It’s Mario plus go karts. What else can I say?
Hello Florida gamers, it is time for another edition of Retro Review. This week I am looking at one of the earliest videogames I can ever remember owning. This week I look at the first installment of the Mario Kart series. We’re going back to 1992. No blue shells, no online playing. It’s Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo.
Story
Like every game after this one, there is no story to be had. Let me share my best improv story that this game might possibly have. Ok, so Mario and Luigi are just walking around, waiting for something to do. Toad informs them Bowser is organizing a race to determine if he can have Peach or not. He bets he can beat Mario and Luigi and offers some kind of grand prize. Mario and Luigi don’t know better and accept it. Bowser enters his own race for the prize and hires Donkey Kong Junior and Koopa Troopa to be distractions so he can cheat. Yoshi comes along cause he is bored as heck. So they go on a huge grand prix that covers every inch of the Mushroom Kingdom. You pick your character to race for the prize. There ya go, I just gave a story to a basic racing game.
Gameplay
The gameplay of this game is super simple. You accelerate to gain speed, you use the control pad and the L and R buttons to steer and jump drift. If you’re familiar with other Mario Kart games, then this one is nothing new to you. The game has approximately 30 tracks and 5 cups to play around on, ranging from a haunted track, to a chocolate themed desert. You have the infamous 50, 100, and 150 cc classes that serve as the game’s 3 different difficulties. You go from the simple Mario Circuit to the dreaded Rainbow Road. There is also a 2 player mode with a battle mode where you can assault your friend with weapons to pop their balloons. The items are nothing you wouldn’t recognize if you play the more recent Mario Kart games.
Super Mario Kart’s 2 player Grand Prix mode. Player one is Mario, player two is Yoshi
There are coins you collect on the road that give you a speed boost and you can earn lives from them. Lives are your muligans if you land below fourth place, you can spend a life and try the race again. This is one reason Super Mario Kart sticks out. No other game after this one implemented a life system and let you move on no matter what place you finished in. A Time Trial mode only playable in 1 player mode is where you can practice on those tough courses or go for the best times.
Donut Plains 1 Track. Toad is in 5th place. You can see the coins on the track
Battle mode with the balloons. Yoshi vs. Luigi.
Characters:
Super Mario Kart features 8 racers. All of them have pretty distinct differences. Your balanced characters are Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Peach (or just Princess). They have good handling and speed. Your heavy characters are Bowser and Donkey Kong Junior. They have poor handling and acceleration. Stay away from them. The last two characters are the small characters, Toad and Koopa Troopa. They have the best handling and acceleration. Stick with these two if you are new to the game.
The character select screen
Difficulty
Mario Kart games of recent are easy in my opinion. You don’t have to try too hard to really understand the games. The blue shells make for an awful experience. Super Mario Kart is still the hardest of the whole series. Your skill is what determines your place at the end of the race. If you get below fourth place, you lose a life, no joke. This game demands mastery. The controls are meant to make you work to make the tight corners. Super Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road is still one of my worst stages. No rails at all as is the norm. The game is easy to pick up but once you reach 150 cc, you’re in for a rough time. Special Cup is the spawn of Satan. Good luck getting through those 5 brutal courses.
The famous first Rainbow Road. Looks so simple but oh so very challenging
Soundtrack
Super Mario Kart has some of the most cheerful music of any racing game I have ever played. Even the Bowser’s Castle music is pretty chill for a stage with lava. I love all the tracks. Rainbow Road’s track is so cool, Mario Kart 7 brought it back and remixed it slightly for the game. The Mario Circuit theme made in to Super Smash Bros Brawl. This soundtrack is short but its very solid and worth the listen.
My personal take
Super Mario Kart is a challenging game, not Castevania hard or Megaman hard. Super Mario Kart is fun once you learn how to handle it. The tracks are creative even though the environments are used more than once. It is one of the earliest games I played and honestly, its taken me all these years to beat all the cups and classes. The game is worth the effort. This game is pretty easy to find online and if you see it, grab it.
Final Verdict:
Story: N/A because the game has no canon story to speak of
Gameplay: 9/10
Difficulty: 7.5/10
Final Score: 8.5/10. A very good game. I recommend it to Mario Kart fans and fans of racing games in general.
“Heya Luigi! Let’s a get drunk!!”
FLG 