The Mushroom Kingdom has become a lot more hectic now that Mario & co have doubled up for some furious racing in Mario Kart: Double Dash! Each kart holds two racers, so choose from Mario, Luigi, Peach, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr, Koopa and Paratroopa and pair them up any way you see fit. The character in front handles the driving duties, while the character in the rear doles out damage with six normal items and eight special items that only specific characters can use. Racers can swap places at any time, so switch it up on the fly to make the best use of your items as you tear around curves and over huge elevation changes.
Mario Kart's multi-player options are better than ever, too. Four players can compete in split-screen mode with one 'Cube and one copy of the game, or you can link two GameCubes together (two Broadband Adapters and an Ethernet cable are required) and use two TVs for an eight-player game. If you're truly hard-core you can link eight consoles (each with a Broadband Adapter) and eight TVs and each play on your own screen.