Review: Mario Kart 64 - 01/05/2008 by Michael
Racing
So continuing from the greatness of the SNES version of this classic game the next in the series was released on the 64 to great acclaim. This game was almost endless fun, as you could sit there happily by yourself knocking 0.01 of your best time on Mario Raceway or searching for shortcuts and waste a whole day, but even better than that was when 3 friends came round and you got into some heated competition with much gloating and gnashing of teeth for all.
The key to this game was something a little foreign to most racing games, that is never take your finger off the accelerator (apart from after spinning out, but thats only for a second), I feel many games could learn from this style of taking every corner at maximum and then just adjusting the drift mayhem as you go. Of course this is not just a racing game but a battle of wits (and luck), as getting the right power ups and using them well is usually the path to victory.
The most notable element to success for Kart 64 was its lastability, it was only a few months back that I dragged out the 64 to see if we could settle the argument of which character was the best all round racer, I still say Yoshii, whilst my buddy thinks Bowser, as he can dominate the track and hold his line (he just likes to squash Toad, which is cool). Anyhow we played every night for a couple of weeks ignoring the 360 and Wii.
There are a few tricks that the game employs to keep interest even in the most experienced player. The most important is the catch up. If one player falls behind they will speed up until they near the front of the pack again, in addition the player behind gets all the best power ups like stars and spiky shells, whilst the guy up front gets the single banana. Yay! Another leveller is that fact that no matter how good you are, sometimes, the computer will just make one of the AI players faster, so you always have to be on your game and have a red shell handy. Finally the search for shortcuts is a constant source of joy and pain, as get it right and you are a lap ahead, but get it wrong and you fall far far behind.
Basically what I'm saying is this is the best installment of the Kart series, but I'm yet to play the Wii version, so I may have to recant that, but its true for now. So go and get it out again, or get an emulator, but its all about that side to side flick of the 64 controller stick, so stick with the original if you can, even if it does give your thumb permanent damage.
Its a winner.
95/100