When Super Mario Kart was released in 1993 over in the UK it went on to become a favourite of mine as well as with those whom I frequently played the game with. However, it wasn't until 2005 that I had managed to acquire the game for myself. During that time I had it on and off with this game but never did I lose that feel for Super Mario Kart - and I doubt I will.
What is neat about this racing game is the way characteristics from the Super Mario series have been put into gear here. For starters, there are eight recognisable characters, paired off with varying performance traits to take to the tracks with. Then there are the Super Mario World themes running through each of the game's consistently well-designed courses (of which twenty makes for plenty); items as can be found in the Super Mario games to be picked up from question mark boxes during a race; and coins littered around the tracks
which are not without their incentives either.
Apart from the likes of the well-known Invincibility Star theme, most of the music composed for Super Mario Kart is original. Each of the level themes have a different tune, and there isn't a track which I don't like. The music is played at a quicker speed on the final lap making it dramatic to great effect and the sound effects are pleasing to the ear.
The graphics in Super Mario Kart are rendered using Mode 7 texture mapping, so it feels like the racing is on a plane rather than say, on a (changing) background. That might be one way of putting it... Anyway, the game runs super-smoothly and I find the visuals - bold and colourful - are nice to look at. During play an external view is used allowing you see the action immediately around you though unusually the game opts for split-screen even in single player mode - the bottom half displaying either the map or the view behind - so there is no need to adjust (or make excuses) when playing against a friend.
Super Mario Kart is a simple game to pick-up and play. The controls are spot-on, with the shoulder buttons for hopping and powersliding being in the right place for developing a feel for the techniques vital to success in the game. There is a Time Trial mode (for the single player) for learning as well as for setting fast times, though there is an emphasis on course times because the laps are short, which works fine.
The other single player mode is the Mario Kart GP, also available for two - either way players race in a field of eight. The racing itself is fun and it's furious, without the items being over-the-top such that the races are down to luck. This mode certainly raised my expectations of a racing game, leaving me disappointed with the head-to-head modes that numerous others can only offer. Super Mario Kart does have a one-on-one mode (Match Race) though Mario Kart GP is the reason why I (and my brother) keep coming back to this game.
Yet the game does not go down the route of providing realistic computer A.I - not only do they solely utilise an item which may be exclusive to the character within their control, they also do not comply with the characters performances instead racing along in almost set positions, along a racing line. However, it manages to cough up racing incidents as well as provide the competition. Whether two players work together (or not) to unlock the special challenges rather than with one player alone, the one- and two-player modes feel slightly uneven - perhaps intended to address such foreseen imbalances, though these are minimal and pose no problems.
I've completed the game numerous times but Super Mario Kart provides enough of a challenge to require of me a top-drawer performance to win. Changes in form can see you struggle to progress to the next race, to taking - and experiencing - the magnificent Rainbow Road on at full speed (never letting go of that accelerator) whilst staying on the circuit. Super Mario Kart is not a game that is full of surprises - there is the odd shortcut - but it is a rewarding one because those patient enough to get to grips with the game's heavy characters will find them to be worth their weight.
The remaining mode is the Battle Mode which sees two players driving around on one of four battle courses attempting to take each other out using items in the game. This is definitely a fun enough diversion from Mario Kart GP for when you only have a few minutes to play.
I've played this game for so many years - evidence of how much I still love Super Mario Kart. Yes there have been and will be newer Mario Kart games, but are they as finely tuned as this one is? Unless they come up with a 4-player version of Super Mario Kart then I doubt it - this isn't a trip down memory lane, this is an example of near-perfect gaming.
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True classics never lose their touch, amazing game :) Great review too!
tom1clare 31.05.2007 01:40
Never owned a Nintendo format but have played this with a mate on emulation and it was a good laugh indeed, and as you said, rewards practice! The Mode 7 graphics look pretty dated these days though eh? lol :) tom
Advantages: follow up to the biggest selling console in history, gaems look very promising, great capabilities Disadvantages: game producing may churn out games to make easy bucks
May 28th, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
