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Super Mario Kart Review

by Bryan Rose - August 14, 2014, 8:00 am EDT
Total comments: 6

8

Rev it up for some classic Mario Kart action.

Back in 1992, Mario Kart had to be a weird concept. Mario and seven of his pals race around some tracks for a few laps? What's Mario doing in a racing game? The genre was relatively new at the time, so Mario joining the fray had to seem a bit odd. Jump to 2014, where Mario Kart is a staple of any new Nintendo console, portable or handheld. With the recent release of Super Mario Kart, one question remains: does it still hold up to today's standards?

In terms of presentation, the game doesn't hold up as well as they did back in 1992. Graphics are fine for their age, but it’s entirely noticeable that this was an early era Super NES title that didn’t use the system’s full graphical capabilities. But that’s fine, as it’s still quite a colorful, vibrant game. Music is good enough, though not entirely memorable, and the single player and multiplayer modes are familiar fare. The offerings are rudimentary compared to today’s fare, but it’s still highly effective.

As someone who is a fan of the simpler days of the Super Nintendo, I still find some enjoyment in Super Mario Kart. It might not offer all the bells and whistles that a game like Mario Kart 8 has to offer, but it’s a charming game that offers simple, fun gameplay. And it’s ok it’s not as polished as later titles. Every core mechanic, from the items to the way tracks are laid out to the characters, lay clear groundwork for the iterations we still enjoy today. It’s amazing how much has changed in the series since it’s inception, but at the same time it’s astounding how the core mechanics of the game have not. And that’s a good thing.

Summary

Pros
  • Fun gameplay
  • Vibrant graphics
Cons
  • Not much to offer in comparison to later titles

Talkback

King of TwitchAugust 14, 2014

Quote:

The offerings are rudimentary compared to today’s fare, but it’s still highly effective.

wut

oohhboyHong Hang Ho, Staff AlumnusAugust 14, 2014

Wut u Wuting about?

I'm not sure what he's wut'n about either. Super Mario Kart, in comparison to Mario Kart 8, indeed offers less in terms of modes/online play/characters/whatever.

I'll agree with Zap here. The sentence was rather awkward and felt like a roundabout, technobabble way to say "Even though the game has limited features, they get the job done". The use of "effective" as an adjective seemed out of place when not put in a context. Similarly, you talk about the game's features in plural using the word "offerings", but then describe what I presume to be these offerings, collectively, with the singular "it".

What is the "it" referring to, and what function is this "it" being "effective" towards accomplishing? It's like saying "People like to play Nintendo, she is good at activities." There's no elaboration to define the context of the second statement, which seems only vaguely related to the first.

Does that make sense?

Sure. Reading back, that might be confusing to some so I apologize.


What I meant to say that while SMK's features aren't as diverse as Mario Kart 8's, the game still delivers in terms of gameplay and fun.

Sorry to go all English teacher mode on you. I love explaining things!  :P:

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Genre Racing
Developer Nintendo
Players1 - 2

Worldwide Releases

na: Super Mario Kart
Release Aug 06, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Super Mario Kart
Release Jun 19, 2013
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Super Mario Kart
Release Mar 27, 2014
PublisherNintendo
aus: Super Mario Kart
Release Mar 27, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral

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