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This thread has been linked to the game 'Mario Kart Double Dash'.
Rapidly becoming my favourite Gamecube game this. I know it has recieved a lot of stick, especially for the battle mode, but the single race experience is second to none.
I've been playing it with a bunch of my brother's mates for the past 2 hours and I'm getting a few mates over to play it in a moment.
Ah I love it so, a true Gamecube memory.
I've been playing it with a bunch of my brother's mates for the past 2 hours and I'm getting a few mates over to play it in a moment.
Ah I love it so, a true Gamecube memory.
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Dringo wrote:
> Yeah because, F-Zero aside, you're living through rose tinted specs.
I'm not going to deny that but it's not just that either.
I didn't have ANY prejudice against any of these games, bought them all thinking that they'd do what their predecessors had done.
Mario Kart was a bit :-S from the word go (I'd say it's one of the few GC games to take a step DOWN in playability from it's predecessor, F-Zero joining it) but the other two I loved at first, they just gradually left a sour taste as I realised "that's it?!?" to them.
They were lovely at first play but had no depth.
Mario Sunshine was a bit too small and watered down.
Zelda had the mapsize but no coherence, not enough to do (bar tedious mini-quests like searching the entire seas for treasure or getting a photo of everyone and everything), and a hugely disappointing adventure compared too OOT and Majora.
And the thing is, I've replayed the predecessors I'm comparing them too.
Mario 64 is almost as playable as Sunshine (just with a more fiddly Wall Kick is all) and OOT doesn't run half as smoothly as Windwaker but the adventure you're thrown into actually means something.
Yes, I look at the N64 days with rose tinted glasses but maybe the GC's disappointments are the reason why. I'd never make the claims I made of Windwaker, Sunshine, DoubleDash and F-Zero with Smash Brothers Melee or Timesplitters 2.
Sure, I'd admit that I didn't enjoy Melee as much as the original because I was basically playing the same style of game all over again, but Melee is a lot better than Smash Bros in nearly every way.
I never loved PD as much as I loved Goldeneye, but PD improved and moved the series forward which can make Goldeneye difficult to go back to sometimes.
So yeah, there's a bit of rose tintedness but that's not why I found Sunshine and Windwaker disappointing.
> Yeah because, F-Zero aside, you're living through rose tinted specs.
I'm not going to deny that but it's not just that either.
I didn't have ANY prejudice against any of these games, bought them all thinking that they'd do what their predecessors had done.
Mario Kart was a bit :-S from the word go (I'd say it's one of the few GC games to take a step DOWN in playability from it's predecessor, F-Zero joining it) but the other two I loved at first, they just gradually left a sour taste as I realised "that's it?!?" to them.
They were lovely at first play but had no depth.
Mario Sunshine was a bit too small and watered down.
Zelda had the mapsize but no coherence, not enough to do (bar tedious mini-quests like searching the entire seas for treasure or getting a photo of everyone and everything), and a hugely disappointing adventure compared too OOT and Majora.
And the thing is, I've replayed the predecessors I'm comparing them too.
Mario 64 is almost as playable as Sunshine (just with a more fiddly Wall Kick is all) and OOT doesn't run half as smoothly as Windwaker but the adventure you're thrown into actually means something.
Yes, I look at the N64 days with rose tinted glasses but maybe the GC's disappointments are the reason why. I'd never make the claims I made of Windwaker, Sunshine, DoubleDash and F-Zero with Smash Brothers Melee or Timesplitters 2.
Sure, I'd admit that I didn't enjoy Melee as much as the original because I was basically playing the same style of game all over again, but Melee is a lot better than Smash Bros in nearly every way.
I never loved PD as much as I loved Goldeneye, but PD improved and moved the series forward which can make Goldeneye difficult to go back to sometimes.
So yeah, there's a bit of rose tintedness but that's not why I found Sunshine and Windwaker disappointing.
True, the courses were far more detailed. But they were also far, far too short. And they hadn't been designed with Time Trial mode in mind. Some of the best MK64 circuits were designed primarily with Time Trial mode in mind, and of course they also made for great multiplay racing as well. Double Dash doesn't have that inclusion. Pretty much all the courses are designed to suit tactical, weapon-based racing, whereas if you're a perfectionist (like me, I suppose) then this isn't what you want.
I'm not suggesting I'm a perfectionist in that I like Gran Turismo and want the ultimate racing experience. Quite the opposite. But I'm suggesting that as well as enjoying the game's "Nintendo" features (weapons, trackside obstacles, etc), I like to produce good lap records and outperform the opposition in a racing sense. MK64 is a lot less luck than Double Dash is, no matter how much the computer cheats.
Oh, and I think the different karts is also another let down. Something to do with the fact that they should be karts... not boxes, or trains, or prams, or any of this kind of rubbish.
I'm not suggesting I'm a perfectionist in that I like Gran Turismo and want the ultimate racing experience. Quite the opposite. But I'm suggesting that as well as enjoying the game's "Nintendo" features (weapons, trackside obstacles, etc), I like to produce good lap records and outperform the opposition in a racing sense. MK64 is a lot less luck than Double Dash is, no matter how much the computer cheats.
Oh, and I think the different karts is also another let down. Something to do with the fact that they should be karts... not boxes, or trains, or prams, or any of this kind of rubbish.
I loved Double Dash, I think it is the best Mario Kart. I'm going along with my chums and NGC with this one.
Of course like MK64 there are those that think it is the best and those that still prefer the SNES.
I just love the new weapons dynamic by switching between players depending on your position. And excellent little idea. And of course the different carts added essentially a third character.
A game that forced gamers to choose a series of their favourites for the maximum potential.
And I just loved 90% of the courses as well. Far more "alive" than the 64 lot.
My favourite Mario Kart by far.
Of course like MK64 there are those that think it is the best and those that still prefer the SNES.
I just love the new weapons dynamic by switching between players depending on your position. And excellent little idea. And of course the different carts added essentially a third character.
A game that forced gamers to choose a series of their favourites for the maximum potential.
And I just loved 90% of the courses as well. Far more "alive" than the 64 lot.
My favourite Mario Kart by far.
MK DS is supposed to be excellent - hopefully Ninty have learnt from their mistakes. You can jump again. yeyu.
No-one gave it a chance because it added a new dimension to the game that the game didn't need.
Coupled with the fact that they completely ruined the handling of the karts, it was probably the worst decision Nintendo have made in the Mario Kart series' history. In fact, there's no 'probably' about it.
Maybe I would have enjoyed the game more if the karts weren't utterly crud to control. Maybe. I still play Mario Kart 64 on a regular basis. And the people who I play it with in multiplayer love it as well. I'm fairly confident that 7 years down the line Double Dash is not going to be a title that I visit frequently. Of course not everyone is going to feel this way (as you prove, Dringo), but if Double Dash's extra dimension makes me feel this way, then I'm sure it makes plenty of other gamers feel this way as well. Therefore, Nintendo haven't achieved what they set out to do with Double Dash.
The courses just feel far too... wrong. The karts slide all over the place, and the general course layout is quite frankly rubbish in comparison to some of the N64's excellent courses. Banshee Boardwalk craps over anything Double Dash has to offer, as does the Mario Raceway, Wario Stadium, Choco Mountain and Sherbet Island. As well as this, anything battle mode has to offer is complete pish in comparison to MK64's thoroughly excellent Block Fort and Double Deck courses.
You can defend Nintendo's "added dimensions" all you want, but I know I'm not alone in my thoughts, and for me that shows Nintendo's adjustments are pretty needless.
Coupled with the fact that they completely ruined the handling of the karts, it was probably the worst decision Nintendo have made in the Mario Kart series' history. In fact, there's no 'probably' about it.
Maybe I would have enjoyed the game more if the karts weren't utterly crud to control. Maybe. I still play Mario Kart 64 on a regular basis. And the people who I play it with in multiplayer love it as well. I'm fairly confident that 7 years down the line Double Dash is not going to be a title that I visit frequently. Of course not everyone is going to feel this way (as you prove, Dringo), but if Double Dash's extra dimension makes me feel this way, then I'm sure it makes plenty of other gamers feel this way as well. Therefore, Nintendo haven't achieved what they set out to do with Double Dash.
The courses just feel far too... wrong. The karts slide all over the place, and the general course layout is quite frankly rubbish in comparison to some of the N64's excellent courses. Banshee Boardwalk craps over anything Double Dash has to offer, as does the Mario Raceway, Wario Stadium, Choco Mountain and Sherbet Island. As well as this, anything battle mode has to offer is complete pish in comparison to MK64's thoroughly excellent Block Fort and Double Deck courses.
You can defend Nintendo's "added dimensions" all you want, but I know I'm not alone in my thoughts, and for me that shows Nintendo's adjustments are pretty needless.
AfroJoe wrote:
> Two people in the same kart killed Mario Kart.
No it was genius.
It adds such a new dimension to the game.
No one gave it a chance.
> Two people in the same kart killed Mario Kart.
No it was genius.
It adds such a new dimension to the game.
No one gave it a chance.
Strafio wrote:
> So the conclusion?
> GC did N64 better, but we were doing so much for the first time on
> the N64 and that made it all the more special. And then you could
> argue that a lot of the GC games failed to live up to the standard of
> their N64 predecessors, **cough** sunshinewindwakermariokartfzero
> **cough** but that'd be a whole can of worms you'd be opening! :-)
Yeah because, F-Zero aside, you're living through rose tinted specs.
> So the conclusion?
> GC did N64 better, but we were doing so much for the first time on
> the N64 and that made it all the more special. And then you could
> argue that a lot of the GC games failed to live up to the standard of
> their N64 predecessors, **cough** sunshinewindwakermariokartfzero
> **cough** but that'd be a whole can of worms you'd be opening! :-)
Yeah because, F-Zero aside, you're living through rose tinted specs.
good
I've been playing DD lately, and I certainly don't think it's an improvement, but it is different enough. Some of the courses are too gimmicky, and the balance of power-ups seems more unfair than it used to be.
That said, it's still a damn sight better than most racing games of that type...
That said, it's still a damn sight better than most racing games of that type...
I thought the two to a kart was a grand idea, especially with the teamwork (although perhaps have that as a bonus option and have the main as normal).
What killed it was taking out the jump.
What killed it was taking out the jump.
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