Revisiting a Classic: Mario Kart Double Dash IS Better than MKWii
I will die on this hill…read below to find out why Mario Kart Double Dash is the best game in the series.
By Yoyo
The Mushroom Kingdom just got a whole lot more hectic as Mario and friends double up for furious kart racing. This time around, each kart holds two racers that can switch places at any time, so choose from a huge cast of favorites and pair them up any way you see fit. The character in front handles the driving duties, while the character in the rear doles out damage with six normal items and eight special items that only specific characters can use. Get ready for some intense multiplayer mayhem with your favorite characters, including Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Peach, Bowser, and Koopa.
If there's one game that I spent hours on end perfecting, it was none other than Mario Kart Double Dash. To this day, in the year 2026, I still plug in my GameCube and load up Double Dash. Hearing that menu start up music instantly transports me back to my childhood, rushing home from school and getting ready to play some Mario Kart without doing any of my homework.
Mario Kart Double Dash came out exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. It's a simple racing game with some fun mechanics that makes it stand out from the rest including dual racers. Being able to use two racers that each have their own special ability made for endless amounts of pairs and some really funny moments. Like who really saw Baby Luigi pairing up with King Boo.
Mario Kart has always been that one game from Nintendo that manages to change the way racing games are made i.e. Crash Team Racing was a dupe of Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing also a dupe of MK64 and although Sonic fans don't like to admit it or think they're better, a Sonic racing game wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Mario Kart.
Mario Kart Double Dash is that one game that majority of players swear it's awful (probably because driving can be slippery at times) but still has a cult following. In my opinion, Double Dash is miles ahead of Mario Kart Wii and I'm 100% biased towards the GameCube in general since my Wii got stolen when I was in the middle of playing Super Mario Galaxy (which isn't better than Sunshine btw). Sure Mario Kart Wii has Coconut Mall but it also has the worst version of Bowser's Castle. Not to mention unless you didn't drive using a bike, you might as well count that race as an L. I'm not here to trash on Mario Kart Wii, even though it has one of the worst kart control since SNES. I'm here to tell you why Double Dash is so much better.
As I mentioned before, dual racers. Switching between two different drivers elevated Double Dash's gameplay. By using Baby Luigi you have a chance of obtaining his special, the chain chomp, that would wreck anybody who stood in your way and bring you closer to first place. Pair Baby Weegee with the red Koopa Troopa, who gives you three red shells, and you're good to go. Also dual racers meant co-op play! My older brother was the designated driver while I was allowed to punch the CPU who got in our way, it was an amazing bonding moment for us.
My official character tier list btw:
Double Boxes. For my younger gen people out there, double boxes did not originate from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe but they came from Double Dash. Two racers equals two boxes. It only makes sense to have double boxes exist since you're controlling two different drivers, but it was something no one had thought of before Double Dash (Mario Kart Wii doesn't have double boxes).
The soundtrack. Listen! I know that Coconut Mall is super iconic, I'm not debating anyone on that, but the entire soundtrack from Double Dash is S tier right after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. There's something about the music from Peach Beach that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Just listen to it and tell me you don't feel relaxed, and you know the OG was the better version since Mario Kart Wii didn't bother to change it.
Last but not least, the tracks. There are only 16 tracks in Double Dash, less than what we're used to at this moment (I'm looking at you MK8 with 96 tracks), but sometimes simple is better. Double Dash may have a small pool to choose from but that doesn't mean that they aren't fun, it's actually the opposite. We have some of the more iconic tracks from Double Dash like: Peach Beach, Daisy Cruiser, Baby Park, Wario Colosseum, DK Mountain, Dino Dino Jungle, Bowser's Castle and how could I possibly forget...Rainbow Road. Again, I might be biased but Mario Kart World was significantly better simply because most of these tracks were brought back. The tracks in this game are the closest thing we will ever get to the true definition of "peak". Mushroom City alone can easily change the opinion of anyone who hates this game simply because of Baby Park. Bobbing and weaving in and out of traffic while fighting off the CPU, not to mention how some of the cars are literal bob-ombs.
The Rainbow Road from Double Dash is my all time favorite and I'm actually really sad that it never made its way into MK8. The race track barely has railing, so it is the ultimate test of skill and to make things even more interesting, there's a small chance a shooting star falls from the sky, landing on the track and turns into a super star that makes you go even faster. What a great and infuriating way to get into an IRL fight with your sibling who wins because of that star.
My official track tier list: ...I think I might love this game
Overall, I love the Nintendo GameCube. I love Mario Kart Double Dash. And most importantly, I love Baby Luigi.