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Friday, March 25, 2011

The very first Mario Kart



Today, with Mario Kart Wii or DS, you may have raced every racetrack, know every shortcut and you've beaten all the game modes, you have the fastest responsiveness, but even your little sister can literally OWN you because of blue shells or other highly overpowered power-ups. Well, there was a time where that was not possible!

 I am talking about Super Mario Kart released in 1992. Nowadays you might look at this game and say 'What was so special about this game, i'ts just a race game' Well, in 1992 there were no other games like this. Especially not with Mario characters. When you start the game you first see this opening screen with a catchy melody. You choose your settings (1/2 players , 50cc/100cc etc.) Then i'ts time to pick your character. 

There are 8 characters to pick, all famous of the Mario and Donkey Kong games.

Mario

Weight Class: Medium
Acceleration: Medium
Top Speed: Medium
Handling: Medium
Other Notes: The average racer. Average stats for people that want a all-around driver. Uses a Star as special item while used by the CPU. The Starman will not give him a speed boost.

Luigi

Weight Class: Medium
Acceleration: Medium
Top Speed: Medium
Handling: Medium
Other Notes: The average racer. Average stats for people that want a all-around driver. Uses a Star as special item while used by the CPU. The Starman will not give him a speed boost.

Princess Peach

Weight Class: Medium
Acceleration: High
Top Speed: Medium
Handling: Low
Other Notes: Fast acceleration and average top speed. The handling stats may create some sliding in some fast corners if you are unlucky. Throws poison mushrooms as special item while used by the CPU, which will shrink you.

Yoshi

Weight Class: Medium
Acceleration: High
Top Speed: Medium
Handling: Low
Other Notes: Fast acceleration and average top speed. The handling stats may create some sliding in some fast corners if you are unlucky. Throws eggs as special item while used by the CPU.

Donkey Kong Jr.

Weight Class: Heavy
Acceleration: Low
Top Speed: High
Handling: Low
Other Notes: Great top speed and slow acceleration. Throws bananas as special item while used by the CPU.

Bowser

Weight Class: Heavy
Acceleration: Low
Top Speed: High
Handling: Low
Other Notes: Great top speed and slow acceleration. Throws fireballs as special item while used by the CPU.

Toad

Weight Class: Light
Acceleration: Medium
Top Speed: Low
Handling: High
Other Notes: Slow speed and great acceleration and cornering. Great for new players, in Time Trials and in Battle Mode. Throws poison mushrooms as special item while used by the CPU, which will shrink you.

Koopa Troopa

Weight Class: Light
Acceleration: Medium
Top Speed: Low
Handling: High
Other Notes: Slow speed and great acceleration and cornering. Great for new players, in Time Trials and in Battle Mode. Throws both Green and Red Shells as special item while used by the CPU.

Source: (http://wikicheats.gametrailers.com/Super_Mario_Kart_-_SNES_VCON/Characters)

I prefer going as Toad or Koopa Troopa because of the acceleration and handling. In most games there is a slight difference. But when I tried to race with Donkey Kong or Bowser i actually failed hard and was like a whole lap behind. It takes some time to get used to.


This is how it looks like hwen you are in-game. As you can see the graphics aren't that nice, but for the time it was pretty good. You might think that this is from the DS or something because of the Double Screen, but this is actually what it looked like, with the select button you can turn the below screen into a mirror to see what's behind you.

As you can see there are coins laying on the ground, this is the only Mario Kart (and a GBA remake) that has coins. These coins are extremely helpful, or can be your worst enemy. You start with 5 coins. The more coins you get , the faster you go. There is actually a power-up that gives 2 coins. When you have about 20 coins, you go alot faster than enemies. But! theres a downside. Every time you hit another racer, you lose a coin, no matter what, if they hit you, or you hit them, you lose the coin. You might say, well just 1 coin get over it. But believe me that is not the real problem, the problem is that when you lose all coins. everytime you hit another player, you spin around like you got hit by a shell, this is annoying, if you only have 1 coin left, you better get yourself some coins or you are screwed!

Weapons in a racegame was a crazy idea, but the developers actually intregrated it perfectly. All you would have to to do is drive over one of the many Question marks on the ground, you would now get a power-up which is always chosen randomly, (once a question mark is caught it turns red and is disabled the rest of the race.), examples of power-ups are bananas, shells ( no blue ones !!!), stars (makes you invincible) , speed up mushrooms, lightning bolt that makes everyone smaller etc. Most of these you still find in the latest Mario Kart games. 

All i've been talking about is Singleplayer, but next to the 50cc, 100cc and 150cc there is also the Multiplayer mode!


In multiplayer you can both choose one of the 8 availible characters, the lower screen where orginally the map or mirror was is replaced by the screen of the second player. In this mode you race against each other, This mode is extremely fun if you are with a friend and want to have some fun. You can do everything you can also do in Singleplayer, but just with 2 people.

There is also a mode where it is just you and your friend. There are no npc's just the two of you , this is fun if you want to compete, and prove once and for all who is the best. There is also a Time Trial mode for training on tracks or even breaking world records.

 But next to just regular racing there is also the Battle Mode!
If you are with a friend, this mode is the mode to play. You can battle against eachother by shooting power-ups at eachother untill all 3 balloons have popped. You can never get enough of this mode, it's fun, challenging and you can improve your battle skills.



Conclusion: This is a great game and one of it's kind back in the days. Unlike today, this Mario Kart was actually more based on skill than on luck. I can't even get past 100cc flower cup!!, The odds are always against you making this game extremely hard, without coins you are screwed, if you hit someone, you are the one that bounces back etc. I give this game a 10 because it has a multiplayer mode, so you are able play and beat your friends. And the singleplayer mode is entertaining to!

Let me know what you think!

This was MrBunni, see you next time!

MrBunni out!

28 comments:

  1. nostalgia. :D i had mario kart 64 <3

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  2. Oh the memories, brings back so many. I miss those days <3

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  3. I used to play it on an old Nintendo with my brother

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  4. the graphics seemed so much better when i was a kid ( lol

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  5. Ohh the memories I have with that game. Thanks for the post mate.

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  6. Oh yest, it was great time-traveling. I like this post :)

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  7. Hahaha.. Well, while growing up I had a Mega Drive so I didn't play much super nintendo, but sounds a lot of fun. Also respect your roots, Mario Kart!

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  8. u got a readly cool blog! love the bk, did u make it urself?

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  9. This is by far the best game every created.
    Love the blog

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  10. @Photo Blog, no i wish i could make this myself ^^.

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  11. MK64 is my favourite, buy you gotta give credit to the original as well :)

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  12. This really does take me back :[ .. keep up the great post. +Following

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  13. i love these old games, first donkey kong now mario kart! keep up the good bloggin! 10 out of 10 for this game is much deserved :D

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  14. So many memories playing this game. I remember the cheat to make yourself small.

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  15. Oh man, I need to call my brother and challenge him at the next holiday

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  16. I love this game, many fond memories.

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  17. i love mario kart, could play for hours

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  18. Great review! I wish I still had my old SNES, it broke a few years ago, sadly.

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  19. Oh, the nostalgia. I'm going to whip out the 64 and play some Kart! :D

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  20. my first was mario kart 64 hehe, this does looks pretty fun though! your reviews are very appealing to the eye btw, nice post.

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  21. omfg nostalgia'd hard. played this so much when i was a kid

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  22. Hhaah I rmemeber I remember! Followed! alphabetalife.blogspot.com

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  23. oh man i remember this game, i used to go to my friends house all the time to play it.

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  24. The new super mario kart aint got shit on this game :P

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  25. great review for an amazing game, one of my favorites

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