Countdown to Mario Kart!

[OB1]

Uh, this is strange. So far Mario Kart DD has been getting some really great reviews as you can see here (an average score of 94% so far), but IGN gave it just a 7.9. Here's what Franny-Fran had to say about it:

Fellow GameCube and Mario Kart fans, I know what you're thinking. That we've taken too harsh a look at this beloved franchise, which has always been about good, simple fun. But Nintendo itself has said it is a company that innovates and is a company that does not want to deliver cookie-cutter sequels. Unfortunately, that's just what Double Dash!! is. It's good, clean multiplayer fun but it doesn't progress far beyond the N64 version other than in the visual department.

What it has ended up being is a stellar kids title -- and I highly recommend this one to parents searching for the perfect GCN title for their young ones. Few better you will find.

For the older audience and the hardcore devotees to the series, you will almost definitely find an experience very similar to Mario Kart 64, and perhaps something less than that. It's a more simply designed racer, and while that's okay for a new audience of children, it does little for the millions of hardcore fans that have grown up. The production values put into Mario Kart: Double Dash are extremely disappointing; honestly, do we really need two item buttons (X and Y) instead of dedicating one of them to a look-behind function? Having played a title like SSX 3, which redefines what you can do with arcade racers -- how much you can offer the players -- I feel like Mario Kart: Double Dash is missing so much.

I expected so much more than this mediocre effort. I had hoped for more than one selectable costume, skins for the karts, maybe GBA link-up support, remakes of the old levels, more characters, much more high-quality music -- the list goes on.

So, think about Double Dash before shelling out your much-needed holiday cash. If you've got a ton of friends that are into the title, you stand to enjoy multiplayer -- but even that may get old faster than you'd like.

I only hope that Nintendo pours more production into the sequel and remembers that just because Mario Kart was once designed for the younger crowd, doesn't mean it can't become an everyone title with some complexity to it.

-- Fran Mirabella III

Wow. That's the complete opposite of what everyone else has been saying about the game. I sincerely hope that this is just a case of IGN having lost their minds.