Glossary

We use lots of terminology in our playing and writing. This post describes word meaning. This post will be actively updated.

• bug - the bug in the pipe level.
• debris - stationary objects on the level: red boxes, banana peels, etc.
• formation - time it takes for a weapon to be able to collide with another object.
• honk error - the event occurring when the desired weapon is unknowingly held by the driver and a shot is made. When two weapons are in inventory, the wrong weapon is shot. When only one weapon is in inventory, you honk, indicating the vacant attempt.
• majesty - a star, usually sitting on the field.
• MSG - fireball special weapon.

Starbomb

The starbomb (not star bomb or star-bomb, ala spacetime) is the holiest of attacks. It can occur when one has both a star and a bomb in inventory. It is performed by first using the star, rendering yourself invincible. Then a forward banana-peel-like attack is performed so that your opponent is hit by the bomb, the blast radius of which you are in (due to the forward attack). The invincibility, however, allows you to emerge unscathed. This can similarly be performed with a non-forward attack, but must then end with you running into the bomb, exploding it, hitting your enemy, and you escaping. To recap, four requirements must be met to have executed a starbomb:

1. Your enemy is hit with your bomb.
2. You purposefully trigger the bomb either by a successful forward attack or running into it yourself.
3. You are within the blast radius.
4. Your enemy is the only one to lose a balloon due to your star-powered invincibility.

We have only achieved this once, due to accident. It was so awesome, however, that we named the occurrence and have striven to repeat it.

Green Shells

While Dan's weapon of choice is often the peel (for its novelty if not its success as a weapon), I find myself drawn to the green shell. As Dan pointed out, I tend to discard weapons I do not want. There are other reasons for this, though. If I have a tiny suspicion that I will hit, I will fire. I burn through green shells pretty quickly (not just red boxes, mushrooms, and banana peels), on vague assumptions that one of the many shots I see in my head will land.

Basic usage is simple. Aim yourself so you are pointing at your opponent and fire. If they are not moving in roughly your direction, you must track them, and shoot where you think they will be when the shell reaches their future position (enter, calculus).

Reverse Shot

As shown in the banana peel discussion, we have developed strategies to use weapons in all ways possible. Likewise, the green shell can be used in multiple ways. The reverse shot is performed generally after passing your opponent, where a good shot could not be made, and aiming so that the back of your kart faces your opponent. No cookies for already knowing this: it's pretty obvious. However, this skill takes practice. Aiming from reverse is difficult. Often it is better to look on the opponent's screen to better judge their vector, making aiming easier. This can lead to problems since your kart is still driving forward (since you cannot turn while stopped), and since unattended by your view, can run into set obstacles. In addition, after aiming and shooting, your position is ofttimes poor (at a wall, corner) since you have sacrificed it for a good aim, making you an easy target. If successful, however, the reverse shot is unexpected and impressive (like the frontal banana peel attack).

Surprise

Next on the list is the surprise shot. Like the banana peel blind trap, this is performed using the multilevel facets of the course, and has a number of methods.

1. Enter a pipe from the ground, exiting on the upper grid. Opponents, knowing where you will end up, may drive up the ramp to your pipe. Firing a shell as soon as you exit the pipe can result in a hit near the top of the ramp, since the opponent was not able to see the shell coming towards them, and thus did not dodge it. Caution, however: if you miss, you must quickly turn. The shell will hit the wall and come back up the ramp, hitting you.
2. This can similarly be used when coming up a ramp, with an opponent coming down.
3. One of my favorites is the sideways ramp shot. While coming up a ramp, fire the shell before the top, but after the guard rails. This shot must obviously be done while turning and not parallel with the ramp, and so is unexpected.
4. The rebound-wall-from-above qualifies as a surprise, also. You are on top, your opponent is on the ground. Fire the shell toward the wall. It will rebound off and into your opponent.

Triple

Perhaps the most successful weapon (by which I mean frequency of intended hit success) is the special triple shell weapon, the racing special of the koopas. In general, do not save all three for separate attacks. Use them all at once. This allows for a much broader attack range that is harder to dodge. If your opponent has some defensive weapon (green shell, banana peel), it will not be enough. If you have bad aim, you can still hit. Best usage is to shoot one in front, one at, and one following. Take care to not shoot too quickly, or their full potential will not be utilized.

Rebound

Many other rebound shots work, too. My favorite is the off-the-wall-up-the-ramp rebound shot. Your opponent is going up the ramp. You are on the ground, but in the same plane as the top of the ramps, possibly under the bridge (section between the tops of the ramps). [Note to us: make a diagram of the level for more accurate description.] Face the wall behind the ramp entrance and angle yourself so a shot will bounce off the wall and up the ramp. Your opponent has assumed they are safe and will not be expecting, and thus not trying to dodge. Easy pickings.

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These have not been thrilling revelations, I know. Mostly they are ways to use what I believe to be the classic weapon in many possible manners. I must attest to the quality of this weapon. I would take it over any other always. Not a star, not a red shell, not anything else. The green shell has a long attack range and can serve as front and rear defense. With practice it can be used for attacks in almost any direction that are near impossible to dodge.

Banana Peels

In course of time, my brother and I have developed two distinct battle tactics. Matthew prefers a strategy that I call optimization. He attempts to win a battle employing the most useful weapons (red/green/large shells, bombs, stars) and almost immediately discards less useful weapons (small/large banana peels, red boxes, mushrooms). On the other hand, I have developed a certain proficiency with a more general tactic, in which I have attempted to master the use of each weapon, thus being able to attack quickly with whatever I'm given instead of being forced into evasion until an optimal weapon appears in my queue. I'll admit that my proficiency is graded; my skill with a red box is somewhat limited, and mushrooms are still hit-and-miss. However, banana peels have proven themselves to be as effective a weapon as shells, depending on circumstances. I'll outline here some of the possible maneuvers which I find particularly useful.

The Blind Trap

I assume that the practice of "trapping" pipes is fairly common. However, recent consideration revealed a new idea for a new trap. The blind trap requires simply placing a banana peel just beyond the lip of a ramp to the higher level. A player approaching from the top will not be able to see it until it is mortally too late.

The Forward Block

I make another assumption that it is a well-known fact that a carefully timed banana peel can stop the approach of a shell from behind. However, one can also throw a large or small peel forward to block a shell approaching from the front. The timing is a little tricky, because unlike the green shell forward block, one cannot throw it at any desired time. Instead, one must wait until the moment before impact and be travelling directly at the oncoming shell to successfully perform the forward block. With a little practice, you can quite easily premeditate an oncoming shot and prepare yourself adequately by predicting the direction that the shell will take.  Square yourself to that direction and attack the oncoming shell with a thrown banana peel.

I should note that a point blank frontal banana peel assault has been theorized and attempted, but no success has been made. This is due, perhaps, to an issue known as formation which requires its own post.

The Bounce Attack

If you are being chased into a wall, instead of turning sharply, you may choose to throw the banana peel at the wall immediately before colliding with it. The banana peel will bounce over and behind you. Of course, you could always just place it behind you, but your opponent may be tuned to react as a banana peel is placed in front of him. It is unlikely that he will be expecting an over-the-top approach. This is not often used, but can be useful as a mushroom evasion technique. Bait him by making him think that you are not going to attempt evasion, and then let loose with a bounce attack as he moves in for the kill.   

The High Attack

A severe limitation of the green and red shells is that both have a predominantly two-dimensional attack capability. At best, shells can be dropped from above onto an unsuspecting player beneath, but mostly they are limited to same-level attacks. Most notably, they can never be used to attack someone on a higher level. Enter banana peels. The trajectory of a thrown banana peel peaks at the precise height of a kart on the higher platforms in the pipe level. A player on the ground level can throw a peel such that 1) it lands in front of a player coming out of a pipe or driving along the platform or 2) it makes direct contact with a player on the higher level. Suddenly the higher level provides no escape from ordinance or protection from attack. A proficient player can make contact employing the high attack as often as he can with same-level green shells. A similar approach may be used with bombs (the most entertaining) and red boxes, although I believe that red boxes are thrown with a different trajectory than the other two.

The Sliding Attack

If you have an opponent cornered such that he is forced to go in only one direction, unless he wishes to stop and attempt a u-turn (not recommended), use the sliding attack. Change your direction so as to be almost exactly in front of him, use a drift turn to change the orientation of your kart so that you are bumper to bumper with your enemy and release the peel behind you. Ideally, the peel won't even land on the ground, but will appear directly on him, giving you your escape route.

Note: Do not attempt the sliding attack if your opponent has any sort of forward projectile in his queue. No matter your bravado, your skill at such a maneuver or your optimism, it won't work.

The Poop Attack

What? That's what we call it. Pooping is another two-level attack that requires the higher player to drift turn such that his back end is hanging over the rail (a technique known as grinding). Release a banana peel to drop it on your enemy beneath. Another version of this attack can be performed simply by driving off the top ledge and dropping the banana peel as you pass over the player underneath. You can also poop as you exit a pipe in the air.

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In short, with a little practice, banana peels can become an extremely volatile weapon in your arsenal. For me, I feel quite defenseless without one as I commence an attack on my brother.

Introduction

This blog will be a place for us to discuss advanced Mario Kart: Double Dash!! tactics and strategy. This game exists for the Nintendo GameCube. Commentary is limited to this version, with occasional comparison to Super Mario Kart, the original SNES game. In my opinion, Mario Kart Wii is not fit to share the franchise. After playing with the Wii Wheel for some 10s of seconds I had great dislike. Perhaps I should try again without the wheel. In any case, that version will not be discussed.

This blog is authored by Matt and Dan Jibson. We consider ourselves experts in Mario Kart proper, and artisans in battle mode. Having owned both this and the original, we have spent many hours playing each. It is common for us to spend 2-3 hours nightly battling when we are home on vacation. Battle sets tend to end in even scores. Due to this, our skill has risen to a level where we felt that sharing could be beneficial.

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For the first post, I share a highly-useful bug. There are 3 battle modes. Shine thief and Bomb-omb are more fun in large groups. For 2 players, the nostalgic balloon mode is the most fun. Of the 6 available levels, we find the pipe level the most convincing. The others are too large or too boring.

There is a bug in the pipe level, however, that lends itself to frequent exploit. If a player loses a balloon for any reason and enters a pipe soon after (around 1 second), the balloon will be returned. This has a few side effects which can be used for gain. First, invincibility is retained after the hit. This can be useful is the pipe has been trapped (i.e., an unmoving object has been placed at the landing location, [usually] guaranteeing a hit). Second, it serves as a getaway plan for red shells and other objects. If you know something is coming, making a dash towards a pipe can prevent the balloon loss.

This bug will certainly draw players to the pipes more often. An opponent attempting to escape attack opportunity by red shell will stay on top, and fall at the last moment to the ground to enter the pipe and land back on the upper grid. The opponent's theory is that the red shell cannot hurt them since if it does hit, they will enter the pipe and trigger this bug. To counter this, a well timed shot (close to when your opponent will hit the ground) will actually halt them, instead of just impeding their momentum. The best shot is timed so that the opponent will land on the shell/whatever. In this way the bug is not always a safety net, but can serve as a Siren.

Moving beyond the obvious exploits, let us discuss some of the more advanced. We have theorized, but not tested, that this can be used for balloon myosis. If hit with a mushroom or star, it is theoretically possible to then enter a pipe and have the balloon returned to you. Of course, balloons are instantly gained by the aggressor, and are likely not removed if this happens. Thus, we believe it to be possible to create balloons.