Ok, just arrived back from playing this which is currently on location test in the Namco arcade at the Meadowhall Shopping Centre just outside Sheffield.
First things first. If you're one of the people who disliked Mario Kart Double Dash!! then unless something drastic happens to the final build of the game then i reckon you're gonna hate this one. I personally really enjoyed the Gamecube version but i can see why people wouldn't. At this stage this new arcade release appears to be very much more of the same.
Graphics : Very much like the Gamecube's Double Dash!! in this respect. Perhaps a little bit more detailed and maybe slightly smoother, but i saw nothing that i don't think that the Gamecube could manage if pushed hard enough. They do fit the game perfectly though and i can't see how they could be improved and still look like a Mario game.
Sound : Again, nothing amazing and very much like Double Dash!! All the voices you'd expect are there along with the required sound effects. Thinking back i can't remember any of the tunes so can't really comment on those. The speakers on the cab were set nice and loud which does make a nice change for an arcade game these days. I certainly had no problems hearing anything.
Control : Lovely smooth steering wheel with the 'Item' button large and easily accessable in the centre. It's got quite a strong vibration when required - This is most noticeable when being affected by the power up which turns your wheels into cubes. It nearly shook the wheel out of my hands the first time as i wasn't expecting it. You make your Kart jump by stamping on both the gas and brake at the same time. It's fine once you get used to the timing but did take a little getting used to. I'm quite tall (6'3) and was perhaps at a bit of a disadvantage as it can be a struggle to move my legs far enough quickly once i've shoe horned myself into the cabinet. If you 'hop' while turning then you can drift sharply around the corner. Taking a corner without hopping makes you drift really wide around the outside of the corner...not recommended as it slows you down loads. Didn't manage to get the Kart do a boost whilst cornering as you can in the previous version although obviously that's not to say it's not possible.
Gameplay : The first thing i tried was a 'boost start' and managed it first and every race. It's achieved by flooring the gas inbetween the 2nd light and Go. Works just like previous versions in that a bit of fire comes from the rear of your kart and you boost to usually 2nd or 3rd. Try to make so that you don't hit any of the other racers while doing this (and at all other times) as you lose coins which i presume slows you down. Coins are available in groups all in various areas of the track. Once collected they don't appear to regenerate until every one of the group has been collected.
After collecting a power up you will usually get a small cross-hair in the centre of the screen. If you can manage to hold the cross-hair over an opponent for a couple of seconds you lock on and your weapon has a guaranteed hit. Fire too soon and you miss. You know when you've picked up reverse firing weapon as a small arrow will appear from the rear of your kart. On items that need to be manually aimed you just get a basic cross-hair for aiming. I don't think that inidividual characters have their own specific items. When playing in Grand Prix mode i reckon i only saw perhaps three or four different ones...the one that changes your wheels into cubes, a rain cloud that i think made the Kart understeer, a big dog bowl shaped thing that drops on an opponent slowing them down and a red shell. Three available power ups are chosen at random when playing in multiplayer from a fruit machine type thing which you stop using the item button in the centre of the wheel. A few more appeared then such as a cream pie and red smoke bomb that both can be dropped behind you and a rocket launcher that fires what appear to be mini pac-men.
One of the biggest complaints about the Gamecube Mario Kart!! was the cheating AI. If that was something that bothered you then you'll be annoyed to find out that nothing has improved. No matter how well you think you're driving your opponents only ever seem to be a couple of feet behind. I also lost track of the number of times i was about just about to win but got clobbered on the last corner by a weapon. Very infuriating.
There were three Cups available to play. Each one has two courses open and two more locked. By coming 1st (and perhaps 2nd?) you open up one of the locked courses. Once open they can be tackled in any order. It was hard to unlock any of the later courses since you're supposed to use one of the magnetic cards that all new arcade games seem to use these days to save your progress. The cards or reader weren't available in this unfinished version and since we were taking turns we almost always had to start afresh unfortunately. The courses we did manage to play on were to be honest not very exciting. Very much like the early Double Dash!! tracks in that they were wide, normally almost oval and quite uneventful.
Pretty much stuck for what else to say. I certainly won't be going back in a big hurry to play it. We both agreed that it's the sort of game that non gamers might very well enjoy playing while at the cinema. Unlike something like Outrun2 which i've quite happily spent hundred's of pounds playing in the arcade, there doesn't seem much of a game to get good at unfortunately. It's definitely more of a party game than a proper driving game.
I did get some video footage (before we were told to stop filming
) and as soon as i can find my firewire cable i'll put up on the net for viewing.
If you've got any questions about anything i've missed let me know and i'll see if i know the answer.
First things first. If you're one of the people who disliked Mario Kart Double Dash!! then unless something drastic happens to the final build of the game then i reckon you're gonna hate this one. I personally really enjoyed the Gamecube version but i can see why people wouldn't. At this stage this new arcade release appears to be very much more of the same.
Graphics : Very much like the Gamecube's Double Dash!! in this respect. Perhaps a little bit more detailed and maybe slightly smoother, but i saw nothing that i don't think that the Gamecube could manage if pushed hard enough. They do fit the game perfectly though and i can't see how they could be improved and still look like a Mario game.
Sound : Again, nothing amazing and very much like Double Dash!! All the voices you'd expect are there along with the required sound effects. Thinking back i can't remember any of the tunes so can't really comment on those. The speakers on the cab were set nice and loud which does make a nice change for an arcade game these days. I certainly had no problems hearing anything.
Control : Lovely smooth steering wheel with the 'Item' button large and easily accessable in the centre. It's got quite a strong vibration when required - This is most noticeable when being affected by the power up which turns your wheels into cubes. It nearly shook the wheel out of my hands the first time as i wasn't expecting it. You make your Kart jump by stamping on both the gas and brake at the same time. It's fine once you get used to the timing but did take a little getting used to. I'm quite tall (6'3) and was perhaps at a bit of a disadvantage as it can be a struggle to move my legs far enough quickly once i've shoe horned myself into the cabinet. If you 'hop' while turning then you can drift sharply around the corner. Taking a corner without hopping makes you drift really wide around the outside of the corner...not recommended as it slows you down loads. Didn't manage to get the Kart do a boost whilst cornering as you can in the previous version although obviously that's not to say it's not possible.
Gameplay : The first thing i tried was a 'boost start' and managed it first and every race. It's achieved by flooring the gas inbetween the 2nd light and Go. Works just like previous versions in that a bit of fire comes from the rear of your kart and you boost to usually 2nd or 3rd. Try to make so that you don't hit any of the other racers while doing this (and at all other times) as you lose coins which i presume slows you down. Coins are available in groups all in various areas of the track. Once collected they don't appear to regenerate until every one of the group has been collected.
After collecting a power up you will usually get a small cross-hair in the centre of the screen. If you can manage to hold the cross-hair over an opponent for a couple of seconds you lock on and your weapon has a guaranteed hit. Fire too soon and you miss. You know when you've picked up reverse firing weapon as a small arrow will appear from the rear of your kart. On items that need to be manually aimed you just get a basic cross-hair for aiming. I don't think that inidividual characters have their own specific items. When playing in Grand Prix mode i reckon i only saw perhaps three or four different ones...the one that changes your wheels into cubes, a rain cloud that i think made the Kart understeer, a big dog bowl shaped thing that drops on an opponent slowing them down and a red shell. Three available power ups are chosen at random when playing in multiplayer from a fruit machine type thing which you stop using the item button in the centre of the wheel. A few more appeared then such as a cream pie and red smoke bomb that both can be dropped behind you and a rocket launcher that fires what appear to be mini pac-men.
One of the biggest complaints about the Gamecube Mario Kart!! was the cheating AI. If that was something that bothered you then you'll be annoyed to find out that nothing has improved. No matter how well you think you're driving your opponents only ever seem to be a couple of feet behind. I also lost track of the number of times i was about just about to win but got clobbered on the last corner by a weapon. Very infuriating.
There were three Cups available to play. Each one has two courses open and two more locked. By coming 1st (and perhaps 2nd?) you open up one of the locked courses. Once open they can be tackled in any order. It was hard to unlock any of the later courses since you're supposed to use one of the magnetic cards that all new arcade games seem to use these days to save your progress. The cards or reader weren't available in this unfinished version and since we were taking turns we almost always had to start afresh unfortunately. The courses we did manage to play on were to be honest not very exciting. Very much like the early Double Dash!! tracks in that they were wide, normally almost oval and quite uneventful.
Pretty much stuck for what else to say. I certainly won't be going back in a big hurry to play it. We both agreed that it's the sort of game that non gamers might very well enjoy playing while at the cinema. Unlike something like Outrun2 which i've quite happily spent hundred's of pounds playing in the arcade, there doesn't seem much of a game to get good at unfortunately. It's definitely more of a party game than a proper driving game.
I did get some video footage (before we were told to stop filming
) and as soon as i can find my firewire cable i'll put up on the net for viewing.If you've got any questions about anything i've missed let me know and i'll see if i know the answer.
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