User Reviews (1 - 11 of 23)

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design mess

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: November 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

After hearing about this title several months ago I had high expectations for another addition to the already bloated character racing genre. This game has not lived up to the hype. The design of the levels is awkward and stilted, there appears to be little if any continuity with the art direction and the gameplay is simply not fun. If you are expecting Mario Cart type action this is not the game to satisfy that craving on the XBox. I hope that another developer will fill the gap for a good, fast paced cart game, but until then the Xbox will go without.

Ehhh...keep looking

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

A fun game, but sometimes the game play just isn't there, and it doesn't grab you. Also, too little ability to mess up the other guys. Buy Halo instead. ;)

If you like FUN racing ala Mario Kart, THIS is your game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: December 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I think I can best explain my feelings about this game by saying that I was planning on getting a GameCube for one reason: the next Mario Kart. I loved the first two, and we still play MK64 at my house almost daily.

However, when I played this game on my brother's xbox, I immediately started fantasizing about having my own xbox to play it on. Now that I've played Halo, I'm pretty sold.

The game itself is a cross between MK-style racing, complete with interesting characters and items to throw your opponents off with and platform-jumping games like Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. The game is a blast, although there is a slight learning curve that will take a few races to get through. The soundtrack is also rocking.

My only complaint about this game is that there are always 4 characters in a race. If you want to just have a mano-y-mano grudge match with your roommate and no distractions, you're out of luck, because there will be two computer-controlled racers in there messing with you. This is a minor quibble, though, and I still wholeheartedly recommend this one.

this game is cool

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: December 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

the graphics on this game is so cool and the bords are cool to

a new spin

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: December 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

this is the first game ive played were the characters actually ran its great the levels are challenging and fun at the same time

Cool

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 9
Date: December 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The Grapics on this game are okay. The tracks are a good distance. Their is very little you can do to mess up the others. But than i haven't found out what all the buttons do. Over all this game would be a good by.

Easy fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game plays better than it first sounds, and adults and kids alike will like it. I played it for almost an hour at a local ...and I'm going to buy it from Amazon as my own Xmas gift. :)

The game is fun because it combines easy gameplay with interesting characters (each with its distinct personality) and eye-candy environments. It's like Mario Kart on steroid, except this time you are on foot and there's a split-screen mode -- the crowd at the ... store loved the latter because each player can go totally wild on his own. Also this game requires more strategy than just holding down a couple buttons. For example you can take shortcuts only if you fulfill some conditions. This aspect makes the game more engaging esp. for multiplayers.

Definitely makes a great holiday gift.

much fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

while clearly rooted in older racers like mario kart and such, mad dash racing is really fresh and i'd even go so far as to call it original. despite the rather kiddie-ish appearance, it's genuinely fun for older gamers in addition to the young (the teen rating seems pretty harsh, imho). you race around on foot, but have special abilities that give you access to special shortcuts, and can get powerups to attack your opponents. characters are very original, having their own personalities and good animations.

it's clear from the start, though, that the entire game is very fast, which is good albeit it can take a race or two to get the hang of it. ...as well, this can easily lead gamers to ignore the beautiful maps, which are absolutely huge, and anything but linear. widely varied landscapes from snowy mountains to a desert to underground pipes are one of the best aspects of the game. while the graphics themselves aren't spectacular, they're quite good and very appropriate for the cartoon theme.

and, of course, the awesome soundtrack featuring the crystal method, propellerheads, fatboy slim, et al. definitely adds to the atmosphere.

during races, computer opponents will more or less stay near you, which some may consider as a fault, but i think is great especially when you're getting used to a course...otherwise you could easily either be left in the dust or later on outpace the computer players, either way, never seeing them for the duration of the race.

in terms of the a.i., it can be hard, but the "easy" level is very playable (although i personally think "normal" makes races much more interesting). in higher difficulties, your opponents will use powerups against you, and often take shortcuts, meaning you'll have to do the same to keep up.

It _is_ possible to play with only 1 to 4 racers (either real or computer) on courses in versus mode.

Ho Hum

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: December 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I really feel sorry for the developers of this game. You can tell that they were trying so hard to make it fun, but it always seems to come up just short.

I can't even put my finger on what is wrong with this game. All I can say is that after playing for an hour, I simply had no desire to continue... it didn't interest me.

I think the problem is that this game is so obviously trying to be Mario Kart, and it so obviously fails. I think it's possible to say without exaggeration that the 2 Mario Kart games rank among the 5 best video games ever made. Their simplicity, replayability, and perfection were truly awe-inspiring. Mario Kart was inspired by genius, and that genius isn't there in Mad Dash Racing. There is just nothing in this game that is comparable to the deep satisfaction that came from hitting Peach with a red shell or the rage when Luigi nailed you with starman and zoomed past saying "I'm a Luigi" in that hilarious Italian accent.

You should rent this game and give it a try, especially if you weren't spoiled by the geniuses at Nintendo. My prediction, though, is that it won't take long to get bored. The game is just.... blah.

Terrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 13
Date: December 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I can't understand why most of the xbox games on release were terrible. Halo got me interested, and since halo was supposed to be for the computer, and i had been anticipating it for a while, i had no choice but to buy the xbox. I'm not saying that the xbox is bad, but the box has some stupid and terrible developers, some i have never heard of before, and others that make terrible games. Dc Interactive is one of the worst developers i have ever seen, and mad dash racing shows how terrible this company is.

First off, the game does not take any advantage of the xbox's power, and it looks like this game could be on PS1 if it were a little slower. The game has some nice landscapes, and some of the grahpics are beautiful and detailed, but the characters look terrible compared to the levels. Graphics isn't everything though... lets check out the game play

I realized at first playing that you will always have computer players around. The only way to not have computer players in a race is to have 4 human players race. This is a major flaw, and its even worse because the computer players ae more out to get you than to win, and on top of that, the pathetic "homing chickens" never miss you on a shot. It is extremely easy to collect enough "green thingys" (I think they are called green rocks) to make weapons out of them. The creators of this game went to far in their creativity trying to make a humorous game and also have it fun and exciting. Nothing of the three was accomplished.

The game is way too difficult at times, and the AI is more than unballanced, but they have an extremely unfair advantage. The computer players never seem to run out of energy so they can dash everywhere, and of course maybe run you over so that they can get into the lead. Ontop of this, the computer players know the secret paths in ALL OF THE LEVELS. You will take days to figure them out, so the computer players have an extremely good advantage.

One last complaint, and my least complaint, is how that you can be in first place, and get hit by one of these stupid animals in the course, and get knocked back into last place. It is amazing how stupid people can be, and even those people who need to go to college for 10 years to learn perfect programming and math so they can be a computer/video game programmer, and still mess up a product, that may have even been anticipated for. I do not recommend this game, and everyone who gave this a good review is not a true gamer. You are all probably 12 years old, or are just not a gamer. Waste your money on another game. You will be extremely dissapointed if you are a gamer or above the age of twelve. DON'T GET THIS GAME!!!

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