Mario Kart 64 turns 23 today.
And then theresMario Kart, the most iconic and bestsellingMariospinoff of them all.
For Mario and friends, go-kart racing was a perfect fit.
Not bad for a days work.
The mode was a welcome break from the traditional racing experience.
The game was also responsible for inventing its own subgenre of racing games.
(That Sonic kart racing game was calledSonic Driftand it only came out in Japan for the Game Gear.
It begs the question: why does Sonic need a goddamn kart in the first place?)
Super Mario Kart Rs roster was a tad bit different.
By the timeMario Kart 64had officially launched in Japan, Kamek had been replaced by Donkey Kong.
The item would have allowed players to jump high in the air to avoid obstacles and find shortcuts.
Super Mario Kart R also allowed players to choose how to split the screen during multiplayer gameplay.
This is due to the fact that moo sounds more like moh in Japanese.
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Unsurprisingly,Mario Kart 64s aesthetic was heavily inspired by its predecessor.
Power-ups, tracks, and characters were inspired by the beloved platformer and implemented in interesting ways.
Mario Kart 64took the same approach, taking visual cues fromSuper Mario 64, the systems must-have flagship title.
Award ceremonies at the end of each cup also take place at the entrance of the castle.
The blue shell was implemented to perform exactly that function, bowling over a crowded racetrack.
An obvious cutback was the lack of track music when playing in three- or four-player split-screen across all modes.
Fortunately, all sound effects including the star power jingle were intact.
Of course, these were all small limitations compared to the novelty of racing with Mario in 3D.
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The games multiplayer modes also helped popularize four-player split-screen racing.
(It should be noted thatMario Kart 64wasnt the first racing game to offer four-player split-screen.
The multiplayer feature has been supported since at least 1995sTop Gear 3000on the SNES.
Kemcos racing game used Nintendos multitap accessory to add two more players to the game.)
Some might even callMario Kart 64the greatest kart racing game of all-time (this writer included).
Additional Sources:Nintendo Life,The Cutting Room Floor,Did You Know Gaming?,Kotaku
