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Ultra Mario Kart

by the NWR Staff - September 9, 1999, 12:19 pm EDT

Oh hell yes.

After two earlier and revolutionary incarnations (and the infinite amount of copies these two inspired,) Nintendo revives its cart racing series on its next generation platform. Utilizing Dolphin's hardware (and unshackling itself from the restrictions of the cartridge media,) Ultra Mario Kart can take the series to new levels in terms of graphics, sound, features, and quantity of features. Utilizing the Matsushita digital networks, Mario Kart could make the logical progression in multiplayer madness, just as its predecessors did (Mario Kart 64 made 4 player split screen THE multiplayer medium on Nintendo 64.) Coupled with fresh and new ideas, Ultra Mario Kart will follow its namesake and revolutionize the way videogames are made.

    Basic Features:

  • Longer, more grueling tracks

  • All Nintendo Mascots

  • 3rd and 1st person viewpoints

  • More Battle Arenas

  • More weapons based on the characters

  • Tracks based on worlds (much like MK1):

    • Desert World

    • Futuristic World

    • City World

    • Grasslands World

    • Water World

    • Sky World

    • Ice World

    • Lava World

    • Underground World

    • Space World

    Extra Goodies:

  • Access hidden tracks by finding the key in a regular track and then finding the keyhole later in the track

  • If you can beat hidden tracks then you can access previous versions of MarioKart, more battle arenas, and of course hidden characters.

CptnSisko says: There's no doubt that after Mario 64, the next real N64 system seller was Mario Kart 64. Never before had a videogame implemented simultaneous multiplayer madness on one television through one unit as Mario Kart 64 had. A sequel to the massively popular Mario Kart for the SNES, Mario Kart 64 quickly became the hottest selling videogame of its release period, and to this day has achieved better worldwide sales than any game for Sony's PlayStation or Sega's Saturn, and becoming the 2nd best selling game of the N64 and PSX generation (although Zelda will soon send it down to third.)

Some said the 64-bit incarnation lacked depth, but it made up for it through its lush graphics, sweet control (thanks to the N64 controller,) and above all, a fun factor that other games could only dream of achieving. This fun factor was achieved through the incredible split screen multiplayer mode Nintendo implemented, a feature that would be put in to practically every 4 player N64 game after it. Only Rare's Goldeneye and Nintendo's own Smash Brothers have achieved the same level of sheer fun Mario Kart 64 did.

Just as its predecessor heralded in the age of split screen madness, Mario Kart 3 will herald in the age of network madness better than any DreamCast or PSX2 game can. On the Matsushita network, owners of this game (and you can be assured there'll be a lot of them) will be able to engage in "battle", "vs", or of course regular mode with them and up to X number of other players (as soon as we know the specifications for these networks, we'll have a vague Idea of what "X" can be, won't we?) Through technologies pertaining to Nintendo's partners, who knows what kind of incredible advances this game could have in sheer silly fun over the network play?

Of course, there's more to this gem than multiplayer madness. This game, through Dolphin's hardware will be able to contain imagery akin to "A Bug's Life," and possibly beyond even that. Picture this:

You are Super Mario, racing over the area around Peach's castle ( I don't know...). You are zooming along, making the necessary corrections to stay on your correct path, the lush scenery zooming by you. Crazy noises are emitting themselves as you pass (and after, through the Factor 5 and Dolby Implementations). Suddenly, you hear King Bowser's cart behind you. You're coming up on a long jump over a large waterfall. Just as you hear the inevitable shell be released, you jump over the waterfall. Falling down quick, you make the necessary corrections to ensure your safe landing. The whole time, the waterfall’s sprinkle’s are splashing over your cars smooth, ploys-NURB converted vehicle. Just before you land, you pick up an item. Much in your favor, it is a place-bomb (I think that's what they're called). You quickly loose the mine and zoom away. Behind you, you hear a large explosion, and Bowser's scream. You come up on another item, this one a set of 3 red shells. Unable to resist, you quickly turn your cart around and zoom back. Just as Bowser is regaining his composure, you let loose your first wave. You see Bowser flying up into the air, ray traced vehicle emitting the correct value scale and highlight, varying as its position relative to the in game light source changes. He lands hard, his vehicle crashing from side to side. You (after cracking up for a minute) repeat the process. After that, depending on whether you're playing split screen or on the network, either see a mass of profanity coming from the person who's controlling Bowser (and his keyboard,) or are hit in the back of the head by the disgruntled second player.

This game is almost certainly in planning stages today, and will most definitely be either a launch or near launch title.

Justin says: As we had a nifty rumor up about this game some time ago I'd say there is still plenty of interest in this series and Nintendo flat-out knows it. Hopefully we'll be seeing something along the lines that the rumor suggested with Nintendo opting to use all of its premiere characters Smash Brothers style instead of limiting it to the Mario universe. As an avid lover of the isanity of Smash Brothers I can only imagine how much better Mario Kart would be by deviating a little bit from its power-up system and including some special character-based powers for the races, which would make the game much more interesting indeed. Regardless of what they opt to do Nintendo has got to know that making this sequel is a top priority and that as soon it hits the shelves it will be gone. Look for them to try to capitalize as early as possible and maybe to use this game as the official opening of their multi-player era just as it was on the N64.

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