Playing this genuinely got my heart pounding at the end of nearly every race. This game has a lot of what I look for in arcade/kart racers, like adapting and memorizing new tracks, positioning for getting past cars, knowing when to lose and gain speed, getting ready for turns and corners, and it's fast as hell which is how I like it. I would honestly say this game is a better basis for kart racers than Super Mario Kart.
Of course some aspects of it are pretty rough, like the way that getting hit by another racer can send you sliding in what feels like the most random directions, and affects speed in way I never really understood. Not just getting hit by other cars, but just bumping someone from behind makes some real weird stuff happen with your car. There's also that one jump in White Land II that just expects you to use a mechanic that's never required again. But honestly, in terms of single-player arcade racing game, this blew me away a lot more than I was expecting. Also the OST is top-tier of SNES soundtracks.
Of course some aspects of it are pretty rough, like the way that getting hit by another racer can send you sliding in what feels like the most random directions, and affects speed in way I never really understood. Not just getting hit by other cars, but just bumping someone from behind makes some real weird stuff happen with your car. There's also that one jump in White Land II that just expects you to use a mechanic that's never required again. But honestly, in terms of single-player arcade racing game, this blew me away a lot more than I was expecting. Also the OST is top-tier of SNES soundtracks.