Super Mario Kart is the most significant game in the series as it kicked off the franchise as we know it today. But playing the game itself and finally getting to fully experience it, yeah this hasn't aged well
The game features 8 characters featuring all the beloved Mario cast at the time and Donkey Kong Jr.
Each one has its specific weight class, but I couldn't feel the difference in playing any of them, so I just select whatever character I want to switch things up a bit
The controls are tolerable enough. They aren't the greatest Mario Kart-wise, but they're decent enough to get used to. To accelerate, you use the B button while you use the A button to use an item. This'll be weird to someone who has played more of the modern Mario Kart games like 8 Deluxe, but it’s not the end of the world. But what can throw people off is the drifting
Drifting in Super Mario Kart isn't the most dependable when playing through something like the Grand Prix. It can feel like I drifted too much or haven't drifted enough when using it on tight turns. I never fully grasped the drifting controls and most of the time relied on decelerating to make a tight turn without making a fool out of myself. I never fully grasped the drifting controls, but it was something I've gotten used to later on after experiencing the horror that was Donut Plains 3
Speaking of which, the game features 20 tracks spread across 4 cups with 8 types of courses with the good majority of which are based off of Super Mario World, like Donut Plains, Bowser's Castle, and Choco Island. Most of these tracks have multiple variants like three Ghost Valleys, two Choco Islands, and four Mario Circuits. This makes the whole track selection feel repetitive, and while they have different tracks, they're just more of the same. Now stage hazards are where you have to be cautious when playing the game, as let's say you were flattened by a Thwomp or have fallen off the ledge for example, it takes forever for you to recover and makes it difficult for you to get back into the position. Why? Because the computer players in this game loves to fucking cheat
Rubber banding AI is the term here, and it's when no matter how far you are ahead of the CPUs, they'll be granted faster speeds so they can catch up to you. They do this to make the game more enjoyable so you won't have a heavy on everybody, but it’s just way too much in the game. No matter which character you play, the CPUs can be aggressive and annoying to deal with. They also have access to special items that you cannot use. Mario and Luigi can activate invincibility at any time they want, Peach and Toad throw Poison Mushrooms, Yoshi can throw eggs, and Bowser spits fireballs. Now this doesn't mean you're completely defenseless however. You can nab an item by touching one of the panels on the ground and give you some sweet sweet randomness, from mushrooms to green and red shells, and the feather (SMK exclusive) that is effective for shortcuts. But no matter how you hurl items at them, they'll always find a way to come back and be right on you. They're also aggressive when it comes to bumping into you and can easily ruin your run when they push you off the track
Every time you start a grand prix, you'll be given lives. If you lost a race or just decided to restart, one of your lives gets taken away. If you lose all of your lives, it's game over and you have to restart. Now this wasn't all too bad for me when I played through the entirety of 50cc and most of 100cc, but for the Special Cup of 100cc and the entirety of 150cc, I just gave up and used save states due to how aggravated I was with the CPUs
Another thing that I found to be annoying was the coin system. Now I don't have a problem with coins in general in Mario Kart, but how they function here is what I have a problem with. Every coin held slightly increases your top speed depending on the character, but losing the coins and draining it down to 0 is an issue. When you're coinless, you are vulnerable to the other players and can easily spin your kart out. Remember how I said earlier that the AI loves to bump into you? Yeah, because of this, they can take away the precious coins you've collected and can easily drain you down to 0, and I was not having it
Super Mario Kart isn’t the most accessible Mario Kart game out there, but it has its own charm that it can be worth revisiting to some or just playing for the first time. While there is some fun to be had here, it isn't the first Mario Kart game I'm gonna be jumping to
The game features 8 characters featuring all the beloved Mario cast at the time and Donkey Kong Jr.
Each one has its specific weight class, but I couldn't feel the difference in playing any of them, so I just select whatever character I want to switch things up a bit
The controls are tolerable enough. They aren't the greatest Mario Kart-wise, but they're decent enough to get used to. To accelerate, you use the B button while you use the A button to use an item. This'll be weird to someone who has played more of the modern Mario Kart games like 8 Deluxe, but it’s not the end of the world. But what can throw people off is the drifting
Drifting in Super Mario Kart isn't the most dependable when playing through something like the Grand Prix. It can feel like I drifted too much or haven't drifted enough when using it on tight turns. I never fully grasped the drifting controls and most of the time relied on decelerating to make a tight turn without making a fool out of myself. I never fully grasped the drifting controls, but it was something I've gotten used to later on after experiencing the horror that was Donut Plains 3
Speaking of which, the game features 20 tracks spread across 4 cups with 8 types of courses with the good majority of which are based off of Super Mario World, like Donut Plains, Bowser's Castle, and Choco Island. Most of these tracks have multiple variants like three Ghost Valleys, two Choco Islands, and four Mario Circuits. This makes the whole track selection feel repetitive, and while they have different tracks, they're just more of the same. Now stage hazards are where you have to be cautious when playing the game, as let's say you were flattened by a Thwomp or have fallen off the ledge for example, it takes forever for you to recover and makes it difficult for you to get back into the position. Why? Because the computer players in this game loves to fucking cheat
Rubber banding AI is the term here, and it's when no matter how far you are ahead of the CPUs, they'll be granted faster speeds so they can catch up to you. They do this to make the game more enjoyable so you won't have a heavy on everybody, but it’s just way too much in the game. No matter which character you play, the CPUs can be aggressive and annoying to deal with. They also have access to special items that you cannot use. Mario and Luigi can activate invincibility at any time they want, Peach and Toad throw Poison Mushrooms, Yoshi can throw eggs, and Bowser spits fireballs. Now this doesn't mean you're completely defenseless however. You can nab an item by touching one of the panels on the ground and give you some sweet sweet randomness, from mushrooms to green and red shells, and the feather (SMK exclusive) that is effective for shortcuts. But no matter how you hurl items at them, they'll always find a way to come back and be right on you. They're also aggressive when it comes to bumping into you and can easily ruin your run when they push you off the track
Every time you start a grand prix, you'll be given lives. If you lost a race or just decided to restart, one of your lives gets taken away. If you lose all of your lives, it's game over and you have to restart. Now this wasn't all too bad for me when I played through the entirety of 50cc and most of 100cc, but for the Special Cup of 100cc and the entirety of 150cc, I just gave up and used save states due to how aggravated I was with the CPUs
Another thing that I found to be annoying was the coin system. Now I don't have a problem with coins in general in Mario Kart, but how they function here is what I have a problem with. Every coin held slightly increases your top speed depending on the character, but losing the coins and draining it down to 0 is an issue. When you're coinless, you are vulnerable to the other players and can easily spin your kart out. Remember how I said earlier that the AI loves to bump into you? Yeah, because of this, they can take away the precious coins you've collected and can easily drain you down to 0, and I was not having it
Super Mario Kart isn’t the most accessible Mario Kart game out there, but it has its own charm that it can be worth revisiting to some or just playing for the first time. While there is some fun to be had here, it isn't the first Mario Kart game I'm gonna be jumping to