Double Dash Was Almost Very Different

Mario Kart: Double Dash almost did not have its iconic two-driver mechanic, according to the game’s producers and chief director. While many Nintendo fans are looking forward to Mario Kart World on the Switch 2, many fans are fond of some of the classic installments in the franchise, including Mario Kart: Double Dash.

The Mario Kart series has come a long way since its genesis on the SNES. With each new installment, Nintendo has the challenge of innovating the racing gameplay while not straying too far from what makes the series beloved by fans. One of the most ambitious gimmicks seen in the series was the two-driver system in Mario Kart: Double Dash on the GameCube. While the mechanic put a fresh spin on the traditional gameplay, Nintendo developers revealed that it almost did not make it into the game.

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As spotted by VGC, a 2003 Nintendo Dream interview (recently translated by Shmuplations) has surfaced, revealing some interesting details about Mario Kart: Double Dash. Specifically, producers Tadashi Sugiyama and Shinya Takahashi and chief director Kiyoshi Mizuki talked about the two-driver mechanic in Mario Kart: Double Dash. According to Takahashi, the idea came from thinking of ways to make the multiplayer aspect of Mario Kart: Double Dash more exciting. However, the developers admitted the concept was challenging, with the team unsure it could be implemented into the final game. Surprisingly, Sugiyama revealed this caused the development to create another version of the game that featured single-driver karts, calling it the “emergency escape hatch.”

Mario Kart: Double Dash’s Two-Driver Mechanic Initially Had a Different Design

Fortunately, Nintendo was able to make the mechanic work in the end. However, the development went through different iterations of the idea before settling on what made it into the final product. According to Sugiyama, the team initially thought of designing the karts to put the two characters side by side. “Our very first idea was to have sidecars,” Takahashi said. However, the team discovered that this made the vehicles too wide. “Can you imagine eight massive karts lined up like that?” Sugiyama joked. This led to the passenger riding behind the driver on the kart in the final game.

While this fixed the width issue, Sugiyama revealed this caused yet another problem: the driver would be blocked out by the rider in the back when racing on the tracks in Mario Kart: Double Dash. However, the development team came up with the idea of letting characters swap positions on the kart. As a result, players could swap drivers whenever they felt like it, fixing the issue.

This 2003 interview sheds some light on the challenges that went into adding the two-driver mechanic for Mario Kart: Double Dash. While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe reintroduced the ability to hold more than one item, the GameCube installment is still the only game in the series to feature two characters per kart. Time will tell if gamers will ever be able to experience this mechanic on the Switch 2. While Mario Kart: Double Dash has not been announced to be coming to the system, Nintendo revealed that GameCube games are being added to NSO + Expansion Pack, meaning the racing game could come in a future update.

Mario Kart: Double Dash

Systems

Released

November 17, 2003

ESRB

e

Developer(s)

Nintendo EAD

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Engine

unity

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