Super Mario Kart

"I gave this game one of my very rare 10s."

First, let me start out by saying that I seldom ever give out 10s in terms of rating the OVERALL game. For the entire game to get a 10, the game has to be near-flawlessly executed, with no glitches or problems to speak of, and everything above average. I don't believe in doling out 10s for very-good-but-not-masterful work. Even my very favorite games of all time usually get 9s because of one or two flaws that I just simply choose to overlook in my enjoyment of the game.

That said, I can find no real flaws or weak points in this game Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo (the N64 version is a very different story). What started out as a mere ''gimmick'' game where a famous video game mascot was placed in a different genre turned into one of the most well-executed game of all time in my opinion, and actually the best Mario game, if you can believe that. I'm sure people will disagree with me on that one, but that's the beauty of opinions; everyone has a different set. Anyways, giving this game a 10 is the biggest compliment I can give this game and its designers. Nintendo is to be commended for this gem.

OK, onto the game itself. It's pretty self-explanatory; Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and company decide to duke it out for supremacy via a race instead of the usual ''Come and get me in my castle!'' typed of challenge. This racing game uses karts instead of souped-up racecars or sportscars, but this seems to fit the cartoony Mario style much better than normal racecars would. Basically, you choose one of 8 racers, then choose one of three sets of competition (Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, or Star Cup, all with five race courses) and try to finish first overall in each Cup. Doing so will unlock a certain secret, but I'll leave that a secret for the one or two people on planet Earth who actually are reading this yet have not played the game yet. Each course will contain power-ups around the track that can be used to either hinder your opponents or help your vehicle. Aside from the normal Grand Prix mode (in one or two-player mode) there is the Time Trial, in which you test out the courses trying to get the best time; the Vs. Mode, where you race against another human opponent on these tracks, and Battle Mode, a unique game where you scurry around an special track trying to pop all three balloons circling your opponent before he pops yours. This feature seems to be immensely popular with gamers, and I like it as well, but probably not to the wild extent of most gamers; I still prefer the normal Grand Prix mode.

Graphics: Typically Mario in that they are colorful, bright, and sharp. Backgrounds are based on the Mario World levels, and they are very pretty. The courses themselves are also many and various and all nice looking (Koopa Beach is my personal favorite). Driver animation is very nice, the drivers are all crisp and easy to see, and smoothness of track scrolling is as expertly done as I have EVER seen in a game, 16-bit or otherwise! (Anyone who has an emulator and ROM of this game may think it is choppy, but this is the emulator's fault; I have played the genuine article, and I assure you that track scrolling is excellent). Super job. Rating: 10

Sound: Not ground-breaking, but all the tunes are well-done, fit their corresponding levels well, and are catchy. Many of them are better than music in the regular Mario games. Sound effects are also typically Mario, and are effective to the purpose without being annoying (the different engine noises are actually kinda cool, instead of being annoyingly loud and rough like most racers. Rating: 10

Control: Despite the cries of many gamers who say that the control is a definite weakness on this game, in my opinion the control is actually excellent, and true to racing form. Of course, it varies with which racer you use HOW good your control is; each racer has different strengths and weaknesses, and some racers handle turns better than others (Koopa Troopa and Toad are the best racers to use if the control of this game truly bugs you). As for people who think the racers slide too much in turns...come on! It's a racing game, for crying out loud! Surely you didn't think you'd be able to take that breakneck hairpin curve at top speed without sliding off the track!!!! How realistic or fun would that be? Even professional race car drivers in real life have to slow up drastically or do some braking on sharp turns. SMK only emulates real driving with this aspect. So, frankly, I don't see control as a ''problem'' with this game at all; it merely makes you do what real drivers have to do every day; slow up on turns. This game has a shorter learning curve in terms of getting the hang of steering your car than most other racing games I have ever played. It shouldn't take a decent gamer too long to get a handle on your kart. Rating: 10

Gameplay: This is what the Mario series is all about, and why the series is so overwhelmingly popular; the gameplay factor is very good. The difficulty levels are set to near-perfection in terms of pleasing everyone; the easy settings will be what novice gamers need, while the toughest tracks and settings will keep good gamers busy for awhile! There are 8 drivers to choose from, all with various strengths and weaknesses (my personal favorite is Koopa Troopa, both because of his good cornering and because I like letting the long-suffering Bowser employee have his day in the spotlight) and enough variety of appearance to satisfy any gamer's preferences. The courses are well put-together, and there is not a shortage of them by any means. The many various playing options (Grand Prix, Time Trial, Versus Mode, Battle Mode) should keep players interested for a long time. There's even secrets to find, as in all good Mario games. There's no shortage of game play possibility here. Rating: 10

FunFactor: Come on, do I really need to sell you on how fun I think this game is by now, after giving perfect 10s to all the other categories? Replay value is through the roof on this game, as long as you have a friend you want to battle or race, or you still haven't licked that last race on the hardest setting. I still come back to it frequently after years of playing it. Rating: 10

Overall: This game EARNED a 10 rating overall, because I don't go around giving them out to any old fun game. There are plenty of classics that I can find flaws in that get 8s and 9s in my mind. But the way this game was so well put together, the many different and fun game options...put it all together, and you have in Super Mario Kart, a game that has truly earned its place among the great games of its time. Rating: 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/10/01, Updated 07/10/01