Mario Kart 64

While Mario's roots may be firmly in the platforming genre the plucky plumber is not adverse to trying new things. During the SNES era Mario hopped into a racing kart, gathered a few other Mario stars around and set about tearing up the track with burning rubber and a variety of weapons. The gamble worked, as Super Mario Kart not only gained an army of fans but is often cited as the inspiration for virtually every other spin-off kart racing game to come afterwards.

Fast-forward a little to the following generation. It was all about them there 3D polygons then, as the world was being wowed with characters moving around in 3D environments. After a transformation of his platforming series it became the turn of Mario's karting game to receive a 64 bit upgrade. While you can certainly see a lot of the Mario magic in here there are also some pretty irritating aspects as well.

MK64 is, at heart, a kart racing game where you take one of eight characters plucked from...

THE GOOD:
+ Good courses
+ Good music
+ Fun multiplayer
+ Nice 3D courses...
+ Cool items
+ Cool battle play

THE BAD:
- ...however the characters are ugly and pixelated
- Nothing to unlock
- Not enough characters...
- ...or courses!
- Gets boring if you're on your own
- Computer AI is terrible
- Some pointless text popping up

SUMMARY:
Mario Kart 64 is by far the worst Mario Kart in the series. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game. It lacks all the spit and polish that made all the other Mario Karts so great. With stupid cheating computers, poor character visuals and high repetition, Mario Kart 64 falls flat on its face.

GRAPHICS

MK64 has nice and detailed courses but the characters? Bleggh.

Mario Kart 64 does not put the Nintendo 64's graphics to...

1996. This was really the year that changed the gaming world forever. The new Crash Bandicoot game for the Playstation swarmed the country. The Super Mario 64 game that was the start of the Nintendo 64 dominated the sales of that year, and has withstood the test of time. The SNES was unfortunately starting to decline, and the Sega Genesis and Saturn were also nearing their end. Also, with the release of Mario Kart 64, for the Nintendo 64, the racing category was certainly filled. Mario Kart 64 was really the beginning of racing for nowadays, because of the fact that it got much publicity, from the commercial of Donkey Kong slipping on a banana peel to the sunset, to the incredible multiplayer action.

Graphics

Even though the commercial looked surprisingly real, the environment in Mario Kart 64, while not nearly as impressive, is still savoring to the eye. Give it a break, it was a game that was released near the debut of the system released. Frappe Snowland, and Toad...

THE GOOD:
Fun racing system, multiplayer racing makes this game potentially the best racing game ever created, fun weapons and items to use against your opponent and/or yourself, lots of characters to choose from.

THE BAD:
Literally, nothing.

SUMMARY:
Mario Kart 64, I must say, is basically the best 'fun' racing game ever created. First of all, there are some characters to choose to race with, from Mario and Luigi, to Bowser and Wario. This is very fun because of the fact that you are advaliable to play with whoever your favorite Nintendo character (although there aren't EVERY Nintendo character) in it, and beat the crap out of anyone who you're racing against. There are also lots of fun weapons and items to use such as Mushrooms which are used as boosts, red/blue/green shells that are used as rockets or missles, banannas which are used as distractions for if your opponent hits them, etc.

So basically, there really isnt any reason that...

THE GOOD:
Racing elements are well done.
Power ups were cool.
Graphics are pretty good.
Soundtrack is well executed and memorable.
Sound effects are also good to listen to, and slightly comical.
Controls are very slick.
Good game to play with friends.

THE BAD:
Not as long lasting as Super Mario Kart.
A bit too easy by my standards.

SUMMARY:
Lastability: 6/10.
Won't take too long to beat all 16 tracks in all 4 difficulties. Only replay value is within the multiplayer. I thought Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo was longer.
Graphics: 9/10
The track designs each differ visually and all look amazing. Character models and karts are also visually pleasing.
Sound: 8/10.
Memorable, nice on the ears and sometimes funny for the sake of it (well for kids anyway). Well done.
Gameplay: 9/10.
There are four sets of four tracks and four difficulty levels to beat them all in, and only...

THE GOOD:
All the original characters and a few more.
Nice big variety of levels.
Range of things to do.
Multi-player is really good fun.

THE BAD:
Not sure if i like the 3D as much as the original.

SUMMARY:
Mario Kart 64 is a really great game and one of my favourites for the Nintendo 64 but i don't think that it has the same feel as the SNES game. It's a really great game with nice 3D graphics and really good gameplay, the controls are really simple to master too. The levels are nice and big and there is a variety that you can choose from including ones based around your favourite Mario games. The multi-player is really fun to play on the game because you can now play 4-player instead of 2 which i think is alot more fun in most cases. The music for the game is as good as the last one, not too repetetive and changes for each level depending on the theme.

Overall i think this is a really great game but i just don't think it's...

THE GOOD:
Fun, even single-player mode is quite cool, and multiplayer mode PWNS

Lots of race tracks

Creative race tracks

Alot of cool Mario characters to choose from

Cool items (some funny ones, too)

Good voices and some funny quotes here and there

THE BAD:
A couple of the characters from the original Mario Kart were removed

So were one or two of the items from the original Mario Kart

Not much to unlock

SUMMARY:
Well, to put it simply, this may just be a racing game, Mario style, but it's definitely a fun racing game, and for some reason, is more fun than most racing games considering it has Mario characters. The fact that there's not much to unlock is the only real major complaint I have about this game, but even with that, it's still an excellent game. No question about it.

THE GOOD:
Graphics are pretty good, though I've seen better. Of course, since this is a racing game, control has to be good, and this is no exception. This is a very good game for those family gatherings. If you got a little free time before that big social, this game is the place to go.

THE BAD:
Could use more courses to play on, especially battle arenas. The computer controlled players can be kinda stupid sometimes, like throwing banana peels in front of themselves and slipping on them. Ha! That still makes me laugh. Anyway, this game can get boring after you've played all 16 courses several times. By then, it's probably best to sell this piece o' plastic.

SUMMARY:
If you're devoid of a good action packed, adrenaline boosting game, but this. It's fairly cheap, selling for about $15 at a local Game Trader. If you're looking for a more realistic racing game, try Cruisin' USA for N64.

THE GOOD:
The Raceways are alot cooler looking...and the driving is alot more smoother in this game than in Mario Kart (SNES, Of course)

THE BAD:
No Koopa Troopa, and some of the tracks are annoying (like the ones for the Star Cup...except Rainbow Road)

SUMMARY:
Me and my friends Steve and john always play this game...we like racing and dueling each other...we get really serious in the game..It's fun..except the fact that the screen are too small to really see where your going...but we work things out too the best...I just wish they would of added the Koopa Troopa in this game..it would of made it more fun for me..because I would win ever race with em.. but I just use the next best thing..Princess Peach..I know some of you are like, "she sucks". But hey she works well enough for me..I still win races..every now and then...but it really depends on the night...like I might have an off night, then John,...

THE GOOD:
Lots of characters and cool items give this game a real kick! With lots of tracks and a time trial you wont be disapointed! The graphic are great to!

THE BAD:
The sound is scratchy and theres only a couple short cuts.

SUMMARY:
This is indeed one of the very best nintendo64 racing games you can get (besides from snowboard kids) This action packed racing game will keep you awake all night trying to unlock mirror mode! Great for all ages and all Nintendo fans! and when I said graphics are good i mean fantastic! The graphics are amazing for a Nintendo64 game and you might forget about driving and stare at these wonderfull graphics (I think ). Of course this has to be a Nintendo64 must buy!




(C) Of Nintendo64 inc if you want some cheat codes pm me and ill see what can be done.