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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.

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.

Best XBox Game ever-Really!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I usually sit and watch my husband and friends play video games. I decided to try this one out. It is soo much fun! We had to go buy a third controller just so we could all play this game. You get to pick from 9 different characters until you unlock some others. There are three types of characters-dashers, bashers, and gliders. Each one has a special ability to help you along the race. Dashers can run super fast for as much time as you have energy drink for, bashers can beat through obstacles, and gliders can fly over everything. I especially enjoy being a glider because it helps the most with jumping over your friends(or other computer players) weapons and it uses less energy than the dashers. You can play 1-4 other players or have computer stand-ins. There are various scenes to race in-a beach, dinosaur ruins, volcanos, arctic, and others. You race along trying to pick up as many weapons as possible to try and slow down your opponents while you use special marked routes(somewhat hidden). There are special routes for each of the three types of characters. You can also pick up special stones which when you have ten will turn you into a trybrid. This allows you to use all of the three special abilities. The weapons are great. YOu have fruit that bounces everywhere and when hit knocks the other racers down, you can freeze players where they have to hit a three button sequence in order to return racing, get flying chickens that knock down the person in front of you, an invincibility ball that makes you immune to other weapons and speeds you up, and many more. This game has everything to keep you wanting to play more. It really is fun and interactive for group playing. Highly recommend

Great game for the non-gamer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I haven't played a video game since 1994, but recently picked up an xBox and Mad Dash for my wife (she takes care of kids and wanted to improve her skills).

Mad Dash is tons of fun - we can race each other and have a blast, there are several different ways to play the levels that keep it challenging. (Challenge modes, race modes, etc.)

This may be a rip-off of other games - but for the non-gamer who's never seen Mario-Kart, this is fantastic. I have no interest in learning to hit x-a-b-b-b-c-up-down-y-b-b-q to learn to punch somebody like so many games these days seem to require. This is running, jumping, doing tricks and taking advantage of some basic special powers.

Now if only I could find those gold medals on the vine level...

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.

Mad Dash Racing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I had alot of fun with this title. Keep in mind this game should only be played Multiplayer, as the single player mode is kind of boring. The graphics are great. Tons of shortcuts, HUGE levels some took us up to 8 minutes to complete. Powerups, jumping, flying, climbing, bashing, grinding and more. It's alot of fun multiplayer but single player is kind of boring as you need to place first in order to advance to the next race. With the Huge levels and and long race times it can drag quickly if you don't place first. You can complete any race to advance to the next though, you do not need to complete any of the races in order. Halo would be the best thing to play multiplayer, but if you want a change of pace or want to unwind with the kids this is still fun.

Fun but hard

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I recieved this game for Christmas as a present. There are 11 different tracks all of them are quite hard but fun. They take some getting use to too! All of the characters are very comical:
Ex:Betty: She has a huge wrench that she runs around with and trips people with it.
Spanx: A crazy looking lab rat that can't run straight.
I would suggest this came for 12 and older. Some of the comments that the characters make are quite rude. The versus is the funnest. There are adventures where you have to beat some very hard level (I am still stuck on the last one!).

Over all it is a fun game!

No Rules... Do What It Takes To Win!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

A classic and comical game full of surprises at every turn! Even though it looks like another animal racing game, it is truly different from just about every other race title. The first difference you notice is that the characters race on foot.This makes the game more challenging and fun to play. Climbing and swimming involves circling the joystick, but hey you'll get over it. Also there aren't that many tracks as one would expect. Only 11. But it takes a while to unlock the rest even if you are an experienced player, so I don't blame the developer. As with every cartoon style racing game, there are power-ups to slow your opponents down. But you can also trip up your opponents with a little pouncing and elbow throwin'. Heh Heh. Also you can grind rails or similar ledges. This may seem familiar with Sonic Adventure fans, but the tricks are less harder to do and the characters balance themselves automatically. Having more characters makes up for less tracks. Each character has a different ability and speed, so choose wisely. And of course there are a couple of cool characters to unlock. I recomend Sid for beginners. They also say cuss words and so do some of the songs, but there are also millions of short AND long cuts of shortcuts, CHALLENGING bosses and other surprises. Buy the game and experience one of the most original and coolest racing games of all.

Uninspired early racing title for the XBOX

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I tried to like this game and in some ways I do. But there are too many flaws to make me consider rating this anything higher than a 3.

For starters, there's nothing here that hasn't been done before. The concept of animals racing is nothing new and the added techniques such as grinding don't really add to the game and look rather strange. The frame rate fluctuates wildly and despite what others may say, you DO notice it during the game. The courses are way too open ended...at times, it feels like you're playing a game similar to SONIC ADVENTURE on the Dreamcast because there are TOO many different ways to proceed and you tend to lose your bearings at times. Swimming and climbing are accomplished by rapidly circling the analog sticks which I found disrupting in the middle of a close race. And lastly, there's something about this game that makes me nauseous when I play it for more than 25 minutes...usually 3D games like FPS and other conventional racing games don't do this to me, but MDR seems to succeed every time whether its from the wild movements of the backgrounds or the chunky frame rate.

I bought my copy for [$] and I would warn against paying any more for it. This is probably the first XBOX game (other than Wreckless) that I feel just isn't worth buying. Rent it and see first.

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.

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