Mario Kart 64

Genre: Racing
Developer: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo 64
Release: 1997
Rating: E

- Graphics -

With the Japanese version coming shortly after (or on, I forget) the N64's launch, and the American release coming only 2 months later, we don't have too much to compare with. However, 2D sprites in a 3D world? Seems to me the game hasn't advanced much beyond the SNES capabilities. Items, characters, and even many course obstacles were all 2D. The main courses and item blocks were about the only major 3D objects that come to mind.

Graphics: 3/10


- Story -

N/A

Story: --/10


- Gameplay -

Some of the item features were great, and many of the best ones were missing from the Gamecube release (such as the spinning shells and ghost item). The courses were also extremely fun and memorable.

Gameplay: 9/10


- Music -

I miss the N64 days of Mario music. Something about the obvious synthesizing just feels so -perfect- for a Mario Kart game, and although many games even on the Wii are synthed, the "instrumentation" has taken a turn I really don't care for.

Music: 10/10

Total Score: 7.5/10

Also available for Virtual Console