Nintendo wasn't sure about Mario Kart: Double Dash's central 2-driver gimmick, so the devs made a single-driver version simultaneously as an "emergency escape hatch"

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"The pressure is huge" to make worthy Mario Kart entries

Several racers battle for the win in official art for Mario Kart: Double Dash
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario Kart pretty quickly became one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, to the point where Mario Kart World is now both the biggest launch title for Switch 2 and the subject of the publisher's first experiment with $80 games. The devs were feeling the pressure of that position as far back as 2003 with Mario Kart: Double Dash, and they were frightened enough of rocking the boat that they were developing two different versions of the game simultaneously.

In an interview with the Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream, which was published ahead of Double Dash's release and recently translated by Shmuplations, producer Shinya Takahashi said that it was a "monumental challenge" to build an innovative take on the series "while not destroying what makes Mario Kart unique."

Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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