Mario Kart 64

Nintendo IS the Disney of video-gaming; their catalogue of classic games have defined millions of childhoods across the globe and influenced things inside and outside the gaming industry itself. Mario Kart 64 is one of those many treasure-troves of Nintendo's gold-mines of entertainment. Mario is here with Donkey Kong, Peach, Luigi, Wario, Yoshi, Toad and even Bowser. The roster's grown since then, but still what a great selection of characters for a crossover racing game.

Released in 1996, Mario Kart 64 was one of the launch titles of the Nintendo 64, alongside Super Mario 64 (though that game was delayed in Europe and Australia by almost a year from the console's release), and Kart 64 still has fast, fun and vibrant gameplay. You're first place one minute, and then your position is under constant threat thanks to the use of blue-shells, banana peels, lightning bolts and trick-question-mark-boxes which are actually bombs.

This game brings back quite a lot of memories from my childhood: the discovery of many glitches, playing it with my cousins whenever they had a sleepover at my place, and just playing it with my brother gave me such cherishing moments that's helped me become the gamer I am today.

This was the first game I brought for my N64, because I loved the SNES version, but I remember at the time I was really disappointed with it. I think it's down falls were due to the fact that the levels were much longer not like the short fun ones on the SNES, I think they should have made more short levels as opposed to the fewer long one's. Also the AI in this game was bad as mentioned in another review, no matter how fast you went the other racers were close behind, often getting speed boosts from no where and over taken you. I did like however, the graphics and the controls, also the multiplayer mode was alot of fun, but I didn't get into it as much as I did in the SNES version. I think that if you've never played the SNES version you will like this game alot, because it is a good game with alot of replay value, I advise you to buy the GBA version because it combine the SNES and N64 versions into a much better game.

It is customary for a Mario game to be very light and fun because they don't bet on a sad, heavy or something very dramatic story, but Mario Kart 64 has a difference. The difference of this game is that it is much lighter than the others because it is just a racing game, without very big challenges. The characters in the game are very cool, the visuals of the levels are also cool, and all the game mechanics are very interesting. There is a considerable drop in quality from Super Mario 64 to this game, mainly in terms of graphics, but this is something that does not matter much, since the proposal is completely different and this is probably due to the fact that it is a simpler game. If you want to have fun playing a game alone, try playing any game in the Mario Kart franchise.

"Super Mario Kart 64" is a very fun game and much better than I expected it would be. When it came out in '96 I didn't buy it straight away, but a few friends of mine owned it and I got really good at the game -- and found it really fun to play.

Later I ended up buying it used at a game store and played it all the time. It's a really addictive racing game and elitists will be surprised that just because Mario is attached, it's not a cash in (like Mario Tennis and Party) -- it works well with or without Mario and, like "Paper Mario," doesn't sacrifice gameplay to target towards the little kiddies.

This is a great racing game AND a great Mario game. It's got fun features, well-designed tracks, fairly decent graphics for the time period (remember N64 was top of the line in '96) and a great two-player battle option.

All in all, a must-own if you've got an N64.

2 words: Rubber banding. I never heard that term before but once you play you'll know exactly what I mean. It's impossible NOT to notice cause it's very prevalent in this game while racing.

Otherwise this game is a great N64 game that holds up well! I just think the more recent Mario Kart editions are even BETTER! Wario stadium is easily my favorite track cause it's so big and full of opportunity. It deserves to be played by everyone at least once. :)