While it's not quite as good as the original, it's definitely a great game, and will keep you playing for a long time.
User Rating: 8.9 | Mario Kart 64 N64
Today’s review is of the N64 classic, Mario Kart 64. This is the second installation is the classic racing series from Nintendo. In the game, you play as many characters from Nintendo’s flagship Mario universe. You race in Go-Karts. And that’s where we get the name, Mario Kart 64. The gameplay is identical to its Super NES predecessor, Super Mario Kart. You pick a Mario character, pick a track, and fun ensues. There are several different tracks to choose from, all placed in four different cups you can run in GP mode. There are three different awards you can get, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, and collecting Gold on all four cups unlocks a special mode. There is a two to four person multiplayer aspect, and this is where the game gets good. You can play a GP mode with more than one player, and if you have anywhere from two to four people you can do a race with just you guys. If you have at least three people, I also heavily recommend the battle mode. In battle you can pick between four large and in-depth stages. Each person has three balloons over their kart. All the other players must then endeavor to pop the opponent’s balloons. Now for the controls. They are the same as most racers. A goes, B stops and reverses. Z shoots the myriad of weapons you can pick up in the game, as well. Although its pretty much known, I’ll run through them here. There are banana peels, turtle shells, THE DREADED LIGHTNING BOLT, and spiked shells, just to name a few. They are some of the things you get to do in the game. All in all the game is very, very, fun. The graphics in the game are not so good. Everything is covered in a lackluster static blur. But things aren’t so bad. The variety of tracks has to be commended. The graphics are passable, and don’t look too bad, but coming from the same people that brought us Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I’m a little under whelmed. Nintendo usually has a commitment to quality on all fronts, graphics included, and here, I’m a little let down. But even so, things aren’t too bad. You can still tell who you’re racing with, what weapons you’re packin’, and what way you’re going on what track you are on. I’m very generous with the graphics of a game, to be honest. I’m that way because graphics don’t matter to me very much. It’s not graphics that make the game good, and its not graphics that are going to ruin a game in my review. It’s easy to get at least a seven, and if you get lower…you aren’t trying very hard at all. The sound in the game is much better. The sound all makes sense with the gameplay, and everything seems to go with the flow. The karts sound a little muted, but still accurate. But what’s better, the music. I love the music to this game. It was apparently composed just to fill in the empty space, but they must have stumbled on some gold. Maybe they stumbled on the composers from the now-defunct H2O studios (Tetrisphere, Aidyn Chronicles). Rainbow Road has some of the best music I’ve heard in the driving genre, and it’s the same with Toad’s Turnpike. The music in the game is very good, and makes up for what the graphics don’t quite have. The replay value in the game is very good. This is really the thing that’s going to keep you going and warrant a good purchase. Racing with others is very fun…hell, multiplayer in ANY game is really fun, and Mario Kart 64 is no exception. You certainly won’t be tired of this game within a week, or a month, or a year. Unless you don’t have friends. That’s really the only thing I can think of. All in all, Mario Kart 64 is a very fun game, and is definitely worth a purchase if you have an N64 and like driving games. It’s a great addition to a great series, and while it’s not quite as good as the original, it will definitely keep you playing for a long time to come.
