there are more than a few first entries in franchises of this era that feel like glorified proof-of-concepts or tech demos for finished products down the line, and in comparison to mario kart 64, super mario kart 100% fits the bill. what would end up becoming a charming, efficiently simplistic but complete title, here in its natal stages feels shallow, misdirected, and bogglingly designed.
the game actively punishes you for attempting to engage with its learning curve, and the rubberbanding regularly treads from obnoxious to unfair, with a.i. opponents just having access to items you don't entirely at will. the course selection is bland and largely uninspired, with repeated level designs pretty similar to one another. aside from 1-2 tracks the score isn't much to write home about either.
i suppose if you wanted to revisit this for "historical purposes" really you could, but f-zero is right there, so...
the game actively punishes you for attempting to engage with its learning curve, and the rubberbanding regularly treads from obnoxious to unfair, with a.i. opponents just having access to items you don't entirely at will. the course selection is bland and largely uninspired, with repeated level designs pretty similar to one another. aside from 1-2 tracks the score isn't much to write home about either.
i suppose if you wanted to revisit this for "historical purposes" really you could, but f-zero is right there, so...