Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Consoles: Super Nintendo
A little late of a post this evening, haha. It's RTF again, I haven't been here in a while, and I hope to get back into the swing of things with relatively little ease. My first October Flashback review will be Super Mario Kart for the SNES.
Super Mario Kart is one of the most well-loved titles from the SNES library, and rightly so. It kick-started an insanely popular spin-off series that is both still going today and, in essence, created a whole new genre. I feel, however, despite its being well-loved it is often negelcted and terribly overlooked, as many people got their introduction to the series through Mario Kart 64.
The game itself is very easy to pick up and play on the 50cc difficulty. Its difficulty wildly increases when jumping to 100cc, and when playing the highest difficulty, (you guessed it) 150cc, you had better pray to whatever god you believe in that you play everything with the accuracy of a machine because it is a VICIOUS MONSTER. 150 cc is not available from the beginning of the game, you have to unlock it. That should tip you off that there's trouble in paradise.
The game has several playable modes. First, the actual meat of the game, the Grand Prix/GP mode. This mode can be played alone, or with a friend. You (and your friend, if playing) face off against CPUs, with a grand total of eight racers. Each racer can only be selected once, so if both of you want to play as Princess Toadstool, rock paper scissors for it, or fisticuffs may ensue. Games have gotten fucking nasty over who gets to be the princess, believe me. You pick a Cup from Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and the Special Cup. Each cup has five races, each more difficult than the last. Time Trial is a separate mode (but who the fuck likes time trials anyway?), which is pretty self-explanatory. You race a track versus a ghost racer that follows the exact route of the current best time. Also featured is Match Race, which is one vs. one racing, available only in the 2p mode. The last mode set Super Mario Kart aside from every other racer at the time- with a second player, you can duke it out in Battle Mode! Your karts are adorned with three balloons apiece. Using one of nine different powerups, your objective is to pop the other guy's balloons. The first racer to pop all three of his or her opponent's balloons is the winner. The prize? Sweet, sweet fucking glory. Priceless.
Okay, okay. So who can you play in this bad boy? All the biggest Nintendo stars at the time were available as racers! You can play Mario or Luigi, both of whom are in the average/balanced class. Their stats are basic/an average of everyone else's so they're well-rounded and pretty good for beginners. Yoshi and Princess Toadstool round out the speed/acceleration class with their ability to zoom by at the start with their extremely high acceleration- they're good for intermediate players, though their top speed leaves a bit to be desired. Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. (... Jr.? the FUCK?) are your heavyweights with low accel and the highest speed- they're definitely for advanced players because when you hit a wall, their speed plummets and you gotta start all over again. They also cause the greatest knock-away when bumping into someone. In the final class is Toad and the Koopa Troopa. They have good traction and are easy to steer around. They're great for learning tracks and practicing sliding, and are good for beginners.
The game has twenty tracks, all made with at the time (1992) brand new Mode-7 graphics, and it made the tracks pop with a background that rotated, giving the appearance that it was 3D! At the time, this shit was mind-blowing, and, going back and playing again to get ready for the review, I could really appreciate what I was seeing.
The game has several innnovations to the racing series, which are what make it the grandpappy of the kart-racing genre. It had radically wild weapons, including a speed-boosting Super Mushroom, a slippery banana peel, and a thunderbolt that shrinks other racers. It implemented a little known about coin system- if you gathered ten+ coins, you could hit your top speed. Coins also protect you from being spun out when others run into you. If you get bumped with coins on your person, you lose a coin and have a short, slight speed reduction. If you get bumped without coins, you get spun out, which is a SEVERE penalty in 100 and 150cc races. With the shoulder buttons, you can perform a jump and a "powerslide". Press L or R to jump. It's not terribly useful, as you can't jump over weapon obstacles, but you CAN jump small gaps, which is a necessity in at least one race. Press and hold L or R when rounding a corner to perform a "powerslide" during which your character turns their kart hard, sliding it on the ground. In some areas, it's easier and more practical to powerslide a corner rather than steer it. It is near impossible to be competitive without it.
For a game that is nearly two decades old, Super Mario Kart has held up remarkably well. I, among many others, conisder it to be the best incarnation of Mario Kart with later installments nothing but mere graphical upgrades and gimmicks. It is a stellar addition to any game library and one of the most addictive games of all time. So, for a good ol' time with friends, or a good waste of time alone, pick up your copies of Super Mario Kart (or buy it on the Virtual Console!) and rock out with the best kart-racer of all time.
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Nice review! I remember putting a lot of hours into this game. And you're right, 150cc was absolute beast mode. Trying to beat Special Cup on it was a lesson in futility to be sure. I probably have the most time put into MK64, but Double Dash is by far my favorite.
ReplyDeleteBtw, what are your criteria for being undefeated? GP mode, VS? I'd like to take a stab at that record of yours someday. :P