Slashdot Mirror
Mario Kart Double Dash - GameCube Savior Or Rehash?
Thanks to GamesDomain for its review of Mario Kart: Double Dash for GameCube, as the reviewer rates Nintendo's latest kart update very highly, but comments that "...more seasoned gamers may grumble a tad at the general lack of progress", a view occasionally echoed by the overwhelmingly glowing reception from other sites, reminiscent of the (cynically?) subdued positivity regarding Soul Calibur II's release. However, IGN Cube is more critical still, suggesting the game "doesn't progress far beyond the N64 version other than in the visual department... [and] introduces new imbalances to the item system", plus "has axed a few trusted control mechanics like the hop." As for the title's reception outside the U.S., EuroGamer rectifies IGN's downer angle, and C+VG reports significant sales in Japan, with a knock-on effect for GameCube hardware, and a similar effect in the UK for a Mario Kart-including hardware bundle.
you could dodge shells, maybe.
In 64 if you timed the jump perfectly the attack would go under you, but the timing was dicey at the best of times. I played a lot of the game, and if I saw the attack coming I could hop it maybe a quarter of the time.(If I wasn't drunk which I usually was when playing multiplayer) Anyone who claims you could hop anything all the time is a liar.
DD has a lot of ways to avoid taking hits. Red shells can actually be out manuvered now, and you can still take them out with another weapon, defense is harder to do than it was in 64 but i think that makes for a better game.
I'm with you, I dodge attacks far more consistently with a responsive powerslide than I ever did with that stupid hop.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
You know, I can see somebody spending 5 minutes with the game and complaining that it's not much different from Mario Kart 64. Play it a little longer than that, and a bunch of things come to light:
- The GCN version uses 3D models instead of the pre-rendered sprites like the 64-bit version did. The difference? Now you can choose your vehicle. Different character combinations result in different behaviour from the karts. Result? You can have your own individual style while you drive. Play a few races against a friend, and the difference slowly seeps in.
- The GCN version is much higher res, plus much smoother frame rate. That alone makes the multiplayer so much easier to play.
- The GCN version has the broadband adapter support. Presumably this means you can have two GCs in different rooms playing against each other. I'd *love* to play the battle modes without being able to see the otehr person's screen.
- The 2 driver addition adds some interesting subtleties to the game. For example, if you get bumped hard, the occupant gets dragged across the ground for a while before he hops back on. You notice this when you find yourself unable to swap drivers for a bit. Managing two items (one per occupant) really deepens the strategy to the game. My gf was a littler perterbed at me last night because I held on to a fire flower until the end of the race. I blasted her just long enough to cross the finish line first. To put it another way, strategy in this version of the game has a broader meaning than it did in the 64 version,
- The maps are far more imaginitive. As mentioned before by another poster here, the DK level is a blast. (no pun intended.) Much more challenging, and entertaining to boot. It's hard to describe with words, but I can tell you that the map upgrades have been quite noticable.
- There are two more battle modes to this game than in the 64 version, and they are far more entertaining. Not only do they require more skill than luck, but at times they are quite suspenseful. When you play the star battle mode (the name escapes me) when you score, it takes a point from the other person. The goal is to reach 3 points. My gf and I had a lot of fun with that one last night.
This is just the stuff off the top of my tired mind. There's more to it, though lots of it is subtle. Take any of these features on their own, and it doesn't sound so exciting. Take the way everything wraps up together in one big package, and you'll find the game to be much more entertaining than the 64 version. It really is a cool game. Revolutionary? Eh, maybe not. But it's been years since a Mario Kart game was made, and the work put into this one shows.
Sometimes I wonder if reviewers are just jaded. I mean, if it was just a re-release of MK64 with high res 60fps graphics, I'd understand. There's a lot more here. The only real complaint I guess they could have is that, on a fundamental level, it's still the same formula.
"Derp de derp."
It's easy enough to win cups at 50cc. It's not too difficult to win at 100cc, but winning all 4 tracks isn't a given. At least not yet. 150cc is another story. The computer seems to pick one of the carts (usually one of the big ones) to come in ahead of the other computer carts for every race in a cup. If you place 3rd in a race, you'll probably have to win the other 3 races to have a shot at winning the cup. It's tough, but I'm sure it will get easier with practice.
Also on 150cc, the larger carts controlled by the computer don't seem to lose much speed when they get hit by something, and get back to full speed too quickly. Wish it worked that way when I tried the bigger carts. I've been using Baby Luigi and Bowser Jr. for the acceleration and their special items. Had more success with that combination, especially with the Bullet Blaster cart that gets unlocked by beating the Special Cup at 50cc. It a light cart with average acceleration and above average speed. YMMV
If you manage to get ahead, you can probably forget about getting decent items. It's mostly green shells, fake item boxes and bananas. I'll rarely get a red shell (which can be fired backwards now, but won't home in) or a special item. Never got a star, mushroom(s) or lightening while in first place, though it's not conclusive evidence.
I haven't been able to tell yet if the computer uses a "cheat" speed to keep up. Too busy worrying about other obstacles and items on the track.
Stunts from MK64 like jumping off Rainbow Road or jumping the wall in Wario Stadium don't seem to work. I fell off the new Rainbow Road and would have landed on the track below, but the screen went black and I was dropped near where I fell off. Same with Wario Colloseum. There are other tracks where you could fall or turn during a jump and land farther back on the track, but the game just puts you back where you fell off. There are shortcuts on some of the tracks, but can be tricky to use without a star or mushroom.
Eternal Darkness IMHO wasn't all that popular of a game. Metroid Prime on the other hand was a lot more popular even though for some users such as myself it did have the occasional freezing problem.
I fail to see how this is a problem. In the 80's when the home consoles died down until Nintendo revamped the industry in 1985 with the NES, there were not a lot of people around who had the skills to create video games so naturally the gaming companies hired the people they could and developed everything in house.
Now come some 20-25 years later and you see Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and literally doezens of other video and PC game companies not doing half as much in source developing as they used to. The way I view it it's not a problem, especially since it gives other companies the fame and experience if the game is succesful and it leaves Nintendo and other companies free to focus on other aspects of a game or even other projects.
I honestly do not believe Metroid Prime wouldn't have been as good as it was if all the work would have been done in-house.
It tells us they have a desire to make better games just like Sony, Microsoft, and all the other companies out there!
If they did not care about the games anymore we would not have LARGE software libraries for the Gamecube and GBC/GBA/GBA SP, not to mention all the other titles ever released for NES/SNES/N64 and GB to say the least.
Funny I don't see much Pokemon in Wal-mart or Toys R US nowadays, and as for the Pokemon trading cards I don't even know if Nintendo handles that, it may likely be a card company like Wizards or somesuch that produces and sells the cards on behalf of Nintendo.
If that were true we'd be seeing a massive flood of Mario, Metroid, Soul Calibur II, Zelda, Sonic and other toys in Wal-Mart and other large stores. Since the only toys I ever recall seeing here in Canada once in a blue moon was the occasional toy based off Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart from the N64, clearly toys are not Nintendo's main business to make plushies and plastic figures.
I believe this is what has been done with Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart 64 already. The same probably applies to all the famous (or is that infamous) games on the Playstation too.
I don't see what you replied as facts, more as mere speculation on how you believe the market and Nintendo is currently. You also neglected to mention that since Nintendo did a price drop for the Gamecube in the USA, Canada, and all of Europe, Hardware sales have quadrupled and software sales are more then double what they were in November 2002. Proof? Here's a
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy