Karting At Its Best (Super Mario Kart (N64))

Member Name: DooYou

Product:	Super Mario Kart (N64)
Date:	17/02/03 (368 review reads)
Rating:

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Its been years since I got my SNES for my birthday. I couldn't wait to play on it. There was only one reason why I wanted a SNES and that reason is Mario Kart.

I had played Mario Kart for the first time on one of my friends computers and I personally thought it was one of the best games I've ever played. I would go round to my mates house everyday just so I could play on Mario Kart. I've never wanted a computer just so I could play on one game but that all changed after I had experienced the arcade thrill that is Mario Kart.

The game features many popular characters found in other games on the nintendo systems such as Mario, Luigi, Kooper, Bowser, Princess, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Toad. There are three game modes to choose from.

Mario Kart GP
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This mode is basically a Grand Prix of all eight drivers battling it out to gain points by winning races over various tracks. The level of difficulty of the game varies depending on which GP you enter and the speed of the karts you are racing in. To start with there are only three to choose from: Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup and Star Cup. There are two varying speeds too: 50cc and 100cc karts. If you are good enough and you manage to come first in all three cups at 50cc level and then come first in all three cups at 100cc level you will open up the hidden GP, Special Cup AND an extra speed of kart: 150cc.

The tracks that you compete on might look familiar even if you've never played the game before. They have that Mario World look and feel about them. Of course, the game isn't just about accelerating around a track...its about accelerating around a track whilst trying to knock your opponents off the screen and dodging various obstacles and collecting various bonuses. Around every track there are question marks lying on the ground that you can drive over and collect. Once you have collected a question mark items will start flashing in a little b r>ox on your screen. You can stop the items flashing and you will be given a bonus. There are many bonuses that you can get including:

Coins - the more coins you get the faster your kart will go.
Green Shells - these can be laid on the track and hopefully your opponents will run into them knocking themselves clean off the track losing a lot of time and saving you from being defeated. You can also fire them so that they fly along the ground around the track until they hit something or someone.
Red Shells - these can only be fired and are basically homing missiles. They home in on the driver one position in front of you.
Feather - this can be used to leap your kart high into the air. Useful for taking shortcuts by jumping over parts of the track and for dodging enemy fire.
Ghosts - these only appear if you are having a two player GP or in Battle Mode (explained later). When used you steal the enemies item.
Star - this makes you invincible and gives you mega speed for a short time. If anyone touches you their kart spins allowing you to get way ahead.
Lightning - the ultimate item. Usually, you only get this if you are doing terrible. It makes all competitors tiny and slow, you can squash them if you drive over them :)

Computer players do not pick up question marks, instead they have their own weapons that they use whenever they want. The weapons each character has varies depending on which character they are. For example, Toad throws toadstools at you. If you hit one then you become small and slow for a short time (the same effect as lightning).

There aren't just question marks on the levels, there are also other goodies (and baddies). You can get quick bursts of speed by going over the speed signs on the tracks. You can get hit by little black things (don't know what they are) running around the track. You can slip on ice, fall in water and disappear into blackness.

Each character in the game has diff
er
ent strengths. Yoshi for example has quick acceleration, so does Princess. Toad is pretty good at everything, Bowser can easily knock people off the track. I personally use Kooper Trooper, he's like Toad.

The level locations include Bowsers castle with lava and stone, Donoght Plains with sand and grass, Ghost Valley with (amazingly) ghosts and lots of holes and other various locations.

Points are as follows: For winning, 9 points, second gets 6 points, third gets 3 points and fourth gets 1 point. Each GP consists of 5 races.

Time Trial
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Basically, this is where you race around the tracks (just you and noone else) trying to get the best time you can. If you pull off a good race (not falling too much) then the next time you race around the track you will be racing your ghost. This will push you to do better. The ghost will not be there if you leave the track and then come back to it again.

If you manage to get to Special Cup in Mario Kart GP then you will also be able to Time Trial on the Special Cup tracks.

Battle Mode
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This is only available in two player and features yourself and someone else battling it out using items from question marks on the tracks. The tracks you battle on here aren't the same as the ones you race on. There are only four available tracks in battle mode specifically designed for battling.

The idea of battle mode is to use items to burst the balloons that circle your opponents car while you randomly race around the tracks available. It takes quite a bit of skill to dodge the red shells but it can be done. Once you have burst all three balloons on your opponents kart you win.

Summary
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Mario Kart is an awesome arcade driving game with nice graphics that will provide anybody with years of fun. I still play it a lot and I've had it for years now. Its an addictive game that will keep you comi
ng back for more and the great thing is that it will be really cheap to purchase now since the game and console are old now.