Coming Up With Mario Kart: Double Dash Was Tougher For Nintendo Than You'd Think

When it comes to racing games that you can enjoy with a party of people, the 14 "Mario Kart" games are the cream of the crop. Heather Alexandra attempted to break down what makes the games so exciting for Kotaku, but it's nearly impossible to decide what's more engaging: the fact that every race is different and surprising because of items, or people think it's fun because they're constantly learning and adapting through races. While it's tough to nail down what makes the games so fun for players, one particular "Mario Kart" title proved just as difficult for Nintendo developers to come up with.

In the early 2000s, the Gamecube received "Mario Kart: Double Dash." "Double Dash" is similar to many other "Mario Kart" titles, but it added a new twist with karts that could hold two characters, along with some hidden adult messages. The game was a hit with over 6.8 million copies sold, and it's still worth playing today. However, it wasn't a walk in the park to create – the development team struggled a bit to make the popular "Mario Kart" game.

Gaming site CVG published a 2003 interview with high-level Nintendo staff Tadashi Sugiyama, Shinya Takahashi, and Kiyoshi Mizuki (via Wayback Machine). There, the three discussed "Mario Kart: Double Dash" and the pressures of making the game. When asked about how developers balanced the game in terms of appealing to new players while also satisfying new players, Mizuki explained that it was quite difficult. "It was never very easy for us to come up with a gameplay feature that would cater to the old fans of the existing Mario Kart series," he said. "As well as adding some new features so that fans of classic 'Mario Kart' titles could enjoy it too."

Mizuki also went on to explain that the hardest part of all was trying to make newcomers to the series interested in the game. This led to simple gameplay, which was one of the hardest things Mizuki had to do. While the gameplay might seem straightforward from what Mizuki and the team were thinking, it's just complex enough to keep players interested. In fact, many people claim that "Mario Kart: Double Dash" is the best "Mario Kart" title to exist – the hard work certainly paid off.