Mario Kart Double Dash Walkthrough for Gamecube Game Name: Mario Kart Double Dash Format: Gamecube Submitted By: Ghost Killer Mario Kart Double Dash is finally here and if you need help on the mushroom cup, flower dup or even some basic driving skills then look no further. PICKING A KART AND RACER ------------------------ Before heading out to the tracks you need to select two racers and a kart that best suit you. How do you do this then? Drivers ------- Drivers have no effect on driving skills but their weapons are very important as you need to know which attacks you would make best use of in races. Baby Luigi for example has a very useful weapon that can see you going from 5th to 1st in a matter of seconds, however is very rare to grab if you stay in the 4th position and above. If you stay in the 4th position and above you may consider Mario's weapon as these are usually easy to come by. Try to use different racers and not the two that match as they'll both have the same special weapon which makes having one of them pointless. For beginners pick Baby Luigi or Baby Mario and if you gradually improving choose Mario or Bowser. A duo of one of these four is a good choice. Karts ----- Karts are rated on top speed, weight and acceleration. (Mario's Red Fire Kart is rated three out five for all three areas for example) The best to choose from the start is usually a low weighted kart and one with a high acceleration as these are better at turning making your life a lot easier. However when you improve, heavier characters mean higher top speed so picking them is a safe bet. WEAPONS ------- Basic Weapons ------------- Banana: Slippery item that sends opponents spinning on contact. Green Shell: Basically a missile that fire straight ahead and bounces of of walls. Red Shell: A homing missile that breaks upon impact on wall. Fake Box: Red item box that causes opponents to crash on impact. Mushroom: Gives you a boost. Also available in threes. Star Makes: you invincible for a short while. Lightning Bolt: Causes all other opponents to turn small. Purple Winged Shell: Flies through the air and hits the player in pole position causes a devistating explosion. Special Weapons --------------- For the special weapons I have listed them and showed who can actually use them and also how good they actually are. Fireballs (Mario & Luigi) Rating: Good Five fireballs shoot ahead in different directions that when making contact with the enemy, send them spinning. Spotted Egg (Yoshi & Birdo) Rating: Good Egg that acts as a homing missle on the nearest opponent. Upon contact three weapons shoot out and litter the track ready for you to pick up or avoid. Bob-Bomb (Wario & Waluigi) Rating: Average Shoots ahead and upon explosion causes huge radius damage. Spiked Shell (Bowser & Bowser Jr) Rating: Excellent Basically a huge green shell that is a real annoyance. Chain Chomp (Baby Mario & Baby Luigi) Rating: Superb Very similar to that of a crazy dog on a leash that drags you at a high speed through player upon player until you let go of it. Big Banana (Diddy & Donkey Kong) Rating: Poor Huge banana when hit becomes three smaller ones. Green Or Red Shells (Paratroopa & Troopa) Rating: Average/Good Basically three times a green shell or red shell. Heart (Peach & Daisy) Rating: Excellent Acts as a shield for two attacks and also gives you the weapon you were attacked with. Golden Mushroom (Toad & Toadette) Rating: Excellent A mushroom that gives you unlimited boosts for a short period. Random Special (Petey The Pirana & King Boo) Rating: Superb Randomly selects any weapon from any character to use. RACING TIPS ------------ Drifting -------- Hold the L or R button when turning a corner to power slide around it. Rocket Start & Double Dash You can get a rocket start if you press the A button just as Lakitu's traffic signal turns green and you see START appear across the screen. In Co-Op mode you can get a Double Dash!! start if both the front and rear characters perform a turbo start at the same time. Drift Turbo ----------- You can get a temporary burst of speed by performing the drift turbo.To perform this, hold the L or R button and keep accelerating as you turn, to start sliding around a corner. As you slide flick the analogue stick back and forth till you see blue sparks appear underneath the wheels. Let go of the R or L button and then you'll get a boost. Stealing Items -------------- You can steal items from rival karts if your rear character is not holding anything by using one of three techniques. Firstly you can either ram the opponent with a star, or you can ram them when using a mushroom or finally, you can ram them when drifting. TRACKS ------ I've given a difficulty rating as well as some helpful hints and notes about each track. Luigi Circuit Difficulty: * Basic track that introduces you to the game nicely. Two large turns at either end cause no real threat, but it's best to use the boosts on the far side. Watch out for the chain chomp as it'll hit you and slow you down. Peach Beach Difficulty: ** Again very simple with a few nasty surprises. When on the beach drive to the right and stay clear of the water while avoiding the flipping enemies as these will send you flying losing your precious time. Try to drift turbo whenever you can on this beach as it's a nice open area which should make it easier. Baby Park Difficulty: *** The simplest track in the game that poses the hardest challenge mainly because it's small area hosts a variety of dangers ranging from bouncing shells to huge explosions in such a small area. All the help I can give you is to drift turbo on the corners and hope for the best. Dry Dry Desert Difficulty: *** Quicksand, sandstorms and huge sand dunes are your main problems on this track. Never drive on the outter edge as this will cause you to slow down. Also watch for the sandstorm after the first major turn. Drive around it even if it means taking a longer route. Finally on the map you'll see a huge circle. This is the quicksand area. Drive around this anti-clockwise as this is quickest and also never try to go through it as you end up getting eaten by the plant. Mushroom Bridge Difficulty: ** Basically a motorway with cars to avoid and bombs on wheels as well. On the bridge take the left hand side and travel up the frame and you be treated to several boosts and an item box. However this is difficult and may result in you falling into the water. A little shortcut to consider is located near the start on the right hand side. You should see a house. Drive up towards it and use a star or mushroom as normal driving is too slow on this area. You'll cut the corner and skim a few seconds off you time. Mario Circuit Difficulty: ** Like Luigi's Raceway but with more hazards and sharp turns. Watch out for goombas and pirana plants as these will slow you down. Also try to drift turbo on the sharp turns in the offroad section as this will cause you to overtake the opposition. Daisy Cruise Difficulty: ** Great track based on a cruise ship. Basically go down the stairs, travel around the swimming pool and head towards the dining area where you'll see moving tables. Now avoid these and you've mastered the hardest part of the track. After this avoid the hole to the right and basically you're in for an easy ride after this. Waluigi Stadium Difficulty: ** Dirt track that has many big jumps through loops of fire and mechanical plants to avoid too. Make sure when you hit the jumps your are going straight and when onto the almost halfpipe section avoid the rotating fireballs or else you'll be sent spinning. Sherbet Land Difficulty: **** Slippery ice and ice clocks are what make this such a difficult track. Take it easy on this race as one wrong move will result in crashing and losing precious seconds. Never turn too hard on the ice surface or else you'll overturn and also on the last area avoid the ice blocks by taking the long way around to avoid hitting them. It's also best not to drift turbo on this track to begin with as it'll cause you to lose control of the kart. Mushroom City Difficulty: *** Similar to Mushroom Bridge but with one nast part at the end. The traffix is against you on this part which will usually result in crashing, so if you have a star or mushroom handy, take the side platform to the right while using the item. This is easier and quicker than going left. However if you don't have a mushroom take the right and stay on the middle line to avoid cars. Yoshi Circuit Difficulty: *** Hard turns are what make this difficult. There are also pirana plants to be aware of but they pose no amazing threat unless you drive too close to them. Remember your drift dash turbo are very effective on this level with so many turns as well. DK Mountain Difficulty: *** The start is simple. Make the two major turns and head towards the barrel. After this you'll basically be going downhill all the way so make sure not to go overboard and lose control of the kart. When you reach the grassy area again on the second major turn watch out for the hole on the right. Avoid this by staying on the left immediately. After this you just need to be careful on the straight bridge and you're finished. Wario Collesium Difficulty: *** Crazy level with so many turns and jumps and dips. Drift turbos are required wherever possible and in one area where you have the option to turn left, right or make a jump straight down the middle, choose the middle as this is quicker. Just head straight through! No more real advice I can give you besides take this track easy as it's mind-boggling. Dino Dino Jungle Difficulty: *** Nice jungle track with a few surprises. Firstly watch out for the dinosaurs huge feet. Drive around for saftey or if you're feeling daring go though the gap in the middle. After this navigate past the wooden bridge area. There are three ways you can go, left right or middle. Right has boosts but requires great balance and skill while middle is the easy way and finally left is a little narrower but has double item boxes. For the rest of the race avoid the water holes that shoot you into the air and also the dinosaurs head on the right hand side of the bridge at the end. Bowser's Castle Difficulty: *** Looks more difficult than it is. Firstly you need to avoid the thwomps after the castle entrance by moving around them and not through them as you risk getting crushed. Next is the lava area where you need to dodge fieballs shooting through the mesh cage surface. Then the area after this is just awkward turns that can be beaten with drifts. And finally a bowser statue that shoots fire at you is located near the end so watch out! Rainbow Road Difficulty: **** Yet another Rainbow Road track makes it to another Mario Kart game. But this time it's harder! There are no sides on some areas, and some turns will have you pulling your hair out. Especially the first two going downhill. Prepare yourself with a drift to master these. After this it's a matter of making turns and hitting boosts. Until you reach an area of "snakey" track. Slow down a little on this as it's easy to underestimate this area. After this you should find it easy. There you have it. I hope this has helped you with your problems and thanks for reading.