If it was Super Mario Kart that created the cartoon kart racer genre, it was Mario Kart 64 that made it a system selling genre and franchise. This game took everything that was great about the original and boosted it with 64-bit advancements.
When Mario Kart 64 originally came out in 1997 (96 in Japan) the game wowed players with its incredible graphics, fast and fluid gameplay and insanely enjoyable 4 player action.
This review will focus on the release on the Nintendo Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service which delivers the same frantic action, adds a couple of bells and whistles and can even be played with a near identical N64 controller for the Nintendo Switch. For transparency, we don’t have an N64 style controller for the Switch, and have instead tested it both with the standard Switch Joycons and the Nintendo Switch Pro Comtroller.
In terms of differences for the Switch version, a curious, but not end of the world level flaw that we noted was that on some of the tracks the music would play through once and not then loop. It meant that half way through a track it would suddenly go quieter and you’d just have the sound effects of your kart to keep you company. This is a small flaw that can be fixed hopefully in an update down the line, but again doesn’t really take away from my enjoyment of the game.
The bigger and much better differences for the Switch version is the added online play and that you can now enjoy Mario Kart 64 in handheld mode. Both of these will give fans of this game a huge advantage over the original version or it’s re-releases previously on Wii and Wii U. Of course many players these days will be happy to keep playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch, but there’s something about Mario Kart 64 which has an appeal that keeps it towards the top of the pile in the series.
Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but for me there has always been something about Mario Kart 64 which has kept it as my go to Mario Kart experience. Despite any of the sequels coming out over the years on the various generations of Nintendo consoles, I would say it has only been Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U and Switch that has truly kept me coming back as often as I will go back to the 64-bit iteration. Certainly there are players who prefer Double Dash on the GameCube or Mario Kart Wii, but I think there are many who like me feel that the game in the series with the most iconic tracks and memories come with Mario Kart 64.
Featuring the all star line up of racers that included Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Wario, Toad and Yoshi, the game went from the 2D sprites and mode 7 graphics of the SNES original to fully 3D tracks and Donkey Kong Country style pre-rendered sprites which made them really feel alive in the world. Certainly by modern standards having 2D characters on a 3D level feels very dated, but the designs and animation was so good that it has certainly aged better here than on something like Doom or Duke Nukem where the characters though charming, felt like cardboard cut outs.
The game will feel like it’s lacking content compared to more modern Mario Kart releases as it only has 16 tracks which was the case on the SNES, N64 and GameCube games and started to change when the Gameboy Advance Mario Kart introduced classic tracks, which then became standard with the Wii and DS era.
But even though it lacks classic tracks, the tracks you do get are fantastic. The likes of Bowser’s Castle, Moo Moo Farm and Wario Stadium are all brilliant, and there’s a variety of shorter and longer tracks to give you different vibes between quick and furious races to get the lead and longer tracks to be a test of stamina. Some people love Rainbow Road, which is the finale track of the game, and others hate it. It’s a very long track, but I’ve always loved that it would be a real test of how much you could stay ahead of the competition or whether you’d risk taking one of the games many giant shortcuts.
These short cuts play into the game’s time trial mode which is a great way to learn the tracks and perfect your timing to knock off every vital second. This is a fun mode, but it’s worth noting that without an N64 memory card, which for some reason Nintendo didn’t feel the need to emulate, it’s not possible to experience the ghost racer mode. This isn’t an end of the world omission, especially as nowadays players can stream and record gameplay and even the Switch has the ability to get clips, but obviously it’s something that hasn’t ever been carried over from the N64 original.
The big selling point of this game for many will be the 4 player battle mode, which back in the day would lead to 4 players sat on a sofa and having hours of competitive battles, shooting each other with the dreaded blue shells and dodging banana peels. This is still a big part if the game and the bonus of added online play really means there’s a lot to enjoy with this mode. Of course, you could choose to do it retro style and have 3 friends round to battle, and if you wanted to go the extra mile each getting their own N64 Switch controller to play with will make you think it’s 1999 again!
Controlling the game is as good as it ever was, and was a big improvement over the control style of the Super NES game. Cornering is a lot easier and although modern players will miss it’s lack of power drift, the hop and slide mechanic can really up your game compared to novice players. If anything it was refreshing to not have the power drift move as in recent game it just feels like you have to continually spam the move to stand a chance, this is racing in a more pure form, and will come down to your choosing when to turn, when to take short cuts and when to use weapons to your advantage to the greatest effect.
Conclusion
If there’s one game on the N64 portion of the Nintendo Switch online service that you’ll be likely to return to more than any other it’s Mario Kart 64. The controls are still great, and the bright and colourful graphics are still a joy to view. I’ve put countless hours into this game over the years and expect to continue to do so for many more years to come.
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