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digdat0 edited this page Nov 7, 2026 · 2 revisions

MKDD-NX also runs on Windows: the same recompiled game, − menu, mods and saves as on the Switch, as a native 64-bit MKDD-NX.exe. Like the Switch app, it contains no game code or data: you need your own disc image.

What you need

  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, with a graphics card that supports OpenGL 4.5 (most cards from 2013 onwards; keep its driver up to date).
  • Your own dump of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (USA), game ID GM4E01, as .iso, .gcm, .ciso or .rvz.
  • MKDD-NX-Windows-<version>.zip from the latest release.

Install

  1. Unzip the download anywhere you can write to (not Program Files), for example Documents\MKDD-NX\.
  2. Put your disc image in the same folder as MKDD-NX.exe.
  3. Run MKDD-NX.exe. The exe is not signed, so Windows may say it "protected your PC": More info > Run anyway.
  4. The launcher opens. Check the settings, then press PLAY.

The first start takes a little longer while shaders are prepared. Press − in the game (Back on an Xbox pad, Esc on the keyboard) for the options menu: see Options Menu.

MKDD-NX\
    MKDD-NX.exe
    Mario Kart - Double Dash!! (USA).iso     (or .rvz)
    config\    settings.ini (shared with the Switch), windows.ini (window, audio, keys)
    logs\      mkdd.log, crash.log, boot.txt
    save\      card_a\*.gci saves, a folder per level pack
    mods\      hd\, characters\, karts\, audio\, lang\, level packs

Moving from the Switch: the folders are the same as the Switch's sdmc:/switch/MKDD-NX/. Copy save\, config\settings.ini and mods\ over to keep your saves, settings and mods (the PC builds its own shader caches).

Updating: download the new zip and copy its MKDD-NX.exe over the old one. Keep the config\, save\ and mods\ folders. There is no in-game updater on Windows.

The launcher

The launcher opens before the game. On its Game page, turn off Show this launcher when the game starts to go straight into the game; hold Shift while starting MKDD-NX.exe to get it back.

Page Settings
Game the disc image (found next to the exe, or Browse...), widescreen 16:9, frame rate counter (Off, FPS, FPS and frame times), LAN play and the other computer's or Switch's address (only for networks that block broadcasts), show this launcher, the log file (Off, Game, Game and audio, Game and battle AI) and Open the game folder
Graphics window size, full screen, render resolution (Automatic fits the window, or Native 640 x 480 up to 4x 2560 x 1920), texture filtering (up to anisotropic 16x), field of view for 16:9 and for 4:3, and the 4:3 border art. HUD, camera and colours are in the game's − menu
Audio output device, volume, latency, and MKDD Plus's stereo music
Controller a live picture of a controller (sticks, D-pad, buttons, analog triggers): pick a connected controller and which player it is. Below, its player's driving buttons: click a box and press the button. Held buttons light up their row, so you can test the map. Default buttons resets only the player shown. Rumble strength
Keyboard two keys for every controller button. Click a box and press the key; Default keys resets them
Mods the mod to play (automatic, off, or an installed level pack), the language (English, or one from mods\lang: see Languages), Install a mod..., extra characters and extra karts on or off (with how many are in mods\characters and mods\karts), HD textures, and Open the mods folder

PLAY saves everything and starts the game. Game settings go to config\settings.ini, the same file the Switch uses. Window, sound and keys go to config\windows.ini.

Installing a level pack

Mods > Install a mod... takes either the mod's .xdelta patch (MKDD Plus, Retro Track Grand Prix and its Baby Mode and Classic versions) or a disc image with the mod already patched in. It is unpacked into mods\, and you keep playing from your own clean disc image: pick the mod under Mod to play. Characters, karts, HD textures and stereo music go in their mods\ folders as on the Switch: see the README's Mods section.

Controllers

Controllers are read through SDL2: Xbox, PlayStation 4 and 5, Switch Pro, Joy-Con pairs, PowerA and other Switch-style pads, and GameCube controllers on the official adapter. The adapter needs the WinUSB driver, installed for example with Zadig. Other controllers work with SDL's gamecontrollerdb.txt in config\.

  • Players 1 to 4 are the controllers in the order they connect; the launcher's Controller page can change which controller is which player.
  • Buttons go by their label: on a PlayStation pad Cross = A, Circle = B, Square = X, Triangle = Y. LB / RB = L / R, LT / RT = ZL / ZR, Start = +, Back or Guide = − (the menu). Third-party Switch pads keep the Nintendo layout.
  • GameCube controllers keep their own layout (Z + Start opens the menu).
  • Each player's driving buttons are their own: on the launcher's Controller page, or in the game when that player presses − (players 2 to 4 get their own menu for their camera and buttons).

Keyboard

The keyboard is player 1, alongside any controller. The defaults (change them on the launcher's Keyboard page):

Key Button Key Button
arrows / WASD control stick Q / E L / R
X A (accelerate) Shift ZL
Z B (brake) Space ZR (drift)
C X (item) Enter + (Start)
V Y Esc / Tab − (menu)
I J K L right stick (free camera) F / R stick presses
numpad 8 4 2 6 D-pad (tricks)

F11 or Alt+Enter switches between a window and borderless full screen. In the − menu, the hints show player 1's keys next to the buttons.

LAN play

PCs and Switches can play together in the game's LAN mode, when every machine runs the same MKDD-NX version and the same level pack. Turn on Game > LAN play in the launcher, then pick the LAN mode on the title screen. Windows asks whether MKDD-NX may use the network the first time: allow it on private networks. See LAN Play.

Problems

  • The game doesn't start, or the screen stays black: update the graphics driver; the PC needs OpenGL 4.5.
  • The disc image isn't found or is refused: it must be the USA version (GM4E01), next to the exe or chosen on the launcher's Game page.
  • A controller does nothing: check it on the launcher's Controller page. A GameCube adapter needs the WinUSB driver (Zadig).
  • Bug reports: set the launcher's log file to Game, play until the problem happens, then attach the logs\ folder (mkdd.log, crash.log) to an issue.

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