11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
N64 Classic
Date of Review: Dec 18, 2001
The Bottom Line: It just goes to show what a good planning process can do. If you don't have this game yet- get it!
Just because the Nintendo GameCube is out in stores doesn't mean that the N64 of yours should be pilling up dust. With lower prices on many of the N64 games, now is a great time to finish up your collection of classic Nintendo titles.
Mario Kart is a racing game that pits the player(s) against each other and the computer to get the fastest time. While it is similar to other racing games, what makes Mario Kart 64 really shine is the weapon and level design.
CONTROLS
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Controls are quite easy and most anyone can pick them up fairly fast. They are also similar to other racing games on the N64, so fans of the racing genre will be able to provide some decent competition even if they haven't played before.
The Control stick is used to steer. A is accelerate, while B acts as a brake. The Z trigger fires off special weapons. The Up C button zooms the camera in and out, while the Right C button changes the information shown on the screen. R is used to make sharp turns, and the L button turns off the sound.
While the controls are great for beginners, there are a number of advanced techniques to learn as well. Pressing B right after hitting a banana (which would make you spin out) may save you. If you hold R on a turn and push the control stick back and forth, you can get your engine's smoke to turn red--which shows that you can activate a speed boost. If you're really skilled, you might even be able to stay exactly behind the person in front of you. They act as the windbreaker, giving you a slightly higher speed to pass them. These techniques keep the game much more interesting, and it helps the best player to win, instead of the one with the most weapons.
CHARACTERS
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There are eight characters in Mario Kart, all of which have made an appearance in a Mario game before. They are: Mario, Luigi, Peach (Princess Toadstool), Wario, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, and Donkey Kong.
There are three groups of characters. Light weights- Toad, Peach, and Yoshi- have a higher speed and can keep it up even if they go off the main path. Heavy weights- Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Wario- can keep up their speed on turns, and they can push other people out of the way. Middle weights- Mario and Luigi- are a balance between the other two groups.
All the characters are well done, and although the light weights definitely have the speed advantage, it's not so much that no one else can catch up to them. Also, with three lightweights, almost everyone who wants to play as one can.
There are two problems with the characters--The first being that two people can't select the same character. As seen in later N64 games, such as Mario Golf and Super Smash Bros., there should have been different colors for each character so that everyone who wanted to play as Yoshi could.
The second problem is that they took out the Koopa Troopa from the Original Mario Kart. I have never played it myself, but there are a large number of people who played best with him.
COURSES
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The courses in Mario Kart are wonderful--it?s just a shame that they didn't put more in.
There are 16 racing courses, and 4 battle mode courses. Every track has its own feel and personality. From the dusty path of the Kalimari Desert to the Glowing track of Rainbow Road, no two tracks feel or play the same.
The 16 racing tracks are broken into four groups of increasing difficulty. Beginners will want to practice on the Mushroom Cup, while more advanced players can take on the flower and star cup. For players feeling really courageous, there is the special cup. All four cups are open from the start, which is a little disappointing. It would have been much more fun to unlock the Special Cup as an advanced player, than to explore it from the beginning as a new player.
There are also three difficulty settings- 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. The higher the number, the faster you go and the more ruthless the computer players are. Not only that, but the courses may change slightly. For example, on 50cc there is a rail to keep you from falling on Choco Mountain. If you go to Choco Mountain on 150cc, the rail will be removed allowing you to fall halfway back through the course if you're not careful.
COMPUTER AI
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The computer AI is decent, especially for this title released so early in the N64's life. They generally stay in the middle of the course, and will almost always head back to the middle whenever they are stopped. They do have their slip ups- such as they almost always slip on their own bananas.
However, the computer players actually cheat, making it for a hard, although not unbeatable race. Whenever you're in 1st place they'll get speed boosts to catch up to you. They also can miss an item box and still get an item. These little advantages are well balanced so that the computer isn't always overpowering you, but its never two laps behind you, either.
WEAPONS
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For me, a racing game just isn't fun if you can't blow something up along the way. Thankfully, Mario Kart 64 comes with a large supply of weapons at your disposal.
Green shells can be fired off to hit the person in front of you or bounce around the course. Red shells are heat seekers for those that have trouble when aiming. The rare spike shell will always go for the person in 1st place no matter who fires it off. Bananas can be set on the course for others to slip on, and Mushrooms give you a small speed boost. The star power allows you to go faster and ram others off the track. There are also variations on most of these weapons- such as the Banana bunch which gives you 5 bananas at once, or the Hyper Mushroom which allows you to get as many speed boosts as you want for about 15 seconds.
Another thing that is very nice about the weapons is that they are balanced out very evenly. After playing Super Monkey Ball on the GameCube, I realized how badly an unbalanced weapon system can affect the game. If the weapons are too weak, then they're useless. If they are too strong, the worst player can make a comeback and grab first place.
An example of the nice balance put in the game is that as a person progresses up through the ranks, the powers get less powerful. A person in 8th place may get a Hyper Mushroom to help them get up to 7th or 6th place, while once they've gotten to 1st place they'll mostly be getting bananas and green shells. This system works really well, giving a small advantage to the last player, but not allowing them to be unbeatable machines.
MODES
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There are several modes in Mario Kart 64
Mario Grand Prix- you take on all the computer players on a 4-course tournament. Only for 1 or 2 players.
Time Trial- race around the course without the special powers and record your fastest time. Only for one player.
VS Mode- race against your friends without any computer players. For 2, 3, or 4 players.
Battle- Knock some sense into (or out of) your friends on 4 special battle courses. Only for 2, 3, or 4 players.
The only problem is that there isn't any 1-player battle mode. If you don't have any friends or any extra controllers, you won't be able to even get into it. Adding a single player battle mode would have added an extra heap of replay value since it?s one of the best modes.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
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The Graphics in this game are pretty standard N64 stuff. Sadly, the Characters are all done in 2-D, so when the camera zooms in you can see the rough 2-D edges. I know that putting all the characters in 3-D would have slowed down the game considerably, but still it would have been nice.
The Sound is decent as well. Not quite as catchy as some of the tunes on Super Mario 64 or other games, it still does the job well. And if you really don't like it, you can always turn it off with L.
GAME EXTRAS
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There are a few extras in this game for those that can get them. In time trial mode, on the 3 raceways (Luigi, Mario, and Royal) you can earn special 'ghost racers' which are simply a video record of the game maker's best time. You'll have to be very fast to earn each ghost, and incredibly fast to beat them.
Also, you can record 2 of your own ghosts with the N64 Controller Memory Pack. Sadly, though, only certain ghosts will be accepted. If you happen to slip out, pause the game, or fall over the edge, you're course ghost can't be saved for that time. Also- 2 course ghosts takes up 121 out of 122 available pages for a N64 controller pack. That leaves you with 1 extra page- not much at all.
And for those Grand Prix masters, you can open up special 'reverse courses' in which everything on a course has gotten a mirror transformation. This mode also has some pretty difficult computer players.
PROBLEMS
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The few problems are more complaints than anything. Koopa Troopa and the feather item were taken out. There are only 16 courses- although they won't get boring for a long time, it would have been nice to have a few more. Also, battle mode doesn't have a one-player mode for some reason.
OVERALL
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Overall, this is simply one of the best racing games for the N64. Although you won't notice any part that shines right out once away, after playing you'll notice how much the game was thought-out and well planned. It's what makes this game a classic.
