{"id":231,"date":"2011-10-05T17:47:07","date_gmt":"2011-10-05T17:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=231"},"modified":"2011-10-05T17:47:07","modified_gmt":"2011-10-05T17:47:07","slug":"super-mario-kart-super-nes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=231","title":{"rendered":"Super Mario Kart (Super NES)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it first came out, I didn’t feel there was a\u00a0link between kart racing and Mario characters.<\/p>\n

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1992 – Super NES (Nintendo)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Looking back, I don’t think that mattered.\u00a0 I was sold from the get-go!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Somehow, in the constant stream of updates on upcoming games in Nintendo Power<\/em>‘s “Pak Watch”, I missed this one completely.\u00a0 I might have been breezing through the articles, hoping\u00a0to see a new Mega Man<\/em> title announced, a new Contra <\/em>title, or perhaps something else.\u00a0 Either way, on those traditional after-school visits to Blockbuster Video on Fridays, I kept an eye out for the new stuff.<\/div>\n
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Imagine my surprise when I saw the box pictured above.\u00a0 Of course, I recognized Mario, but all his friends and enemies were bunched together into one crazy display of action.\u00a0 What was it?\u00a0 A driving game?\u00a0 There was that magical Blockbuster-labeled\u00a0plastic case\u00a0behind it, meaning a copy was available for rent.\u00a0 I pleaded with my mom, who only shrugged and said “are you sure you want that one?”<\/div>\n
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Without hesitation, I said “YES!\u00a0 I’ve been waiting for this game for so long!!”<\/div>\n
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She may have known I was full of it at the time, because I talked about games with her all the time; what was coming out, what was fun, whatever.\u00a0 She probably didn’t care a whole lot, but like any other parent would, she pretended to.\u00a0 I didn’t know any different, because she loved to watch me play some games, regardless.\u00a0 In any case, if I had\u00a0been excited about this one, she hadn’t heard anything\u00a0about it.<\/div>\n
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Anyhow, when I got home, the game absolutely blew my mind.\u00a0 Combining kart racing, Mode 7 graphics (which was an amazing thing, back in the day), the Mario<\/em> license and weapons to use against competitors…\u00a0 a match made in video game heaven.<\/div>\n
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I ended up getting my own copy of the game that following Christmas.\u00a0 I also got this beauty of an accessory, which I always associate with Super Mario Kart<\/em>.<\/div>\n
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As it turns out, Turbo doesn’t work that great with racing games.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

I remember 1992 as being\u00a0the Christmas of Mario Kart<\/em>, the AsciiPad, and tons of random baseball and Toronto Blue\u00a0Jays\u00a0stuff.\u00a0 They were, after all, WORLD FRIGGIN’ SERIES CHAMPIONS!<\/p>\n

No, I wasn’t able to use the controller\u00a0with Mario Kart<\/em>, but it\u00a0worked with\u00a0so many games oh-so-perfectly.\u00a0 Crank one of those extra buttons to the middle setting, and you could go “turbo” by holding that corresponding\u00a0button.\u00a0 Crank it all the way to the right, and that button will FREAK OUT on auto-turbo.\u00a0 It seemed to work best\u00a0when I played\u00a0Contra III: The Alien Wars<\/em>, but no Street Fighter II<\/em> bonus stage was ever left unbeaten after I got this baby.<\/p>\n

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