Mario Kart 64

"Mario Kart, a good choice for an Nintendo 64 game."

Introduction:
Mario Kart 64, another great Mario game. Mario Kart is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 system. This is a pretty cool game with all the cool Mario characters. It is an old game, yet still is fun to play anytime. I will summarize each category and tell you all the information they hold. The categories I will summarize will be the controls, gameplay, graphics, sound/music quality, time/replayability, difficulty, and I will then conclude this review with a final recommendation and an overall rating.

Controls: 8/10
The controls in Mario Kart 64 are quite easy to comprehend and understand. There are a couple of buttons that are difficult to figure out, since they are advanced controls. It's pretty easy to understand them once you have played some of the races one or two times. After adjusting to the controls and you have gotten used to them, you can race in the game with no problem.

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay in Mario Kart 64 is pretty much fun, every time you play the game. There is a lot in Mario Kart that you can do in the game. There are eight characters to choose from as well as 16 race tracks to choose from. Characters that are selectable are Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, and Toad. The tracks in Mario Kart are Luigi Raceway, Moo Moo Farm, Koopa Troopa Beach, and Kalimari Desert for Mushroom Cup. Flower Cup tracks are Toad's Turnpike, Frappe Snowland, Choco Mountain, and Mario Raceway. Star Cup tracks include Wario Stadium, Sherbet Land, Royal Raceway, and Bowser's Castle. Lastly, Special Cup race tracks are D.K.'s Jungle Parkway, Yoshi Valley, Banshee Boardwalk, and Rainbow Road. That covers the races, so moving onto the CC choices, we have 50cc, 100cc, or a 150cc, which is basically the difficulty of the racers and the race tracks. The gameplay in Mario Kart 64 deserves a good rating of 8/10 I will move on and talk about separate parts of gameplay for the game.

1P/2P Grand Prix: 8/10
Mario Kart has a Grand Prix, which is a racing mode where you, your friend if possible, and plenty of other racers come to battle it out for victory. You can choose one of four cups to enter, and the difficulty varies. mushroom cup is the very easy, flower cup is somewhat still easy, star cup is more difficult, and special cup being the hardest. All the levels are pretty short, but can still be fun depending on how you look at it. If you look at it the right way, you can see that all the races are each unique in their own style. 1P/2P Grand Prix receives a 8/10 rating.

1P Time Trial: 8/10
Mario Kart also had a time trial mode, but it can only be used in one player, Time trial is basically used to keep track of your best times. You can race all of the tracks, and also race against your ghost. The ghost is a complete copy of your character with the best time at the particular race track. This is a great way to challenge yourself in Mario Kart. The only downside in time trial is that there are no items to help you in any of the race tracks. This is because it can lead to an unfair time trial race. Other than that, it still has a fine 8/10 rating.

Multiplayer Battle Mode: 7/10
This is great and fun to play, since it is you and your friends battling it out, but that is if you have friends that would play it. If you don't got people to join you, then too bad, because there isn't anything you can do to make a computer play with you. Kinda disappointing, isn't it? Don't worry, the other games are just as fun as this. But, it is bad that you need two or more players to play Battle mode. Anyways, there are four different arenas for you to choose from, each with their unique surroundings. Some arenas are easy to move around, some are very difficulty. So, I gave it a rating of 7/10 for the above reasonings.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are pretty much comparable to any other Nintendo 64 game. Some of it was 3d and some of it was 2d. I don't mind how the graphics look though, because I am more into the gameplay quality. Besides that, the characters looked pretty good, and the levels are somewhat good in graphics. Everything was pretty much average in graphics, so it deserves a good 8/10 rating.

Sound/Music: 9/10
I thought the music in Mario Kart 64 was great, as well as the sounds. The music would match well with all the races and race tracks. The sounds were good, although some characters had doubled voices in 2P mode. It kinda made it sound weird, but it was quite hilarious. It would just crack me up with Toad yelling "Yahoo!" two times at once. Anyways, with a little laugh from the sounds along with some good music to listen to while you race, you certainly deserve a 9/10 rating for Sound/Music quality,

Difficulty: 8/10
The difficulty for this game can depend on the amount of CC you do. The 50cc is most likely a 7/10 difficulty rating, 100cc being a moderate 8/10 difficulty rating, and 150cc being a very hard 9/10 difficulty rating. The ratings are for the average game player, so it may vary. Other than that, it can be difficult or easy, depending on your skill level. The difficulty for the whole game can be averaged out to an 8/10 rating.

Time/Replayability: 8/10
This game can be beaten within five hours, including hidden bonuses and secrets in the game. Still, even beating the game in a few hours doesn't mean it will immediately be boring and done with. The game will still be fun, and you can replay the game as a different character, or play the game again with your friend. It never gets boring because something interesting might happen in some of the races. So, with that being said, you can say it reaches an average 8/10 rating.

Overall/Recommendation: 8/10
Again, you will probably want to rent this game because of the time it takes to beat it, but right now the prices are low because of it being an old game. I would imagine it being $12 at the most, but I am not sure. I would recommend buying this game because I guarantee it won't be a waste of money. Just give the game a try and you will have lots of fun. Overall this game, Mario Kart 64, has been rated 8/10 by me.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/23/04