Retronomicon 09.08.10: Super Mario Kart

Posted by Lee Price on 09.08.2010

This week the Retronomicon strips off the power suit and heads back to the Mushroom Kingdom to check out one of the best spin-off titles of all time! Join 411's Lee Price as he takes a look at Super Mario Kart!

Hello ladies and gents and welcome to yet another dose of your weekly old school goodness, the Retronomicon. As ever I am your host Lee Price, looking to steer you gaming sensors in the direction of the best and brightest that yesteryear has to offer. I've been having a so-so week since last we meet. I've been ill for half of it, which sucks for the illness but is awesome for the gaming I get to catch up on in the mean time. I've managed to catch Articuno and Suicine on Pokemon HeartGold, with Master Ball still in tact, which I'm happy about. I've completed Little Big Planet and Lylat Wars (Starfox 64) in the last couple of days. I've now moved on to playing a bit of Theme Park on my SEGA Saturn. It has been a long time since I've played it and I remember blowing hours on it back when I was a kid. I don't think I'll spend quite as much time with it this time around, but certainly enough to have fun with it. Other than that its been work and having a couple of drinks with a good friend of mine whose heading back off to uni over the weekend. Plus I have another whose buggering off a week later. What is it with all the women in my life leaving me? Ah I kid. Anyway we are well past the advert so its time for the...




Comments

A quite frankly surprising lack of love shown for Metroid in last week's comments section. I'm not sure if people were suffering Metroid burnout or if they simply don't love the game as much as me, but two comments seems a bit lackluster for such a great game. Surely you guys can do better than that!

Nevermind though, its time we get to talking to the peeps who did comment. First up is Guest#0272;

Lee Price is British? Who'd have guessed it?

My Englishness is on show a number of times through the column I'm afraid, though I'm not certain just what point of last week's Retronomicon made you decide one and for all that I am indeed a Limey. I'd be interested to find out though. Unless I outright stated it and have since forgotten. In that case you can spare my blushes. Cheers for reading.

Secondly, and lastly. We have Retronomicon favorite AG Awesome with a little personal Metroid reminisce;

As much as I want to love these games, I just cant beat them without a strategy guide.

I'm still not even done Prime 1 yet! Though I did finish Super and Prime 3. Generally I can get as far as possible til you need to backtrack, then I turn to the strat guide. Prime 1 I only did it twice so far though, and only after being very stuck.

I have failed :-(

To be fair, the Metroid games can be a bit of a Guide Dang It at the best of times. Exploration is the whole purpose after all so its inevitable that there are times when a player is going to get lost. If you don't have the patience to search every nook and cranny to find that one thing you missed, then a strategy guide is the best way to go.

Having said that, backtracking can be a chore in many games unless well executed. I think Nintendo generally do a good job with it, opening up new areas as you get new abilities, however I can see the problems if where you're meant to be backtracking to slips you mind. Nothing worse than having that brand new power-up with no idea where to use it.

Well that's all the talking for this week so let's get on with the show. So strap on those rose tinted specs because this week the Retronomicon looks at Super Mario Kart.



The Background

Nintendo had struck gold with Mario. Their iconic plumber has become instrumental to the company's success, becoming their mascot in the process. He had been the star of three of the very best computer games of all time in Super Mario Bros 1 & 3 and Super Mario World. You could even make an argument for four of the greatest if you count his appearance as Jumpman in Donkey Kong as the genesis of Mario.

Nintendo now had a cash cow and a spearhead franchise. But what to do with it? Clearly customers weren't satisfied with the small amount of Mario that they were currently getting. On top of that, Nintendo now had competition in SEGA and, while Nintendo's plumber was winning out, Sonic the Hedgehog was beginning to gain a little bit of ground and to many appeared the cooler option.

So 1992 rolls around and the Big N are still looking for something new to do with their iconic hero. He wasn't too far removed from starring in what many still believe is the single greatest platformer of all time, yet still the fans demanded more. It was too soon to release another full blown Mario game so Nintendo needed another idea.

Luckily Shigeru Miyamoto was thinking of ways to incorporate having two players on screen at the same time in a racing game. After the success of the single player F-Zero, the head honchos were looking for a game that could incorporate the multi-player experience into the formula. The team had already come up with the basics of a go-karting game with a split screen presentation for multiplayer. After a bit of playing around in development Nintendo finally hit upon the idea of adding Mario into the mix. Thus was born one of the most successful spin-off titles of all time, Super Mario Kart.



The Game

To say Super Mario Kart was a revelation would be a bit of an understatement. Granted it was released during a massive purple patch for Nintendo, but many couldn't shake the feeling that the game was going to be a slightly cheap cash in on the Mario brand and would simply become a way for Nintendo to squeeze a little bit more money out of their hard working mascot. Luckily for gamers everywhere, Nintendo proved the naysayers wrong with a title of such quality that it is still remembered as one of the greatest games of all time despite numerous sequels.

There isn't much of a storyline to Super Mario Kart. Apparently the Mushroom Kingdom has gotten a bit boring and Bowser has gotten a little bit tired of constantly kidnapping Peach. The residents seem to agree its time to relax a little bit and break away from the same old routine. What better way to do that then to get kitted up in go-karts and race around the kingdom while trying their damnedest to destroy each others karts in the process? It seemed like a good idea at the time so that's just what they did.

The game itself was a joy to play. Played in a split screen at all times, perfect for multiplayer and also used effectively in single player mode by providing the player with a map of the course, the game played differently to any racer of the time. First and foremost the emphasis here was on fun. More serious racers existed for those interested in them. Even the game's inspiration, F-Zero, was well regarded as much for its intense challenge as its playability. Super Mario Kart looked to make the console racer more accessible, making it less about achieving the perfect racing line and more about wanton destruction and carnage in little go-karts.

And accessibility was the name of the game. Nintendo had gone in with the stated aim of making the game the best multiplayer experience it could possibly be and they did that in a number of ways. Firstly players were given a choice of the most well known characters in the Mario series. They could choose out of a possible eight selections, meaning that everyone could build up a favorite character, while the game maintained an instant amount of recognition and name value right from the off.

Once on the course the action got more frenetic. The game featured a total of 20 tracks that the player could choose from, all of which has their own specific quirks. Players would quickly develop their favorites, meaning that races would eventually become hyper competitive as gamers got to know their track to the point where they were obsessive about being the best at it.

The game itself was viewed from immediately behind the player kart. As the player raced around the circuit, not only were they looking to keep ahead of the chasing pack, they also had to keep their eye out for coins and power-ups. These were essential if a player was to win the race because if you chose to forgo their use, you could bet the bank that your opponents wouldn't and you would soon find yourself being pelted with shells and smashed down into last place.

Power-ups took the shape of tabs on the track with an arrow on them. Once hit the player would gain a power-up ranging from a shell or banana, which the player could use to throw at another racer and send them into a spin, through to a star. Anybody who had collected a star in a Mario game before knew exactly what it meant and, true to form, your cart would become an unstoppable beast, knocking anything that dared get in the way out of its path. Of course, the beauty was that it wasn't only the player who was competing for these goodies. Every single racer, of which there were eight on track, would be looking to get their hands on these goodies and, if they did, you could expect to get that shell you throw at Luigi back in spades.

On the other hand coins took the shape of... well coins strangely enough. Collecting them granted the player a number of benefits. They would increase the top speed of your kart, making them invaluable on the higher difficulty settings. They could also be used as a little bit of base protection against the various attacks that came your way. Having a decent stash of coins could even prevent you from spinning out if hit by a shell or banana. Granted you would lose the coins, and all associated speed bonuses, in the process but, with a bit of luck, you could manage to maintain your case and scrape the victory.



Of course the game also rewarded a bit of skill. It wasn't all racing for power-ups in the blind hope that you could destroy your rivals before they got you. Like all great Nintendo games of the period, Super Mario Kart had hidden layers of depth below its supremely accessible exterior. Skilled players noticed that they could use little tricks like power sliding and hopping. A successfully executed power slide allowed the player to maintain their speed in a corner. It may not sound like much but, especially on the higher difficulties like 150cc, it was absolutely vital. Couple it with hopping, wherein the player could make sharper turns a doddle by jumping up and turning mid air before screaming off in another direction and you had a pair of techniques that really separated the men from the boys.

However playing the single player mode was only half of the fun. Sure it was great to make your way through the various cup tournaments, and beating the game on 150cc was an achievement by anybody's standards, but the real joy of Mario Kart came when you played against another gamer. This was the game's original goal, so Nintendo made sure to provide a little bit extra for the festivities.

Players were given a choice of three gaming modes for a multiplayer ruck. The option to play the Grand Prix mode that was the core of the single player was still there for two players as well. The game transformed the map into the second player's screen and gamers who were ready to spend a bit of time in front of their SNES could burn entire hours away competing against the CPU and each other in a literal race to see who was the best racer.

Nintendo also included a one-on-one racing option. You could eliminate every other racer, thus taking care of the random variable of the CPU characters, and just face off against each other in a much more pure test of skill. This particular mode could test the bounds of any friendship, especially if the games got more competitive as players got better. Many an occasion would occur where friends would call shenanigans on each other as they were pipped to the post by their rival. The beauty was that the game was so well put together that you could guarantee that another game would be had.

To compliment the more traditional modes, Nintendo also introduced the Battle Mode. This was vastly different from a regular race and involved two player chasing each other around a course, attempting to pop all three balloons on the back of their opponent's cart. While the main meat and potatoes of the game was to be had in the racing, Battle Mode provided a slightly different twist on a title that already had all the makings of a true classic.

Graphically the game was top notch as well. Taking full advantage of the SNES' Mode 7 capabilities, which had already been used to amazing effect in F-Zero as well as being utilized to create rotation and sprite scaling effects that were above and beyond anything the Genesis could handle, Nintendo crafted a title that looked simply amazing. There were few games that were as graphically ambitious as Super Mario Kart back in 1992.

Sprites all looked bulky and unique thanks to each kart being given its own Mario series character as a rider. The courses were detailed and rarely confused the player thanks to well marked tracks. On top of that there were a whole host of visual touches on display, meaning that gamers with an eye for detail really got their money's worth.

As for the sound. Well its a Mario game. A Nintendo developed Mario game. How could it be anything other than top-notch? There isn't much else that needs saying really.

So when all was said and done, Nintendo had managed to craft a title that avoided looking like a cheap spin-off. In fact, they had essentially created a sub-genre of the racing genre and a slew of imitators have since followed in Super Mario Kart's wake. However none of them have been able to match the majesty of Nintendo's original. Striking an amazing balance between accessibility and mastery, as the Big N had a habit of doing during this period, Super Mario Kart was one of the most fulfilling games of the 1990's, whether you were playing solo or with a friend as the game had always intended.



The Aftermath

Nintendo must have known they were going to strike gold with Super Mario Kart. The game was just too good to not be a success and, with the Mario name attached to it, punters were sure to eat it up. However they surely can't have anticipated the level of success they would have with the game. Super Mario Kart was loved pretty much universally. Its damned hard to find a single critical review of the game, which is indicative of its quality. Gamers responded by buying up a sound 8 million copies, making it the third highest selling SNES game of all time.

The game also managed to create a little genre all of its own. There have been many contenders. From little known titles like Street Racer, through to heavy hitters like Bomberman, Crash Bandicoot and Diddy Kong and most recently SEGA, many have tried to wrest the kart racing crown away from the Mario Kart series. So far its fair to say that not a single one has even come close.

The game has spawned a number of sequels. There have been Mario Kart games on the N64, GBA, DS, Gamecube and Wii since the release of the original. All have their own takes on the gameplay but it can be argued that not a single one is as pure an experience as the original

There is a negative side to Super Mario Kart's success however. If they hadn't yet realized it, Nintendo now saw that the Mario franchise was there for the taking. While they were slow to capitalize initially, it has now gotten to the point where we are inundated with a huge amount of spin-off titles from the franchise, all of varying qualities. It is argued in many quarters that Mario is now over-exposed and Super Mario Kart was the game that really kicked that off.

As a game on its own though, Super Mario Kart really stands the test of time. For whatever negativity that currently surrounds Nintendo's milking of the Mario license, in 1992 the whole thing was still fresh and the result was of such high quality that nobody minded that it was a spin-off.

The Price is Right

Super Mario Kart only saw release in its original form on the SNES and Virtual Console. Granted the tracks make an appearance on Mario Kart: Super Circuit, but that's not enough to get that game here. As usual higher prices for better quality.

UK

SNES - £10 – 20.
Virtual Console - 800 Points.

US

SNES - $15 – 20.
Virtual Console - 800 Points.

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