50 Fun Facts About Mario Kart: Double Dash

Which tiny oval course in Mario Kart: Double Dash is raced over seven laps instead of the usual three?

Baby Park takes only about ten seconds a lap, so its races run to seven. The director got the idea from watching short-track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash, what do the two characters sharing a kart do when a solo player presses Z?

The pair swap places, trading the steering wheel for item duty at any moment in a race. Since a Double Item Box arms both riders, a swap also changes which item is used next.

Mario Kart: Double Dash, the fourth game in its series, was made for which Nintendo home console?

GameCube owners got it in November 2003, seven years after Mario Kart 64, and it sold about a million copies in its first seven weeks.

Which course always comes last in the sixteen-race All Cup Tour of Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Rainbow Road always closes the tour and Luigi Circuit always opens it, while the fourteen courses in between are shuffled into a random order.

Which course in Mario Kart: Double Dash is laid out in the outline of the character it is named after?

Yoshi Circuit traces its namesake's whole body: racers start beneath the shoe, loop a tunnel around the nose and take a sharp hairpin at the tail.

Which leader-hunting item first gained wings and an explosive blast in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

The Spiny Shell took flight because its wings were first drawn for a planned Paratroopa item called the Winged Shell. Developers then made it explode because a plain hit felt too weak.

Which special item belongs to Mario and Luigi in Mario Kart: Double Dash, in a red and a green version?

Fireballs split up after they are thrown and fan out along the track ahead, so a single throw can spin out several karts at once.

Which enemy sits beside the first U-turn of Luigi Circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash, lunging at passing karts?

A Chain Chomp guards that corner, and the same beast turns up as a special item that tows a kart forward at high speed while bowling rivals aside.

Mario Kart: Double Dash is the second best-selling game on its console, behind which seven-million seller?

Super Smash Bros. Melee sold just over 7.4 million copies to finish first, with Super Mario Sunshine third.

What launches racers high into the air partway through each lap of DK Mountain in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

A barrel cannon in the middle of the course blasts every kart up to the top of the peak, and racers cannot be hit by items while they are in the air.

Which special item do Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong share in Mario Kart: Double Dash, splitting into three when hit?

The Giant Banana began as a joke: developers set an ordinary peel's scale to its maximum, liked the result and gave it rules of its own.

Which character holds the start lights and fishes fallen karts back onto the course in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Lakitu does both jobs from his cloud, and racers he pulls from the freezing water of one course are set back on the track inside a block of ice.

Which stone enemies try to flatten karts in the entrance halls of Bowser's Castle in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Thwomps slam down along the first corridors, which racers enter through a doorway shaped like the castle's owner. Near the end, a statue of him shoots fireballs at passing karts.

Which enemies skate around the frozen rink of Sherbet Land in Mario Kart: Double Dash, spinning out karts they touch?

Shy Guys on skates patrol the rink, and a shell or a Star can knock them apart. The Nintendo 64 course of the same name had penguins as its obstacles instead.

Which course in Mario Kart: Double Dash sends racers past a swimming pool and through a dining room of sliding tables?

Daisy Cruiser is a race around a luxury liner, where dropping through a hole in the floor leads to a launcher that shoots karts out through the ship's funnel.

Which course closes the Mushroom Cup in Mario Kart: Double Dash, with a roaming tornado that sucks karts into the sky?

Dry Dry Desert also hides a sand pit with a hungry plant at the bottom, which swallows any kart that is dragged all the way in.

Which enemy is turned into a long bendy bus on Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Wiggler Wagons are articulated buses styled after the green caterpillar boss of Super Mario Sunshine, and hitting one flips a kart and scatters whatever it was carrying.

Which Super Mario Kart original must be unlocked in Mario Kart: Double Dash by winning the 100cc Special Cup?

Toad is the prize for that cup and comes with a kart of his own, after starting on the grid in all three earlier games.

The bumpy downhill half of DK Mountain in Mario Kart: Double Dash runs down the side of what?

An active volcano towers over the route, and boulders tumble down its lower slopes before racers cross a swaying rope bridge to the finish.

What name does Mario Kart: Double Dash give to the recording of a best run that a solo player can race against?

A ghost replays the player's best run on a course, and each saved one takes up five blocks on a memory card. Beating a target time also unlocks a staff ghost to chase.

Which caged Special Cup course in Mario Kart: Double Dash is so long that a race lasts only two laps?

Wario Colosseum is the longest course in the game, a tangle of metal ramps and corkscrews modelled on a stunt riders' globe of death.

What erupts from the ground on Dino Dino Jungle in Mario Kart: Double Dash, tossing karts into the air?

Geysers line a crystal cave and the final stretch of the course, while a huge long-necked dinosaur stomps about in the middle of the road.

Which cup in Mario Kart: Double Dash contains Mushroom Bridge, Mario Circuit and Waluigi Stadium?

The Flower Cup is the second of the four cups; winning it at 50cc unlocks a kart called the Bloom Coach, and at 100cc the Waluigi Racer.

Which character made a debut in any video game as an unlockable driver in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Toadette had never appeared anywhere before this game, where she shares the Golden Mushroom, a short burst of unlimited boosts, with her racing partner.

Which heavyweight shares with Petey Piranha the ability to draw almost any special item in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

King Boo and his partner are unlocked together, and the only special items closed to them are Luigi's green flames and Birdo's Egg.

Which lightweight driver returned in Mario Kart: Double Dash for the first time since the original Super Mario Kart?

Koopa Troopa had been left out of Mario Kart 64 and the handheld sequel, and came back with a winged partner and a special item of three shells at once.

What does winning the All Cup Tour on 150cc unlock in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Mirror Mode flips every course left to right at 150cc speed, and winning the same sixteen-race tour again there unlocks the golden Parade Kart.

Which battle mode new to Mario Kart: Double Dash has players fight to hold one prized object until a timer runs out?

Shine Thief sets everyone chasing a single Shine Sprite from Super Mario Sunshine, and a hit from any item makes the holder drop it for a rival to grab.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash, what colour must a drifting kart's sparks turn before letting go gives a mini-turbo?

Blue sparks come last: rocking the stick against the turn makes the sparks appear, then go orange, and only after one more push reach the shade that gives a boost.

Which elderly steward chauffeurs the cup winners in the golden Parade Kart of Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Toadsworth takes the wheel for the victory parade, and once unlocked his golden car is the only kart that any pair of characters can use, whatever their weight.

Which battle arena in Mario Kart: Double Dash links a walled yard to a wire-mesh upper deck?

Pipe Plaza has four large pipes linking its two levels, and entering one upstairs drops a kart out on the opposite side of the yard below.

On Waluigi Stadium in Mario Kart: Double Dash, what must karts jump through to grab the item boxes above two ramps?

Flaming hoops hang over both jumps with an item box in the middle, so a badly lined-up leap means a scorched kart and nothing to show for it.

Which Super Mario Sunshine creatures roam the shore of Peach Beach in Mario Kart: Double Dash, flipping karts?

Cataquacks come in four colours here and only turn up in Grand Prix and Versus races; any kart they flip also loses some of what it was carrying.

Which Nintendo veteran produced Mario Kart: Double Dash, feeding the team ideas but leaving the art style to them?

Shigeru Miyamoto served as producer while Kiyoshi Mizuki was chief director, charged with keeping the game simple enough to win over players new to the series.

Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City share music and traffic in Mario Kart: Double Dash, but what sets Mushroom City apart?

It is set at night among glowing mushroom-shaped towers, and its roads split at several junctions that all lead back to the same route.

Which walking enemies wander a bumpy stretch of road on Mario Circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Goombas stroll across an S-bend near the end of a lap that circles Peach's Castle, shortly before an arched bridge carries karts to the finish.

Which co-op move lets the rear player in Mario Kart: Double Dash shunt the kart sideways to steal a rival's item?

A Slide Attack is triggered with the shoulder buttons and jolts the kart left or right, spinning out a neighbour as well as taking what they hold.

What nickname do players give to chaining mini-turbos down the straights in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Snaking means drifting from side to side for boost after boost, and the constant swerving can even shake off a homing Red Shell.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash, what decides which class of kart a pair of characters is allowed to drive?

The heavier driver's size sets the limit, because nobody may ride in a kart smaller than they are: a light and heavy pair must take a heavy kart.

Which Nintendo accessory lets up to sixteen people race together in Mario Kart: Double Dash by linking several consoles?

The Broadband Adapter enables LAN play, with sixteen players paired off in eight karts; very few games on the system ever made use of it.

The bumps, mud and ramps of Waluigi Stadium in Mario Kart: Double Dash are styled on which motorsport?

Motocross gives the course its dirt jumps and mud, and the cartoon crowd in the stands cheers or groans at whatever happens to the racers.

What changes on Luigi Circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash when the engine class rises above 50cc?

The centre barrier disappears, so karts heading in opposite directions share the same stretch of tarmac and two shortcuts open up at the far edges.

Which motionless enemies on Sherbet Land in Mario Kart: Double Dash encase any kart that touches them in ice?

Freezies stay put until struck, then skid away across the ice and freeze the next kart in their path or shatter against a wall.

Which magazine gave Mario Kart: Double Dash a perfect score, ranking its controls with any racing game on the console?

Nintendo Power awarded full marks; other critics were less dazzled, with one complaining that the game had barely moved on from its predecessor.

The pre-order bonus disc for Mario Kart: Double Dash could unlock extras in which handheld strategy game?

Fire Emblem on the Game Boy Advance received bonus items and music through a link cable, and the same disc carried five playable demos.

Which mode of Mario Kart: Double Dash is strictly for one player, while every other mode allows up to four?

Time Trial puts one kart alone on the course with two Mushrooms to spend, chasing the fastest lap and race times.

Which other Nintendo racing game had a playable demo on the pre-order bonus disc of Mario Kart: Double Dash?

F-Zero GX shared the disc with demos of Mario Party 5 and Sonic Heroes, while several other upcoming games appeared only as video trailers.

Which Versus item setting in Mario Kart: Double Dash makes strong items common and basic ones like Green Shells rare?

Frantic sits beside Recommended, Basic and None in the options menu; Basic does the opposite, keeping the game's rarest and strongest items scarce.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash, what is the boost earned by hitting the accelerator just as the lights turn green?

A Rocket Start can also be earned by tapping the button through the countdown, and two co-op players who time it together get an even stronger launch.

In which region did Mario Kart: Double Dash go on sale first, ten days ahead of its North American launch?

Japan got the game on November 7, 2003, a week before Europe and Australia and ten days before North America.