Mario Kart 64 Game Journal
Title: Mario Kart 64 Publisher: Nintendo
Year: 1997 ESRB Rating: E (for everyone)
Platform: N64 Genre: Kart Racing
Story: There isn't a story. The game is just picking a character and racing against other characters (either real-life people or computer controlled) in a variety of match styles, from classic track racing to versus matches and mini-games
Characters:
There are 8 playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Wario and Donkey Kong. Unless you know these characters from other games or lore you won't be getting attached to them, as there is no character development in this game. The only primary difference, other than looks of course, is these characters are divided into different weight classes:
. Light: Highest acceleration - Toad, Princess Peach, Yoshi
. Medium: Middle-ground acceleration and speed - Mario, Luigi
. Heavy: Low acceleration, highest top speed, can knock people around slightly - D.K, Bowser, Wario
Graphics:
So describing the graphics is interesting. From the main menu and character select screens you'd think the game would boast crisp, clean graphics through and through, and then you get into some gameplay: I've blown up the in-game sprite quality snapshot photo above to show how odd it is that the trees on the sides of the map are crisper and less pixelated, even at a distance, compared to the players, who are the focal point of the game, who are clearly pixilated on the edges and rather blurry and unrefined. Now I know, limitations and all that for its day and age, but one would think the focus of quality would be reversed. It's not like this is a problem, mind you, but it's just weird how the best part of the player models is the quality of the smoke particles coming off the karts.
Audio:
Main Menu Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3IsodCVEOc&list=PL1F74290E8FDB692B&index=2
Moo Moo Farm Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9DDMYif4eQ&list=PL1F74290E8FDB692B&index=4
Rainbow Road Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shvbqQ-1vww&list=PL1F74290E8FDB692B&index=13
The music for this game is gripping for its time. There isn't a single song from the maps that doesn't get you pumped to do a race. Even a map as weird as moo moo farm has a great track. All the songs are upbeat, active music you can, even in this day and age, either hum to while racing or head bop to.
The sound effects are also pretty top notch for their day and age, and considering this is a cartridge and not a disc, that's saying something. From the tire screeches to the voice overs whenever people pass you, you pass them, players get hit by bananas and shells and the like, and the engine throttling, there isn't a sound effect that sounds 8-bit or gritty compared to the other sound effects.
Sample Game Footage (race start footage starts at 0:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASWgJvuQhTA&t=95s
Level Design: So although the maps are distinctive graphically from one another, the actual track designs are a bit stale and straight forward. You need only look above at the mini-maps for the in game snapshots to discern this. Now granted, perhaps in 97 they didn't have the hardware to implement algorithms for designing loop-the-loops and the like, and have the textures apply correctly to those types of landscapes. All in all the levels have the same theme: they have a road taking 60% of the map, then a railing, then a wall, then the sky box. There might be some levels like Toads Turnpike that have cars in them, or in Rainbow Road there are Chomp Chomps, but otherwise pretty straight forward and empty.
Controls: As it's a racing game, the controls are pretty basic: Use the control stick to steer left or right, A to accelerate, B to brake, and R is used to slide. More on sliding in the Learning Curve Section below. The other controls are solid and responsive, all things considered.
Learning Curve: The overall learning curve is very lenient. When playing the classic game you can choose between three levels of difficulty; 50, 100 and 150 CC. If you're new, you go with 50, and if you're a veteran you go with 150 CC. That being said, 150 CC is veeery brutal, especially if you aren't good with sliding.
It's funny how 'meta' this game can get when it comes to sliding, as sliding efficiently is what truly separates the good from the bad in pretty much any Mario Kart game. Not only is the sliding mechanic practically vital to keep yourself from constantly hitting walls, particularly in the star levels, but there's also a 'hidden' speed boost mechanic to it that's never taught to you.
When you're sliding, you've got this 'eeeeeeeeee' coming off of your cart that starts off as white. If you flick your analog stick in the opposite direction of your slide and back again in quick succession after a short time of sliding, the color changes from white to yellow, and if done again from yellow to orange. If the slide is released when the eeee's are orange you get a slight speed boost, making even more micromanagement possibilities...well, possible. Your character even does a 'Yahoo!' or 'Let's go!' when done correctly.
However, even if that level of min-maxing is not your style, the items have your back. The items that you get are supposedly random, and to a degree they are, but your position in the race is a far more powerful factor for determining the item you get. For instance, if you're in first place single shells that merely bounce off walls and bananas that trip up opponents who run over them are more likely. In the middle of the pack you'll see more red shells that home in on opponents and lightning bolts that slow opponents down and make them small, allowing you to run over them / knock them around. In dead last? No worries! You're infinitely more likely to get power stars that make you immune, faster and insta-knockout players you run into, or the blue shell that instantly seeks out player in first and knocks him out.
So regardless of whether you're a child or a hardcore gamer, you can jump right in and play.
Fun Factor: This game is a timely classic even to this day, and playing it recently with my brother proves that. 'Ah, the memories' I think we both said at one point. We played at 100 CC cause we didn't wanna get our faces smashed in by the 150 CC computers, but didn't wanna completely ignore the fact there were computers with 50 CC. We got first and second place, of course, and I edged him out by a few points as I'm more of the racer gamer in the family than he is. All in all this game is a blast, 22 years after it officially came out.
Changes: Mechanically there isn't anything I can think of changing. I don't feel there's any item they have that is truly over or under-powered compared to the others. My biggest changes would be graphical, as I stated in the graphics section. Now I know one could argue that as a racing game you're focusing on the track and therefore it needs more quality and polishing than the players, but I don't feel, considering the work they did on the title and main screens, that such a sacrifice needs to be made. There could also be more life added to the levels, assuming there is memory for such objects to exist without lowering performance.
Recommendation: I think I've said this multiple times throughout this article, but this game is a classic. The fact that after decades of its release I can play it with my brother and still have a good time racing against him speaks volumes, even without all the shine and polish of modern racers. Definitely get this game if you've never played it.
Year: 1997 ESRB Rating: E (for everyone)
Platform: N64 Genre: Kart Racing
Story: There isn't a story. The game is just picking a character and racing against other characters (either real-life people or computer controlled) in a variety of match styles, from classic track racing to versus matches and mini-games
Characters:
Character Select Screen
There are 8 playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Wario and Donkey Kong. Unless you know these characters from other games or lore you won't be getting attached to them, as there is no character development in this game. The only primary difference, other than looks of course, is these characters are divided into different weight classes:
. Light: Highest acceleration - Toad, Princess Peach, Yoshi
. Medium: Middle-ground acceleration and speed - Mario, Luigi
. Heavy: Low acceleration, highest top speed, can knock people around slightly - D.K, Bowser, Wario
Graphics:
Main Menu Sample
In-Game Sprite Quality Snapshot
Dk Jungle Raceway Snapshot
In the case of D.K. Jungle Raceway, It's kind of hard to overlook the quality of the tree wall, again a blurred mess of pixels that, quite honestly, looks like something I would make...well, at least these trees have shading and lighting, but still...
Rainbow Road Snapshot
Now all that being said, the color schemes for the maps vary widely, and vividly stand out from the players, so you never lose sight of your opponents, should they catch up to you. I mean, rainbow road is a national treasure, and you can see how even though it's simplistic, it's still more beautiful than some of the modern maps of racers today.
Audio:
Main Menu Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3IsodCVEOc&list=PL1F74290E8FDB692B&index=2
Moo Moo Farm Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9DDMYif4eQ&list=PL1F74290E8FDB692B&index=4
Rainbow Road Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shvbqQ-1vww&list=PL1F74290E8FDB692B&index=13
The music for this game is gripping for its time. There isn't a single song from the maps that doesn't get you pumped to do a race. Even a map as weird as moo moo farm has a great track. All the songs are upbeat, active music you can, even in this day and age, either hum to while racing or head bop to.
The sound effects are also pretty top notch for their day and age, and considering this is a cartridge and not a disc, that's saying something. From the tire screeches to the voice overs whenever people pass you, you pass them, players get hit by bananas and shells and the like, and the engine throttling, there isn't a sound effect that sounds 8-bit or gritty compared to the other sound effects.
Sample Game Footage (race start footage starts at 0:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASWgJvuQhTA&t=95s
Level Design: So although the maps are distinctive graphically from one another, the actual track designs are a bit stale and straight forward. You need only look above at the mini-maps for the in game snapshots to discern this. Now granted, perhaps in 97 they didn't have the hardware to implement algorithms for designing loop-the-loops and the like, and have the textures apply correctly to those types of landscapes. All in all the levels have the same theme: they have a road taking 60% of the map, then a railing, then a wall, then the sky box. There might be some levels like Toads Turnpike that have cars in them, or in Rainbow Road there are Chomp Chomps, but otherwise pretty straight forward and empty.
Controls: As it's a racing game, the controls are pretty basic: Use the control stick to steer left or right, A to accelerate, B to brake, and R is used to slide. More on sliding in the Learning Curve Section below. The other controls are solid and responsive, all things considered.
Learning Curve: The overall learning curve is very lenient. When playing the classic game you can choose between three levels of difficulty; 50, 100 and 150 CC. If you're new, you go with 50, and if you're a veteran you go with 150 CC. That being said, 150 CC is veeery brutal, especially if you aren't good with sliding.
It's funny how 'meta' this game can get when it comes to sliding, as sliding efficiently is what truly separates the good from the bad in pretty much any Mario Kart game. Not only is the sliding mechanic practically vital to keep yourself from constantly hitting walls, particularly in the star levels, but there's also a 'hidden' speed boost mechanic to it that's never taught to you.
When you're sliding, you've got this 'eeeeeeeeee' coming off of your cart that starts off as white. If you flick your analog stick in the opposite direction of your slide and back again in quick succession after a short time of sliding, the color changes from white to yellow, and if done again from yellow to orange. If the slide is released when the eeee's are orange you get a slight speed boost, making even more micromanagement possibilities...well, possible. Your character even does a 'Yahoo!' or 'Let's go!' when done correctly.
However, even if that level of min-maxing is not your style, the items have your back. The items that you get are supposedly random, and to a degree they are, but your position in the race is a far more powerful factor for determining the item you get. For instance, if you're in first place single shells that merely bounce off walls and bananas that trip up opponents who run over them are more likely. In the middle of the pack you'll see more red shells that home in on opponents and lightning bolts that slow opponents down and make them small, allowing you to run over them / knock them around. In dead last? No worries! You're infinitely more likely to get power stars that make you immune, faster and insta-knockout players you run into, or the blue shell that instantly seeks out player in first and knocks him out.
So regardless of whether you're a child or a hardcore gamer, you can jump right in and play.
Fun Factor: This game is a timely classic even to this day, and playing it recently with my brother proves that. 'Ah, the memories' I think we both said at one point. We played at 100 CC cause we didn't wanna get our faces smashed in by the 150 CC computers, but didn't wanna completely ignore the fact there were computers with 50 CC. We got first and second place, of course, and I edged him out by a few points as I'm more of the racer gamer in the family than he is. All in all this game is a blast, 22 years after it officially came out.
Changes: Mechanically there isn't anything I can think of changing. I don't feel there's any item they have that is truly over or under-powered compared to the others. My biggest changes would be graphical, as I stated in the graphics section. Now I know one could argue that as a racing game you're focusing on the track and therefore it needs more quality and polishing than the players, but I don't feel, considering the work they did on the title and main screens, that such a sacrifice needs to be made. There could also be more life added to the levels, assuming there is memory for such objects to exist without lowering performance.
Recommendation: I think I've said this multiple times throughout this article, but this game is a classic. The fact that after decades of its release I can play it with my brother and still have a good time racing against him speaks volumes, even without all the shine and polish of modern racers. Definitely get this game if you've never played it.
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