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Super Mario Kart |OT| Before Shells Were Blue

Robin64

Robin64

Member
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Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: June 19th 2013 (Japan), March 27th 2014 (Europe), August 6th 2014 (US)
Format: Wii U Virtual Console (eShop Download - ??MB)
Price: ¥800 / €7.99 / £5.49 / $7.99

Having thoroughly explored Dinosaur Land in Super Mario World, Mario decides that what it really needs is a whole bunch of racetracks building so he and his friends can compete in go-carts. Of course, despite the recent murder attempt, Bowser is also invited. Mario holds no grudges.

Joining Mario on his quest to be the best at everything ever are Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Koopa Troopa, Donkey Kong Jr and Bowser. They'll visit famous locations from Super Mario World such as Donut Plains, Chocolate Island and even some Ghost Houses. Also Rainbow Road, which is far better than Star Road. It's where you go when you die.

Super Mario Kart is the original kart racer and while there seems to be a whole genre for it now, back then there was nothing like it. I certainly can't remember any other SNES kart racing games, other than Street Racer which was pretty poor in comparison. And while there have been many Mario Kart sequels, none of them have quite the pure racing feel the the original did. It does help immensely that Super Mario Kart doesn't have the dreaded Blue Shell. The limited selection of items all took some skill to use, there was no way to get an item in last place and use it to magically become first. Well, okay, maybe the lightning comes close, but that one's hilarious.

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Super Mario Kart has some of the best music in videogaming, full stop. Check out some of these wonderful ditties.

Title Theme
Mario Circuit
Koopa Beach
Rainbow Road

Funky Mario Circuit - A cover by The OneUps

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Mean Machines - 92%
Who'd have thought that the race game to supercede F-Zero would come in the form of a Go-Kart racing game? But still, if ever a game was going to topple F-Zero from its perch as a no-frills racing game of the highest order, Super Mario Kart is it.
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IGN - 9/10
I don't mean to elevate the incredible magical awesomeness of this first Super Mario Kart game by belittling its sequels -- that's not my point. All of the Mario Kart games to come after this one have been great, too. I'm just making the case that this original design has a different aim that most of its follow-ups -- and to finish the point, I'll just observe that the original Super Mario Kart has no Blue Shell. That sums things up pretty well.
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Nintendo Life - 9/10
To play it today is every bit as enjoyable as it ever was; sure the graphics and sound may have dated, but the core gameplay is still top notch. This is one hell of a fun racing game with enough playability to keep you coming back for more.
Click to expand...

---CHEATS---

Need to make a proper header for this but the template is at work. Ah well. So yes, Super Mario Kart has some actual honest-to-goodness codes to unlock things!

Shrink Yourself - When selecting a racer, hold Y and then press A. You become small! For, uh, some reason.
Unlock Special Cup - If you can't be bothered to play the game, highlight Mushroom Cup and press L R L R L L R R A. Boom, Special Cup.
Save Time Trial Ghost - Hold L, R, and Y at the menu screen that displays after you've completed a Time Trial race and press X.

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As some of you know, I maintain a Wii U Virtual Console leaderboard "system" (a very loose term) for NeoGAF Wii U VC players. F-Zero was very popular, Punch-Out was not. It can vary! But I am hoping that Super Mario Kart gets an amazing turn-out. There will be a leaderboard for each track, and I'll probably log the top 15 players for each. Thanks to how Miiverse now works on PC, submitting a time is simple! Just post your time to Miiverse, then link the Miiverse post to us here on the forum. You can use this thread or the NeoGAF Wii U Virtual Console Leaderboards thread, I don't mind.

Submissions from Miiverse are the only ones that will be accepted, but part of the reason I am posting this OT early is so that people can get practicing via other methods in advance and get to grips with how SMK plays again.

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Yes! Thanks to the lack of a translation for this game, Super Mario Kart in Europe is 60Hz. That means Europe can finally compete with our faster American cousins! What a glorious day.

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What OT would be complete without a selection of avatars that people can use? So, I've made one for each character of the game using the original artwork. First come, first served.

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Mario Kart 8 Digital Bonus

This is only confirmed for Europe so far. People who purchase Super Mario Kart will get the price subtracted from Mario Kart 8 if they decided to download digitally. This effectively makes Super Mario Kart free if you intend to download Mario Kart 8.
 
J

Jazzem

Member
I still remember going over someone's house at age 4/5 and being completely mesmerized by this game, I'm not 100% sure but I think it's the first time I came in contact with anything Nintendo related; the characters, the music, the gameplay...it was all so enchanting to me!

Still adore the game, I like every installment in the series but it remains my favourite. I just love the typically-SNES presentation and the tight power sliding. Will be getting it again on Wii U! Also great job on the OP, very nicely laid out :D I absolutely agree on the soundtrack being among gaming's best.
 
T

Tom_Cody

Member
I'll pick this up whenever it gets released in the US. It will be fun to play through the single player in advance of MK8's release.
 
FrankCaron

FrankCaron

Gold Member
Huggers said:
.

This is what it would have felt like to have Gaf in the early 90s
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I would love to see what a real, "new release" caliber OT would've been for things like Secret of Mana, FFVI, Chrono Trigger, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, and Lunar: SSSC.

We need to start "retro" OTs in this style. Seriously. That'd be amazing.
 
S

SparkTR

Member
I might buy this, I've been playing the PAL SNES version but if this is smoother (60hz) I'll have to change.

Does anybody know how well the controls adapt to the gamepad? SMK is so damn precise, even changing SNES controllers out off my timing.
 
Huggers

Huggers

Member
FrankCaron said:
I would love to see what a real, "new release" caliber OT would've been for things like Secret of Mana, FFVI, Chrono Trigger, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, and Lunar: SSSC.

We need to start "retro" OTs in this style. Seriously. That'd be amazing.
Click to expand...

Yeah man. I'm surprised it hasn't already been done on here. So awesome
 
E

elfinke

Member
Rad OT, well done. Second best kart racer ever made, gosh I enjoyed this game.

Power sliding while shooting red shells so that they would circle an enemy endlessly, mushroom boosting into first place epic banana throws over the 2d-plane tracks. MK has never been as good, as far as I care.
 
I

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
Amazing OT! I'm still waiting for Super Mario Kart coming to American E-Shop.

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Hey, I like that one. I will claim this one.
 
M

Murrah

Banned
Hope this gets released on American VC close to the rest of y'all; been addicted to Tropical Freeze time trials past couple weeks, I'd love to compete in this

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I'll definitely take my boy Toad off your hands though!
 
M

massoluk

Banned
Super Mario Kart has the best power-up, the almighty feather. The feather is still the best power-up in the franchise, it hurt when they removed it. Using it to access the short cut had the best feeling and the battle mode is much less fun without it.
 
O

Ourobolus

Banned
GOAT Kart Racer. I would get the whole family in on this back in the day. Still the only game my Mom and Dad would play until Wii Sports came out.

Luigi > *

Best Tracks:

Koopa Beach 2 (Gotta get some turbo mushrooms for the shallow water!)
Ghost Valley 1 (Shortcuuuuuuuut)


Fuck Donut Plains 2 and its hairpin turn in its ass, though.
 
S

Strawman

Member
Greatest multiplayer game ever. Incredibly zenlike once you graduate to only using Bowser and Donkey Kong and start flying around the tracks in an almost permanent handbrake turn.
 
M

mclem

Member
Robin64 said:
The limited selection of items all took some skill to use, there was no way to get an item in last place and use it to magically become first. Well, okay, maybe the lightning comes close, but that one's hilarious.
Click to expand...

Feather on Choco Island 2? Low risk (It's not like the Ghost Valley and Bowser Castle shortcuts with a risk of falling in the lava if imprecise) and it gives you a *very* short laptime.
 
N

NimbusD

Member
Great OP! I really need to pick up a SNES to play this game again. So many great memories.

Also, claiming this if no one has yet (thanks op!)
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B

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
Despite owning this as a kid it probably ranks as one of my least favourite MKs. Maybe that's partially down to me not being that great at the harder CCs and thus because the newer instalments came along when I was better at games being able to progress further meant I enjoyed them more simply because I achieved more in them. I mean I actually really like SC (or I did at the time) which of course was quite similar to SMK and funnily enough I beat all the SMK tracks in SC on all difficulties (of course the lack of obstacles makes them easier).

It was interesting to read that the reason it became Mario Kart was because of the banana. Originally it was going to be a generic kart game but they had the banana item so they thought DK (Jr) could make a good fit. From there the rest of the Mario crew were added.

I still remember LRLRLLRRA for accessing Special Cup tracks in Time Trials as that was the only way I got to see them (I said I wasn't that good at the game). I would learn later you could enter a code for Grand Prix but I only knew the TT code which is why I know it off by heart.

I like the game but I don't hold it up to the pedigree like many do and I certainly don't feel later games ruined the series.
 
J

Jucksalbe

Banned
I'm so glad I can finally play a 60Hz version of this game. By now I have a Super Famicom and technically could have played the game in 60Hz, but I never got around to import it. Even though the Japanese box art is quite nice.
Still a week off, sadly.

suavelicious said:
How much is it again if you already own it on Wii?
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€1.50.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
Ghost Valley 1 for LIFE!

Best Mario Kart game there is and one of the overall best games of all time.
 
B

Bill Rizer

Member
BGBW said:
Despite owning this as a kid it probably ranks as one of my least favourite MKs. Maybe that's partially down to me not being that great at the harder CCs and thus because the newer instalments came along when I was better at games being able to progress further meant I enjoyed them more simply because I achieved more in them. I mean I actually really like SC (or I did at the time) which of course was quite similar to SMK and funnily enough I beat all the SMK tracks in SC on all difficulties (of course the lack of obstacles makes them easier).

It was interesting to read that the reason it became Mario Kart was because of the banana. Originally it was going to be a generic kart game but they had the banana item so they thought DK (Jr) could make a good fit. From there the rest of the Mario crew were added.

I still remember LRLRLLRRA for accessing Special Cup tracks in Time Trials as that was the only way I got to see them (I said I wasn't that good at the game). I would learn later you could enter a code for Grand Prix but I only knew the TT code which is why I know it off by heart.

I like the game but I don't hold it up to the pedigree like many do and I certainly don't feel later games ruined the series.
Click to expand...

SMK is the true hardcore (kart) racing experience. MKs that came later simply pale in regard to pure driving skill needed and this is the only MK to have the unforgiving tension of an F-Zero.
 
Robin64

Robin64

Member
While not my favourite Mario Kart (that honour goes to Mario Kart 7), I do have a massive soft spot for the original. Weekends at my uncle's house would just be gaming tournaments consisting of this, Street Fighter II and PGA Tour Golf. Kart got the most play, of course.

Also it's just way better than Super Circuit, which felt so rough in comparison. Even the remakes of the SMK courses couldn't make SC the better game.

Not to mention, Super Circuit has an odd quirk where the background scrolls way too fast, so turning 180 degrees gets you facing the same part of the background.
 
E

Exile20

Member
I bought two hundred in eshop cards last bestbuy sales to buy smash and kart.

This is a no brainer. When is this out in the US?
 
J

Jucksalbe

Banned
Exile20 said:
This is a no brainer. When is this out in the US?
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Not announced yet. But we only have a European date because its part of a promotion, else they wouldn't have mentioned this at all before their press release for the week. So the US version could come practically anytime, very likely before the release of Mario Kart 8.
 
Robin64

Robin64

Member
Hell yes Ghost Valley 1 time trial. Especially because you have to make the jump with a mushroom rather than the easier way with a flower. Very exciting.
 
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