The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This thread has been linked to the game 'Mario Kart Double Dash'.
finally picked this game up a few days ago, having played it briefly at a party i was most impressed!!
bright, vibrant, colourful, great music...
EASILY one of the best multiplayer/party games around at the moment. top notch fun. The battle modes are also really good fun (that pipes level in balloon mode is dynamite!!).
granted, i feel the omission of the little hop on the shoulder buttons is not the best idea, and sometimes items can "hide" on the brow of hills in the road, giving you no chance to avoid them, but other than that it's a great little pick-up-and-play game, easy to control and get into.
but then... THEN... we discover 1-player mode.
oh dear.
oh dear oh dear.
the super-start is a thorough waste of time as a 1-player tactic because if you manage it, then so do all the cpu opponents, who then just barge into/infront of you at the first corner (causing you do either spin out or stop dead, while they seem to lose very little momentum), it's actually better to do a regular start and then pass them all in turn.
The difficulty level is oddly done as well. there's not a HUGE difference in the actual speed of the 3 speed settings, the main difference is that the higher the CC, the more items you'll be inexplicably smashed with on the last lap of your race, apparantly no matter how far ahead you are.
I KNOW it's cliche to claim "this game cheats!" (second only to "this controller's knackered" :) ) and i KNOW games are supposed to be a challenge, but where this game becomes less of an enjoyable experience and more than a little frustrating is the outrageous cpu controlled elements. the scenery cars on the road levels that randomly (and sharply) change course JUST to blow you up as you near the finish line, the fact that the smallest slip results in your place dropping rapidly (and don't count on the pick-up items to help you in this instance, miraculously you start to get nothing but banana skins when all you need is a speed-up mushroom), the cpu karts that will crash and then immediately be back up to full speed, whereas if the PLAYER controls the kart, it'll take a good few seconds to get going again. Ok, so the other karts hit the shells/skins/fake/boxes as well, but more often than not it won't make any difference to them, on the higher levels you really do need to get into first straight away not hit ANYTHING.. "but that's the point" i hear you cry and yes, yes it is... but the chances of you hitting NOTHING is next to none as if you venture slightly away from the 2nd place drone, you'll be bombarded with enemy items until you're battered back in to 5th place, whereby you have only a slim chance of regaining 1st place.
It's a rare game that will make you accept resonsibility for a death/mistake in a game, Ikaruga managed it (there was ALWAYS at least one way through the bullets), NHL Hitz manages it (i've been playing it for months and haven't found it to do anything out of the reach of the human players once) but Mario Kart... doesn't :(
the original SNES version provided a challenge on the later levels, but you never felt as though you'd been straight up cheated out of a win and if you DID fail to make the top 4, it had this GREAT little idea called a "retry".. they're like "lives" in other games, whereby if you do something badly you get to try it again... or "retry" if you will.
quite why this idea didn't make it will remain a mystery for all time, as in MK:DD, should you be knocked into 5th or higher; that's it. no retry, no 2nd chance, just a pitiful amount of points, so low that you've NO chance of getting the gold cup.
if you can play this game multiplayer then you'll REALLY love it because, as i said, that aspect of the game is an absolute joy, but unless you have an infinite amount of patience (or you're somewhat of a masochist) then the 1-player mode will be played through once to unlock all the secret items, then rarely looked at again, save for the odd venture into a 50cc game where the balance is just about right to make it enjoyable.
overall a brilliant, brilliant game, spoiled by an obviously biased 1-player mode. but as long as you have 1 friend then this game belongs in your collection!!!!
bright, vibrant, colourful, great music...
EASILY one of the best multiplayer/party games around at the moment. top notch fun. The battle modes are also really good fun (that pipes level in balloon mode is dynamite!!).
granted, i feel the omission of the little hop on the shoulder buttons is not the best idea, and sometimes items can "hide" on the brow of hills in the road, giving you no chance to avoid them, but other than that it's a great little pick-up-and-play game, easy to control and get into.
but then... THEN... we discover 1-player mode.
oh dear.
oh dear oh dear.
the super-start is a thorough waste of time as a 1-player tactic because if you manage it, then so do all the cpu opponents, who then just barge into/infront of you at the first corner (causing you do either spin out or stop dead, while they seem to lose very little momentum), it's actually better to do a regular start and then pass them all in turn.
The difficulty level is oddly done as well. there's not a HUGE difference in the actual speed of the 3 speed settings, the main difference is that the higher the CC, the more items you'll be inexplicably smashed with on the last lap of your race, apparantly no matter how far ahead you are.
I KNOW it's cliche to claim "this game cheats!" (second only to "this controller's knackered" :) ) and i KNOW games are supposed to be a challenge, but where this game becomes less of an enjoyable experience and more than a little frustrating is the outrageous cpu controlled elements. the scenery cars on the road levels that randomly (and sharply) change course JUST to blow you up as you near the finish line, the fact that the smallest slip results in your place dropping rapidly (and don't count on the pick-up items to help you in this instance, miraculously you start to get nothing but banana skins when all you need is a speed-up mushroom), the cpu karts that will crash and then immediately be back up to full speed, whereas if the PLAYER controls the kart, it'll take a good few seconds to get going again. Ok, so the other karts hit the shells/skins/fake/boxes as well, but more often than not it won't make any difference to them, on the higher levels you really do need to get into first straight away not hit ANYTHING.. "but that's the point" i hear you cry and yes, yes it is... but the chances of you hitting NOTHING is next to none as if you venture slightly away from the 2nd place drone, you'll be bombarded with enemy items until you're battered back in to 5th place, whereby you have only a slim chance of regaining 1st place.
It's a rare game that will make you accept resonsibility for a death/mistake in a game, Ikaruga managed it (there was ALWAYS at least one way through the bullets), NHL Hitz manages it (i've been playing it for months and haven't found it to do anything out of the reach of the human players once) but Mario Kart... doesn't :(
the original SNES version provided a challenge on the later levels, but you never felt as though you'd been straight up cheated out of a win and if you DID fail to make the top 4, it had this GREAT little idea called a "retry".. they're like "lives" in other games, whereby if you do something badly you get to try it again... or "retry" if you will.
quite why this idea didn't make it will remain a mystery for all time, as in MK:DD, should you be knocked into 5th or higher; that's it. no retry, no 2nd chance, just a pitiful amount of points, so low that you've NO chance of getting the gold cup.
if you can play this game multiplayer then you'll REALLY love it because, as i said, that aspect of the game is an absolute joy, but unless you have an infinite amount of patience (or you're somewhat of a masochist) then the 1-player mode will be played through once to unlock all the secret items, then rarely looked at again, save for the odd venture into a 50cc game where the balance is just about right to make it enjoyable.
overall a brilliant, brilliant game, spoiled by an obviously biased 1-player mode. but as long as you have 1 friend then this game belongs in your collection!!!!
Page:
You should have got F-Zero.
I got both.
Mario Kart hardly leaves the rack, only for multiplayer.
I got both.
Mario Kart hardly leaves the rack, only for multiplayer.
In reply to this, post, I got mario kart this xmas. infact it was the only Gamecube game i got this xmas, I had the choice out of F-zero x or this, So i picked this one.
And nearly after a week of playing it, I seriously do believe they.. could of done better in some parts?
º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,
Single player:
Way to short, Unimagative on the game as a whole, could of added to a replay value on the one player mode. Time trial does seem to do this well, Saving the ghost and then the week after, see if you could imporve on my personal time. that was a joy! Beating my ghost by a second on baby park.. hehe :)
But think of the ideas they could of put in. I'm up to mirrior mode now, and from what i know, after a week of playing. i'm nearly done? If anything, i dont mind the amount of tracks, but spanning the game into more replay value.
Muitplayer:
They've hit a nice jackpot, :D 3 battle modes to choose from, Each one, i think are almost completely different to the other, One is frantic as hell from bombs exloping everywhere. The other, 3 chances to live, and kill others. And the star? :p, just fun cat and mouse ;)
They seriously should of.. customized one or two of these? the star, I think i'd like if the timer was set longer.. or, More lives in the bomb game? just a little idea i got while typing this, but really though, Its set. 3 games. and you'll relise while playing multiplayer, the fun within the 3 small modes burn out quickly :/ *Retreats to Vs mode*
Morale of my post? Its a short lived game. After a few weeks, you'll only ever see it going back into your cube for a few games with the lads on multiplayer. I think anyway
And nearly after a week of playing it, I seriously do believe they.. could of done better in some parts?
º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,
Single player:
Way to short, Unimagative on the game as a whole, could of added to a replay value on the one player mode. Time trial does seem to do this well, Saving the ghost and then the week after, see if you could imporve on my personal time. that was a joy! Beating my ghost by a second on baby park.. hehe :)
But think of the ideas they could of put in. I'm up to mirrior mode now, and from what i know, after a week of playing. i'm nearly done? If anything, i dont mind the amount of tracks, but spanning the game into more replay value.
Muitplayer:
They've hit a nice jackpot, :D 3 battle modes to choose from, Each one, i think are almost completely different to the other, One is frantic as hell from bombs exloping everywhere. The other, 3 chances to live, and kill others. And the star? :p, just fun cat and mouse ;)
They seriously should of.. customized one or two of these? the star, I think i'd like if the timer was set longer.. or, More lives in the bomb game? just a little idea i got while typing this, but really though, Its set. 3 games. and you'll relise while playing multiplayer, the fun within the 3 small modes burn out quickly :/ *Retreats to Vs mode*
Morale of my post? Its a short lived game. After a few weeks, you'll only ever see it going back into your cube for a few games with the lads on multiplayer. I think anyway
J Nash wrote:
> Right, you guys who want something that goes really fast vroom vroom
> and is liek dead realistic,
nope. i wanted something fair, challenging and above all, enjoyable
> Get a real car. Take it on the motorway, whatever.
hmm, yeah, but you can't race dinosaurs or flyng tortoises on the motorway can you? where's the fun in that? :)
> DD is something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and
> it’s actually fun.
... you left out the words "with mates" ;)
> If you people like the original more, oh my, play the original.
i never said i preferred the original, just that some of the ideas that worked so well should've remained. why update a game if it's going to be a step backwards? (admittedly, sequals are usually fairly lacklustre, but Nintendo sequals are usually pretty damn good, which is why DD surprised me somewhat)
> See where this is going?
nowhere? ;P~~~~~~~~~~
> Right, you guys who want something that goes really fast vroom vroom
> and is liek dead realistic,
nope. i wanted something fair, challenging and above all, enjoyable
> Get a real car. Take it on the motorway, whatever.
hmm, yeah, but you can't race dinosaurs or flyng tortoises on the motorway can you? where's the fun in that? :)
> DD is something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and
> it’s actually fun.
... you left out the words "with mates" ;)
> If you people like the original more, oh my, play the original.
i never said i preferred the original, just that some of the ideas that worked so well should've remained. why update a game if it's going to be a step backwards? (admittedly, sequals are usually fairly lacklustre, but Nintendo sequals are usually pretty damn good, which is why DD surprised me somewhat)
> See where this is going?
nowhere? ;P~~~~~~~~~~
The Missing Link wrote:
> Let's face it, it'd be a bit boring if you won every race by a mile
> and everything was unlocked very easily.
true. i wasn't implying that i wanted MK:DD to be loads easier (in which instance i'd just leave it on 50cc :) ), i simply meant that the way in which it makes itself harder is incredibly frustrating. if it were the case that the cpu karts got better at the actual driving and beat you by taking the tough corners better (which at the same time makes you want to learn how to do that yourself) or by "knowing" that using a mushroom before a certain bump can propel you up and over a bend and into the lead, then fair enough. but they don't. you just get hit with more and more items which seriously detracts from the racing, as it simply becomes a case of getting as much speed up as you can before you're slammed with a red shell again. to me, that's not much fun.
It's the same as Smackdown: Shut your mouth. when the difficulty level was increased, the cpu didn't say, reverse more holds or use better tactics. it just decided that when you got hit, you'd stay down for an eternity, helplessly watching as your character recieves more and more damage while staunchly refusing to get up, no matter HOW fast you press the buttons.
i don't mind losing, but i'd like to have some control over HOW i lose.
> I've lost several races by
> fractions of a second, but I'd rather play a game that makes me
> determined to beat those damn CPU karts than one that is easy as pie
> when you get far enough in front.
oh absolutely.
At the moment i'm also playing "The Simpsons: Hit and run" and the 3 races on each level are definately ones that manage to make you want to succeed, but not ensure you lose by crap methods. it's just taken me about 20 minutes to finish the "ralph" race on the Apu levels and not once did i feel like i'd been cheated. i lost a good few times sure, but it was in a way where you KNEW where you'd screwed up and made you determined to not hit that barrier, or not slide out on that certain corner, all to save precious seconds. Yet when you DO take the lead, things don't start blatantly aiming for you ;)
>
> And the multiplayer is brilliant.
damn straight, it's 100% dynamite!
> Let's face it, it'd be a bit boring if you won every race by a mile
> and everything was unlocked very easily.
true. i wasn't implying that i wanted MK:DD to be loads easier (in which instance i'd just leave it on 50cc :) ), i simply meant that the way in which it makes itself harder is incredibly frustrating. if it were the case that the cpu karts got better at the actual driving and beat you by taking the tough corners better (which at the same time makes you want to learn how to do that yourself) or by "knowing" that using a mushroom before a certain bump can propel you up and over a bend and into the lead, then fair enough. but they don't. you just get hit with more and more items which seriously detracts from the racing, as it simply becomes a case of getting as much speed up as you can before you're slammed with a red shell again. to me, that's not much fun.
It's the same as Smackdown: Shut your mouth. when the difficulty level was increased, the cpu didn't say, reverse more holds or use better tactics. it just decided that when you got hit, you'd stay down for an eternity, helplessly watching as your character recieves more and more damage while staunchly refusing to get up, no matter HOW fast you press the buttons.
i don't mind losing, but i'd like to have some control over HOW i lose.
> I've lost several races by
> fractions of a second, but I'd rather play a game that makes me
> determined to beat those damn CPU karts than one that is easy as pie
> when you get far enough in front.
oh absolutely.
At the moment i'm also playing "The Simpsons: Hit and run" and the 3 races on each level are definately ones that manage to make you want to succeed, but not ensure you lose by crap methods. it's just taken me about 20 minutes to finish the "ralph" race on the Apu levels and not once did i feel like i'd been cheated. i lost a good few times sure, but it was in a way where you KNEW where you'd screwed up and made you determined to not hit that barrier, or not slide out on that certain corner, all to save precious seconds. Yet when you DO take the lead, things don't start blatantly aiming for you ;)
>
> And the multiplayer is brilliant.
damn straight, it's 100% dynamite!
I feel that the "cheating" karts and abundance of items that are difficult to avoid on the harder difficulty settings make you concentrate on the race until the very last moment, knowing that anything can happen. Yes, it is frustrating when an opponent's kart comes back to beat you by a thousandth of a second after you've just bombarded it with three red shells.
But it's EXCITING.
Let's face it, it'd be a bit boring if you won every race by a mile and everything was unlocked very easily. I've lost several races by fractions of a second, but I'd rather play a game that makes me determined to beat those damn CPU karts than one that is easy as pie when you get far enough in front.
And the multiplayer is brilliant.
'Nuff said.
But it's EXCITING.
Let's face it, it'd be a bit boring if you won every race by a mile and everything was unlocked very easily. I've lost several races by fractions of a second, but I'd rather play a game that makes me determined to beat those damn CPU karts than one that is easy as pie when you get far enough in front.
And the multiplayer is brilliant.
'Nuff said.
Right, you guys who want something that goes really fast vroom vroom and is liek dead realistic, Get a real car. Take it on the motorway, whatever. DD is something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s actually fun. If you people like the original more, oh my, play the original. See where this is going?
I got this game free with the gamecube (It also came with the zelda collection disks) GOD WAS I HAPPY.
Any how the game Mario kart double dash......Its crap.
I really do not like the game.
The original will always be the best and i think nintendo should either go back to the 1st idea or quit the kart racing once and for all.
Diddy kong racing is the best on N64 (Just thought il'd say)
Any how the game Mario kart double dash......Its crap.
I really do not like the game.
The original will always be the best and i think nintendo should either go back to the 1st idea or quit the kart racing once and for all.
Diddy kong racing is the best on N64 (Just thought il'd say)
Rickoss wrote:
> Why didn't you just link it?
because i posted it here first.
the UKreviews tposting was something of an afterthought.
> I've got a Mario Kart review that I
> haven't even posted, I don't go around posting it on SR forums
> though.
erm.. congratulations?
seriously mate, is it THAT big a deal to you?
just don't click on the topic.
either that or report it for being inappropriate and have it removed, it clearly means more to you than it does to me....
> Why didn't you just link it?
because i posted it here first.
the UKreviews tposting was something of an afterthought.
> I've got a Mario Kart review that I
> haven't even posted, I don't go around posting it on SR forums
> though.
erm.. congratulations?
seriously mate, is it THAT big a deal to you?
just don't click on the topic.
either that or report it for being inappropriate and have it removed, it clearly means more to you than it does to me....
Why didn't you just link it? I've got a Mario Kart review that I haven't even posted, I don't go around posting it on SR forums though.
AfroJoe wrote:
> "Word count"
not at all (to be honest, i'm not even sure what the point of the word count is)
> "Word count"
not at all (to be honest, i'm not even sure what the point of the word count is)
Page: