque action RPG that supports up to four players. There's also a sequel.

Phantasy Star Online 1+2 is another Diablo-style action RPG. Originally an instanced MMO on Dreamcast, but the GCN version supports 4-player split-screen.

Time Splitters 2 and Time Splitters Future Perfect both have 2-player co-op and zany 4-person arcade multiplayer with tons of bizarre maps, characters, and gametypes.

Star Fox Assault has some novel multiplayer features, notably getting to fight an arwing as an on-foot character that's not totally broken. Try playing Crystal and abusing the bubble shields. Instant rage-induced hilarity.

None of these party games are really as good as the core Nintendo stuff, but they're all worth collectively pitching in a few dollars for a fun evening (the shooters) or starting a lengthy weekly session thing (the RPGs).

Now, if you really want to go balls-to-the-wall with your Gamecube multiplayer, you've got some options. First, check out the GBA Link Cable system. Particularly, the set-up required for Zelda: Four Swords Adventure and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. If you're willing to go deep and shell out for 4 GBAs (SP?) and 4 Link Cables, you'll get to try the most unique co-op in gaming history. Everybody gets their own screen and there are tons of mechanics in each game that require both cooperation on the big screen and solo play with the GBA. Both games are lengthy, complex, and satisfying. And if you want to get completely crazy, you can get 5 TVs, 5 Gamecubes (or 4 gamecubes and one Wii), 4 Link Cables, and 4 Gameboy Players for the ULTIMATE CO-OP EXPERIENCE. Secondly, you could also try attaching a Gameboy Player and play Advance Wars, which supports 4 players on one cartridge.

Edit: One more game to add to the list: Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. Stupid mindless button-mashing fun. Steal your friends' gold. Eat their food. Blow stuff up. It's more Gauntlet Legends.

I liked it more than Mario Kart 64 but that isn't saying much.

I'm a big Mario Kart fan, and Double Dash!! was my favorite of the series when it came out, and still is today.

The ability to hold 2 items at a time, and having special items for each character really adds a lot of strategy to DD which isn't found in any other MK game. Also there's a real nice amount of unlockables, and the ghost trial mode rules. Be sure to master drifting/power-sliding; and remember that spinning the analogue stick while doing so will 'cause your sparks to change color. Wait till they're blue and let go for a killer boost!

Also pick up F-Zero GX.

Double dash is my favorite Mario kart game manly because the great 8 player LAN experiences I had.

@SagaciousJones: Man, that was a serious write up! I forgot how much fun we had with Time Splitters back in the day. Always felt like that was an under-appreciated series but I understand why it catered to a more niche audience. Might look into Star Fox as well. Since the group is fairly causal, the deep dive that would be Four Swords and Crystal Chronicles may turn off some in the group. The full Four Swords experience was something I always wish we could have tried.

Thanks dude!

Yup. Best Mario Kart game, I'd say.

Double Dash is the last great Mario Kart in my opinion. Loved it first time I played and still loved it when I played it a couple of months ago.

Double Dash was, and still is, an excellent Mario Kart; probably my favourite of the bunch in fact. Loved the fact you could play it co-op with a buddy.