Mario Kart 64

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
Post Reply
User avatar
JaySevenZero
Admin
Posts: 2643
Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:28 pm
Location: Liverpool, Europe, Earth
Contact:

Mario Kart 64

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here is where you can leave your thoughts regarding the Mario Kart 64 for possible inclusion in the podcast when it's recorded.
User avatar
matten zwei
Member
Posts: 26
Joined: February 21st, 2016, 11:55 am

Re: Mario Kart 64

Post by matten zwei »

Mario Kart 64 was one of the first games I've played on the Nintendo 64. I was still struggling with the Analog Stick but was impressed by the graphics. While I've had a hard time with Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo, Mario Kart 64 felt a bit easier thanks to the improved graphics. I could actually see where the track was going, turns and corners weren't just popping up out of nowhere.

Playing the game recently, I think it hasn't aged as well as its competitors, "Diddy Kong Racing" and especially the still brilliant "Crash Team Racing". The graphics aren't that 3D anymore, some of the racing tracks are quite dull and ugly and I would have loved an adventure mode. The Mario Kart-series unfortunately never got one, but maybe no one else but me cares. Still I prefer Mario Kart 64 over Mario Kart Double Dash and Mario Kart Wii. There's some nostalgia about it that I like and I think it's not too challenging (like Double Dash) nor to easy (Mario Kart Wii). It gets the balance right for me. But how likely am I going pick this game up, when I can play two other, nearly perfect fun-racing-games from that era?
User avatar
duskvstweak
Member
Posts: 1123
Joined: August 23rd, 2017, 6:40 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Mario Kart 64

Post by duskvstweak »

I was so excited for Mario Kart 64 that the disappointment I felt with the game was heartbreaking and still potent. After all the weekends I spent renting Super Mario Kart, it felt unbelievable that I didn't like the 64 game.

I found the tracks too wide and not as exciting as the SNES. The driving felt slower and, even then, I thought the graphics were too muddy. Worst of all, a Rainbow Road with guard rails. Guard rails! ON RAINBOW ROAD!

While I know I'm in the minority both then and now, I attribute Mario Kart 64 for turning me away from the series and most kart racers. Instead, I fell in love, heart and soul with F-Zero X and that was my go-to racer for my N64 years. It was fast and chaotic, almost like how I remembered Super Mario Kart, but without the weapons. I wish I could have seen what my sibling and friends saw in Mario Kart 64, but it never clicked with me.
User avatar
DomsBeard
Member
Posts: 3689
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:03 pm
Location: Doms Chin

Re: Mario Kart 64

Post by DomsBeard »

Myself and several work buddies at a high street fast food chain at the time used to regularly work unsociable hours so would meet up at ridiculous times of day and night and play this game for hours and hours on end.

We primarily played four player battle mode interspersed with about twenty races on the Wario Stadium track. The reason why was the jump just before the final turn to the finish line. If someone had a lightening and timed it right you could send the leader (or that one friend who got you last time) from first to last in one fell swoop. You used to be able to tell who had the lightening as you would here a little snigger begin elsewhere in the room as we always tried to remain quiet so they wouldn't notice. That course still gets referenced with those same friends whenever we meet nearly 20 years on. He still has hit N64 and have had the occasional rematch evening and it is still as funny as ever. Hopefully the N64 mini will appear with this on and we can keep the tradition going.
kintaris

Re: Mario Kart 64

Post by kintaris »

Sometimes I wonder how my brother and I remained close through our childhood. He was the football-obsessed, outgoing and logical type; I was the creative one who couldn't catch a cold and had a serious allergic reaction to sport.

I truly think that it was games like Mario Kart 64 that kept us connected, as an intersection between our interests. Every track of this game is seared into my mind, along with the music - but instead of remembering the sound effects, I remember my brother shouting at the TV, and me, and everything under the sun: "That was SO unfair!"

It helped immensely that while he was much better predisposed to real world things like understanding how a car works, I was actually pretty good at computer games. It balanced our competition out pretty well, and of course we all know that you're only ever a blue shell away from victory or disaster. My brother never quite reconciled with the fact that there was an element of luck to the game, but he still enjoyed it enough to keep coming back night after night.

By the time Double Dash came out my brother was starting to pursue other interests altogether, and while I muck about on Mario Kart 8, his lone PlayStation gathers dust between iterations of FIFA. Mario Kart 64 was very far from perfect and is difficult to play nowadays, but it will always hold a special place in my heart as a part of my family history.
User avatar
Jobobonobo
Member
Posts: 574
Joined: July 27th, 2016, 4:30 pm

Re: Mario Kart 64

Post by Jobobonobo »

Mario Kart 64, I feel, holds a very particular niche on its system. While Diddy kong Racing had a long, involved single player adventure campaign, Mario Kart excelled at four player multiplayer. The hours of fun me and my friends had at balloon battle alone makes this title a near and dear memory for me. I have certainly enjoyed future titles in the series (Mario Kart 8 in particular being the series apex) but it was the N64 game that perfected that mode for me with its small and tight arenas so that you were never far from your victim or attacker. I feel the four controller ports of the N64 which enabled such a fun multiplayer experience was vital for both the system and Mario Kart 64's legacy and success. While it never had the immense sales and success of the Playstation, it was these sorts of unique experiences that other consoles were not providing at the time without the help of multitap accessories that ensured that the N64 will be remembered with immense fondness by many.
nickturner13

Re: Mario Kart 64

Post by nickturner13 »

OK so... I loved SNES Super Mario Kart.

Me and a good mate used to spend a lot of time in the mid-90's playing it in the evening, whilst chatting and listening to music... we always described that kind of nirvana you would reach when you were playing at your optimum level yet thinking of something totally different.... playing on "Auto-pilot" as it were...

But then hardware and software moved on, and along came the N64 and Mario Kart 64.

My personal feelings about this game was that it added too much. the 3d tracks seemed a lot wider and suddenly the game wasn't about racing, cutting corners, and powerups... but something more. something more vicious....

I felt it lost a lot of the fun of the original game. It became a lot more serious and for nintendo cartoony games, I really couldn't get on with what it had become.

This is, I'm sure, a very rare and unusual take on the game... but to me... it lost everything about mario kart to me. Mario Kart on the SNES was an incredible, once in a lifetime game.

Mario Kart 64 just really didn't cut it for me, I really didn't like it.
Post Reply