Super Mario Kart

"A fun, classic, and enjoyable racing game"

Introduction
I have always been a big fan of racing games on the Super Nintendo, but I oddly have not had the same type of feeling when playing other racing games on other consoles. Yes, I really have only liked most of the racing games on the Super Nintendo, most of the other ones I have played on other consoles (with the exception of a select few, like Gran Turismo 2) I have not seemed to enjoy as much. One of the best racing games I have yet to play on the Super Nintendo is a game called Super Mario Kart. This is one of the most fun racing games I have ever played. It is a blast to play, whether you are playing single player or multi player. I had an equally enjoying time playing the game, whether I was attempting the races by myself or trying to pop some of my friend’s balloons in the fun multi player combat mode. The one thing that Super Mario Kart can offer more than anything is a high level of fun factor, and what else can you really ask for in a video game? This is simply one of the best games I have ever played on the Super Nintendo, and for a racing game it is especially good. This game is definitely well worth a purchase, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed if you buy this game, because it is simply one of the best ever! And that, my friends, IS true!

Storyline: Not Available
As you may expect, there really is no official story line to this game. The best I can tell you is that the Mario racers found some go karts and decided to race around with them on various tracks for fun, and then found out they could compete for a trophy, so they went ahead and did that. Please remember that this is not an official story line by any means, it is just something I came up with for fun. It is about the closest you will actually come to finding a story line in this game, but maybe it is to be expected because this is a racing game, and racing games usually do not have story lines at all. This game is no exception. Overall, there really is no story line in this game, but I made up one for your convience.

Graphics (9/10)
One of the most hyped things about the old Super Nintendo and its graphical capabilities was a certain graphical thing called Mode 7 effects. Some of the earlier games in the console’s history really tried to show off the Mode 7 effects of the console, and Super Mario Kart was one of these games. It does have a lot of Mode 7 effects featured in the game, but not nearly as much as you may have expected. I tend to look at this as a good thing, because the game is not bogged down by a lot of Mode 7 effects, although there is some effects still featured. Now I will talk about the actual graphics in the game. This is one of the best looking Super Nintendo games I have ever played! Everything about this game looks absolutely amazing, from the character designs to the backgrounds. Let me first discuss the character designs in the game. As you may expect, the characters in the game look a lot like their other video game counterparts. Mario still looks like Mario, Yoshi still looks like Yoshi, etc. But a cool new thing about them is that they are now on great looking karts, and each kart looks different. This is definitely a cool thing. Once you start racing, you take an down-up perspective, as you are always moving forward. The backgrounds in the game are simply awesome and blend in well with the actual racetrack (for a perfect example of this, check out the snow stages.) Overall, the graphics in this game are wonderful and some of the best I have yet to see on the Super Nintendo!

Music and Sound Effects (9/10)
One of the least talked about things about Super Mario Kart is the wonderful music that is featured in the game. I consider it a shame that more people do not remember the classic music featured in the game, because most of it is wonderfully done. From the time you start off the game until the time you complete it, your ears will be treated to a wonderful array of classic music that is easy on the ears. The game really showed off the true power of the Super Nintendo when it came to sound capabilities. The sound effects may be good, but the music is the highlight of this section, so I will discuss it first. The music in the game is truly wonderful. I like the variety of music featured in the game, as each stage had wonderful music that fit the feeling of the stage perfectly. For instance, just listen to the music in the snow stages. It sounds like a Winter Wonderland type theme, which is awesome because the music tends to add a lot to the overall feeling that the stage is trying to convey. I am definitely a big fan of the music in the game, and I wish more people would remember how great the music in this game really was, because the music was amazing. Now, I will discuss the sound effects in the game. There is no voice acting, which means that there is no announcer doing commentary for the races. This is a good thing, in my opinion, because I am sometimes a little annoyed with the announcers in some racing games. Overall, the music and sound effects in this game are awesome, especially the classic music found in the game!

Gameplay and Control (9/10)
As you may expect, the basic game play of this game is a lot like any other racing game. The cool thing about this game, however, is that it is a lot more different, and for the most part, a lot more fun than any other racing game I have ever played. This is definitely one of the best racing games I have ever played in my entire life, and I will tell you why now. First off, the amazing depth and variety of this game is simply incredible. Now, I am not going to lie to you and tell you that this game is the Super Nintendo counterpart of Ridge Racer Type 4 (a Playstation racing game made by Namco) because quite frankly, it is not that in depth. And there is nothing wrong with that, either, because sometimes I feel that racing games re a little bit too complicated. But there is nothing complicated about Super Mario Kart, even with its amazing depth and variety. This is the thing that I appreciate most about Super Mario Kart, it may be varied and have a lot of depth, but it is still a great party game and easy to pick up for newbies to play.

Let me discuss the single player mode of the game first. It is a lot like any other racing games, pick a character, race through some races, qualify for the next one, etc. But it is simply much more fun because of the added element of weapons. Yes, you can gain weapons in this game which allow you to advance quicker in the race then you could by simply driving your kart. To gain a weapon, just drive over a question box. A little icon appears on top that keeps on shifting, like a slot machine. Push the button when you have the item you want and you get it, but beware that it goes quite fast so you might not always get the weapon you want. You can get everything from shells (allow you to hit your enemies) to ghosts (which allow you go invisible for a short while).

Speaking of weapons, you will need them in order to defeat your opponent in the outstanding multi player mode featured in the game. You have three balloons strapped onto your kart, as does your opponent. The objective is simple. Run from your opponent until you have a weapon, then try to find him. This tends to lead to a lot of strategy, as you will be trying to avoid your opponent for some parts and then trying to find him other parts. Definitely fun. Overall, this is a great game, whether you are playing single player or multi player.

Replay Value: Way Above Average
This game does have a lot of replay value, much more so than any other racing game ever made. It is simply so unique and so much fun that you will want to play it over and over again based on those two factors alone. Trust me on this one, this game is a lot of fun to play, and will get quite addicting. Even when you tire of the single player mode (let me know when you do, because I still have not), you can still be drawn into the amazing multi player mode of the game, which has a lot of replay value right there. This game would be the perfect party game had it been four player, which is an advantage that its Nintendo 64 counterpart holds. Therefore, the Nintendo 64 version is the better party game, but only because of that one advantage. This is still a fun party game with lots of replay value. Overall, the replay value in this game is very high, as you will be wanting to play this game for a while.

Challenge: A Little Below Average
This is not that challenging of a game at all to begin with. See, when you first start off the single player mode, you have a choice of three racing types to choose from. Each type of racing is pretty simple, yet the higher the racing type you choose, the higher the difficulty will be. Racing on the Rainbow Road in the Star Cup is definitely a major challenge that even some experts of the game have problems with. Still, the basic game play of the game is not too challenging, as long as you learn to balance your weapons and realize the basic patterns of the stages. Once you learn how to do these two things, you should have a pretty easy time completing some of the races. Multi player mode can prove to be a little challenging, depending on who you are facing. This will always be the case because some players are a tad more advanced then others in the multi player mode. I am pretty good in the mode yet still get beat up in it on occasion by some of my friends. Overall, this is not that difficult of a game but it does provide a decent challenge, I will admit that.

What are some good points of the game?
Maybe a better question for this section would be ''What ISN’T a good point of this game?'' because this is one of the best racing games I have ever played. I have to mention the two player mode in this game first. It is one of the best two player games I have ever played. The combat part of the two player mode adds to the fun factor significantly, and this adds to the replay value a lot, as well. The single player mode is outstanding as well, and like I have already mentioned, this is one of the best racing games I have ever played, as well as this being one of the best Super Nintendo video games I have ever played. The graphics are amazing, the music is solid, the sound effects are great, and the control is significantly better than most Super Nintendo racing games out there. I like how you can use weapons in the single player and two player mode, I felt this added to the fun factor of the game. As you can tell, I thought that there were a lot of good points to this game.

What are some bad points of the game?
As hard as it may be for you to believe after I just listed all those good points to the game, I also found some flaws in it, as well, which I feel I must mention to you. The big complaint I had about this game is the challenge level to it. I really hoped that this would be a decent challenge, especially since no one was really expecting it to be. And those people who were not expecting it to be a decent game were right, because this is not a very challenging game. This is not a huge flaw, but it does take away form the overall enjoyment of the single player mode because chances are you will be flying through the races with little problems after a while. Another problem I had with the game is the fact that it only had eight characters to choose from. I wish there would have been a better character selection, and I am sure the designers of the game could have come up with a better selection, but I am not going to complain too much because this is such a great game!

Overall (9/10)
This is one of the best racing games I have ever played, and still remains one of my favorite Super Nintendo games to this day, and probably always will. The thing I like most about this game is the fact that while it is still varied and in depth in certain aspects, it is still, a very fun game to play that never gets too complicated. This game may seem to be very cartoony at first (with the graphics and stuff), and I will admit that this is a game that would appeal to kids, but video game players of all types will absolutely love playing this game as much as I did, because it is definitely one of the best games released on the Super Nintendo, a console known for quality games. The graphics are awesome (albeit a little cartoonish), the music is awesome, the sound effects are solid, the basic game play is awesome and the control rocks. What more can I say, this is such a great game!

Would Terra Branford buy this game?
You damn right I would buy this game. If I had not said it enough, this is one of my most favorite Super Nintendo games of all time. I would definitely buy this game, and I recommend that you buy this game also. This is an incredible game so you should buy it! And that, my friends, is true!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/07/00, Updated 08/07/00