Mario Kart 64 was a fun game back in the day, but with all the newer Mario Karts, you'd rather play those.
The graphics don't look too good. The textures look bland, even for the N64.
The controls are okay. With the Classic Controller, you use the control stick to control, A to accelerate, B to brake, and R to drift. The drifting is a bit loose, and that was improved in future Mario Kart games.
The tracks have aged rather poorly. Yes, it's an old game, but it's an old game that didn't age well. The design feels very dated, and you'll find that you'd rather play newer versions.
One major change from the original to the Virtual Console is that you cannot save time trial ghosts. The original let you save your ghosts with the N64 controller pak, but this version does not support it, thus, you cannot save your ghosts. This drags down the gameplay a lot, since you can't strive to beat any records.
Back in the day, Mario Kart 64 was known for it's spectacular multiplayer. As of today, it's okay, but it's dragged down by dated gameplay.
THE VERDICT!
I can't really give this game a full recommendation. Even though the game may be nostaglic to the right people, to other people, it's not. The graphics, controls, and gameplay have aged poorly, and to top it all off, you can't even save ghosts. I'm not saying it's a terrible game, it's just not great. You should probably skip Mario Kart 64.
Final Score:
6- Fair