Convinced the people who hate this game simply did not grow up with it. I did, though, so I love it. This is basically the video game version of me micro-dosing myself with poison until I build up a tolerance. The important thing is that I'm aware of what I'm doing and that makes it ok.

Look, I'm not going to pretend like F-Zero isn't the better game - I'm stupid but I'm not intentionally a contrarian - but I do think Super Mario Kart's Mode 7 holds up better than people give it credit for. I think it plays reasonably well for what it is and the time that it came out, tracks are readable enough that I never feel unsure about when to make a turn, and the general quaintness of its gimmicks and items makes it a lot less frustrating to play than later entries, where you get smacked repeatedly by items that I swear are designed to be the most annoying thing you've ever encountered in a game. And yeah, sure, maybe the reason I had such a great time with this when I last played it was because I drank enough NOS energy drink to give myself a chemical lobotomy before firing it up. So what?

But the way people talk about Super Mario Kart makes it sound almost torturous, the sort of game that would make a Cenobite blush with how sadistic and painful it is. Well guess what, I beat this thing and they showed up, and now I am experiencing the most exquisite agony and pleasure (getting hit by consecutive red shells in Vanilla Lake on 150cc.)