"My friend whups with Bowser... HOW does she whup with BOWSER?"

Ok, right down to the game itself, shall we? Obviously this is Mario Kart 64... what else do you do besides race you think?!

Graphics 8/10

The graphics are very good, although at times the graphics will look like an eyesore for some reason. In any case, the graphics are fine the way it is, although sometimes you may find it looking a little edgy, although it is N64, it should be expected. With all consideration however, the game graphics are fine and you shouldn't have any trouble racing the tracks.

Music 6/10 / Sound Effects 5/10

There are several songs, and a lot of them are repeated throughout the levels. They're rather bland, but you might enjoy a few... for a while. You'll be hearing all of them over and over, except maybe the songs from Koopa Troopa Beach and Rainbow Road. Music does get repitive after many plays though, and soon it will just end up being an earsore.. not THAT memorable.

Sound effects are bland, and there aren't too many. You can hear the characters and that's all right, but at times when the opponents are beating you and laugh at you as they pass by, you'll probably find the sound effects suddenly becoming an irritating monster. Interestingly enough, human players only laugh to themselves when someone trips their trap items, even if that person doesn't get hurt...

Gameplay 5/10

Gameplay could have been better.... quite a lot better.

First of all, single player. I'll admit that just about everything is fine in gameplay. There is a small variety of items and depending on your rank, you'll be given certain ones. It does bother me though that you don't get squat in the higher ranks, they should at least give a good item RARELY, but they don't even let that happen. Sometimes in the lower ranks, you may complain because they still give you items that suck, but it's something to deal with...

As for control, depending on the CC level you are playing (50, 100, 150) the game is faster and it becomes harder to control your kart. While this is fine and all, you'll find that on tighter tracks, you'll have difficulty making the turns and you'll be messing up while your opponents skim by you. This brings me to the gripe, AI.

The AI sucks. These guys always manage to tag behind you, no matter what is happening (with the exception of maybe on 50 CC). You can bomb them shells, spin them out of control, make them fall in the water and still, 5 seconds later they're right behind you! Yet, when the same thing happens to you, it can take the whole race just to catch up with them. Is there a problem of fairness here? Even the heavyweights go as fast as lightweights when you play, and when YOU play them, you can barely keep up with everyone else (with the exception of my friend who somehow has the incredible ability to make Bowser GOOD!)! As far as fairness goes in the game, you'll find very little of it and it's very frustrating playing against computer opponents unless I don't know, you're really good somehow and can go at lightweight speed with heavyweights. Gameplay would have been much better if computer AI was more.. realistic.

As far as multiplayer goes with friends, you can have more fun than racing against computers. However, playing with more than two people with give you pint-sized screens, and graphics will be a bit of a downgrade. Also for some reason, playing with more than two people turns off the music. In any case, you can play normal races or go fight each other in battle mode. While battle mode is fun, you can take out your opponents quite easily and there are only four courses to choose from. This will make things get pretty boring after a while. Otherwise, you can have some fun with racing with friends.

You can also go for some individual time trial racing, but it can get tedious at times and you might get pissed off, but not that much. For example, if you want to save a course ghost, you're not allowed to fall in any traps nor pause (this can become annoying if there's a problem and you're not allowed to pause, or else you can save a course ghost), and this WILL aggrivate you if you want to have a course ghost. There are also a few course ghosts you can race, but they're pretty much racing perfection so trying to beat them might piss you off too. Still, time trials is one of the better elements of the gameplay.

Story - N/A

There really isn't a story, unless you consider racing courses and winning as one.

Overall - 24/40 C+

While this game is a fairly competitive racer, the major gripe of gameplay is probably going to bring you down. Multiplayer though... pull out your friends and have some racing fun!

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/04