The best racer on the GBA.
User Rating: 8.8 | Mario Kart: Super Circuit GBA
Mario Kart: Super Circuit is indeed the best racer on the GBA. Sure, there are some other good ones, but this one is about as deep and accessible as it gets on the handheld. First off, if one is not familiar with the concept of the Mario Kart games, allow me to explain. The basic premise of the game is to reach the finish line, by any means necessary. Interfering with your opponents is practically a necessity in this game. Various items are scattered around each track for the player to collect and launch at their opponents. Causing your opponent to crash by striking them with your items will both grant you an opportunity to gain some ground on them, and enjoy a laugh at their expense. Also, collecting coins scattered around the track will speed up your kart quite a bit. As for the racers themselves, as the game's name implies, they are all characters from the Mario series in go-carts. Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Bowser are all available to run around the different tracks. Different characters have different effects on how their Kart handles. A heavyweight like Bowser will have trouble accelerating and taking corners, whereas a lightweight like Toad may accelerate quickly but will have a low high speed. Also, heavier characters can push lighter ones around when the two collide. The game contains ten different circuits, each with four tracks. Five of the circuits are completely new, while five others come from the original Mario Kart. Also, there are three different difficulty levels to be completed. Each track can be raced through either in a Grand Prix competition, or solo in a time trial mode. And there are multiplayer options for those of you with friends with GBAs. The graphics in this game are fine for GBA standards. They do seem to become a wee bit blurry or washed out at times though. Also, they lack the cartoony feel of the original Mario Kart on the SNES, especially in the backgrounds. On the other hand, it still looks quite nice, especially for a GBA game. The animation works fine, and there aren't any problems with graphics overlapping or anything. The only other problem worth mentioning is that the GBA's tiny screen sometimes makes it hard to see things, but that's not too bad. Sound is fine. The music from the original SNES game is back, and the sound effects are there as well. Also, voice samples have been added to give the characters a bit more personality. Altogether sound is a nice package, but it's not that spectacular. Replay is fine. You can spend hours upon hours, and weeks upon weeks playing through it to gain faster times and prove that you are the fastest karter in the land. There is an ranking system for each of the Grand Prix circuits, but getting higher ranks seems to be exceedingly difficult. Still, you'll have a ton of fun playing through this game again and again and again. So to conclude, I would highly recommend to all of you that you purchase this game. Especially if you want a racer for the GBA.
