Super Mario Kart

"A Racing Game to Remember....."

Salutations, my name is Gyarados Scotty and I am reviewing the classic game, Super Mario Kart. I have always loved this game. After it was released, I found myself constantly playing it, always having a extremely fun time. I still play it once in a while to try to beat my modest time trial scores, which I never can. Hopefully, if you give it a try, you will get enjoyment too.

-What the Game is Basically About-
In the genre aspect of this game, I would say it is a racing / adventure game. The racing aspect is pretty basic, move left and right, push on the gas to go forward, brake to slow down, jump to well.....jump. I believe the adventure aspect is covered by the large array of items you can obtain by drive over certain patches of the ground. They include turtle-shell missiles, heat-seeking turtle-shell missiles, banana peels to screw up opposing racers, mushrooms for speed boosts and a host of others. This is what makes this outstanding game what it is.

-Visually Related Aspect-
This game is visually appealing. You will like the look of this game.</jedi mind trick> The eight racers look clear and easy to identify, so you will know exactly who is beating you so, so terribly. The courses are superiorly developed and look fantastic. If only they would make courses this innovative in the racing games of these days. They have the perfect colors and depth. They also have the excellent backgrounds you can look of into when you're on the final lap and beating the crap out of all opposition.

-Audio Related Aspect-
The sound is supreme. That's the bottom line. The music is well composed and different for every course. They are toe-tapping catchy too! The sound effects are above average and plentiful. From the skid of Donkey Kong Jr.'s go-kart, to the impact of a red shell knocking someone out of the race, you will be impressed. The sound of this game is innovative and plain good. This attribute is something that will keep you coming back.

-Gameplay and Control-
The game is what it is because of this. And that is that is magnificent. The gameplay could never be improved. Nor the control. The control introduces the ability to jump which adds another way to turn, while keeping a high speed. The gameplay is just plain fun. The mix of racing, strategy and luck needs to be equally distributed, or you will crash and burn into 8th place. The assorted modes allow more playing too, such as battle mode, championship and time trial.

-Challenge and Difficulty-
Beating this game fully is really hard. It took me quite a while to beat the ever so challenging cups and difficult cc's. You can always try for a better time trial score or try to beat the records for the Internet or Nintendo Power. The battle mode is great for two-player action and can provide countless hours of fun.

-Replayability and Length-
It took be about 50+ hours to beat the entire game along with a friend. We were eight, so our skills weren't polished. It will definitely take you less time, but you will have fun along the way. I still play this game on occasion, but no as much as I used to. I would say it has a replay value between medium and high.

-Good Points-
- Excellent two player racing
- Very difficult
- Lots of items
- Good mix between racing and adventure

-Bad Points-
- Unbalanced racers
- Short courses

In conclusion, I would like to say that in its time, the hype that this game received was well deserved. It balances racing and other aspects marvelously providing many hours of fun. I will give this game a 10 out of 10 considering when it was released and how fun I had playing it. Give it a try, or even possibly a buy!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/00, Updated 10/01/00