My Top 100: #58 – Mario Kart 64

1997 – Nintendo (Nintendo 64)

 

When I started putting my list together, I knew that there should be a Mario Kart game on it.  After all, the original was an unexpected surprise, and my whole family had a good laugh whenever we played it.  Its sequel on the Nintendo 64 was great as well, but aside from Mario Kart DS, it seemed like the series leveled off; “here’s more of the same, with different tracks, similar-looking graphics and more racers – have fun!”  The New Super Mario Bros. series has fallen into this same predicament, and although the games are still fun, the initial charm has worn off.

So that left three honestly awesome Mario Kart games to choose from; the original, the first 3D entry into the series, or the first with online play…  hmm.  In terms of overall favourites, there could be only one.

 

 

With Mario Kart 64, I find that the “wow” factor is still there for me.  That first time I played the Royal Raceway track, went over that massive, stomach-lurching jump at the end of a ramp, and – “POOMP!” – landed with a satisfying thud on the other side.  Not only that, but you zoomed by Princess Peach’s Castle from Super Mario 64 right afterwards!!!  I found that that was a cool Easter Egg…  um, wait, you can EXPLORE the area around it???

Amazing!!  That just made the game pure win, right then and there.  If this track yielded secrets to those who didn’t care about losing time doing some actual racing, then the rest of them could, too!

Whenever I’d get the chance to rent a Nintendo 64, I’d rent this along with it.  Yeah, the racing was fun, and the new drifting\boost mechanics were pretty cool, but the fact that the tracks had so much character was what did it for me.  This was still pretty early on in the N64’s lifecycle, and getting a new perspective on various landscapes (such as the chocolate track, the haunted one and the DK Jungle) was a whole lot of fun.

 

If I had a nickel for every time this happened…

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