2003 was a horrible year for me. I got most of my games stolen from a
burglary in February, all my info on my ZIP250 disk was rendered
unusable in July, (all my data on my comics are in there) and in August,
I got scammed into an e-mail fraud. Anyway, I told you great people
before about how I was to not make any FAQs after the one for Super
Smash Bros. Melee? Well, I lied. I'm now going to make this FAQ for the
next great multiplayer Gamecube game. Hopefully, I can actually finish
all this crud in time and not actually leave it in the hands of someone
else, but eh, it's just a game.
Dr. Omicron's 3rd FAQ
"Mario Kart: Double Dash!!"
version 1.5
#<-my trademark mines for dividing up sections
Table of Contents
0. Lamenting About Falling From a Frying Pan Into a Fire
1. Table of Contents
1a. Table of Contents
1b. SPOILERS! Warning
2. Version History
3. Introduction
3a. My Introduction
3b. The Story of Mario Kart
3c. The Game's Introduction
4. The Controls
5. Characters (top to bottom, left to right)
5a. Mario
5b. Luigi
5c. Princess Peach
5d. Princess Daisy
5e. Donkey Kong
5f. Diddy Kong
5g. Baby Mario
5h. Baby Luigi
5i. Koopa Troopa
5j. Koopa Paratroopa
5k. Toad
5l. Toadette
5m. Yoshi
5n. Birdo
5o. Bowser
5p. Junior
5q. Wario
5r. Waluigi
5s. Petey Piranha
5t. King Boo
6. The Karts
6a. Red Fire
6b. Green Fire
6c. Heart Coach
6d. Bloom Coach
6e. DK Jumbo
6f. Barrel Train
6g. Goo-Goo Buggy
6h. Rattle Buggy
6i. Toad Racer
6j. Toadette's Kart
6k. Koopa Dasher
6l. Para Wing
6m. Turbo Yoshi
6n. Turbo Birdo
6o. Koopa King
6p. Bullet Blaster
6q. Wario Car
6r. Waluigi Racer
6s. Piranha Pipes
6t. Boo Pipes
6u. Parade Kart
6v. Driving Techniques
7. Items
7a. General Items
7b. Special Items
7c. Items From Past Mario Kart Games...
7d. Item Techniques
8. Modes
8a. Mario GP
8b. Time Trials
A. Staff Ghosts
8c. Versus
A. Basic
B. LAN
8d. Battle Mode
9. Battle Mode
9a. Balloon Burst
9b. Bob-omb Blast
9c. Shine Thief
10. Tracks
10a. Mushroom Cup
A. Luigi Circuit
B. Peach Beach
C. Baby Park
D. Dry Dry Desert
10b. Flower Cup
A. Mushroom Bridge
B. Mario Circuit
C. Daisy Cruiser
D. Waluigi Stadium
10c. Star Cup
A. Sherbet Land
B. Mushroom City
C. Yoshi Circuit
D. DK Mountain
10d. Special Cup
A. Wario Colosseum
B. Dino Dino Jungle
C. Bowser's Castle
D. Rainbow Road
10e. All Cup Tour
10f. Battle Mode
A. Cookie Land
B. Nintendo Gamecube
C. Block City
D. Pipe Plaza
E. Luigi's Mansion
F. Tilt-a-Kart
11. Secrets
11a. Secret Characters
11b. Secret Courses
11c. Secret Karts _____
11d. Secret Modes /
11e. Other Secrets |
12. Options and Records v
13. Frequently Asked Questions/ Missed Corrections <----------!·!
13a. Wario/Waluigi aren't in Super Smash Bros. Melee! ^
13b. King Boo was in Super Mario 64! |
13c. How do I get the Special Cup? \_____
13d. How do I get the All Cup Tour?
13e. How do I get Mirror Mode?
13f. How do I get Toad/Toadette?
13g. What's a really good team to use?
14. The Hall of Shame
15. Interesting Tidbits
14a. What They Say
14b. References to Past Mario Games
16. Legal Stuff
15a. Copyright Stuff
15b. Contacting Me
15c. Request Guidelines
15d. Special Thanks
15e. Sites
15f. A Goodbye
WARNING!
SPOILERS!
WARNING!
Be careful! If you don't want the game completely revealed to you, then
back away from this FAQ and go to another! Except for the Secrets
section, this FAQ will treat all secret courses, characters, Karts, etc.,
will be treated as if they are not secret at all! Are you sure you want
to proceed? If so, go on. If not, go away before it's too late! Or, if
you really want to take a look at my FAQ that badly, here are two things
you can do:
1. You can copy and paste the entire FAQ onto a blank text file and
search for what you need. For example, if you want to find strategies for
the Red Shell, type "Red Shell" into the search, and you'll eventually
get there.
2. Get a friend who doesn't mind spoilers to search for the parts that
you need. While it's slower and more cumbersome, you eliminate all risk
of accidentally coming across a secret.
You have been warned. Don't blame me if you see stuff you wanted to
discover yourself.
#
>>>Version History<<<
version 0.0
August 24th, 2003
I've started on this FAQ! Though there's hardly any information about
the game right now, there's enough for me to put 50 kilobytes into. But
the FAQ won't be released until version 1.0 is complete.
Version 1.0
December 12th, 2003
This is the first version. There isn't all that much up yet, but I hope
you think it's good. I got most of the major sections done. Complete
strategies for the first three courses, but the Interesting Tidbits
section is largely incomplete.
Version 1.1
December 15th, 2003
Here's the refined version of 1.0. I filled in a bit of missing info and
added some more. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some records up.
Version 1.11
December 17th, 2003
Computerunderground.com now has my FAQ, and in response, I have updated
the Sites List and put up the World Records for the three courses I got.
Version 1.2
December 29th, 2003
It's about time, huh? I got the Dry Dry Desert section done. The Mushroom
Cup is complete!
Version 1.3
January 5th, 2003
The Flower Cup has begun! The Flower Cup has begun! Mushroom Bridge is
up!
Version 1.4
January 7th, 2003
Well, that was fast. Mario Circuit's done. 6 down, 10 to go...
Version 1.5
January 12th, 2003
yes, I have been listening to other people's e-mails. The credits list is
getting to be a sizeable amount, and a few nitpickers may have noticed
over the last few updates that I've changed things I don't mention in the
Version History section, such as an annex to King Boo's bio. Anyway, it's
now version 1.5, and Daisy Cruiser is finished. One more, and I'll have
finished the Flower Cup!
#
>>>Introduction<<<
Me
I'm not going to give out a bunch of private information about myself.
Okay, so I'll tell you here and now that my name's Mathew Mekvichitsaeng.
However, I will tell you that this will be my third FAQ, the first being
one for Snowboard Kids and the second being one for Super Smash Bros.
Melee. The one for Snowboard Kids was lukewarm at best, though I did get
the honor of being the first to put up an FAQ for the sleeper hit. The
SSBM FAQ, on the other hand, was a big success. I got a ton of e-mail
concerning the game, and the Legends, Idols, and Icons at GameFAQs grew
pretty envious of me making such an FAQ without ever seeing an account
called "Dr. Omicron" on their boards before. If you want to know my age,
I was born on May 29th, 1986. That was the same year as the Challenger
and Chernobyl explosions! Anyway, my hobbies obviously include video
games. Why else would I be making this FAQ? But I'm primarily a doodler.
i'm supposedly acclaimed for my drawing skills, though it seems that
The College Board isn't really so happy with the level of sarcasm in
everything I do. If you couldn't tell by my spelling and subtle gramma-
tical errors, I live in southern California, USA. Sometimes, I attempt
to have skill at tennis (and I don't mean Mario Tennis), and for some
reason, no one can sense the sarcasm so deeply smothered in every single
story of my comics I do in some of my free time.
Kart Kraziness
Never played Mario Kart before? Want to know what happened behind the
scenes? Well, so do I, because there is no story. So I'll make one up.
One day, an auto dealer Toad visited the district of the Mushroom
Kingdom where Mario lives. His name was Schiff T. He offered Mario a go-
kart, and Mario gladly bought one. For some reason, Schiff T. was an
honest auto dealer, since the go-kart was literally indestructible.
Mario loved his new little vehicle so much that he recommended Schiff to
everyone he knew. He recommended them to Luigi, Mario's younger brother,
Peach, the damsel in distress, Toad, also known as Kinopio, some random
Koopa Troopa, Yoshi, Mario's faithful pet, Donkey Kong Junior, son of
Mario's former enemy, and Bowser, Mario's present enemy. A Lakitu
observed all this and was more than happy to find (and help build) a lot
of courses, from Mario's four Circuits to the luminescent Rainbow Road
in space. The crew put a ton of Item Boxes all over the courses, and
Super Mario Kart was born.
It was 1997. Donkey Kong Jr. went through puberty, adolescence, and
Kongo Kollege and is now known as Donkey Kong II. Koopa also got stomped
and left for dead by Wario, who stole Koopa's purple go-kart. The rest
held on to their karts in hope that they would remain. Lakitu continued
to find and fund more courses, this time dozens of times better than the
first collection. He got the rights for everything from Moo Moo Farm to
Banshee Boardwalk, and the Mario crew was even happier and completely
forgot the days of the old. Because there were already 63 competitions
in each Grand Prix before this one, the organization was dubbed "Mario
Kart 64".
Four years later, Lakitu stumbled upon a treasure trove of courses.
There were no more incidents with the go-karts and their owners, but the
courses were in the same area as the first few Lakitu gathered. Their
disappointment quickly turned to joy, since they realized that the cloud
creature hadn't lost his edge after all, bringing courses like Cheese
Land and Sky Garden to the mix. In fact, the courses were so great that
they named this bunch "Mario Kart: Super Circuit".
It didn't take long for Lakitu to find the next bunch of courses. With
selections like DK Mountain and Mushroom City, he was surprised he
hadn't found them before. By then, Schiff had returned and sold more
efficient cars, specially designed for the cast. The rest gathered up
whatever they had and became equal with Schiff's creations. Since the
cars (and baby carriage) has room for two, even more faces from the
Mario world were gathered up, as well as the return of Koopa and DK
Jr., who has since grown up into Donkey Kong. They had to find a new name
for a big change like this--"Mario Kart: Double Dash!!"
Double Dashing
So, what in the world is Mario Kart: Double Dash!!? Well, for starters,
it's a game with two exclamation points in a row in its title. The
"Mario Kart" part of the title explains how the game will be played:
Mario characters ride around in their land vehicles, trying to get into
first place (or defending it if they ARE in the lead). However, that is
nowhere near as safe as it seems, for Item Boxes are littered all over
every single course, and they give out weapons. You can use these
weapons either to strike someone else down, speed yourself up, or maybe
something a bit more creative. The "Double Dash!!" part of it explains
what new things Nintendo added to the already very innovative series:
the characters will be paired up for each race. That means that Bowser
will get to go on a father-son excursion with Junior, Baby Mario and
Baby Luigi will get to hang out in their pram, and Koopa's new friend
Paratroopa will be helping each other out. That's basically...it. Except
that the environments are some of the most varied you've ever seen in a
racing game, from surreal strips of pure color to a crowded city
highway. All that on go-karts.
>>>Controls<<<
The controls are pretty simple and a lot like Mario Kart 64's. If you've
every played any Mario Kart at all, you should be familiar with how this
scheme works.
ONE PERSON
D-Pad: Not Used
Control Stick: Steer
C-Stick: Not Used
A Button: Gas Pedal
B Button: Brake
X Button: Use Item
Y Button: Use Item
L Button: Powerslide
R Button: Powerslide
Z Button: Switch Characters
L+R+Direction: Spin Turn
CO-OP (DRIVER)
D-Pad: Not Used
Control Stick: Steer
C-Stick: Not Used
A Button: Gas Pedal
B Button: Brake
X Button: Give Item (if Driver is holding one and Item User isn't)
Y Button: Give Item (if Driver is holding one and Item User isn't)
L Button: Powerslide
R Button: Powerslide
Z Button: Switch Characters (both players must press Z at the same time)
L+R+Direction: Spin Turn
CO-OP (ITEM USER
D-Pad: Not Used
Control Stick: Fire Projectiles Forward or Backward
C-Stick: Not Used
A Button: Use Item
B Button: Use Item
X Button: Use Item
Y Button: Use Item
L Button: Slide Attack Left
R Button: Slide Attack Right
Z Button: Switch Characters (both players must press Z at the same time)
>>>Characters<<<
A Kart without a driver is like baseball without the baseball. Luckily,
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! has sixteen you can choose right from the
start. The "Double" part of the name means you're also gonna have a
co-pilot, who stands in the back and uses the items. The two people
are completely interchangeable--just press the Z button to switch them.
The characters you choose, quite strangely, have no effect on how well
you turn or how much momentum you've got--it's completely in the Karts.
Key
Japanese Name: What the people in Japan call the character by.
Rιsumι: Games and systems the character has been in, not including MKDD.
Special Item: The character's Special Item. All characters have one.
Kart: Their default Kart. You can switch them around though.
Weight: The general weight of the character...
Lightweights can go into Small and Medium-size Karts.
Middleweights can go into any Kart.
Heavyweights can go into Medium and Large-size Karts.
(For more information, see the Karts section below.)
Here is the description of the character. Some of them, such as Mario,
have a very long history that would take weeks to type out, and others,
such as Baby Luigi, have such a miniscule role that it's hard to write
eight to twelve lines about him/her/it.
ABBREVIATIONS FOR SYSTEMS:
NES=Nintendo Entertainment System
SNES=Super Nintendo Entertainment System
GB=Game Boy
VB=Virtual Boy
N64=Nintendo 64
GBC=Game Boy Color
GBA=Game Boy Advance
GCN=Nintendo Gamecube
PC=Personal Computer (AKA Microsoft Windows)
MAC=Macintosh Computer
Every other system, including Arcade, will be spelled out completely.
Mario P. Mario
Japanese Name: Mario
Rιsumι: Donkey Kong (Arcade)
Donkey Kong (NES)
Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade)
Donkey Kong Jr. (NES)
Donkey Kong Classics (NES)
Mario Bros. (Arcade)
Mario Bros. (NES)
Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
Pinball (NES)
Wrecking Crew (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Hotel Mario (CD-i)
Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Arcade)
Mario Lottery (NES)
Tetris (NES)
Golf (NES)
Tennis(NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! (NES)
NES Open Tournament Golf (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Golf (GB)
Tennis (GB)
Alleyway (GB)
Game & Watch Gallery (GB)
Yoshi (NES)
Dr. Mario (NES)
Dr. Mario (SNES)
Dr. Mario (GB)
Yoshi's Cookie (NES)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
F-1 Race (GB)
Super Scope 6 (SNES)
Tetris (SNES)
Mario's Excitebike (Bandai Sattelaview)
Mario's Super Picross (Bandai Sattelaview)
Tetris (GB)
Mario is Missing (NES)
Mario's Time Machine (SNES)
Mario's Time Machine (NES)
Mario's Picross (GB)
Qix (GB)
Kirby Super Star (SNES)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
Mario & Wario (SNES)
Mario's Early Years: Fun with Letters (SNES)
Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers (SNES)
Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun (SNES)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (SNES)
Mario Paint (SNES)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (GB)
Sim-City (SNES)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario Teaches Typing (PC)
Mario Teaches Typing 2 (PC)
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (GB)
Mario Clash (VB)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Pilotwings 64 (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Game Boy Camera (GB)
Mario Artist: Picture Maker (64DD)
Mario Party (N64)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)
Donkey Kong 64 (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Donkey Kong '94 (GBC)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (GBC)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
Paper Mario (N64)
Dr. Mario 64 (N64)
Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 (GBA)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Fireball
Kart: Red Fire
Weight: Middleweight
You know who Mario is. At least, you'd better. The most famous plumber
of all time is also the most famous Italian of all time. Born somewhere
in the Mushroom Kingdom, he spent his childhood in Brooklyn as a
construction worker, where he repeatedly foiled Donkey Kong's plans to
kidnap Pauline, his girlfriend-at-time. After a failure at a wrecking
company, he and his brother Luigi moved to the Mushroom Kingdom, where
Mario decided on plumbing. Bowser was terrorizing the land, so the brave
mustachioed man came to the rescue and consistently beat King Koopa.
Since then, he's done everything except plumb, all while wearing his
trademark red "M" cap, red shirt, and blue overalls.
Luigi P. Mario
Japanese Name: Luigi
Rιsumι: Mario Bros. (Arcade)
Mario Bros. (NES)
Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
Wrecking Crew (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Tetris (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Game & Watch Gallery (GB)
Tetris (SNES)
Tetris (GB)
Wario's Woods (NES)
Mario is Missing (NES)
Mario's Time Machine (SNES)
Mario's Time Machine (NES)
Mario Paint (SNES)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (GB)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Mario & Wario (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario Clash (VB)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Pilotwings 64 (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Game Boy Camera (GB)
Mario Artist: Picture Maker (64DD)
Mario Party (N64)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (GBC)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 (GBA)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Fireball
Kart: Red Fire/Green Fire
Weight: Middleweight
Luigi has always been pretty jealous of his brother's fame. Luigi is
forced to play second fiddle in most of his adventures, if he plays in
it at all, and the only times the Mushroom Kingdom turns to him is when
Mario is captured. How fair is that, being assigned as Player 2 for his
whole life? Fortunately, his big break has arrived in games like Mario
Party, Super Smash Bros., and Mario Kart, where he has proven himself
an equal to Mario (and maybe even superior at times). Will he pull it
off again this time, yet another chance for the brother in green to
push himself to his limits?
Princess Peach Toadstool
Japanese Name: Peach
Rιsumι: Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Arcade)
Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Dr. Mario (NES)
Dr. Mario (SNES)
Dr. Mario (GB)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Mario Artist: Picture Maker (64DD)
Mario Party (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Dr. Mario 64 (N64)
Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 (GBA)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Heart Shield
Kart: Heart Coach
Weight: Middleweight
Known simply as "The Princess" prior to the 64-bit days, she was cast
into a role even worse than Luigi's--she was the classic damsel in
distress. But not anymore. Well, seeing the Peach's Castle and Isle
Delfino incidents, she still plays her roles sometimes. But since then,
she's picked up her parasol and veggies and has gone out to duke it out
with the rest of the Mario cast. Along with Mario and Luigi, Peach has
been in every Mario Kart game. This time though, she has a snazzy pink
old-style car that maxes out at 100 kmph.
Princess Daisy
Japanese Name: Daisy
Rιsumι: Super Mario Land (GB)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Special Item: Heart Shield
Kart: Heart Coach/Bloom Coach
Weight: Middleweight
Her only game was Super Mario Land until Nintendo gave her the thumbs
up in Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64. Since then, she's shown up in
nearly every Mario anthology game, and it seems that Mario Kart has
joined the list. In Super Mario Land, Tatanga, an evil alien, set his
sights on Princess Daisy. Naturally, it was up to Mario to save the day,
journeying through places like Easter Island and finally to Tatanga's
lunar base. Today, however, Tatanga has been completely forgotten, and
Daisy has apparently become, according to Nintendo, "Luigi's answer to
Mario's Peach".
Donkey Kong
Japanese Name: Donkey Kong
Rιsumι: Donkey Kong (Arcade)
Donkey Kong (NES)
Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade)
Donkey Kong Jr. (NES)
Tetris (NES)
Donkey Kong 3 (Arcade)
Donkey Kong 3 (NES)
Donkey Kong Classics(NES)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land (GB)
Game & Watch Gallery (GB)
Tetris (SNES)
Tetris (GB)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (GB)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (GB)
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land 3: Dixie's Double Trouble (GB)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Game Boy Camera (GB)
Mario Artist: Picture Maker (64DD)
Mario Party (N64)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)
Donkey Kong 64 (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Donkey Kong '94 (GBC)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (GBC)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Donkey Kong Racing (GBA)
Special Item: Giant Banana
Kart: DK Jumbo
Weight: Heavyweight
Long ago, in the mid-80's, when hairstyles were at their wildest and
fashion most unreasonably insane, Mario's arch-enemy was Donkey Kong.
His role was to take Mario's "bride", Pauline, up a construction building
while raining barrels down at Mario. He was later finally confined by
none other than the plumber in red, but Donkey Kong Jr. (who has since
grown up into DK) came to the rescue and freed his father. The two later
moved to the Kongo Jungle, and the present Donkey Kong defeated King K.
Rool and his army of Kremlings wile meeting new friends. Today, he meets
his old acquaintance for a few good games of Karting. As for the 80's DK,
you now know him as Cranky Kong, who does nothing anymore except complain
and rap.
Diddy Kong
Japanese Name: Diddy Kong
Rιsumι: Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land (GB)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (GB)
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land 3: Dixie's Double Trouble (GB)
Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
Donkey Kong 64 (N64)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Donkey Kong Racing (GBA)
Special Item: Giant Banana
Kart: DK Jumbo/Barrel Train
Weight: Lightweight
Donkey Kong is an ape, but Diddy Kong is a monkey. You can tell because
Diddy has a tail. He somehow met up with Donkey a long time ago, and the
two are now best friends. Diddy Kong teamed up with Donkey to bust up
some Kremlings not once, twice, or three times in the 16-bit world.
He apparently got snatched from Rareware's base to Nintendo's, probably
due to Microsoft's economic raid on Nintendo (or, in other words, Bill
Gates purchased Rare from Nintendo for a hefty price) to partner up with
his favorite gorilla again.
Baby Mario
Japanese Name: Baby Mario
Rιsumι: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Special Item: Chain Chomp
Kart: Goo-Goo Buggy
Weight: Lightweight
Whoohoo! Baby Mario! Who would've thought a toddler would be capable of
navigating a carriage at 200 mph, juggle mushrooms, and switch between
the driver's seat And the backseat in less than a second? Anyway, the
primary role of Baby Mario in his little career was to ride various
Yoshis all over Yoshi Island, who are all doing him a great favor by
attempting to return him back to his parents after a stork dropped him
into their abode. Unfortunately for the dinosaur tribe, they had to get
through Baby Bowser and his ill-tempered babysitter, Kamek. A few years
later, he aged at about the same rate as Bart Simpson and got to play
some Mario Tennis and Mario Golf. What's next? Super Smash Bros. 3?
Baby Luigi
Japanese Name: Baby Luigi
Rιsumι: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Special Item: Chain Chomp
Kart: Goo-Goo Buggy/Rattle Buggy
Weight: Lightweight
Whereas Mario got to see adventures ever since he was a wee baby, Baby
Luigi had to get stuck with the role of hostage. What kept him from
starving when the Yoshis were on their way is beyond me, but the hardy
newborn with an oversized green "L" cap was more than happy to see his
brother safe and sound after Baby Bowser--extra-large sized--get
creamed by Yoshis. Unlike Baby Mario though, he never received any
grand spots in any game after that aside from Mario Golf. No longer
cast out even more than his older self, he has put on his best diapers
for this occasion and will try his best not to let his brother down.
Toad
Japanese Name: Kinopio
Rιsumι: Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Arcade)
Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
NES Open Tournament Golf (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
Mario is Missing (NES)
Mario's Time Machine (SNES)
Mario's Time Machine (NES)
Mario Paint (SNES)
Game & Watch Gallery 2 (GB)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Wario's Woods (SNES)
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (GB)
Mario Clash (VB)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
Game Boy Camera (GB)
Mario Artist: Picture Maker (64DD)
Mario Party (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (GBC)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 (GBA)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Super Mushroom
Kart: Toad Racer
Weight: Lightweight
Looks like fans of Mario Kart got so angered at his absence that he's
practically FORCED to return to Karting! Toad's career started in Super
Mario Bros., where he guarded where Peach should've been in every castle
(except the last) and gave the infamous message to Mario, "Thank you
Mario! But the Princess is in another castle!" The next game marked the
beginning of the little mushroom's high point. Toad was a playable
character in Super Mario Bros. 2, and he even gets the honor of being the
brawniest character! Too bad all he did was assist Mario in the most
useless ways (or not show up at all) until Super Mario Kart. Blah blah
blah, there were lots of him in Paper Mario, we meet his master, named
Toadsworth in Super Mario Sunshine, yeah blah blah blah. And here we are.
Toad's now officially playable in every Mario Kart game.
Toadette
Japanese Name: Kinopiko
Rιsumι: Paper Mario (N64) (?)
Special Item: Golden Mushroom
Kart: Toad Racer/Toadette's Kart
Weight: Lightweight
Okay, the Paper Mario thing was just a guess. There were girl Toads in
that game, and Toadette looks like one of them. Maybe the original Toad
planted spores or something. That's what a toadstool's purpose is. Well,
the only Toad I remember that even looks remotely like Toadette is the
one from Paper Mario is the one who gave away the prizes in the radio
contest. When Mario paid attention to a radio broadcast in Koopa Village,
he could rush to various places all over the Mushroom Kingdom to claim a
prize. Just one thing wrong: That Toad is a guy. I'm completely stumped.
Can anybody help?
Koopa Troopa
Japanese Name: Nokonoko
Rιsumι: Mario Bros. (Arcade)
Mario Bros. (NES)
Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Arcade)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (GB)
Mario Clash (VB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
Mario Party (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Triple Shells (Red or Green)
Kart: Koopa Dasher
Weight: Lightweight
I'm willing to bet that this is the one and the same Koopa Troopa from
Super Mario Kart. I'm not sure if he has a name (he's certainly not
Kooper or Koopa Koot, that's certain), but he's one skilled driver, and
he's certainly not passing up an oportunity to fine-tune his kart-racing
skills in real 3-D. He and his comrades have been fighting on the Bowser
side of the Mushroom Kingdom Wars ever since Bowser's first assault. To
the Koopa's dismay, all Mario had to do to take one down was to stomp on
their shells, causing them to slip out and become sitting ducks. Add-
itionally, their shells can then be kicked to steamroll any enemies that
got in their way, whether they be Goombas or Hammer Bros.
Koopa Paratroopa
Japanese Name: Patapata
Rιsumι: Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Arcade)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (GB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Triple Shells (Red or Green)
Kart: Koopa Dasher/Para Wing
Weight: Lightweight
It seems that Koopa Troopa has spent his hiatus training his best friend
for the races. Paratroopa has premiered into Mario Kart, and it seems
that he can match skills with all of the others. He's simply an advanced
version of a Koopa. (For reference, see Parakarry from Paper Mario.) His
advantage is in his wings, which, pretty obviously, enable him to fly.
There doesn't seem to be very much flying on his behalf in this game
though. He also dons a red shell, which means that his role is simply to
fly up and down on a single spot, rather than green-shelled Paratroopas,
who fly forward...until they run into Mario. Mario needs to jump on a
Paratroopa for them to lose their wings. Once grounded, they become
normal Koopa Troopas.
Yoshi
Japanese Name: Yossy
Rιsumι: Super Mario World (SNES)
Yoshi (NES)
Yoshi's Cookie (NES)
Yoshi (NES)
Yoshi's Cookie (NES)
Tetris Attack (NES)
Tetris Attack (SNES)
Mario Paint (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Wario's Woods (GB)
Yoshi's Safari (SNES)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Yoshi's Story (N64)
Game Boy Camera (GB)
Mario Artist: Picture Maker (64DD)
Mario Party (N64)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Game & Watch Gallery 3 (GBC)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Yoshi Egg
Kart: Turbo Yoshi
Weight: Middleweight
Yoshi's role was once Mario's pet from Dinosaur Island that he treated
as (quite literally) a workhorse. Yoshi, more than glad to help Mario,
allowed the fat guy to ride on his back. Yoshi's jumps carries more
power than Mario's, but Yoshi shines in his ability to slurp up almost
any enemy and transform it into an egg. Since then, he's been given
starring roles in quite a few games, most notably Super Mario World 2.
He is also one of the most-liked Nintendo characters of all time, and
it's fitting that he gets a part in this Mario Kart with a Kart themed
on himself. There was some strange period when Yoshi stopped emitting
his trademark noises and instead spewed out weird baby-like noises,
saying stuff like "Wow!" and "Yoshi!" Why on Earth did Nintendo do
that?
Birdo
Japanese Name: Catherine
Rιsumι: Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic (NES)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros. 2 (GBA)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Birdo Egg
Kart: Turbo Yoshi/Turbo Birdo
Weight: Middleweight
Birdo, at least within the realms of Mario's subconscious land appropr-
iately called "Subcon", is an egg-spewing maniac who repeatedly tries to
take down the hero (or heroine), whoever that may be. The difference is
that where Yoshi lays them out of his/her butt, picks them up, and
throws them, Birdo shoots them out of her mouth like a bazooka. To take
her down, Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Toad had pick up one of her eggs while
in midair and hurl it back at her. Then, you do it again. Then, you do
it again. In reality, Birdo seems to be a very nice...girl. Whatever she
is. It may sound a bit far-fetched, but she may just be, in Nintendo's
own words, Yoshi's answer to Mario's Peach.
King Morton "Bowser" Koopa
Japanese Name: Koopa
Rιsumι: Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World (Arcade)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Mario is Missing (NES)
Mario's Time Machine (SNES)
Mario's Time Machine (NES)
Mario Paint (SNES)
Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario Clash (VB)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC/MAC)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Yoshi's Story (N64)
Super Mario Bros. DX (GBC)
Mario Party (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Paper Mario (N64)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Special Item: Bowser's Shell
Kart: Koopa King
Weight: Heavyweight
It wouldn't really be a true Mario game without Bowser. Actually, it
would, but Bowser's almost as vital to the Mario game formula as Mario
himself. His first villainous plan to rule the Mushroom Kingdom by force
got spoiled when Mario was able to run under his jumps and hit a switch.
It caused the bridge to collapse, sending Bowser into the hellish lava
pits inside his own castle. But that was only the first of his schemes.
From that on, he tried everything from floating ghost ships to embedding
Peach in her castle's stained glass windows to sabotaging Mario's
reputation with graffiti--all of which he also captured Peach as...
consolation. Or something. But Bowser's not one to turn down an
opportunity to compete against Mario and hopefully win, so there's no
reason why he's not going to take his six-wheeler out for a spin. After
all, there's TWO Marios on the road now.
Bowser Jr.
Japanese Name: Koopa Jr.
Rιsumι: Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Special Item: Bowser's Shell
Kart: Koopa King/Bullet Blaster
Weight: Lightweight
Bowser Jr.'s only role so far in a Mario game is in Super Mario
Sunshine. Impersonating himself as Mario, he plopped paint onto Delfino
Island, choosing eight hot spots for his rampage. He remained undercover
until the two Marios met up in Pinna Park, the island's amusement park,
piloting a huge mechanical Bowser. When Mario pulverized Mecha-Bowser,
Junior retreated to an active volcano called Corona Mountain to meet up
with his dad. It wasn't until Bowser himself was overthrown that Junior
realized Peach wasn't his mom. Nevertheless, Bowser's seventh son still
tags along with him, doing whatever he can to give Mario a hard time.
Or, in the case of the Isle Delfino incident, causing Mario to do time.
Wario
Japanese Name: Wario
Rιsumι: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (GB)
Wario Blast (GB)
Mario Clash (VB)
Wario Land 2 (GB)
Wario's Woods (GB)
Mario's Dream Tennis (VB)
Mario & Wario (SNES)
Wario Land VB (VB)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Wario Land 3 (GBC)
Mario Party (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Wario Land 4 (GBA)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
WarioWorld (GCN)
Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (GBA)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (GCN)
Special Item: Bob-omb
Kart: Wario Car
Weight: Heavyweight
Wario's relation to Mario is uncertain, but people were overjoyed that
Mario has some kind of evil clone of himself. What's more interesting is
that Wario is many times stronger than Wario--in fact, he was invul-
nerable (but not impervious) in Wario Land 2 and Wario Land 3! The
greediest guy in the Mushroom Kingdom, he'll go to great lengths and
even give his life repeatedly to get the treasures he wants (and wants
back, in the case of Wario World). Whenever there's a prize to be had,
Wario's gonna want in. Treasure does make his games, after all. He
struts up to the tracks in his fancy purple Cadillac and plans to tear
up the pavement to steal the show. Will it actually happen? It's up to
you.
Waluigi
Japanese Name: Waluigi
Rιsumι: Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Special Item: Bob-omb
Kart: Wario Car/Waluigi Racer
Weight: Middleweight
Okay. I have next to nothing that I can say about Waluigi. The last (but
certainly not least) character on the list hasn't appeared in any Mario
adventures at all! He only showed up in Mario Tennis as Luigi's rival.
Later, he decided that tennis wasn't good enough for him, so he gave
Bowser a beating in Mario Party 3 and set up his island home filled with
anti-Luigi posters, signs, and other stuff as a board. He returned in
the next Mario Party installment and really didn't do anything out-
standing there. A bit of Mario Golfing on various systems, including the
Toadstool Tour on the Gamecube, and now, here he is, in Mario Kart:
Double Dash!! As for his personality, he's a lot like Wario, except that
his rage is turned towards Luigi. Pretty strange, since Luigi already
has enough rage built up within himself AT himself.
Petey Piranha
Japanese Name: Boss Pakkun
Rιsumι: Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Special Item: Any*
Kart: Piranha Pipes
Weight: Heavyweight
Unlike most of the main characters in the Mario universe, Petey Piranha
had a pretty humble start. A large walking and flying Piranha Plant
donning red briefs with white polka dots and a raspy voice, he co-starred
with Mario in Super Mario Sunshine as a boss, in charge of the Bianco
Hills region of Isle Delfino. He fought with Mario and lost inside the
giant windmill. Later, he set a rematch with Mario, using his flying
abilities to terrorize the village at the foothills of the area. Needless
to say, Mario creamed him again. Petey coughed up a total of two Shine
Sprites and called it quits with villainy. He then turned to golf about a
year later and became a late entry to the Toadstool Tour. He hits the
ball very hard but has little control over where it goes.
King Boo
Japanese Name: King Teresa
Rιsumι: Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Special Item: Any*
Kart: Piranha Pipes
Weight: Heavyweight
What bothers me a lot is how a Boo manages to drive without any feet. I
think it's best not to think too much about it though. But, like Petey
Piranha, King Boo also had some pretty obscure origins, though not quite
as humble as Petey--he was Luigi's biggest challenge during the green
plumber's journey through his haunted mansion. After sucking up all the
ghosts (he needed) with the Poltergust 3000, Luigi headed up to the roof
to duke it out with the master of the whole scheme. King Boo hid behind
a Bowser disguise, but that wasn't enough for Luigi to overtake him.
Saddened by his loss, he headed to Isle Delfino and turned to gambling.
Unfortunately, he was unlucky enough to run into the other Mario Brother,
and even King Boo's new slot machine weapon couldn't stop the man in red.
*Petey and King have access to every other character's Special Items.
They appear randomly. Well, randomly as in odds of it appearing. The
Special Items they get depend on their position; for example, they're
more likely to get a Giant Banana in 1st place than a Chain Chomp.
#
>>>Karts<<<
Unless you're planning a footrace, you're gonna need some kind of
vehicle to propel you forward toward the finish line. Mario Kart: Double
Dash!! throws out the go-karts that were in all of the other Mario Kart
game and instead chooses to have eight new modes of transportation. All
of them can zoom upwards of 190 mph (304 kph), but all of them have
different top speed, acceleration, and weight, regardless of who you
choose to ride on it--another big change from previous Mario Karts. But
you can still have a lot of fun shooting shells and dropping banana
peels at each other! The stats are out of five and are how they are in
the game. Your driving skills will probably make you disagree with them.
Each character has their own Kart, though the only ones you'll have at
the beginning belong to the characters on the top row of the character
select screen--Mario, Peach, DK, Baby Mario, Koopa, Yoshi, Bowser, and
Wario. The rest you'll have to earn (see the Secrets page on how to get
them).
As for the sizes, that's pretty simple: Every Kart in the game, with the
exception of the Parade Kart, is the same weight as the character who
owns it. For example, Baby Mario owns the Goo-Goo Buggy, so it's
considered as a lightweight Kart. Though the Barrel Train's weight says
"3", it's a lightweight Kart, meaning only lightweight characters can
fit in it, because Diddy Kong, a lightweight, owns it.
The stats are (or should be) pretty explanatory. The wording is verbatim
from the game itself, and you know to trust the professionals. However,
where they ranked the stats in stars, I'm using the Arabic numeral system
because it's easier to type and less confusing in black and white. Other-
wise, the number you see should equal the number of stars in the game.
The scale's from 1 to 5, but it's pretty stupid to use 1 for the best and
5 for the worst. That's only for rankings. So, 5 means that the Kart
excels in that area, and 1 means that it just clunks along in that
category.
Took long enough to get to the attribute descriptions.
·You've got to be dumb if you can't understand "Top Speed". That number's
directly proportional to the maximum miles (or kilometers, depending on
where you live and what version you have) per hour the Kart can go.
·"Acceleration" may need a second explanation. The scientific definition
of it is "a 2nd derivative, measuring the slope of S(x), the first
derivative, or speed". (Acceleration is labeled, appropriately, "A(x)".)
Confused yet? Good. In laymen's terms, acceleration is how fast something
gets faster. In this game, a Kart with a 5 can get up to top speed in a
snap, and a Kart with a 1 will take some time. Unlike most racing games,
acceleration is very important, because most injuries in this game will
bring your Kart to a halt, and you need to get back up and running as
quickly as you can to keep up.
·The third category, Weight, may need a bit of explaining. Basically,
it's three different qualities jammed up into one stat. Most directly, it
controls your ability to shove other Karts around. When two Karts
collide, either they are of equal weight, such as the DK Jumbo and the
Wario Car, and they suffer equal recoil from the other, or one is
heavier than the other, and the lighter Kart ends up bouncing sideways
away. Secondly, it determines handling. Heavy Karts require a lot of
force to move, and turning is no exception. Lighter Karts can turn on a
dime, but the heaviest Karts will suffer at hairpin turns. Finally, and
most indirectly, a heavy Kart will be very affected by offroad terrain,
such as the grass in Mario Circuit. The terrain itself will vary from
course to course. For example, the light-colored sand in Dry Dry Desert
is part of the track and won't slow you down; the sand in the Chain Chomp
pit in Luigi Citcuit will.
Finally, the trend of the types. Half of the Karts follow this rule:
Top Speed + Acceleration = 6
and
Weight = Top Speed
The ones that do follow are: Red Fire, DK Jumbo, Rattle Buggy, Toad
Racer, Koopa Dasher, Koopa King, Wario Car, Waluigi Racer
Red Fire
Character: Mario
Top Speed: 3
Acceleration: 3
Weight: 3
This Kart looks like an off-road mountain vehicle painted red. Just like
everything else attributed to Mario in multiplayer games, Mario's machine
is designed to not have any weaknesses or strength--as you can see, all
of those stats are the same. If you've never played a lot of Mario Kart
previous to this game, I would recommend picking any 3-3-3 Kart, such as
this one, to figure out what you specialize in, whether it's maintaining
top speed, recovering from hits, or pushing your weight around.
Green Fire
Character: Luigi
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 2
Weight: 2
The eternal understudy's Kart seems to be just what an understudy gets--
a clone of another Kart. This is identical to Mario's Kart, except it's
green, has L's in place of M's, and its tires read "Luigi & Mario". Don't
be fooled though--Luigi's Kart doesn't rive like Mario's. It has a more
powerful engine, but the steering wheel is tighter. Though you acquire it
very early in the game, don't use it as soon as you'll get it, because
though the top speed is higher, you pay in bad acceleration and weight.
This means that other people can push you around, and you'll probably
end up being pushed around some more while you're trying to reach top
speed. Truly a Kart matching the neglectedness of the green plumber.
Heart Coach
Character: Peach
Top Speed: 2
Acceleration: 4
Weight: 3
Peach boasts herself a modified and pink 1912 Napier, a car that was
supposed to be used for vacationing and high mileage (at least, for that
era). Just like old cars, it has a below average Top Speed but doesn't
take long to achieve the maximum velocity. Because it's so slow, the pink
princess's mobile is not meant to be brought out to the long
straightaways of the Mushroom Cup. Try going for the sharp turns of the
Star Cup instead.
Bloom Coach
Character: Daisy
Top Speed: 3
Acceleration: 3
Weight: 2
Daisy looks so much like Peach that her Kart is simply a flower-themed
version of Peach's Napier painted orange! Or is it...? If you've ever
played using the Green Fire (or read my decription on it), then you know
that similar Karts can have dissimilar stats. In fact, none of the Bloom
Coach's qualities are the same as the Heart Coach's! The not-so-sloppy
jalopy may seem inferior to the likes of the Red Fire or the Waluigi
Racer, but their increased weight relative to the Bloom Coach is a
double-edged sword: The Bloom Coach can't bully other karts as much, but
it's not as harsh offroad.
DK Jumbo
Character: DK
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 2
Weight: 4
DK is pretty heavy. However, the big gorilla isn't quite as massive as
Mario's other rival, Bowser, and Donkey Kong's Kart fits that attribute.
It's not quite at either extreme, but it edges towards the heavier side
of the spectrum. And because Donkey lives in the jungle, his Kart is
made completely out of wood and metal scraps. Sort of reminds me of a
soap box derby racer. Sort of. Making a resemblance to a barrel, the
wheels are made out of log slices and the front bumper a thin log. If DK
could make a Kart out of wood and compete and win, what does it say for
specialty cars for racing, like the Red Fire?
Barrel Train
Character: Diddy Kong
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 2
Weight: 3
If you go in order, the Barrel Train should be the last Kart you unlock
for a character available from the start. And for good reason too--it's
not for beginners. It's a lightweight Kart, but the Barrel Train must be
made of lead or something, because its attributes are closer to that of
a heavyweight Kart, save the Weight of 3. This would be the Kart I
recommend if you need to have two Lightweights but also need to play on
an easy course, which requires a good Top Speed but not nearly so much in
handling or recovery. Not quite recommended for later courses though,
because if you're not good at this game, you'll be falling off all the
time.
Goo-Goo Buggy
Character: Baby Mario
Top Speed: 1
Acceleration: 5
Weight: 2
A baby wouldn't be complete without something to travel with, right?
Baby Mario can ride along in style (and if not style, then at least speed
and aggression) in the Goo-Goo Buggy. A baby carriage themed on Super
Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, it has a health flower picture stamped on
the sides and yellow stars printed on the wheels. I guess Nintendo
intends for the Baby team to be the lightest in the game, so the pram is
on the Lightweight extreme. It has the lowest Top Speed, the best
Acceleration, and only the Bullet Blaster is lighter. Thus, this Kart
should only be used in reall really twisty and rough courses, like DK
Mountain. Of course, then, it's as comfy as a warm but new diaper.
Rattle Buggy
Character: Baby Luigi
Top Speed: 2
Acceleration: 4
Weight: 2
And Baby Luigi, the understudy of understudy, gets his very own Kart too!
green version of the Goo-Goo Buggy, the Rattle Buggy sacrifices the
resilience of the Goo-Goo Buggy for a better engine. It still weighs the
same, but because it's more moderate, the Rattle Buggy can be used in
almost any course, and it'll make it out in one piece. If you don't get
my implications so far, it means that I recommend you use the Rattle
Buggy as soon as you unlock it! 2-4-2 Karts are also the standard used
during Time Trials, because it can do Mini-Turbos (see below) very easily
but boosts to a fast enough speed that heavy Karts can't make up for it
in sheer gas pedal.
Toad Racer
Character: Toad
Top Speed: 2
Acceleration: 4
Weight: 2
The Toad Racer resembles the blue classic go-cart you've seen and loved
in Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit. And,
since it's Toad's, you can rest assured that it's blue. It has the exact
same stats as the Rattle Buggy, which means it'll function exactly the
same, since it's also a Lightweight Kart, so whether you choose the Toad
Racer or the Rattle Buggy is largely a matter of taste. Of course, there
are many Toad fans out there (much more than Baby Luigi fans, that's for
sure), and the more conservative people would rather see a go-cart in a
game called Mario KART, so you should expect to see a lot of Toad Racers
out in the streets and not a lot of Rattle Buggies. Or it could be
psychosomatic. Or something. What am I talking about?
Toadette's Kart
Chaacter: Toadette
Top Speed: 1
Acceleration: 5
Weight: 2
And if a blue go-cart isn't good enough for you, Toadette owns her very
own pink version of the Toad Racer. And just like how the Toad Racer has
identical stats to the Rattle Buggy, Toadette's Kart has identical stats
to the Goo-Goo Buggy. Karts like these are not really made to handle the
easier courses, but once you play 150cc or Mirror Mode, the computer
opponents get so aggressive with the Items that you'll need to constantly
recover--and an acceleration of 5 will ensure you that you can still
match wits with the best of them.
Koopa Dasher
Character: Koopa
Top Speed: 2
Acceleration: 4
Weight: 2
What's with all these 2-4-2 Karts? Well, at least, it's the only one that
is available at the start, so if you want to jump right into Time Trials,
use this one. It's themed on Koopa Troopa himself, with the wheels made
of Koopa Shells. Both the wheels and the front are marked with big K's
(for Koopa, of course), and the body is an elongated green shell. Pretty
narcissistic, but there are more narcissistic Karts. Just like I said
above, 2-4-2 Karts are good for any occasion, including Time Trials, and
you'll do pretty god on any course in any difficulty.
Para Wing
Character: Paratroopa
Top Speed: 1
Acceleration: 5
Weight: 2
There are three pairs of Karts with one Kart having a 2-4-2 and the other
having a 1-5-2. This is the last of those sets, and if you've been
reading through everything in order, then I really don't have anything
new to say about the Para wing, except that it looks just like the Koopa
Dasher, except it's red instead of green, and P's replace K's. If you
haven't read through and found the Para Wing as interesting, then here's
a review: Bad on 50cc, bad on 100cc, good after that. Bad on Mushroom
Vup, bad on Flower Cup, okay on Star Cup, great after that.
Turbo Yoshi
Character: Yoshi
Top Speed: 2
Acceleration: 4
Weight: 3
Because Yoshi is a middleweight, his Karts give a little bit more oomph
than the Babies', the Toads', and the Koopas'. He sputters along at the
same rate as the Koopa Dasher (and its two counterparts) and recovers
as quickly as they do, but the Turbo Yoshi is a bit heavier. This means
that he slows down more when he goes off the road, but with good
acceleration comes good handling, so if you know the course well enough,
you won't find yourself offroad to much while driving the Turbo. By the
way, the Kart has a giant Yoshi head on the front and the body themed on
Yoshi's body. What an ego...
Turbo Birdo
Top Speed: 3
Acceleration: 3
Weight: 4
And if you've ever seen the Turbo Yoshi, you should have a perfect view
of what the Turbo Birdo looks like. You guessed it--an enormous Birdo
head on the front and a body themed on Birdo's body. The scariest Kart in
the entire game, it's actually pretty good when you get experienced.
Smack dab in the middle in the top two categories, it, like the Turbo
Yoshi, is a tad heavier than other Karts with the same Top Speed and
Acceleration. This means that it requires even more experience than the
Turbo Yoshi, when you can handle higher speeds and worse accelerations
without going off the road too much.
Koopa King
Character: Bowser
Top Speed: 5
Acceleration: 1
Weight: 5
Bowser's the heaviest character of all of the racers, so it's natural
that he gets he only 5-1-5 Kart in the entire game. It's a freaking tank,
with six spiked wheels and a painted image of sharp teeth and angry eyes
for headlights underneath the powerful engine. Though it rules in the
pure and simple courses of the Mushroom Cup, it's really not recommended
for later courses, even his own home course, Bowser's Castle. When you're
in the Koopa King, your highest priority, if you want to win, is not to
get hit by very many items and staying on the road, if you can do that,
you're a surefire winner. The Koopa King leaves very little room for
error, though it's ace in Battle Mode, able to push out any other Kart
other than another Koopa King. And Piranha Pipes. But you won't see very
many of those.
Bullet Blaster
Character: Junior
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 3
Weight: 1
With an insane Top Speed and average acceleration, you would not believe
that it's the lightest Kart in the whole game until you look at its
stats. A very good Kart for novices, it's a far cry from the Kart that
Junior's dad owns, since it loses only a bit of speed when you go out of
the course, but it has a great Top Speed, so you still get to maintain a
fast pace. However, this Kart can't handle large groups of Karts bunched
up together, such as at the beginning, since it'll get tossed around like
a hacky sack when that happens. Oh, and I almost forgot to describe its
appearance: It's a Bullet Bill with two seats and four wheels. A Bullet
Bill is a black bullet with an angry face.
Wario Car
Character: Wario
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 2
Weight: 4
Wario sent out his purple Cadillac for a stroll for the first time in
Wario Land 4, and now, it's back for some beatings. I don't know anything
about Cadillacs other than that they're owned by General Motors, but the
Wario Car has identical stats with the DK Jumbo. Kind of a large gap
between the professional degree between Donkey Kong's and Wario's
vehicles, but the DK Jumbo has the edge, simply because the Wario Car is
wide. That means you need to find space for it to move in crowded areas.
It's also at a disadantage in a battlefield full of shells of all sorts,
since the Wario Car will get hit for sure when it's going between two
shells as close together as the DK Jumbo is wide. You understand me?
Still, this car looks awesome. I'd actually recommend it if you want to
win in style.
Waluigi Racer
Character: Waluigi
Top Speed: 3
Acceleration: 3
Weight: 3
What is this Waluigi Racer? It's really hard to describe. Basically, it's
a dark purple standard-looking race car with spikes all over it and an
inverted "L" on the front. Though you get this pretty far into the game,
it has the exact same attributes as Mario's Red Fire, so it's great for
beginners. Problem is, you're no longer a beginner if you can get the
Waluigi Racer. I guess it's something you can tell people who are playing
for the first time during multiplayer. Or if you think your driving shows
no weakness or strength.
Piranha Pipes
Character: Petey Piranha
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 2
Weight: 5
Oh, I get it...Petey is a Piranha Plant, and Piranha Plants come out of
Warp Pipes. yeah. Whatever. This is simply two Warp Pipes stuck to each
other. The one on the front has a seat and a steering wheel, and the back
one has a gripping bar for the Item User. By the time you get Petey, you
should already be pretty good at the game, at least experienced enough to
not mind the extreme heaviness of this clunker. You got the same strategy
as the Koopa King's: Don't get hit often, and stay on the road. However,
because you got better acceleration, and it's slowed down a bit, the
Piranha Pipes are pretty good for a much wider variety of courses, but
the Koopa King still has the upper hand at the earlier courses.
Boo Pipes
Character: King Boo
Top Speed: 2
Acceleration: 4
Weight: 4
Ugh. The most uncreative Kart in the whole game. Boos don't come out of
pipes! They have nothing to do with pipes! Nevertheless, Nintendo gave
ing Boo a Kart that's simply a silvery version of Petey Piranha's Kart.
However, the stats, like it is between similar-looking Karts, is very
different. Boo Pipes is the only Heavyweight Kart that's good at turning
and acceleration but bad at Top Speed. This means that if you feel like
playing Wario Colosseum or Yoshi Circuit but really want to play as heavy
characters, use this Kart. It'll feel just like a Lightweight Kart,
except, of course, for the enhanced bullying capabilities and terrible
offroad performance. Truly special and unique. It's fitting too, since
this is the last Kart you'll unlock in the game, other than the...
Parade Kart
Character: Toadsworth
Top Speed: 4
Acceleration: 3
Weight: 4
Does anybody feel that this Kart is a deviation from the delicate
balance the other Karts have? Anyway, this is the same Kart you see
Toadsworth driving in the Award Ceremony, minus the stand that the
winning racers stand on. But, if its character is Toadsworth, then where
is he? Simple: He's not a playable character. He has a kart, but he
doesn't compete. He lets any other possible pair do it. That means that
the Parade Kart has no preferences to the characters' weights; the Gold
Kart can pick up Baby Luigi and Toad as much as it can pick up Bowser
and Petey. Because it's so good, I'd recommend it for Time Trials.
Strongly. Well, the Koopa King may have the edge in Luigi Circuit and
Peach Beach. Just don't use this in multiplayer if everyone agrees to
fair play.
Driving Techniques
TURBO START: Like every other Mario Kart game out there (and many many
racing games that copy this idea), you can get a boost right off the bat
by pressing A right when the word "START!" appears on the screen. If you
swear that you pressed it as "START!" appeared but didn't get the boost,
then you're probably presing it too early. It works between the time
that the big letters are largest and when they begin to fade out.
MINI-TURBO: Easier to do than ever, all you need to do is make a full
powerslide in any direction. Once it gets going, tilt the control stick
to the other direction to change the sparks flying from your rear wheels
from yellow to orange. Tilt it back the other way, and tilt the opposite
way again to make the sparks turn blue. Once they're blue, release the
powerslide that'll cause your Kart to speed up for a little while.
#
>>>Items<<<
It wouldn't be Mario Kart without the items, now would it? If you have
no idea, what made Super Mario Kart revolutionary and every Mario Kart
game after that is in the items. Other racing games are a lot more
direct; you race around a track (or sometimes just a path). Unless
there's a big difference in skill level, you won't be getting ahead or
behind in the pack very easily or quickly. In Mario Kart, however, you
can literally be in last place during the Final Lap and shoot out to
first place in just a few seconds. Just how do these miracle workers
work?
Well, there's no simplest of simple answer to that. But I can tell
you that depending on the item you get, it'll either help you gain some
positions or make other players lose them. (It's primarily the latter.)
Some are defensive. A few are a combination. For example:
·If you use a Mushroom, you'll become much faster for a second. Hope-
fully, you'll pass someone.
·More complicated are the Green Shells. They're practically giant
speeding bullets that'll stop the first Kart they hit dead in its
tracks.
·Peach and Daisy get access to the Heart Shield. When it's active, the
Heart Shield steals the next two Items that come their way.
·The Star works both offensively and defensively. Although it increases
your speed to help you go faster, there's more to it: Anyone you touch
will spin out, and you'll become unaffected by other people's attacks!
Plus, you steal Items from anyone you pass, if you're not already
carrying one! But all this only happens until the Star wears off.
Secondly, there's actually a handicap to items--characters in positions
farther from first place will get more powerful items, such as Lightning
Bolts, where players in first or near it will get less powerful items,
such as Bananas.
Thirdly, (items are really complicated, huh?) if you Slide Attack into
someone, you'll be able to snatch the item right from their hands!
Provided they have an item and you don't, that is. That means you won't
be seeing any more Boos inside your Item Boxes anymore. You don't need
to play co-op to steal Items though--a Mushroom or a Star will do the
trick.
What's an Item Box, you might say? Well, that's where Items come from!
They're those strange bluish-purple cubes with the question marks in
them you see from time to time on a course. Every single course has
them, and they're almost always in groups. When you hit an Item Box and
your backseat driver already has an item, the Item Box will do nothing.
Speaking of which, there are also twin Item Boxes, which give both the
draver and the partner an item!
General Items
A General Item is an item that anyone can get. That means that you can
pick any character you want, and you'll be able to use them. Pretty
convenient, huh? If you've played Mario Kart before, you probably don't
need to read these, since they're all in every Mario Kart game ever
made. But if you don't, it's nice to have a clue as to what's going on!
Here's how the system for General Items work:
NAME OF ITEM
Level: Low-level items show up in high positions and vice versa.
First Game: Where the prop first showed up and
(what it did.)
Use: What it does.
Tips: How to use it effectively.
---
MUSHROOM
Level: Low
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (NES; 1985)
(Turns Mario and Luigi into Super Mario and Super Luigi.)
Use: Increases your speed for a second. Steals you an item from the first
Kart you touch, provided that Kart's rear player is holding an item and
yours doesn't.
Tips: Try using them in crowds to maximize theft in your favor or when
you're tailgating a Kart to daze and confuse them. You can also cut
corners with the Mushrooms--some pretty big corners, when the game wants
you to.
TRIPLE MUSHROOM
Level: Medium
First Game: Super Mario Kart (SNES; 1992)
(Allows you to use the Mushroom's Speed Boosts three times.)
Use: Allows you to use the Mushroom's Speed Boosts three times. Great
that it doesn't change, huh?
Tips: Use like a regular Mushroom. Except you get two spares. Just
remember to not use your next Mushroom until after the previous one has
completely died down.
GREEN SHELL
Level: Low
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (NES; 1985)
(Destroys any enemy on contact once kicked. You get one by hopping on a
Koopa or Paratroopa with a Green Shell.)
Use: Zooms along the ground to explode itno he first person it hits. It
can also ricochet off walls. Can also be fired backwards.
Tips: Practice makes perfect. Well, it'll never be perfect, since you can
never predict when or where your target will turn. It's much faster than
a Red Shell, so try some Green Shell sniping now and then. You'll thank
them in Battle Mode. Also, try to fire them as parallel to nearby walls
as possible, since the last thing you want is one to come back at you.
RED SHELL
Level: Medium
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (NES; 1985)
(Destroys any enemy on contact once kicked. You get one by hopping on a
Koopa or Paratroopa with a Red Shell.)
Use: Seeks out the Kart one position ahead of you and hits it.
Tips: The Red Shell will follow the course, much like in every other
Mario Kart game (except 64). However, the opponent has to be in front of
you to work (or at least farther along in the course). This means it
can't do a 180° turn to hit someone behind you, like in Battle Mode for
Mario Kart 64.
BANANA PEEL
Level: Low
First Game: Super Mario Kart (SNES; 1992)
(Dropped on the track and causes the first person to hit it to spin
out.)
Use: Dropped on the track and causes the first person to hit it to spin
out.
Tips: Try putting them around the wide areas of turns, especially sharp
turns. Or, if you notice an area is especially busy, put them there.
On top of the last boost pad on a turn is also extremely nice, if you can
time it right.
SPINY SHELL
Level: High
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo; 1985)
(Stuck onto a Spiny. It's impossible to remove though, since the spikes
hurt Mario of he jumps on it.)
Use: Seeks out the team in 1st place, hovering above the course at a
rapid pace. It can go across jumps, fly through the air, and anything
else. It will not stop until it hits the lead Kart.
Tips: Unless you're in first place, it's best to use the Spiny Shell as
soon as you get it. This is because it has the highest accuracy of any
Item by far, and because it strikes the lead player, it makes the entire
race a bit closer. Just be careful when it lands, since there's a huge
blast radius.
STAR/STARMAN
Level: High
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (NES; 1985)
(Causes the user to become invincible.)
Use: Increases your speed for a few seconds. During that time, attacks do
nothing to you. Anyone you touch will spin out. You can steal items from
others when you touch them.
Tips: Line yourself up with someone so you're directly behind them, then
unleash your Star. Hopefully, they turn when you want them to (or they
won't turn at all, if you're on a straightaway). That way, you can steal
something else (maybe another Star!). Cut corners as much as you can,
since you don't get slowed down by grass/sand/whatever.
LIGHTNING BOLT
Level: High
First Game: Super Mario Kart (SNES; 1992)
(Shrinks everybody except the user to half their size and top speed.
Shrunken players will get squished if they touch any other racers.)
Use: Shrinks everybody except the user to half their size and two-thirds
of their top speed. Shrunken players will get squished if they touch any
other racers.
Tips: If you're playing multiplayer, keep a close look on other people's
screens. Release them when someone gets a good item or when the lead
player goes over a jump, because this thing will destroy their items and
stop them cold! If you're shrunken, don't be afraid of hitting other
shrunken players, since the effect is nil, but stay along the sides of
the road or wide along turns to minimize the risk of being run over by
the big guy.
FAKE ITEM BOX
Level: Low
First Game: Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo64; 1995)
(Masquerades as a real Item Box, except it has "Ώ" instead of "?".
If someone hits it, it explodes.)
Use: Masquerades as a real Item Box, except it has "Ώ" instead of "?".
If someone hits it, it explodes. In previous games, they were the same
bluish rainbow as every other Item Box, but this time, they're red. Don't
let that fool you though--they loko genuine until you come close!
Use: Obviously, put them into an Item Box field, preferably one that's
arranged in a group rather than a row. Don't try to block shells with
them either. Shells go right through them, preventing any check of Fake
Item Boxes by Shell. Or, like Bananas, put them on jumps and dash panels
(especially dash panels, since they're rainbow and so are Item Boxes) to
seriously slow a poor sap down.
Special Items
In addition to all those items, there are also eight other items. These
items are different in that each of them are assigned to each of the
pairs that share a Kart. For example, Wario and Waluigi share The Purple
Pimp-ernel, so they both get the Bob-omb as their special weapon. (By
the way, the special weapons don't have anything to do with the karts.)
You acquire Special Items through regular Item Boxes, and getting them
is as random as every other item--just hope you get lucky, because every
Special Item is quite a bit more powerful than most General Items.
FIREBALL
Characters: Mario and Luigi
Level: Medium
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (NES; 1985)
(Destroys any enemy that it touches except fire-resistant ones.)
Use: Shoots forward just like a Green Shell, except that it will almost
immediately split into five and will bounce off walls and along the
ground until they hit someone or their time expires, whichever comes
first.
Tips: It doesn't matter if they're orange or green. These act just like
a whole bunch of Green Shells fired at once in five different angles,
so it's best to use them on wide and open straightaways, preferably
from the beginning. If there are any holes in the track aim away from
them, or you'll lose a Fireball or two, or maybe even the entire
cluster. You can also fire them behind you, but do that at the end of a
straightaway.
HEART SHIELD
Characters: Princess Peach and Princess Daisy
Level: High
First Game: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Gamecube; 2003)
Use: Blocks the next few attacks to come your way for a little while.
They can even absorb in other weapons! How's that for a royal
treatment?
Tips: You should use the Heart Shield as soon as you get it to avoid
anyone stealing it from you. The Heart Shield counts as widening your
Kart, so give a little extra room for Bananas you don't want to absorb.
Shells are fine though, especially Red Shells. The Heart Shield can only
be destroyed once it's in effect by a Lightning Bolt, so if you're in
the lead, you can even pick up a Spiny Shell to use if someone passes
far ahead of you.
GIANT BANANA
Characters: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong
Level: Low
First Game: Donkey Kong Country (SNES; 1993)
(When picked up, adds 5 Bananas to your score.)
Use: Takes up a lot of space and makes people who touches it slip. If
someone hits it, it'll split into a lot of little bananas.
Tips: Try to figure out the path that your opponent takes for each lap.
Unless they have an eccentric driving style, they're likely to stay
along the same spot, whether it's in the middle, towards the left, or
towards the right. Put the Giant Banana there. It may stand out, but if
you put it on a narrow path or just after a hill, it will be hard to
avoid. Also, Giant Bananas split up into three regular Bananas arranged
in a neat equilateral triangle--bad for oncoming crowds. And don't
forget that it completely destroys Red and Green Shells, so you're
basically guaranteed some payback if you lay one when a Shell's close to
hitting you.
CHAIN CHOMP
Characters: Baby Mario and Baby Luigi
Level: High
First Game: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo; 1989)
(Attacks Mario, but stays tethered to one point. Some go around in
circles. Chain Chomps are invincible.)
Use: Pulls the Kart along at a higher speed. Anyone who touches the
Chain Chomp will get hurt.
Tips: There's really no tips to using the Chain Chomp--it's an
autopilot! Though it would probably make courses with lots of sharp
turns, like DK Mountain, a lot easier.
GOLDEN MUSHROOM
Charactes: Toad and Toadette
Level: High
First Game: Mario Kart 64 (intendo64; 1995)
(Gives out infinite boosts for up to 10 seconds.)
Use: Gives out infinite boosts for up to 5 seconds.
Tips: Just mash the X or Y buttons when you feel fit! Just remember that
your handling suffers when you're boosting. Try to go aggressive and ram
into other people to make them lose their Items, and don't be afraid to
use any shortcuts you run across.
TRIPLE SHELLS
Characters: Koopa Troopa and Koopa Paratroopa
Level: High
First Game: Super Mario Kart (SNES; 1992)
(Allows you to fire up to three shells, either all Red or all Green.)
Use: Allows you to fire up to three shells, either all Red or all Green.
Tips: Be extra careful when you're handling Triple Shells--one hit by
almost anything, and you lose all but one! If you hit someone with a
Shell, wait until they recover to hit them again to make them lose the
most time. Also, if you get Triple Green Shells, fire them from three
different angles so two won't cancel each other out. Just remember that
you're going to be doing a lot of dodging once you catch up to them.
YOSHI EGG/BIRDO EGG
Characters: Yoshi and Birdo
Level: Medium
First Game: Super Mario World (SNES; 1990)
(Explodes when it htis a wall or an enemy. Once aimed, the egg will fly
in a straight line.)
Use: When fired, it will relentlessly home in on enemies. Once it hits
some thing, it breaks and three random items will be thrown onto the
racetrack.
Tips: This weapon can be fired backwards to block incoming Red Shells,
just so you'd know. But it's best to save one if you get it in the lead
until someone passes ahead of you. However, the Eggs have got to be the
most chancey Item in the entire game, all because of the contents that
spill out. That Mushroom may cause the victim to make up for losses, or
it could shoot you far into the lead! That Bob-omb may be the salt on
the wound that you needed, or it could spell the permanent loss of your
lead! So try firing it from a decent distance, so you know what comes
out, and so you can properly take advantage of it.
BOWSER'S SHELL
Characters: Bowser and Junior
Level: Low
First Game: Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo; 1985)
(Attached to Bowser.)
Use: Behaves just like a Green Shell, rocketing forward (or backwards)
and bouncing off walls. The only way to take one out is to avoid it
until its ten seconds are up or with another Bowser's Shell or Giant
Banana.
Tips: Don't ever use a Bowser's Shell on a monkey! They're likely to
have a Giant Banana, and do you know what one of those can do to your
Shell? Worse than canceling it out; Giant Bananas cause the Bowser's
Shell to reverse direction! However, no ordinary Item or Racer can faze
the incredible momentum of the colossal carapace, which means that if
every racer is lined up in front of you (or behind you, but it's kind of
hard to tell without losing your position), it's Bowser time. And that
means "say goodbye to your Items, 'cause the back dude is gonna get some
major dragging". It may be an optical illusion, but I think the Bowser's
Shell moves a tad slower than the Green Shell, so you still need to be a
sharpshooter.
BOB-OMB
Characters: Wario and Waluigi
Level: Low
First Game: Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo; 1987)
(Suicide bombers, to put it simply. When it explodes, it will also hurt
nearby enemies.)
Use: The Bob-omb can be thrown either backwards or forwards. When it
hits the ground, it explodes with quite a blast radius.
Tips: Risky, risky. That's why I advise against throwing them forward,
except as a last resort. Bob-ombs normally take about three seconds to
explode after they land, but if anything disturbs it, KA-BOOM! Anyone
caught in the blast radiunm, you included if you're unlucky enough,
will get sent flying through the air, the impact identical to that of a
Spiny Shell! The effects don't end there--anyone caught in the radius as
it's fading away will slip. So, not very effective at taking out people
one position away from you. But a real hazard for people two or three
places behind. Or, try dropping it like you would a Banana and see if
anyone collides with it.
Missing in Action
These Items have mysteriously vanished from the Item ox selection over
the history of Mario Kart. Obviously, Nintendo deleted them because they
were too powerful, but don't you wish that they would return?
FEATHER
Level: High
First Game: Super Mario World (SNES; 1990)
(Turns Mario into Cape Mario. Cape Mario can fly and swing his cape to
attack.)
Disappeared After: Super Mario Kart
Use: Allows the driver to make a giant jump, over walls if necessary. In
short, create your own shortcut.
BANANA BUNCH
Level: Low
First Game: Donkey Kong Country (SNES; 1991)
(When picked up, adds 10 Bananas to your score.)
Disappeared After: Mario Kart 64
Use: Allows you to drop up to five Bananas on the ground. The remaining
Bananas trail behind you and split up if someone hits the line.
BOO
Level: Medium
First Game: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo; 1989)
Disappeared After: Mario Kart: Super Circuit
(Boos are invincible ghost-like enemies who paralyze with fear when Mario
faces them and stalk Mario when he's facing away. They come in different
sizes.)
Use: Makes you invisible to other racers. All attacks will go right
through you. Boo will also pick a random opponent and steal an item from
them, if they have an item. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Boo will slow
down the player in 1st place if the user isn't in 1st (probably taken
from Snowboard Kids).
SUPER MUSHROOM/GOLDEN MUSHROOM
Level: High
First Game: Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo64; 1995)
Disappeared After: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Early BETA versions)
(The Super Mushrooms allow you to boost as many times as you want in 10
seconds.)
Use: In Mario Kart 64, they allow you to boost as many times as you want
in 10 seconds. Missing in Super Circuit, they returned up until about 6
months before the game's release as Peach's and Daisy's Special Item.
Wearing a crown, you could now boost at your leisure by simply holding
down X or Y. They then disappeared again, and now, they are confirmed as
Toad's and Toadette's Special Item, modified a bit (see above).
Item Techniques
BLOCKING INCOMING ITEMS: Remember when you were playing Mario Kart 64,
when someone had just launched a Red Shell at you, and you would stick
the Banana you had to cancel both out? Well, you can't in this game.
Sorry. Not my fault. However, if you have one of those items you used to
be able to hold onto behind you (that is, the Green Shell, the Red Shell,
the Banana, or the Fake Item Box), you can drop it on the road just as
the blasted projectile heads you way to cancel them both out. Pretty
tricky, but so was the mini-turbo.
#
>>>Modes<<<
Mario Grand Prix
Well, it's a racing game. What else would the initials "GP" stand for? I
can think of some, actually. Great Power. Go Play. Get Pissed. Glorious
Pen. Gifted Pig. But none of them fit better than "Grand Prix". A Grand
Prix is a series of races, and after one race is over, the top positions
are rewarded with points, which are added to the total. Whoever gets the
most points wins. In the case of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, there are
four races per cup, and all but the last-place finisher will earn some
points, distributed as the following:
1st place: +10 points
2nd place: +8 points
3rd place: +6 points
4th place: +4 points
5th place: +3 points
6th place: +2 points
7th place: +1 points
8th place: ±0 points
You probably need further clarification. Maybe you don't. But if you do,
let's take a situation. To begin, as with every other cup, the STAR CUP
consists of four courses--Sherbet Land, Mushroom City, Yoshi Circuit,
and DK Mountain. Now, let's say that the races are over, and two teams,
Bowser/Paratroopa and Toad/Baby Mario, were competing against each other
and six other Karts, and they placed like this:
Bowser/Paratroopa Toad/Baby Mario
Sherbet Land: 8th 1st
Mushroom City: 1st 4th
Yoshi Circuit: 3rd 2nd
DK Mountain: 1st 5th
TOTAL 0 + 10 + 6 + 10 = 26 10 + 4 + 8 + 3 = 25
But wait a minute! Bowser and Paratroopa won, and yet they placed last
in Sherbet Land. This is an instance of where the Mario GP is a bit more
merciful--you don't need to always place 1st in every (or any) race to
win. But it ensures your victory over the GP if you do. Besides, computer
players almost never mix their positions up this much, and very often,
you'll encounter "bully" characters who will place the best out of the
computer players for every race, just to make it harder. But as long as
you beat them more than they beat you, you're pretty safe.
Time Trials
Some people play Mario Kart to blast some CPU with their favorite racers
and items. Some (most) people prefer to race agaisnt their friends and
rain some Lightning on them. But there is a select few who don't play
the game to shoot Shells or bob Bob-ombs--those few want to play it to
MASTER it. Those guys play it religiously, day in and day out, and each
time they play, they get a little bit better. But they don't play Mario
GP or Quick Run--they play Time Trials.
What is Time Trials? The real definition is "a race held so that each car
is driven one at a time, with the winner being the one with the fastest
time". That would be downright drab in Mario Kart, ANY of them, so
Nintendo tweaked the definition for their games a little bit (which
apparently caught on in every other racing game after Super Mario Kart,
barring Snowboard Kids 2, which didn't HAVE this mode). What is it, gosh
darn it already? It IS basically a solo race, but it's actually the place
where you do your best, and your best records will be saved. Provided you
have a GCN Memory Card. You are equipped with two Mushrooms (one per
character) to use at any time before you begin the most skilled run
you've ever had. Need further clarity? Here's an example:
Jimmy, our Mario Kart: Double Dash!! gamer, has raced Time Trials in
Mushroom City for the first time as Waluigi and Peach. Here are his
(not-so) marvelous times:
Lap 1: 0' 40" 649
Lap 2: 0' 36" 366
Lap 3: 0' 40" 387
-----------------
Total: 1' 57" 402
Since the game records one Best Lap time and the first lap is the
fastest, "0' 55" 649" would be recorded. And the five best total records
appear under Best Times, so "2' 49" 402" appears in the 1st slot. So
Jimmy's records will look like this:
MUSHROOM CITY
Best Times
1st 1' 57" 402 Waluigi and Peach-Heart Coach
2nd --' --" --- --- and ---
3rd --' --" --- --- and ---
4th --' --" --- --- and ---
5th --' --" --- --- and ---
Best Lap: 0' 36" 366 Waluigi and Peach-Heart Coach
Now suppose some time has passed, and he's raced on Mushroom City five
times, and now his records look like this:
MUSHROOM CITY
Best Times
1st 1' 53" 295 Koopa and DK-Koopa King
2nd 1' 55" 825 Wario and Luigi-Wario Car
3rd 1' 57" 402 Waluigi and Peach-Heart Coach
4th 2' 00" 820 Yoshi and Birdo-Turbo Yoshi
5th 2' 06" 959 Baby Mario and Junior-Goo-Goo Buggy
Best Lap: 0' 33" 931 Wario and Luigi-Wario Car
Using Bowser and Daisy, Jimmy managed a time of 1' 56" 286 and a Best
Lap of 0' 37" 654. Where do these fit? It's all comparing numbers (and
I'm ignoring the Karts, because I don't have enough room to fit
everything in):
MUSHROOM CITY
Best Times
1st 1' 53" 295 Koopa and DK
2nd 1' 55" 825 Wario and Luigi Jimmy's time goes here because 56
3rd 1' 56" 286 Bowser and Daisy <-seconds is between 55 seconds and
4th 1' 57" 402 Waluigi and Peach 57 seconds.
5th 2' 00" 820 Yoshi and Birdo
<-BM and Junior's time got removed.
Best Lap: 0' 33" 931 Wario and Luigi
/\
The Best Lap remains unchanged because Jimmy didn't outdo it.
If you're not interested in trying for the fastest you can possibly get
with your own personal ability, don't do it. Time Trials is only for
that purpose. Oh, and getting course ghosts, which mirror your every
move to the best record you got for a course. Introduced in Mario Kart
64, you could transfer the data to another game, where other players can
see how their skills stack up with yours! There were two ghosts available
for the Controller Pak in Mario Kart 64 and up to ten per game, four
exchangeable via Game Link Cable in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. But here,
if you hoard Memory Cards, you can have as many as you want! How sweet is
that?
STAFF GHOSTS
Speaking of ghosts, remember the ghosts the staff gave you in Mario Kart
64 if you pulled off a good score on Luigi Raceway, Mario Raceway, or
Royal Raceway? Well, they're back--and this time, they exist in every
single course! The criterion is the same: Get a certain full race time
equal to or better than the set amount. Then, you'll unlock the Ghost!
The times you need and the Ghosts' times are on the table below. (They'll
be repeated in the courses section for your convenience, rest assured.)
NOTE: The Kart that the Ghosts drive on belongs to the first character
name mentioned.
MUSHROOM CUP Required Time Ghost Time Drivers
Luigi Circuit 1' 29" 1' 26" 3 Mario & Luigi
Peach Beach 1' 23" 1' 20" 4 Peach & Daisy
Baby Park 1' 14" 1' 11" 1 BMario & BLuigi
Dry Dry Desert 1' 53" 1' 50" 8 Yoshi & Birdo
FLOWER CUP
Mushroom Bridge 1' 34" 1' 31" 5 Koopa & Paratroopa
Mario Circuit 1' 44" 1' 41" 4 Mario & Luigi
Daisy Cruiser 1' 55" 1' 52" 2 Peach & Daisy
Waluigi Stadium 2' 02" 1' 59" 7 Wario & Waluigi
STAR CUP
Sherbet Land 1' 26" 1' 25" 9 BMario & BLuigi
Mushroom City 1' 53" 1' 50" 7 Koopa & Paratroopa
Yoshi Circuit 2' 02" 1' 59" 9 Yoshi & Birdo
DK Mountain 2' 15" 2' 12" 6 DK & Diddy
SPECIAL CUP
Wario Colosseum 2' 24" 2' 21" 1 Wario & Waluigi
Dino Dino Jungle 2' 03" 2' 00" 9 DK & Diddy
Bowser's Castle 2' 47" 2' 44" 7 Bowser & Junior
Rainbow Road 3' 19" 3' 16" 5 Mario & Peach
How many can you unlock, let alone beat? The one for Dino Dino Jungle is
notoriously hard.
Versus
I remember from Mario Kart 64, when you'd choose Versus, Mario would
say "Versus!?", which was pretty strange. I don't know why they called
this "Versus", since there are much better words to describe this mode
under (such as "Multiplayer"!) Basically, what you do is you get some
friends over to play Kart. This is considered by almosy every Kart player
to be the best of the modes available, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
offers even more options for Versus than ever! Some get pretty (did I say
pretty? I mean really awfully for God's sake) expensive though.
Versus (Basic)
Players: 2-4
Race in a track of your choice against others with no computer players.
Everyone else has to either follow along or get into a heated conflict.
Multiplayer GP (Basic)
Players: 2
It's just like the regular Mario GP, except someone else can join in.
Versus (Basic Co-op)
Players: 4
New to racing games, one player controls one character, and the other
player controls the other character. Players are obviously divided into
teams of two and race in the track everyone agrees on without any
computer players. In order to switch tasks, both players on a team must
hit the Z button at the same time, and to powerslide, both must hold down
R at the same time. You can steal Items from other backseaters in Co-op
if you're in the back by pressing L when next to another Kart. Also, not
explained in the instruction manual or in the Pause screen, the driver
can press the X or the Y button to hand the backseater an Item, as long
as the guy in front has the Item and the back person doesn't.
Mario GP (Basic Co-op)
players: 2 or 4
It's just like regular Mario GP, except it's done in Co-op. What's new to
talk abotu in this one?
LAN
I never heard of it until news broke out about this game supporting it,
but LAN stands for Local Access Network. Of course, that doesn't really
explain anything until I learned what it is. Apparently, you can acquire
a LAN cable at most places where they sell Gamecubes and use it to plug
multiple Gamecubes together, much like a Gamy Link Cable for a Game Boy.
Then, you take an equivalent number of TVs and copies of the game to
play, and voila! You can play with an obscene number of people in a
single match. It's like playing online, except everyone's within audible
range of each other! In the case of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the
maximum number of Gamecubes is four. And there is also one other
condition that may make you mad: character selection is random. However,
one way to get around this problem is to see which controller is handling
which Kart (or character in Co-op). Then, each player can pick up the
controller with their favorite character. Unless, of course, someone's
favorite is paired up with someone else's favorite. But that can happen
without random character select.
Versus (LAN)
Players: 2-8
This is just like Basic Versus, except you can play with lots and lots of
people. How sweet will that be?
Multiplayer GP (LAN)
Players: 2-8
Now you can relive your favorite Cup in Mario GP, except everyone's
actually alive. You and your friends may get rather impatient out of
playing four courses in a row though.
Versus (LAN Co-op)
Players: 2-16
16 players? That's crazy! You know what that means, right? There will be
eight Karts out on the track, each controlled by a tag team of two! If
you like to yell and argue a lot while playing multiplayer (and if you're
really rich and social), then this mode is for you. All five people out
there with four Gamecubes, four TVs, 16 controllers, and 4 copies of
MKDD are recommended to gather lots of people and play. Who knows? Maybe
there will even be tournaments using LAN...
Multiplayer GP (LAN Co-op)
Players: 2-16
Now this will be just insane. 16 players, all participating in a Mario
Grand Prix in competition of the most points? You can tell it'll get
hectic. Nothing more to say though.
Battle Mode
This is one of the many high points of the Mario Kart series, and it is
also another innovative idea invented by the very creative Nintendo.
Where in regular races, you would use your items to help you win, Battle
Mode takes the item usage to the extreme: As the name suggests, you will
actually battle each other, and as you may expect, you accomplish what
you're doing by means of items. This concept was so successful that
entire games have been based on drivers knocking each other silly with
all kinds of weapons, such as Cel Damage. In the case of Mario Kart:
Double Dash!!, Nintendo has expanded it into three ways to play. They
are Balloon Burst, Shine Thief, and Bob-omb Blast. For information about
the Battle Mode arenas, look to the next section.
BALLOON BURST
The tried and true classic will, hopefully, never fade away from the
Mario Kart horizons. This time, it has assumed the name of Balloon
Burst. Just in case you've never played Battle Mode before, each player
is given three balloons. You lose a balloon if you get hit, and if
you're left with no balloons, you lose.
This time, however, you can steal balloons like you would an Item. You
can't have more than three balloons at once though, so don't try to
hoard!
SHINE THIEF
This is basically a strange combination of Capture the Flag and Tag. Hey,
it rhymes! Instead of the flag, you got a Shine Sprite (one of those
weird sun things in Super Mario Sunshine). The first to nab the Shine
Sprite will set off a timer counting down from 60 seconds. Whoever has
the Shine Sprite when the timer goes to zero is the winner. How do you
take the Shine Sprite away? Simple: You hit the person with the Shine
Sprite. I guess I'd recommend this for quick matches, since it's pretty
fast-paced. I haven't quite worked out how the timer gets re-adjusted
each time the hine gets lost, but there is probably something about how
long the previous player held on to it.
BOB-OMB BLAST
And last, but not least, Wario and Waluigi take a back seat to their own
Special Item in Bob-omb Blast. Here, your only Items are Bob-ombs, but
you're getting them wholesale--five at a time! You've got a meter, and
you fill up one Star each time you blast someone sky-high with your
explosives. If you get hit, you lose a Star. The first person to fill up
all five Stars on their meter is the winner. An all-out offensive
strategy is to stock up on the explosives and find a target to lay
Bob-ombs in a line next to them. By the time they see it, they won't have
anywhere to go. A defensive strategy is to surround yourself with your
own Bob-ombs, since they can't hurt you. Anyone who gets near will pay.
Yet another strategy is to aim carefully. Its quick but inaccurate. The
strategy you use is all up to you.
>>>Tracks<<<
Well, it's about time, huh? This is the real meat of the FAQ, since the
tracks are basically most of the game. You've got the most varied set of
courses yet for a Mario Kart game, maybe even with Mario Kart: Super
Circuit. Your clasic racetracks are back, with the suffix "Raceway"
tossed out and the word "Circuit" welcomed back. You've also got your
obligatory ice, desert, lava, beach, and jungle levels. Rainbow Road is
back and better than ever, mixing elements from all of the previous
Mario Kart. There are even courses with themes you never thought would
be racetracks, the first half of the game alone involving an amusement
park and a cruise liner! You'll get to pick your difficulty by speed
class.
The speed difficulties are grouped into four divisions: 50cc, 100cc,
150cc, and Mirror. The higher the number, the bigger your engine is and
the faster your Kart will go. The faster it goes, the less control you'll
get, and the more experienced the racers will be. Also, 50cc and 100cc
feature themed opponents: Each racer is paired up with their partner in
their own Kart. But once you reach 150cc, they're going to be mixed up,
which means they can be holding a greater variety of Special Items.
Things get extremely hectic once you reach the Mirror Mode--it's not an
engine class, but all of the courses will be flipped horizontally, like
what you would see through a mirror.
In addition, the courses themselves (at least, the racecourses) are
divided into four groups of four. The first one is the Mushroom Cup,
traditionally used as an introduction for the first few courses and
the last one as a comprehension test. (And boy, does Dry Dry Desert in
this game serve as a comprehension test!) The second is the Flower Cup,
represented by a Fire Flower. This is where the tutorials end, and you're
on your own. They're pretty merciful though. The Star Cup marks the
third set for each Mario Kart game (except for Mario Kart: Super Circuit,
where the Lightning Cup went between the Flower and Star Cups.) Star Cup
courses tend to be favorites among both beginners and experts, because
its difficulty is pretty tough but still reasonably smooth. Finally, the
Special Cup, secret to every game except Mario Kart 64, represents the
cruelest courses. They are designed to make you lose, and the computer
players know exactly what they're doing. Also, you got Rainbow Road as
your final reward (the last course of the Special Cup) for a job well
done.
To make life easier, here are the courses and their Cups in a table.
MUSHROOM CUP FLOWER CUP STAR CUP SPECIAL CUP
------------------------------------------------------------------
Luigi Circuit Mushroom Bridge Sherbet Land Wario Colosseum
Peach Beach Mario Circuit Mushroom City Dino Dino Jungle
Baby Park Daisy Cruiser Yoshi Circuit Bowser's Castle
Dry Dry Desert Waluigi Stadium DK Mountain Rainbow Road
BATTLE MODE
-----------------
Cookie Land
Nintendo Gamecube
Block City
Pipe Plaza
Luigi's Mansion
Tilt-a-Kart
And finally, the key for the Tracks section:
NAME
Position: This is basically a way to keep track of how far into the guide
you are. Not much else. There'll be the name of the Cup (Mushroom,
Flower, Star, or Special) followed by its sequence within the Cup (1, 2,
3, or 4).
Course Highlight: There's something special in every course. Sometimes,
there's more than one. Whatever it is will go here, just in case it
catches your interest.
Course Difficulty: This is going to be on a three-point scale--Easy,
Medium, and Hard. Bear in mind that they're only based on my experiences;
your style of play is different than mine.
50cc Difficulty: On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being the easiest and 10
100cc Difficulty: being the hardest, these four categories get ranked
150cc Difficulty: individually by engine size. Typically, they get harder
Mirror Difficulty: as you advance.
Laps: Shortly and simply, the number of Laps in Mario GP and in
Recommended mode in Versus. It's usually 3.
Time to Beat: You need to get better than this time in order to get the
privilege to see the Staff Ghost at work.
Staff Ghost Time: You need to do better than this time if you hope to
dethrone the staff ghost.
World Record: The best score on record. (Taken from MarioKart64.com.)
My Record: My personal record for a standard-length race.
Your Record: This will always read "__' __" ___". Don't bother asking me
to put it in if it's better than mine; this is for you to print out, if
you feel like it, and write down to compare records.
World Lap Record: The best lap time on record. (Also taken from there.)
My Lap Record: My personal record for one lap in the course.
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___ Don't bother sending me stuff for this
either; it's also all up to you for comparison's sake.
The map goes here. It'll be in pretty bad ASCII.
=main route (shown on the map)
··=alternate route (usually a shortcut)
^^, <<, >>, vv=start/finish line
?=Item Box
!=Dash strip/Booster/Zipper (the thing that lets you go faster for a bit)
1, 2, 3, 4, etc.=points of notes (look to the text below)
All other symbols will be explained underneath the course map.
MUSHROOM CUP
My 50cc Record: 8' 54" 695 (40 Points)
Your 50cc Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
My 100cc Record: 7' 46" 742 (40 Points)
Your 100cc Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
My 150cc Record: 6' 57" 817 (40 Points)
Your 150cc Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
My Mirror Record: 6' 48" 861 (40 Points)
Your Mirror Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
Welcome to Mario Kart! If this is your first time visiting, I would
recommend that you head to the Mushroom Cup first. The courses here are
pleasing to the inexperienced, and there is not a single spot you can
fall off, save Peach Beach. The turns are gentle, and there is plenty of
room for error.
To the left, you can see Luigi Circuit, the course built by Luigi near
his new mansion. You can also see Peach Beach on the horizon, on sunny
Isle Delfino. Should you visit there, watch out for the quick tides and
Cataquacks!
To the left, you can enjoy some attractions at Baby Park. It features
Kamek's Magic Show, a roller coaster, and even some familiar faces.
Watch out for shells coming your way over there! Finally, should you
wish to walk across the sands, Dry Dry Desert features Pokeys, pyramids,
and pits. Don't let the quicksand whirlpool or the migrating dust devil
get you!
LUIGI CIRCUIT
Position: Mushroom 1
Course Highlight: Two-Way Torso
Course Difficulty: Easy
50cc Difficulty: 1
100cc Difficulty: 2
150cc Difficulty: 7
Mirror Difficulty: 9
Laps: 3
Time to Beat: 1' 29"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 26" 3
World Record: 1' 18" 196 Martin Cesar
My Record: 1' 26" 978
Your Record: __' __" __
World Lap Record: 0' 25" 424 Frederic Billaudel
My Lap Record: 0' 28" 275
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
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1. If you got a Mushroom, cut the grass in front of the path (through
point 1 on the map) if you're playing in anything except 50cc to shave
more time off the shortcut than usual. Oh, did I not explain about the
shortcut? To the right of the circle of sand is a thin asphalt path that
lets you skip the right turn after it. It's not worth much, ad the Chain
Chomp will more than likely seriously get in your way, but every little
edge counts. And in 50cc, the path there, well, isn't there. You need to
turn right, just like everybody else.
2. If you're taking the shortcut or are staying too close to the edge of
the course, Chain Chomp will leap at you when you get near. However, it
will stop before you reach it, so keep a close eye on it to make sure you
drive around it.
3. As you're going around the long turn on the bottom, you're better off
doing lots of Mini-Turbos on the inside edge than following the series of
Dash Panels along the edges. In fact, at higher difficulty levels, this
is exactly what computer opponents do.
4. If you're playing Mario GP, watch out as you approach this spot. There
will probably be racers going in the opposite directions, and if head-on
collisions wasn't recommended enough to avoid, these guys are usually
carrying powerful stuff. Don't get caught in them!
5. Because people are going both ways, this is a great spot to shoot any
kind of projectiles, especially Fireballs or Bowser's Shells. They'll
probably hit someone.
6. I wouldn't recommend taking the shortcut, since it's right after a
hill, so it's very hard to see. However, if you have a Mushroom, try to
get a good idea of where it'll be and boost across the grass to reach it.
It's much more worth it this way.
7. Try leaving a Banana or a Fake Item Box near this set of Item Boxes.
The blind turn right before it will keep the landmine hidden until it's
too late!
8. This curve, like the one on the bottom, is more efficiently executed
with a series of tight Mini-Turbos than following the Dash Panels.
PEACH BEACH
Position: Mushroom 2
Course Highlight: Cataquacks; Tides
Course Difficulty: Medium
50cc Difficulty: 1
100cc Difficulty: 3
150cc Difficulty: 9
Mirror Difficulty: 10
Laps: 3
Time to Beat: 1' 23"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 20" 4
World Record: 1' 11" 979 Bart Savelkouls
My Record: 1' 20" 392
Your Record: __' __" __
World Lap Record: 0' 23" 028 Bart Savelkouls
My Lap Record: 0' 26" 482
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
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1. This is a pretty tricky turn, despite its gentle facade. Try to do a
Mini-Turbo here, and you'll end up kissing the palm trees. Don't power-
slide at all, and you'll slow down significantly. So, what should you do?
Stay on the left side of thr track as you approach the turn. Do a Mini-
Turbo, and head back to the left part again, so you can be prepared for
another Mini-Turbo.
2. You'll notice a Warp Pipe here. if you travel into it, you'll emerge
from another Warp Pipe directly overhead. I don't know what it's for, but
you can trick people into going in there to lose time.
3. It doesn't show it on the map, but here, the course splits up. I would
strongly recommend against taking the left path, since it'll stay
submerged most of the time, causing your speed to be reduced down to near
zero. Take the right path, unless the tide is high and lowering when you
enter.
4. The more you drive into the water, the slower your Kart goes. The
trick here is to stay out of the water as much as possible while still
taking the inside lane. Easier said than done: the tides cause the path
you should take to vary from lap to lap. The trick here is to drive along
the foam (white stuff), looking closely before you dive in to see if the
water is receding or rising and driving accordingly.
5. Here, you'll see a pink rock formation. I've seen some strange words
on this rock seen from above, to say the least, but it's just supposed to
be an arch. It's best to drive underneath it if you're taking the right
path and around it if you took the left path.
6. Watch out for the last few cataquacks here! Taking a straight line
through the three turns after the pink rock is possible, but the
Cataquacks are right no that line! Stay to the left of them until you
think you're good, then try going between them.
7. Watch out! These Item Boxes are dancing to the beat of the music! Or
something. Stay somewhere in the middle, because you're most likely to
get an Item here (unless you're playing without Items, such as in Time
Trials, of course). Once you get an Item, switch to the other guy if he
or she is empty-handed. You'll more than likely get another Item if you
don't touch the steering wheel.
8. For some reason, there are two double Item Bozes behind the fountain
in Delfino Plaza. (At least, I think it's Delfino Plaza.) Don't ever
bother to get them, at least for practical purposes. Not only did you
already have an Item Box set two seconds ago, but you're also going to
run into one in a few seconds anyway.
BABY PARK
Position: Mushroom 3
Course Highlight: Minisculinity; Shell-Friendly Interior
Course Difficulty: Hard
50cc Difficulty: 2
100cc Difficulty: 2
150cc Difficulty: 10
Mirror Difficulty: 10
Laps: 7
Time to Beat: 1' 14"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 11" 1
World Record: 1' 06" 844 Frederic Billaudel
My Record: 1' 14" 481
Your Record: __' __" __
World Lap Record: 8" 941 Frederic Billaudel
My Lap Record: 10" 273
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
5
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1. One thing that's unique about Baby Park is that it's a simple oval,
which got more than a few negative responses from serious gamers. Another
is that it's the shortest course in the game by far, about the same
length as a Super Mario Kart course. In fact, a few experts have broken
eight seconds in a lap! It's also the course that would take a skilled
gamer the shortest to complete, even though it's set at seven laps.
BUT...the most interesting thing of all is that Shells, whether they be
Green, Red, or Bowser's, can pass directly through the middle. This means
staying on the inside won't help a lot, and after a minute, it's going to
look like a war zone. Be careful! This course is deceptively dangerous!
2. The turns in this simple and short course are deceptively tight--you
are going to lose more time Mini-Turboing directly through the turn than
simply tightly powersliding. Save the Control Stick torture at about
point...
3. ...where the turn begins to die down and you're save to Mini-Turbo
again.
4. It's okay to Mini-Turbo on a straightaway. They're more than wide
enough to be executed here, if you think you're good. Do one to the left
so you don't run into the right wall so easily.
5. And finally, do steps 2 and 3 here. It's not that hard if you know how
to Mini-Turbo.
DRY DRY DESERT
Position: Mushroom 4
Course Highlight: Quicksand Whirlpool, Tornado, Pokeys
Course Difficulty: Hard
50cc Difficulty: 3
100cc Difficulty: 5
150cc Difficulty: 7
Mirror Difficulty: 8
Laps: 3
Time to Beat: 1' 53"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 50" 8
World Record:
My Record: 1' 57" 931
Your Record: __' __" ___
World Lap Record:
My Lap Record: 39" 063
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
? ?
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1. The first thing you'll probably notice is that the start and finish
line is surrounded by what may be the widest start/finish gate in the
whole game. This is because Dry Dry Desert is completely open. Don't get
any false impressions about heading out to the middle and going in small
circles though; a lap only counts if you follow the map, even though you
can see the entire course from certain points.
2. Be careful if you're not playing split-screen! Anyone who tries to cut
corners here will be punished by Pokeys! You know, those weird spiky
yellow stacks with a face. There IS one exception though: If you have a
Mushroom, feel free to go straight from this point on the map. Each time
you go off the track, there will be a collapsed stone column that will
act as ramps, allowing you to catch some major air and get to the next
leg of the desert in only three or four seconds.
3. If all has been going well, you should run into that infamous tornado
around here. It starts off behind the quicksand pit and travels in the
opposite direction as the racers. And, if anybody's curious, it takes
about four minutes for the tornado to complete one lap of Dry Dry Desert.
Just remember to avoid it, or it'll send you flying into the air and
crashing down completely itemless! You should be able to see the tall
dust devil from quite a distance away, but it can get you by surprise,
especially if it's behind something tall. Oh, and one last thing: it goes
AROUND the entrance gate, so don't worry about it getting in the way of
the finish line.
4. This gets beginners every time. I always thought that it was kind of
obvious that a quicksand trap should be AVOIDED, but apparently, most
people don't. Anyway, the /'s on the map denotes the area of the quick-
sand pit, as it's marked with a darker color on the map in the game. Both
the left and the right will get you to the next part of the course in
about the same time, but I'd recommend steering to the right as you
enter, since the next turn will be a right. Of course, if you have a
Star, you can just barge straight through the pit unfazed by the giant
ant lion that lurks at the bottom. Oh, and it's best to stay completely
out of the pit, on as light of sand as you can.
5. Congratulations! You're out of the quicksand obstacle. You might want
to give yourself a pat on the back, but you shouldn't. Not only becuase
you'll have to pass by the pit three times in a race, but you're going to
be seeing a whole army of Pokeys right afterward! If it's not Time Trials
and you have a shortage of Items, try aiming for right between the two
Pokeys for a double Item Box. If not, just stay to the right of the path.
6. Here's where it gets fun. This will be the bumpiest terrain you'll
ever see in the Mushroom Cup, as well as for a while. If you're also
playing 1-player mode or 2-player Co-op, there will also be lots of
Pokeys here. No need to worry though; just drive straight through, taking
the lowest points possible. Don't get distracted by the Item Boxes on top
of the hills either; there's an Item Box set just past the bumpy area.
7. That corner on the map isn't the last turn in the game. It won't bring
you straight to the finish line; there's still one left turn after that.
If yu're good, this should be one last opportunity to Mini-Turbo.
8. You're doing just fine if you see the tornado here during the second
lap. If there are any computer opponents ahead of you here, then it means
that they're just being unfair again.
9. And finally, watch out for the tornado here during the final lap.
FLOWER CUP
My 50cc Record: 10' 05" 753 (40 Points)
Your 50cc Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
My 100cc Record: 9' 08" 044 (40 Points)
Your 100cc Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
My 150cc Record: 8' 28" 773 (40 Points)
Your 150cc Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
My Mirror Record: 8' 15" 109 (40 Points)
Your Mirror Record: __' __" __ (__ Points)
Welcome to Mario Kart! Still with us, folks? Good. We're going to go into
the Flower Cup now. Beware though; for folks who visited the Mushroom
Cup, the Flower Cup will be a bit rougher and more dangerous. Don't let
its bright and sunny look cheer you; the tutorials have ended and the
real driving has begun. Everybody with me so far?
Okay. Over there, you can see the famous Mushroom Kingdom landmark,
Mushroom Bridge. Part of one of the busiest highways in the country, it
has withstood the test of time and traffic to become the symbol of fungal
industry. And there, you can see another famous site, none other than
Mario Circuit itself, where Mario and his gang duke it out in go-karts.
There's more too. If you look out towards the ocean, you can see Daisy
Cruiser. See that white-colored thing? It's a cruise liner filled with
everything the princess or prince in you would want. And finally, the
last stop on our Flower Cup will be Waluigi Stadium, where the best
dirtbikers and monster truckers in the Mushroom Kingdom test their skills
against each other. It's always packed to the brim with a massive
cheering audience.
MUSHROOM BRIDGE
Position: Flower 1
Course Highlight: Traffic, Traffic, and More Traffic
Course Difficulty: Medium
50cc Difficulty: 4
100cc Difficulty: 4
150cc Difficulty: 6
Mirror Difficulty: 7
Laps: 3
Time to Beat: 1' 34"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 31" 5
World Record:
My Record: 1' 31" 901
Your Record: __' __" ___
World Lap Record:
My Lap Record: 30" 061
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
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1. You could probably already see from my map that Mushroom Bridge isn't
quite how it seems on the game's map. There are a lot of alternate paths
along the sides of much of the course and one on the center left that
allows you to skip the right turn. Also, you start out on the right side
of what's supposed to be a freeway entrance, much like Toad's Turnpike in
Mario Kart 64 as a way to avoid the traffic from hitting you before the
race starts. (Toad's Turnpike, coincidentally, was also the first Flower
Cup course for that game.)
2. In case you haven't noticed the number 2 on the map, it's on the
upper-right corner. See it? Good. The first alternate path is hardly
three seconds off the starting line. If you stick to the right wall, you
should be able to see a gap in the railing. Head into it and make a quick
right to get blasted out of a Warp Pipe and pick up a double Item Box if
you're playing a mode with them on. However, it causes you to lose time,
so don't ever take it in Time Trials if you're aiming for a record.
3. When you get here during the first lap, you may notice that there are
five Item Boxes in a row, more or less, some of them doubled. Take a
better look. The second and fourth ones move! The map I have shows the
positions for nine of the Item Boxes, all in groups of three, two sitting
at the very edges of the road and one on the dividing line. However,
there are six more Item Boxes--two for each set--that move at the same
speed as the traffic. So if you see a migrating Item Box, rest assured
that it's authentic and not fake.
4. At this point, you'll be exiting the first tunnel. See the alternate
paths on either side of the track? There's a guardrail on both sides of
the main road, but you can squeeze into the extra space behind the rails
immediately after you exit the tunnel. I wouldn't recommend going into
these paths, unless it was to get the double Item Box on the left path.
5. Time for a real shortcut...if you have a Mushroom. If you look at this
point in the game, you should notice that there's a steep dirt road going
into a mushroom village. Well, just boost up that path to be taken to an
asphalt road that leads you to a later part of the course. Not much
later, but if you're good at landing, it'll save you some time.
6. Nearing the end of the last turn in the game, the track will again
branch out beyond the guardrails. And again, it's not a good idea to head
to either one. But if you must, take the left one. It's the inside path,
even though both lead you to a pretty cool place.
7. It's about time that we get to the point that this course was named
after. Welcome to the Mushroom Bridge! It's an iron suspension bridge
with, appropriately enough, an iron road! In addition to being some nice
scenery that's proof that the Mushroom Kingdom has caught up with modern
times, you can actually ride the concrete suspension cables! From the
left or right alternate path, you can ride a hazardously thin path up
the suspension cables. All the boost pads on them make it one of the most
thrilling experiences in Mario Kart, but if you're seeking more practical
means of getting about, it's quicker to constantly Mini-Turbo on a
zigzagging path along the road part of the bridge. Also, when you head up
to the suspensions, don't forget that you're going 70 miles per hour
(that's about 110 kph for those of you outside the USA) across a path
that's hardly wider than your own Kart.
MARIO CIRCUIT
Position: Flower 2
Course Highlight: Goombas and Not Much Else
Course Difficulty: Easy
50cc Difficulty: 1
100cc Difficulty: 2
150cc Difficulty: 8
Mirror Difficulty: 10
Laps: 3
Time to Beat: 1' 44"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 41" 4
World Record:
My Record: 1' 47" 862
Your Record: __' __" ___
World Lap Record:
My Lap Record: 35" 336
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
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1. Well, this is the star course of the game. There's always at least one
Mario Circuit in every Mario Kart game, and Nintendo LOVES to show this
one off. I'm pretty sick of it. But it's a great course to practice your
steering on, as it's got every kind of turn in one lap. It's also got
hazards. I'll explain them below. Lastly, it's heavy on the driving in
any mode, since Item Boxes are pretty rare in this course. Since I'm not
that good at driving, this course gives me hell in later difficulties,
but it's all up to you.
2. If you've got Item Boxes around, then you're in for a split decision.
Without them, you should naturally head to the left side of this, but
double Item Boxes appear mainly along the right side of the track, but
the track curves to the left. So if you're trailing behind, head for any
double Item Boxes you see, but if you're ahead, just drift along the
inside parts of the turn.
3. Here's a pretty tough hairpin turn. This may be the only reason why
Mario Circuit was put into the Flower Cup. You'll never get a good Mini-
Turbo if you take the inside corner. You're better off towards the middle
or even the outside if you want to get the blue sparks going without
swerving into Chain Chomp territory up ahead.
4. You knew it was coming from a mile away...it's the dreaded Chain
Chomp! Mario's a bit more daring than Luigi though, so this time, there's
no sand pit to show how far it can reach. Be careful though, because you
are no longer safe by simply staying on the road--it can attack you from
there! The best way to handle this is to stay roughly on the middle part
of the track until you reach the next set of Item Boxes. Or, where they
should be.
5. If you think you're good, you can try for a Mini-Turbo on each of the
three corners. If the Staff Ghost is any indication, it's definitely
possible.
6. There's so much more going on in this Mario Circuit than any other
Mario Circuit ever. It may look like an easy straightaway from the map,
but there are actually Piranha Plants lining the Warp Pipes on the sides
of the road! It may seem foolhardy, but the best way to go about this
straightaway is to stay on the left edge of the road, almost touching the
Warp Pipes. The Piranha Plants can't get you from there; they're too tall
to bite you from such a close distance.
7. If you're curious, any of the five Item Boxes in this last portion can
become double Item Boxes, so keep your eye out for them. Also, once you
run into a single Item Box, switch so that the other person can get an
Item if you pass through another.
8. Since when was there a windmill near Peach's Castle? I guess it showed
up at around the same time as the giant Hollywood-style letters spelling
out "MARIO". The course gets pretty bumpy here, so you'll have to look
way ahead and find a line to drive through where there isn't any Goombas.
If worse comes to worst, just fire anything at the Goombas. You'll squish
whichever one you hit, and as long as you're not playing Time Trials,
(and how do you end up with a weapon in ime Trials?) a Mushroom will take
its place.
9. And here comes the home stretch...but you're not out of the park yet.
There's still a pretty steep bridge, designed so you can't see the two
Piranha Plants lining the sides! This time, it's extremely important to
stay in the middle, since anywhere else would lead to Piranha Plant
ingestion. When you enter the final turn, keep to the middle of the
track and adjust your powersliding so you angle correctly. That hill on
the bridge was designed to make you lose control on your descent. Or, if
you have a mushroom, just boost your way up the bridge. You'll pass right
in front of the Piranha Plants before they can react.
DAISY CRUISER
Position: Flower 3
Course Highlight: It's a Boat!
Course Difficulty: Medium
50cc Difficulty: 2
100cc Difficulty: 3
150cc Difficulty: 5
Mirror Difficulty: 6
Laps: 3
Time to Beat: 1' 55"
Staff Ghost Time: 1' 52" 2
World Record:
My Record: 1' 55" 515
Your Record: __' __" ___
World Lap Record:
My Lap Record: 38" 192
Your Lap Record: __' __" ___
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1. This has got to be one of the most original courses in Mario Kart
history. I'll bet that those folks at Nintendo actually took notes while
on a cruise ship, since to my knowledge, it is a surprisingly accurate
portrayal of one of those boats. This is also the first course to overlap
parts of itself (and I hope my map makes it clear which parts are above
what). It's even twistier and turnier than Mario Circuit, filled with
split-second and blind turns.
2. If you've noticed, sometimes, the item boxes are on the left side of
the track, and sometimes, they're on the right side. That's because the
ship's rocking causes every item Box in this course to roll left and
right. In this case, they skip between the left half and the right half.
My suggestion is to head for the middle of the track at this point if
you want an item, since regardless of the liner's tilt, there will always
be an item box there, unless someone right in front of you picked it up.
Otherwise, stick toward the left.
3. Now, what kind of cruise liner would it be without a swimming pool? As
you can see from the map, you can either go left or right from this point
to get to the next portion. Though the right route is indeed shorter, I
would strongly recommend taking the left path. Not only is the right a
bit dangerous, but it also slows you down, and the left path gives you
room for two Mini-Turbos. Save your Mushroms for somewhere else. Also,
the swimming pool is the only place where you can fall and have Lakitu
pick you up. I'm not certain whether that's good or bad news, but that
doesn't make the course any easier.
4. Just in case you couldnh't figure it out, point #4 is at the stern of
the ship. It may not seem like much, but I mess up on this spot so much
that it deserves its own number. This turn was designed to mess up
anyone who thinks it's safe to just take the absolute inside corner. The
guardrails may be up, but it seems that they're designed to get your Kart
caught in it as you hit it, instead of bouncing off. This can slow your
Kart down to single-digit numbers, and if you're driving a Kart that's
bad on acceleration, be prepared to drop a few positions. Instead, go
about one-third the width of this section from the inner guardrails as
your best insurance.
5. A swimming pool doesn't make a boat. That makes a swimming pool. A
swimming pool and a dining room, however, should call to your mind
"cruise ship" right away! And, if you're reading this out of pure
curiosity and haven't played this course yet (and why are you?), then
you should have ntoiced something suspicious about this large area. And
yes, it's a dining room! The tables sway left and right as the boat
sways, and preventing them from hitting you can sometimes be very hard to
do. However, there wil always be a straight path that will lead you to
the next section of the course. You should be able to see it as you enter
the room, but there's also a little trick to find out where the tables
will go. Point 5 is a spot for the front dining table. If it's stopped
against a nearby column, that means the tables are going to move left. If
it's nowhere near a column, the tables are going to move right. If it's
already moving, then they're going to stop in a second. But if you hit a
table, don't worry. You don't spin out or anything. They're just
obstacles.
6. Thought the worst of it was over? Think again! You're now in the
hallways of the living quarters, and, like all of them in real life, are
characterized by 90° turns. And what it lacks in obstacles, it makes up
in a test of your reflexes, where the next turn is thrown at you when
you'e barely finished the last one! And, just in case the Item Boxes have
always distracted you, there's a gaping hole near the beginning of it. If
you fall in, you're led to the engine room, where you can grab a Double
Item Box and get blasted by a ventillator to around where point #7 is.
Unless your Kart's acceleration is 4 or better, don't come down here. It
may seem like a shortcut, but the time you gain by taking a straight line
to point #7 is most by your long fall to the bottom. Unless, of course,
you're falling behind in a race and you're in need of something to cause
some whoopage.
7. If you opted out of the hidden path, then watch out for a quick left
when you come back outside. The narrow spot between the ventillator and
the left railings is a great spot to put a Banana, or better yet, a Giant
Banana.
8. The life preservers here don't do a single thing to you; all they do
is move up and down. Because everyone, computer player or not, will tend
to go between them, put a little surprise for them there. Even a Fake
Item Box will do, since it's not very out of place, to say the least. But
that's not the last trick in the boat, since you'll be going up some
steep stairs. Head over to the right so that you don't have to make the
last quick right. Unless, of course, you're aiming for a fast time, when
you can pull off a Mini-Turbo on both of the last two turns.
WALUIGI STADIUM
SHERBET LAND
MUSHROOM CITY
YOSHI CIRCUIT
DK MOUNTAIN
WARIO COLOSSEUM
DINO DINO JUNGLE
BOWSER'S CASTLE
RAINBOW ROAD
COOKIE LAND
NINTENDO GAMECUBE
BLOCK CITY
PIPE PLAZA
LUIGI'S MANSION
TILT-A-KART
All of these courses will be coming up soon! I'll be doing them in order,
just so you'd know.
#
>>>Secrets<<<
Mario Kart is not without some secrets, and Double Dash delivers. It has
a LOT of secrets--probably more than all of the previous Mario Karts
combined! Most will be acquired by achieving gold medals on Mario GP, but
there are exceptions. Or you can use an Action Replay and get everything
for you, but if you're an honest person, you'll work for them.
All of the secret Karts, though, you'll have to get via Gold Trophies in
Mario GP:
Green Fire (Luigi's Kart)-Mushroom Cup 50cc
Bloom Coach (Daisy's Kart)-Flower Cup 50cc
Barrel Train (Diddy's Kart)-Star Cup 150cc
Rattle Buggy (Baby Luigi's Kart)-Mushroom Cup 100cc
Toad Racer (Toad's Kart)-Special Cup 100cc
Toadette's Kart (Toadette's Kart, duh)-Mushroom Cup Mirror
Para Wing (Paratroopa's Kart)-Star Cup 50cc
Turbo Birdo (Birdo's Kart)-Flower Cup 150cc
Bullet Blaster (Junior's Kart)-Special Cup 50cc
Waluigi Racer (Waluigi's Kart)-Flower Cup 100cc
Piranha Pipes (Petey's Kart)-Star Cup Mirror
Boo Pipes (Boo's Kart)-Special Cup Mirror
Parade Kart (Toadsworth's Kart)-All Cup Tour Mirror
And there are six secret stages in all, four being the Special Cup and
the other two special Battle Mode courses, which people say are the best.
There's even a secret "engine class", Mirror Mode, and an extravaganza
of all sixteen courses called the All Cup Tour. You also need to get Gold
Trophies in Mario GP to claim the rewards.
Special Cup (Wario, Dino, Bowser's, and Rainbow)-Star Cup 100cc
Luigi's Mansion (Battle Mode; resembles Double Deck)-Mushroom Cup 150cc
All Cup Tour (All 16 courses in random order)-Special Cup 150cc
Mirror Mode (everything is mirrored)-All Cup Tour 150cc
Tilt-a-Kart (Battle Mode; arena tilts occasionally)-Flower Cup Mirror
And finally, there are four secret characters, unprecendented in Mario
Kart. They come in pairs, and, like the previous secrets, require Gold
Trophies in Mario GP:
Toad and Toadette (with the Toad Racer)-Special Cup 100cc
Petey Piranha and King Boo (with the Piranha Pipes)-Star Cup Mirror
And, one last thing to mention:
New Title Screen (check it out)-All Cup Tour Mirror
And that's all you get for Gold Trophies. If you've noticed, All Cup Tour
for 50cc and 100cc have been left out. They do exist within the game, but
you get no reward for claiming the 1st place there except the trophy on
your Records and the total time. If you feel that it's not worth the
effort, then don't do them. However, if you want to feel complete, by
all means do so. No one's stopping you.
There is also a handful of secrets that you can only unlock by Time
Trials, and those are the Staff Ghosts. I'm not going to be listing the
requirements here, since they're already repeated twice: once on the
Time Trials section and the other strewn about on each course's stats
in the Tracks section.
#
>>>Options and Records<<<
Well, I guess the tutorials aren't quite over yet...Like most people, you
would probably skip this part. Huh? You're gonna stick around? How sweet
of you. There isn't a lot to be had in Options, since much of your stuff
would go under Records after you press Start anyway, and that's why I
grouped them under this section. All in all, the whole thing is obviously
incredibly remarkably self-explanatory, so I should really bother with
the explaining. But, just in case you're reading every single word that
I'm typing...
NOTE: The game won't save your settings until you leave the Options menu.
However, once you leave, the save will automatically occur. Be careful!
Options
SOUND
Here, you can change the sound between Mono and Stereo. You can tell that
your TV supports stereo (that is, different sounds coming out of the
speakers) if your TV has the complete A/V plugs--one for Video IN, one
for Left (speaker), and one for Right (speaker). It differs from country
to country, but the United States and Japan uses yellow for Video IN,
white for Left, and red for Right. (If your country uses something else,
please e-mail me, and I'll be hapy to add it in.) Or, if you have an
S-cable (the TV will say so), it'll also support Stereo, only better.
If your TV only has two A/V plugs or just one simple screw-on plug that
says A/V IN (or something equivalent), then your TV supports only Mono.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is set to Stereo on default, so don't forget to
change it if you don't want half of your sound left out.
VOLUME
The default volume is set to 100%. (There's no actual numerical value you
can see on the Volume Control bar.) This is going to be pretty loud on
your TV, so you should set it to somewhere around 1/6th, or 17%, with the
volume control set to what you'd normally listen at on your TV if you use
the same TV to play MKDD as you would normal television programs. If you
don't, then you can simply leave the volume at maximum and adjust the
volume level of the TV to fit.
VERSUS ITEMS
There are four settings for the items in Versus Mode--None, Basic,
Recommended, and Frantic. None, of course, means there are no Items on
the field and therefore no Item Boxes. Recommended is the same as what
you'd see in Mario GP: a roughly fair balance of every Item in the game.
Basic cuts out all of the powerful items and leaves you with more raw
driving skill affecting the outcome than Items. Frantic is the opposite
of Basic. You'll be running into lots of powerful Items, and odds are
you'll be stopped a lot by them. Items play a much more important role
in Frantic than in any other mode.
RUMBLE
Here, you can set the vibrations of all the controllers plugged in either
on or off. The default setting is On, but before you turn it off when
there's people around, be sure to get a concensus on it first, since it's
either all or nothing! Or, of course, just use a Wavebird or two or three
because the thing's got no Rumble anyway.
TIME TRIALS GHOST
Here, you can turn the Ghost on or off. It's the Ghost from Time Trials
that follows your best record. It's normally set to On, but if you turn
it off, there won't be any Ghost next time you attempt the course. If you
find yourself frequently distracted by the Ghosts or otherwise feel that
you're worse with a Ghost on the field, you can turn it off.
VERSUS LAPS
This is normally set to Recommended, which means that every course has
three Laps, except for Baby Park's seven and Wario Colosseum's two.
However, if you play Versus Mode, you can use this nifty feature to
change the number of Laps to any integer from 1 to 9. (The Final Lap
sounds after right after the race starts if you set it to one lap! Try
it out.)
And then there's the Records section, which you can find by pressing
Start at the Press Start screen and going down one. There isn't anything
here that's worth looking into, unless you want to show off your Time
rials times and your best attempts at Mario GP.
MARIO GP
Here, you can check out your best records for Mario Grand Prix, of
course. It starts out with the Mushroom Cup Records, showing the best of
your achievements in this format:
MARIO GP
MUSHROOM CUP
50cc --' --" --- C C K
-- points
100cc --' --" --- C C K
-- points
150cc --' --" --- C C K
-- points
Where "C" means "character" and "K" means "Kart". As you unlock the
Special Cup, the All Cup Tour, and Mirror, they'll be added to the list.
Also, the total points you earn gets a higher priority than the time it
takes, despite what it may seem. You may get, say, 8' 54" 076 total time
and a perfect 40 points, but getting a time of 8' 21" 388 and 38 points
won't lead t a new record.
TIME TRIALS
And, more importantly, are the Time Trials records. You don't have to
play through Time Trials over and voer just to see the top five times
(though you wil for the Course Ghosts and Replays). You can check it out
right here, in the same format as you'd see after a match, except with
the course name above.
#
>>>Frequently Asked Questions/Missed Corrections<<<
And here is where a bunch of question and "corrections" that seem to pop
up in my e-mails are collected! If you have a question to e-mail me,
it's recommended to check here first to see if your questions are
already on this list. Of course, it's not like as if this will help ease
the onslaught of monotony that is running an FAQ of this caliber. Also,
much of the info in this section can already be found somewhere in
another part of the forum. I didn't even think I would have to put this
section in, but necessity calls. But never nature. This is a game
created entirely on the computer. There is no nature in Mario Kart.
Q: Wario/Waluigi/Daisy/Baby Mario aren't in Super Smash Bros. Melee!
A: Yeah, they are. They're simply trophies in the game. Maybe you
haven't earned them yet.
----
Q: You missed a spot--King Boo was in Super Mario 64 and the Mario Party
games.
A: That wasn't King Boo. I'm afraid that you're mistaking him for BIG
Boo, who is merely an oversized Boo. King Boo premiered as the
surprise final boss in Luigi's Mansion.
----
Q: I found Bowser Junior in Mario Party 2!
A: Junior never showed up until Super Mario Sunshine. You're looking at
Baby Bowser, who premiered in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
Baby Bowser is Bowser as a child; Bowser Jr. is Bowser's son.
----
Q: How do I get the Special Cup?
A: Get 1st place in Star Cup 100cc.
----
Q: How do I ge the All Cup Tour?
A: Get 1st place in Special Cup 150cc.
----
Q: How do I get Mirror Mode?
A: Get 1st place in All Cup Tour 150cc.
----
Q: How do I unlock Toad/Toadette?
A: Get 1st place in Special Cup 100cc.
----
Q: What's the best Kart/characters to use?
A: If you were expecting a simple answer, I'll have to confess that
there isn't. If there's any good multiplayer game out there, then the
same answer would apply. If it helps, I got my 160 points in the
later All Cup Tours using Koopa/Paratroopa paired up with Diddy Kong.
The strategy is simple: Triple Shells to climb up to the lead, Giant
Bananas to keep the lead.
#
>>>Hall of Shame<<<
For now, I don't have anyone daring enough to get himself or herself a
personal spot on the Hall of Shame, but fear not--you'll be seeing some
soon! Ask any Dragon Ball Z webmaster.
#
>>>Interesting Tidbits<<<
And for anything that doesn't quite belong in the actual FAQ but pique
your curiosity, the Interesting Tidbits category was made. This section
will grow and change as it gets increasingly perfected by fans like you,
though the entire section is entirely not necessary to complete your
game. But, if you're ever wondering about anything in the game, it's
wise to look here first.
Speakest, Thou!
These guys say a LOT, and I mean a LOT more than any other Mario Kart
game. Some even refer back to previous games! They'll utter something if
they place 1st, something else if they place 2nd or 3rd, or something
else if they lose. They'll say something when they launch an Item, get
hit by an Item, or if they Item successfully hits. They'll mutter when
their engine sputters, if they use a Mushroom, or even more. Here, I
will attempt to list everything that anyone says, whether it's spoken by
a professional actor or if it's just computer-generated funny noises.
IF YOUR CHARACTER WINS
Mario: "Whoohoo! I'm de winner!"
Luigi: "Oh yeah! Who's the number one NOW? Luigi!"
Peach: "Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Look at me!"
Daisy: "Yee-hah! Hi, I'm Daisy."
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Whoohoo! Baby Mawio wins!"
Baby Luigi: "Checkewed fwag faw Baby Wuigi! Whoohoo!"
Toad: "I'm the best!"
Toadette: "Yahoo! I'm the winner!"
Koopa: "Ba-bow! Ba-bow!"
Paratroopa: "Ba-bow! Ba-bow!"
Yoshi: "Yadryadr, yahoo!"
Birdo: "Pwow! P-p-p-pwow!"
Bowser: "Rmm. Roaaaarrr!"
Junior: "Wheeeee! Yeah-heh!"
Wario: "Yeah! Wario's the winner!"
Waluigi: "Yeah! Waluigi's the winner!"
Petey: "Fww fww fww fw fwww!"
King:
PLACING 2ND OR 3RD
Mario: "Mario get you next time!"
Luigi: "Yeah! That's-a pretty good! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"
Peach:
Daisy:
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Not bad! For a baby."
Baby Luigi: "Baby Luigi: Number not one."
Toad: "Yeah! Okay!"
Toadette: "Not bad! A hee ha how!"
Koopa: "Ba-bow!"
Paratroopa: "Ba-bow!"
Yoshi: "Wow..."
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior: "Oh, NO! Wowww..."
Wario:
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
LOSING
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach:
Daisy: "Aw, brutal!"
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Aw. Mama mia."
Baby Luigi: "Dadaaa! Waaah!"
Toad:
Toadette:
Koopa: "Fwaa! Fwaa!"
Paratroopa: "Fwaa! Fwaa!"
Yoshi: "Awowowowow! Awowowowow!"
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior: "Waaaaah! Hah, hah, hah."
Wario: "I lost! To a bunch of losers!"
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
PASSING SOMEONE
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach:
Daisy: "Hi!"
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Zoom zoom!"
Baby Luigi: "Vrrm vrrm!"
Toad:
Toadette:
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi:
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario:
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
FIRING AN ITEM
Mario: "Take-a that!"
Luigi: "Oh yeah."
Peach:
Daisy:
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario:
Baby Luigi:
Toad:
Toadette:
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi:
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario:
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
SUCCESSFUL ITEM
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach: "Wheehee!"
Daisy: "Yip yip yip!"
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Na-nee-neh-nah!"
Baby Luigi:
Toad:
Toadette:
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi:
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario: "Yeah!"
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
HITTING AN ITEM
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach:
Daisy:
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario:
Baby Luigi:
Toad:
Toadette: "Whoa-aa-a-o!"
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi:
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario:
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
MUSHROOM
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach:
Daisy:
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Whoohoo!"
Baby Luigi: "Oh-ho nooooo!"
Toad:
Toadette:
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi:
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario:
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
SWITCHING CHARACTERS
Mario: "It's-a Mario time!"
Luigi: "Oh, yeah!"
Peach: "Peach!"
Daisy: "Hi, I'm Daisy!"
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Baby Mario!"
Baby Luigi: "Uh-oh. Baby Luigi time."
Toad:
Toadette: "Oh!"
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi: "Yoshi!"
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior: "Yeah!"
Wario: "It's-a Wario time!"
Waluigi: "Waluigi time!"
Petey:
King:
DRAGGED
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach:
Daisy:
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "No no no no!" Waah! Waah!"
Baby Luigi: "Waaaah! Mamaaaa!"
Toad:
Toadette:
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi: "Awowowowow! Awo-awo-awowowowow!"
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario:
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
SELECTING CHARACTERS
Mario:
Luigi:
Peach: "Peach!"
Daisy: "Daisy!"
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Baby Mario!"
Baby Luigi: "Baby Luigi..."
Toad: "Yeah!"
Toadette:
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi: "Yoshi!"
Birdo:
Bowser: "Bowser."
Junior: "Yeah!"
Wario: "Wario!"
Waluigi: "Waluigi!"
Petey: "Woap."
King:
CHARACTER CHOSEN
Mario: "Whoohoo!"
Luigi:
Peach:
Daisy:
Donkey Kong:
Diddy Kong:
Baby Mario: "Whoohoo!"
Baby Luigi:
Toad:
Toadette: "Yahoo!"
Koopa:
Paratroopa:
Yoshi:
Birdo:
Bowser:
Junior:
Wario: "Yeah!"
Waluigi:
Petey:
King:
Mario Madness
The nostalgia really kicks in with Mario sports game, and this is no
exception. All over the place, you'll find references to previous Mario
excursions, some more subtle than others. Here, I'll list as many as I
can find, categorized by the game that they fell in. Not that reliable
when actively searching for thenm, but great for curiosity purposes. The
really obvious ones, such as Mushrooms or characters, won't be included.
If you spot one I haven't, contact me, and I'll be happy to put it in.
DONKEY KONG
(Characters/Karts)
·DK Jumbo-DK threw barrels at Mario
·Barrel Train-same barrel design
MARIO BROS.
(Peach Beach)
·Warp Pipe-allows anyone who jumps in to teleport somewhere else
(Mushroom Bridge)
·Blue Car's License Plate-Reads "POW" for "POW Block"
·Warp Pipe-see above
(Waluigi Stadium)
·Warp Pipe-see above
(Sherbet Land)
·Freezies-froze platforms
(Mushroom City)
·Red Car's License Plate-see above
SUPER MARIO BROS.
(Mushroom Bridge)
·Super Chocolate Truck-SMB Goombas and Mario painted on truck
(Waluigi Stadium)
·Podoboo Chains-obstacles that spin at different speeds in Castles
(Mushroom City)
·Super Chocolate Truck-see above
(Tilt-a-Kart)
·Tilt-a-Kart-Arena looks like Mario from SMB
(Bowser's Castle)
·Podoboo Chains-see above
SUPER MARIO BROS. 2/DOKI DOKI PANIC
(Characters/Karts)
·Birdo Egg-Birdo spat these as horizontal projectiles
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
(Basic)
·Item Box-once yellow with a "?", they give Mario a random item
(Luigi Circuit)
·Chain Chomp-tethered enemies
(Mushroom Bridge)
·P-Wing Express-P-Wings were Items in SMB3.
·P-Wing Express License Plate-reads "SMB3"
(Mario Circuit)
·Chain Chomp-see above
(Mushroom City)
·P-Wing Express-P-see above
·P-Wing Express License Plate-see above
SUPER MARIO WORLD
(Dry Dry Desert)
·Pokeys-took five Yoshi licks to defeat
(Bowser's Castle)
·Thwomps-slams down on the ground; MKDD model is identical to SMW's
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY
(DK Mountain)
·Barrel Cannon-shoots DK out at amazing speeds and distances
SUPER MARIO KART
(Luigi Circuit)
·Circuit-ordinary racetrack with no special obstacles
(Mario Circuit)
·Circuit-see above
(Yoshi Circuit)
·Circuit-see above
(Bowser's Castle)
·Bowser Castle-course made largely of 90° turns over a pit of lava
(Rainbow Road)
·Rainbow Road-course in outer space made of rainbow
·Lack of guardrails-SMK Rainbow Road had no barriers at all
SUPER MARIO WORLD 2: YOSHI'S ISLAND
(Characters/Karts)
·Yoshi Car-One of the vehicles Yoshi could turn into
·Yoshi Egg-Yoshi could aim these at enemies
(Baby Park)
·Yoshi Helicopter-One of the vehicles Yoshi could turn into
(Yoshi Circuit)
·Yoshi Helicopter-see above
SUPER MARIO 64
(Mario Circuit)
·Peach's Castle-identical in structure
·Bumpy Dirt Road-same texture as the pathway near the waterfall
MARIO KART 64
(Characters/Karts)
·"Mario get..."-Spoken like "See you next time!" after credits
·"Baby Luigi:..."-"I'm-a Luigi: Number one!" when Luigi places 1st
(Luigi Circuit)
·Luigi Sign-Also present in Luigi Raceway
(Mushroom Bridge)
·Moo Moo Farm Truck-Moo Moo Farm is the 2nd course in MK64
·Traffic-common and dense in Toad's Turnpike
(Waluigi Stadium)
·Stadium-Wario Stadium was a dirtbike arena with jumps and bumps
(Sherbet Land)
·Sherbet Land-course that took place on the edge of a frozen lake
(Mushroom City)
·Traffic-goes opposite way in Toad's Turnpike EXTRA
(DK Mountain)
·Jungle-based on DK's Jungle Parkway
·Music-completely made of bongo drums, much like DK's Jungle Parkway's
(Bowser's Castle)
·Fire-Breathing Statue-didn't hurt in MK64; just for show
(Rainbow Road)
·Floating Images-neon pictures of each character floating nearby
·Star-located around a loop about halfway through the course
F-ZERO X
(Wario Colosseum)
·Twists ahd turns-similar to contortions in F-Zero X, GX, and AX
MARIO KART: SUPER CIRCUIT
(Luigi Circuit)
Luigi Blimp-lies around in Luigi Circuit (MKSC) and Sky Garden
WARIO LAND 4
(Characters/Karts)
Wario Car-Wario drove this to get to the pyramid
PAPER MARIO
(Dry Dry Desert)
·Dry Dry Desert-located between Mt. Rugged and Dry Dry Outpost
·Whirlwind-Took you to a different spot on Dry Dry Desert
LUIGI'S MANSION
(Luigi Circuit)
·Luigi's Mansion-the house near the north end is the A-rank house
SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE
(Peach Beach)
City-Delfino Plaza architecture and people
Cataquacks-common creature in Gelato Beach
Piantas-inhabitants of Delfino Plaza
Nokis-inhabitants of Noki Bay
(Daisy Cruiser)
Piantas-see above
Nokis-(see above)
(THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER)
(Mushroom Bridge)
Whirlpools-Link's oceanic hazards; look underneath bridge to see them
Other Interesting Stuff
·Baby Luigi trembles as he goes down a straightaway. Check it out.
·The Memory Card blocks for Ghosts feature the characters on the track's
logo as the face on the cube. There's the background for the courses on
the stats.
·The signs in Waluigi Stadium dance.
·Have you noticed the spotlights in Wario Colosseum yet?
·There is blue fog all over Sherbet Land.
·Have you spotted Mushroom Bridge in Mushroom City yet?
#
>>>Legal Stuff<<<
Copyright Stuff
© 2003 Mathew Mekvichitsaeng, AKA Dr. Omicron. I didn't go to any patent
office, but because this was made in the United States, the fact that I
put the little "C" in the circle means that it's protected.
Contacting Me
You can reach me via e-mail at drrobotnik2001@aol.com, or, if you have
AOL, "Dr Robotnik 2001". AOL automatically means I can be instant
messaged, so if you have AOL or AIM, you can also contact me through
those same three words, if I'm ever online. I don't like IMs so much, so
unless you got an urgent question, try not to give me an instant message.
I don't like interruptions. And, just in case, you can also find me under
the following aliases:
Dr. Omicron (as you can see here, this is the one I'm using right now.)
General Guy (for Mario-based website message boards)
Dudamon (My GameFAQs account)
Zombie Aladdin (college sites and Guest)
MTailsPrower2000 (Or "MTails" for short, to a few AOL members)
NOTE: I've been having problems with my e-mail recently. Some won't show
up in my e-mailbox, and some disintegrate after leaving it. I have no way
of knowing if the e-mail even exists, as I get no notification. It may be
the spam filters at work, but if I don't reply your e-mail, please try to
send it again. If it still doesn't work, then I'm sorry.
I don't mind anything being sent to me, unless it's flaming, lack of a
sign of intelligence, or spam. Complain to me as much as you want, but
unless you have a logical and correctly punctuated, capitalized, and
spelled argument, it will end up in the Hall of Shame. Be careful!
Request Guidelines
I'm still as generous as ever, so you can simply highlight all of this
text and put it on your site. Change it if you want, I don't mind.
However, by contacing me, I will add your site to the "Sites" list below,
and I'll contact you if there are any further updates (and, judging by
the missing tracks, there certainly will be).
So, you can do this without my permission if you want, but if you want
an up-to-date FAQ, you're going to have to check a site on my list every
single day to see if I've updated, as there will be no pattern. You also
get excluded from my list, which means you're not going to gravitate
curious gamers to your Mario Kart: Double Dash!! section.
Special Thanks
Of course, this FAQ could not have been possible, or at least incomplete,
without the following. They will be listed in order of importance.
However, I won't be using weird symbols, like what I did for the SSBM
FAQ, since I got so many contributors that it got out of hand, and it
really disrupts the flow and momentum of reading.
MKDD.co.uk-For being such a nice community and adding so much to the FAQ*
Mario Kart Central-For picking up te remains of MKDD.co.uk after 11/27
GameFAQs-For being the first to use this FAQ
Cheat Happens-For being the second site
Computerunderground.com-For being the third
bboysicily-for remembering the Turbo Start
mariobrosfan-Warning sign from incoming items
Burning Death-Staff Ghost info
Xantiax-pointing out the Golden Mushroom ambiguity
ksinghr-Japanese names for Petey Piranha and Toadette
Techno Terror-Luigi's Mansion in Luigi Circuit
-"Not bad! For a baby!"
neonreaper-Telling me that Donkey Kong was for the Intellivision
Jeeves the Mole-about the arch-villain in SML2
KnuxAran-remembering the Nokis exist
SuperKyle 1991-pointing out Daisy's nonexistance in Luigi's Mansion
M@tt-For correcting me on the Mario sibling hierarchy in the story
*mariokartdoubledash.co.uk is permanently down, due to server issues.
Though my time there was brief, from August to November 2003, I picked up
a lot of info there. mariobrosfan, Burning Death, and ksinghr were all
members of the forums.
Sites
As dough expands, so does business. And as this FAQ gets known, more
people will see it. I know that this FAQ you see here has been seen in
the following sites:
GameFAQs
http://www.gamefaqs.com
Cheat Happens
http://www.cheathappens.com
Computerunderground.com
http://computerunderground.com
CheatCC
http://www.cheatcc.com
Goodbye!
And finally, I'll have to thank you for reading all the way to the end
of this FAQ. It was no easy task, since it's 175 kilobytes, and, unless
you are a speed reader, this has probably taken you hours. Hats off to
you.
Even though this is the end of the FAQ, it's, well, not the end of the
FAQ. As long as people continue to send me suggestions, tips, and other
stuff that turned up missing in this FAQ, it will continue to grow. For
at least a year, that is. So, if you like this, you can check up on the
version number near the top of the FAQ from time to time to see if it's
increased. Until then, happy Karting!
